Plant-Based Diet http://learntruehealth.com/plant-based-diet/ Plant-Based Diet And Its Benefits  A plant-based diet is mainly packed with nutrients that humans need everyday. People are initially skeptical about whether a plant-based diet fulfills our daily nutritional requirement. However, experts like my guest today assures us that it does. In this episode, Nutrition expert Sharon Palmer will explain how shifting to a plant-based diet is one of the best decisions you will ever make.    Growing up  Sharon Palmer grew up in a very natural environment for as long as she can remember. Her mom grew up on a farm in Arkansas, and her father lived the farm life in Minnesota. Both her parents met when they became neighbors in Idaho.    Her family believes that wellness begins in the soil, and a plant-based diet and nutrition has always been their lifestyle. So even if Sharon Palmer was born in the suburbs in the Northwest, she grew up in a house with a large vegetable garden. Hence, she was very connected to the concept of growing food and eating real food through a plant-based diet.   Given her family background, it was not surprising that Sharon Palmer decided to pursue a career in Nutrition when she moved to California. She was likewise able to hone her journalistic skills writing and talking about the world of Nutrition.    “I’m a huge advocate of growing your food. When we are connected with our food, there are rewards. We feel better,” said Sharon Palmer. “There are more benefits to eating a plant-based diet because it is filled with anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. You’re never too old to eat better.” Her Philosophy   Sharon Palmer stresses that her philosophy is all about making more people realize that they can benefit from eating more whole plants foods through a plant-based diet. She does this by encouraging people to get on that spectrum of consuming whole plant foods and fewer animal foods.    You’ve heard that fast food is bad, right? Reaching out for those French Fries indeed is tempting! Some may argue that potatoes are considered vegetables but when it is deep fried in unhealthy oil, it’s not considered a healthy diet at all.   Sharon Palmer affirms this by saying that generally speaking, what most people eat today can be junk foods. Yes, things like French Fries and colas are made from plants, but an excellent plant-based diet is about consuming less processed foods. Real food is whole plant foods, grown close to Mother Earth and minimally processed.    “A lot of people who eat a plant-based just think that it’s all about eliminating meat. However, the benefit of a plant-based diet comes mostly from what you are eating. That would be all these whole foods like beans and lentils, whole grains like oats and quinoa, barley, fruits, veggies, spices, herbs, nuts, and seeds.” Sharon Palmer explained. Eating According To Your Blood Type   There’s a particular type of diet that called blood type diet. The concept of this diet plan revolves around the belief that because blood types have different characteristics, it is best that people embrace a diet by their blood type.    However, Sharon Palmer doesn’t think there’s enough evidence to link our blood type to what diet we should be on. She says research points that a healthy diet would fit everybody’s genetic profile.    “By healthy diet, I mean a healthy plant-based diet. Although we are learning more about personal nutrition or nutrigenomics where we recognize that certain genetic profiles might benefit from slightly tweaking their diet. But at this point, I think we can safely say that these overall diet patterns are healthy for most of us,” said Sharon Palmer.   Obesity and Diabetes   Sharon Palmer singles out obesity and diabetes because she said there are epidemics of these health conditions in certain countries with a significant ethnic population. This is because people from those countries are following a Western diet which unfortunately has been li