Lately, the increasing awareness towards a healthier lifestyle is ubiquitous in Southeast Asia. Consistently doing the right diet and exercises are just a few of many aspects that will lead us to a sustainable healthy lifestyle. Among all the doers who at the same time influence others to start and continue doing stuff to better their lifestyles are the social media influencers who inevitably bring the biggest effects.
First, take a look at your Instagram feeds and explore, I can guarantee you would find at least one influencer who promotes plant-based food, modern boutique fitness studios, fun challenges with health benefits, and so on.
Then, pay more attention to the habits and messages they bring. Most of the time, the mentioned modern fitness studios have partnered with healthy food vendors with optional well-arranged diet plans for the customers which are ready to be ordered; and regarding the health-related fun challenges they promote, you would easily spot one or more points which linked to healthier eating habits. Finally, you get the message, but why is it always about foods we consume?
Plant-based diet is an eating habit that incorporates more foods which come from plants, and putting more plant proteins into the daily diet without fully diminishing animal products, while being a vegan is an entirely different story—one thing we should note!
However, there is still a possibility of a person with plant-based lifestyle escalates to a total vegan. Even though by doing plant-based diet and being a vegan we can gain similar health benefits, but Julie Andrews from The Gourmet RDargues, it is better for us to approach the diet from the plant-based perspective. This is partly because not all animal products-free foods are healthier than those containing animal-based products. It’s all about balancing both elements. For instance, a glass of orange juice may contain omega-3s from fish gelatin, it still has a dash of an animal product but it’s healthy anyway! Another example is when vegan menu options trying so hard to copy omnivorous diet menu by creating what they refer to as ‘fake meats’. As decent as they might seem, they are all processed foods which contain a high amount of sodium and it makes such thing as switching doughnuts to granola snacks sounds a lot wiser.
Achieve Your Optimal Health
So, what effects does the plant-based diet on our health? The most visible change is the fact that you will get healthily slimmer due to low calories and high nutrients the plants have, and plus you’d hit the jackpot since you should never have to worry about a number on a scale. Not only that, due to vitamins and nutrients for detoxification we can get from fruits and vegetables, it can help stimulate our inner glow and moisturize the skin.
Plant-based lifestyle can also be one of your strategies to reverse any of your potential illness or diseases, from asthma to diabetes.
How to Try and Enjoy the Foods
Some people do not like eating plant-based products due to the chemical compounds which somehow produce bitter or unpleasant tastes. Since everyone’s taste preferences are different, why not playing with the processing method of the products?
Especially for those who are in Jakarta, there are plenty of delicious plant-based cuisine to choose from, try find them on your Instagram and scroll through their feeds FEEL GOOD FOOD, Burgreens, SaladStop! Indonesia, Namy House Vegetarian, Forking Clean, Farmers Bowl.