Reducing Inflammation With Plant-Based Diet

Speaker 1 0:01

Friend , welcome to the Power on Plants podcast . We are so thrilled to have you joining us today . This episode is a bit of a continuation of our last one , which was episode 291 . So if you have not heard that one yet , go back and listen to it , because we started talking about one of the big needle movers when it comes to fighting inflammation and winning . Jared and I share a lot about things we went through due to inflammation , as well as what that big needle mover was . And today we're continuing that discussion because we don't want you to have to walk around in pain and aches and all the symptoms and the diseases that come from dealing with chronic inflammation on a regular basis . Your body was just not meant to live that way , and so we want to help you have freedom from that , and that's what we're going to show you how to do today as we continue this discussion on the simple ways to reduce inflammation . Hey sister , welcome to the Power on Plants podcast .

Speaker 1 1:00

Are you tired of staring into the fridge wondering what to eat so you can just feel better ? Do you want to avoid spending hours in the kitchen making complicated meals in the name of health ? Would you love to leave fatigue behind and finally have the energy to do all the things you want to do . Hi , we're Sheridan and Anita Roussel , christ followers , healthcare professionals , parents of four and big fans of great tasting food . We , too , tried exercising more , eating natural and clean foods , but we still found ourselves struggling with what we thought were changes that come with age or bad genes , and we weren't finding answers the traditional route . So we dug into the research and created our secret nutritional weapon sustainable plant-based living . The truth is , you can eat more whole plant foods and it's not hard . You just need the way that's realistic and delicious so you never feel deprived .

Speaker 1 1:53

If you're ready to enjoy your meals , no longer be held back by your health struggles and actively live your life , then you're in the right place . So grab your favorite plant-based cup of happy pop in those earbuds and let's get started . Friend , welcome to the Power on Plants podcast . Jared and I absolutely love having you in our world and listen . If you have not gotten into Pi , our free group , you can join us right now at poweronplantscom forward slash P-I-E . That's poweronplantscom forward slash Pi , and the reason I'm leading with that this week is because maybe you're a guy and you're a fan of the show and you're learning and you're growing and you're changing things in your walk and your health and in your entire family and you want a group to plug into but you're not joining pie because you feel like it's just the ladies .

Speaker 2 2:39

It's just the women , it's for sisters only . But that's not true .

Speaker 1 2:45

Brothers are welcome and encouraged to join us .

Speaker 2 2:46

You should join and you will not be the first one .

Speaker 1 2:47

There are several of you in there already and you're going to find your tribe inside of Pi , so feel free to come and join us at poweronplantscom . Forward slash P-I-E . We look forward to getting to know you there . This is not about just women . I say a lot of time , hey sisters , hey sunshine , and all that because I'm a woman . When we first started this out , it was only women coming to us . They just wanted to know . They basically are the cooks of the family and we saw them leading the health decisions in their family because they're the ones that cook the food .

Speaker 2 3:19

And they did seem to be a little more open and a little more receptive to this message .

Speaker 1 3:23

But really there were no guys coming and so it was just thriving and growing with women and all of a sudden the guys were like hey , what about us ?

Speaker 2 3:30

And so interested in health too .

Speaker 1 3:32

Right and it just makes sense . I mean , obviously Jared's interested in health , he's a man and we're both here , so it just makes sense to open things up to both of you . So this is not just about women . We are here for you . If you're a man and you want to lead the health decisions in your family or you're just coming alongside your wife , maybe she hasn't yet seen the value in whole food , plant-based living , but you have , or you've at least gotten interested , and you need somewhere to go where you can get that support , the ideas that you need , the encouragement that you need , and you love the fact that , hey , I can also be in a place that supports my fate and I'm not going to get hassled and I'm actually going to get real relationships . That's what this is all about . And so this is your tribe , this is your community , and we cannot wait to welcome you , whether you're a man or you're a woman , inside of our free group pie .

Speaker 1 4:20

Now , in the beginning I talked about how this is a continuation of our last episode , episode 291 . If you haven't heard that one yet , go back and listen to it , because it kind of lays the foundation . We've been talking about inflammation and how saturated fats are behind that and how the major source of saturated fats are animal products . But maybe you've heard and you're wondering about plants that contain saturated fats . There are a few , and one of the main ones you may be familiar with is coconut . So what about that ? Does your body deal with it in the same way ? Should you be concerned about it ?

Speaker 1 4:54

I'm going to toss things over to the research guru on this one , but this is interesting because it's something Jared and I have been talking about and I want you to hear what we know is true about this , and it just lines up with the word right , which is so exciting because we love seeing this . This happens time and time again . It's one of the reasons , jared and I absolutely love science . I don't know how anyone could be in nutrition research or looking at the body and looking at science and not see the truth of how we were created . There is a wise and intelligent being , the one true God , who created us . And then you look and the nutrition research lines up with the word . It's awesome .

Speaker 2 5:34

We love science just because we love knowing how things work .

Speaker 1 5:37

Yes .

Speaker 2 5:37

How does it work ? Why does it work ? And it just helps us to be able to understand the Father and the world around us that he's created and how he's created us . So , getting to saturated fats , so you've decided to go into a whole food , plant-based diet and you thought , hey , I've left saturated fats behind me , I could just eat plants and that inflammation is going to go away , and I would say , most of the time , absolutely that is true . We've experienced it . We have clients , I have patients that have experienced that very same thing .

Speaker 1 6:07

But we want you to understand why that is .

Speaker 2 6:09

Well , the main reason is because you're eating a diet that has a much lower saturated fat content .

Speaker 1 6:15

Yes .

Speaker 2 6:16

Now do some of the plants still have saturated fats . Yes but in a much lower percentage . We're talking 5% of the total fat in it being saturated fat , not 50% as like we find in beef . 50% of the fat found in beef is saturated fat . That's extremely high , so as in plants , it's much lower . Also , plants have fiber , which allows our body to deal with these things differently .

Speaker 1 6:42

Yes , now think about that for a minute . I want to just bring up this point and stop you right there , because I know you've got some really great information you're sharing today , but I want to just stop and let that soak in for a minute . So Jared just said , because of the fiber in the whole plant foods that you're eating , as you're eating more whole plant foods , the fiber causes your body to deal with the saturated fat , the low percentage of saturated fat that is in some whole plant foods , differently . So saturated fat is not equal to saturated fat . So when you're looking at saturated fat in an animal product , your body is going to handle it differently than the smaller , much smaller amount of saturated fat that is in some whole plant foods like coconut , because of what God put in the whole package so he's got fiber and all these other things in there that lead your body to handle that saturated fat much differently . The benefit and the effect of fiber is so huge . This is really important for you to understand .

Speaker 2 7:44

Well , the main thing that it does is that it slows down the digestion . You've got this matrix of the fiber that the body has to slowly digest . The microbiome in your gut also helps you to digest a lot of those fibers that we ourselves do not digest . That slows it down , so you're not getting all of this fat at one time , like you would with animal products . But also another key element with this are the pressed out oils .

Speaker 2 8:11

So when you have pressed out oils , they absorb more quickly . You get much higher levels in your bloodstream , which make your blood thicker . It also creates an inflammatory process within the blood vessels and then that creates damage in that whole cascade of things that cause heart disease , vascular disease , stroke and potentially even dementia later in life . Having that process to slow down is a huge reason why that it affects the body differently . But also , too , plants are much lower in the saturated fats . Now are all plants really low in saturated fats , Most of them in their whole form , but there are a few out there that are exceptions , and most notably they're coconut and palm .

Speaker 1 8:53

So basically , the main thing that you'd be looking at that would be higher in saturated fat and whole plant foods the main food would be coconut .

Speaker 1 9:00

So even though it's higher in saturated fats than other whole plant foods , you still have the fiber and the other nutrients in there and your body is going to handle it differently and not going to have the same inflammatory response that you would have if you were eating the same unsaturated fat in an animal product , which is not going to be the same unsaturated fat because it's totally packaged differently and it doesn't have the fiber .

Speaker 1 9:25

So that goes back to something else you just shared , which you were saying oils are the problem . So we do see inflammation happening , huge amounts of inflammation happening , when people are eating oil , and this is why it is so important , if you're hurting and if you're having pain , to try to take oil out of your life , not just because you're going to remove a ton of calories that you're no longer going to have to worry about if you're trying to lose weight , but it also is an inflammatory problem . It's one of the big reasons I was having pain in my joints , pain in my elbows , all of those kind of things , while we were sluggish and not able to function because it was removed from the package , pressed out from the package the whole coconut that God made right . And now you've got coconut oil and so you've got to look at how is my body responding ? And we do see from research , but also from our own experience and the experience of our clients and patients , that coconut oil is inflammatory , it's pro-inflammatory , and the fact that it's been pressed out is why .

Speaker 2 10:24

Well , coconut oil itself . It's 92% saturated fat , which is actually even higher than animal products like chicken and beef . So that's why we stay away from coconut oil . It is not a health food . Anybody that tells you otherwise ? Well , I was going to say misinformed . But yeah , they're wrong . And the interesting thing talking about whole coconut is that it tends to have a neutral effect . What we know is that fiber helps to fight inflammation . Coconut oil is pro-inflammatory , but if you eat the whole coconut it's pretty neutral . I don't know how many of us are going to really eat a ton of coconut other than as an ingredient in a recipe . Maybe coconut flakes in a baked good ? I mean you could sprinkle it on oatmeal . It probably wouldn't be too terrible , actually mixed with a little pineapple or something . I've never tried that before .

Speaker 1 11:13

I see the wheels turning .

Speaker 2 11:15

That might actually be good . Pineapple , little coconut flakes on your morning oatmeal You're making tropical oatmeal right now in your mind . I am Actually a little bit of mango .

Speaker 1 11:24

And what you're saying is that you could do that without worrying about having inflammation , because you're using the whole coconut and it has a neutral effect . So it's neither pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory , so it would not fight inflammation , it will not cause inflammation , it's neutral . This is why you don't have to worry about eating some coconut , because if you are whole food plant-based and you eat a lot of whole plant foods or all whole plant foods , what you're going to find is that now you've taken this neutral product coconut and you're eating it , but you're getting all these other leafy greens and the cruciferous and all these other things that have a ton of anti-inflammatory benefits in them . So then your overall effect is fighting inflammation .

Speaker 1 12:07

And what Jared was saying is palm oil and all these other vegetable oils . Just because they say vegetable does not equal healthy , they've been pressed out of the original package they were made in , so the fiber is gone and all these other nutrients are not there , and so you've just got this pressed out manmade thing . And now we wonder why am I hurting so bad ? Don't think you have to cook with oil . You do not have to cook with oil , and everything is going to taste just as good . And what you're going to find is once your palate gets cleansed and you don't have the oil coating your mouth and coating your house , you're going to be so much happier with your mouth . Your mouth is going to be doing a happy dance because you're going to taste things you never tasted in your food before , because it was so covered in oil you couldn't pick up the flavors . You couldn't even detect the flavors that were in there . The food is going to come alive in the most wonderful way .

Whole Food, Plant-Based Eating

Speaker 2 12:57

A moment ago you said vegetable oil . A lot of quote , unquote , and I'm doing the air quotes . Vegetable oils are actually not from vegetables . They're actually from seeds . So stuff like canola oil is actually from a seed . Some of these are mixtures , but they're not really vegetables . They're from seeds . You just want to stay away from them . You don't need them .

Speaker 1 13:15

But maybe you're thinking now oh , then do I need to stay away from nuts and do I need to stay away from beans ?

Speaker 2 13:20

No no .

Speaker 1 13:25

Because the nuts and seeds that contain saturated fats have a small amount , and on top of that they have a ton of fiber and these other nutrients that God put in there to help your body handle them appropriately . And what we find out is nuts and seeds actually are anti-inflammatory , so they're not neutral . They actually help you to fight inflammation , and beans do the same . Maybe you're wondering if olive oil is pro-inflammatory . Research shows it is .

Speaker 2 13:49

That one is 14% saturated fat . So , even though it's lower than coconut , which is 92% , and palm oil , which is a very popular addition to things like peanut butter , why ? Because it helps to make it solid at room temperature and it gives it more of that spreadability , maybe even almost a butteriness to it , but it's 50% saturated fat .

Speaker 1 14:11

So what is Go ahead ?

Speaker 2 14:12

Well , olive oil is 14% , which is lower , but it's still a high enough percentage that pressed out from its natural package that it will cause problems for you .

Speaker 1 14:24

So the moral of the story here is eat whole plant foods , you don't have to worry about . Can I eat seeds ? Can I eat nuts ? Are coconuts going to make me sick ? Am I going to be inflamed ? No , you're not going to eat two bowls of coconut . I mean , I don't think you are , are you ?

Speaker 2 14:42

I never have .

Speaker 1 14:43

Right . I mean we use it as a sprinkle in . We might sprinkle it in on occasion on something , but we're not eating it every day and we're not eating large volumes of it . We don't recommend that you eat large volumes of coconut milk or coconut cream , because those can be heavier , because a lot of the fiber has been taken out , so they're going to be heavier in the saturated fats and they're going to also not have the fiber that you need and all the other things in there . This is why you don't want to press out and take things out of food . This is why , as often as you can , you want to get the food in its whole package . Of course , that doesn't mean you can't dice it up and chop it up and enjoy it and use it . But just think how can I get all these nutrients that God put into this package into my body and you will not believe how quickly your inflammation will subside . It is going to go down once you get the animal products out , once you get the whole foods back in their place .

Speaker 1 15:37

Please don't worry about eating a little coconut and some nuts and your beans . These are the things that are good for you . We might eat coconut once a month . I mean , we don't eat it very often . It's not because we're scared of it , it's just not something we eat on a regular basis . But if you enjoy coconut , sprinkle it on a couple of times a week . You should not experience inflammation because of eating coconut . But if you say you know what , anita , every time I eat coconut I hurt more , then you should stop eating coconut .

Speaker 1 16:05

Listen to your body when it tells you something . Listen to it and don't do that thing and do what you know is best for you . Always seek the father in these things . Am I doing the right thing ? Please show me what to do . You can let go of fear . You can let go of worry . Follow the research , especially when the research lines up with the word and in this case , a hundred percent , it lines up with the word . Eat the entire package and enjoy the foods that he's given you to enjoy . This should be a pleasurable experience . This is not a man-made way like a diet . You don't have to count calories and portions and restrict things and feel deprived and I can't have this and I can't have that . Listen , you can make this enjoyable when done the power on plants way . Whole food , plant-based eating is simple , enjoyable and delicious . This is the way that you've got to learn to do it , jare , and I have seen people struggle and not be able to make it work and they come to us and they're like this is why I couldn't make it work . It didn't taste good , it didn't work with my schedule , it wasn't simple , and I've spent years of my own life figuring out

Healthy Cooking for Busy Lifestyles

Speaker 1 17:09

how do I make this work .

Speaker 1 17:09

In my life as a busy , homeschooling mom of four children who also runs a business , you know You're busy too . Whether you're a mom , you're a dad , you're a brother or you're single , you're busy . There's a lot going on in your day . You don't have two , three hours to spend in the kitchen preparing a meal . That's insanity .

Speaker 1 17:29

What is truth is that this is going to free you up , not only because it's simpler , it's quicker , it's the easiest way to cook , when you know how it's the most budget-friendly way to eat , but it's also going to free you up because when you don't hurt anymore , when you're not sluggish , when you have mental clarity and you can figure things out much more quickly , what opportunities is that going to open up for you ? How is that going to change your life ? Picture it , because that is the possibility that lies ahead for you and we are so excited to be a part of that journey . Friend , we're glad you've been able to join us today for this episode and we look forward to getting to know you inside of Podcast Insiders Experience . We'll see you soon , thank you .