By Megan Magness, Naval Hospital Bremerton Nutrition Clinic clinical dietitian -- Plant-based eating does not mean that you are vegan or vegetarian, but rather you are proportionately choosing more of the foods in your diet from plant sources.
Plant based nutrients provide crucial nourishment to help enhance operational readiness by maintaining optimal body weight, disease prevention, strengthening bones and more.
This type of eating pattern – also referred to as plant-forward eating - focuses on foods primarily from plants and includes fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, oils, whole grains, legumes and beans.
Much nutrition research has examined the Mediterranean diet, a generic term based on the traditional eating habits in the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, which meets the American Heart Association’s science-based criteria for a healthy eating pattern. In both large population studies and randomized clinical trials this type of healthy eating reduces risk of heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, certain cancers, and depression. The Mediterranean diet includes low to moderate amounts of dairy products, eggs, fish and poultry and significantly limits consumption of red meat.
Therefore, more plant-based protein sources are usually chosen as a beneficial meat substitute such as pulses.
What are pulses?
Pulses are the edible seeds of plants in the legume family, grow in pods and come in a variety of colors, shapes and sizes. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recognizes 11 types of pulses such as beans, peas, and lentils.
One of the popular pulses is chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans. A quarter cup of chickpeas provides about 75 calories, four grams of protein, 12 grams of carbohydrate, four grams of dietary fiber and seven percent daily value of iron.
Throughout the month of March delicious Roasted and Feta Chickpeas are being featured in the Naval Hospital Bremerton’s Terrace Dining Room. Try a great plant-forward addition to your healthy lifestyle!
| Date Taken: | 03.04.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.04.2025 12:27 |
| Photo ID: | 8897460 |
| VIRIN: | 250304-N-HU933-2600 |
| Resolution: | 4966x3181 |
| Size: | 2.06 MB |
| Location: | BREMERTON, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 67 |
| Downloads: | 5 |
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