Quote:
Originally Posted by Land O Lakes
There have also been quite a few sub-optimal recipes/pics posted itt... canned black beans? Really? I guess it's a start...
Canned beans are super healthy so I would certainly recommend them. But are they optimal? No. Even BPA free canned beans have dubious chemicals in the lining of the cans. So an even healthier option would be to buy dried beans--which are super cheap--and cook your own beans in an instant pot or something. But still the difference between canned beans and dried beans is marginal at best. Same with organic vs non-organic. Yes organic plants are the optimal choice as they are marginally healthier than non-organic, but non-organic plants are still super healthy. A WFPB diet is what's optimal for humans but within that diet we can always optimize even further no doubt. But that said, I'm still gonna have some canned beans always on hand for the convenience of having beans already precooked, and if the grocery store I'm at are all out of organic oranges, I'll buy the non-organic becuz like the canned beans, it's still a healthy option.
As far as my recipes being suboptimal: that is true. My recipes do have some salt added to them. An optimal diet wouldn't include added salt given its disease causing nature since we can get all the sodium we need in the trace amounts found in plants. Anyone skeptical of this fact just remember that humans evolved without salt shakers and cheetos, and if one is still concerned about getting enough sodium the natural way, just add high sodium foods like celery and goji berries to your daily diet.
That said, I try to keep the sodium on the low side. My daily goal is to keep my sodium below 1000mgs. To put that in perspective, the 2nd healthiest/longest living population ever studied, the herbivorous 20th century Okinawans (96% plant-based/90% unprocessed plants) consumed around 1,100mgs of sodium a day. If you beat out the Okinawans you're doing good. Last I checked the average American consumed 3500mgs of sodium per day.
What's most important for my recipes is that they are health promoting, not that they are optimal. I do have a sweet tooth and I love making healthy, whole grain, high fiber, oil-free, refined sugar free, low sodium desserts. To do that I need to utilized whole grain flour which is healthy but not optimal. For example, oat flour is healthy but not as healthy as rolled oats, and that's not as healthy as steel cut oats, and they're not as healthy as oat groats and one can even optimize further eating sprouted oat groats.
To me, eating perfectly optimal is a cool idea to talk about, but it's gonna be an ideal that most of us can't reach as life will usually get in the way. Take any food you eat and there's probably a way you could level up and make it healthier. Once one makes the transition to a WFPB diet--eliminating the animal products and processed junk thats destroying their health--it's basically a choose your own adventure from there. This thread can certainly be a tool tho to help the more ambitious "level up".