Nutrition is a key component of health and recovery from injury and disease. Due to strong evidence on this link health care practitioners, including Physical Therapists, are being to prescribe adequate portions of fruits and vegetables in patients diets. In a previous blog post we described the beneficial effects of a lower processed diet compared to a highly processed diet. Much of this diet is focused on foods least touched by technology, humans, and store shelves. A recent systematic review of the available evidence discussed the impact of a plant based diet on weight gain/loss and cardiovascular health.
Remde and colleagues reviewed the available evidence of a plant predominant diet on a variety of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases (Nutr Rev. 2022). Authors included 84 research papers including participants with obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Authors reported plant based diets demonstrated significant health benefits on blood pressure, blood sugar, insulin sensitivity, lipids (blood fats), and diabetic markers (A1C). They concluded these diets can play a major role in the treatment and reversal of both obesity and some diseases including obesity and cardiovascular disease. In our Boulder and Lafayette Physical Therapy clinics we often combine diet and exercise in order to facilitate optimal health outcomes in our patients.