And to celebrate your good fortune as you rehabilitated, your visiting family members could stop by the on-site hospital restaurant and bring you a couple of meals. You could treat your recovering heart muscle and arteries to a Bacon, Egg, & Cheese McGriddle for breakfast; a Big Mac, large fries, and Coke for lunch; and Chicken McNuggets and a chocolate shake for dinner. That’s right — for years, a McDonald’s was renting space inside this medical center.

That was the reality at Atrium Health Navicent until June 2019, when a long campaign by the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) finally bore fruit, convincing the medical center’s leaders not to renew the fast-food chain’s lease.

There are many morals to this story.

The first is that it’s a win worth celebrating. Three cheers to American College of Lifestyle Medicine Trailblazer Award Winner Neal Barnard, MD, and the rest of the PCRM team for their persistence and political savvy. And hats off to the courage of the Atrium Health Navicent board of directors for cutting off a lucrative revenue stream in favor of patient health.

The second moral is to spare a thought for the often economically stressed patients, visitors, and staff who had come to rely on McDonald’s as a tasty, cheap, and convenient source of calories. Where could they eat cheaply and quickly now?

A third moral is, to put it bluntly, what was a McDonald’s doing in a medical center in the first place?

Can you imagine a liquor store housed in an alcohol abuse rehab center? A demolition derby track as part of an auto body shop? A gun shop located on the grounds of a trauma center?

The Irony of Fast Food in a Hospital

If you stop and think about it for even two seconds, you’ll see that these analogies are spot-on. The food served at McDonald’s, beyond a shadow of a doubt, causes the diseases and conditions that the Atrium Health Navicent Heart and Vascular Program is treating.

Yes, it’s comfort food at a tough time. But there’s no comfort in a second heart attack. No comfort in a continual downward spiral of health and vitality. No comfort in more and more time, money, and energy devoted to managing a slow decline into disability and premature death.

If you wanted to be really cynical about it, you could see the two branches of the operation as feeding each other. The hospital provided customers for McDonald’s, and McDonald’s, in turn, provided more customers for the hospital.

Of course, no cardiologist wants to see more heart disease. No hospital is rooting for the rising incidence of angina, myocardial infarction, a-fib, stroke, and congestive heart failure. It wasn’t a conscious conspiracy. The Atrium Health Navicent McDonald’s — and the dozens of other fast-food restaurants that still operate inside medical centers across the country — are symptoms of a profound blind spot in medical practice and education.

The blind spot, so obvious to those of us outside the profession, is that the food we eat is the number one determinant of human health.

Diet Is the Leading Cause of Preventable Death

A 2019 report published in The Lancet affirms that poor diet is responsible for more deaths than any other risk factor. How many deaths? In 2017 alone, unhealthy diets killed around 11 million adults worldwide, through heart disease, several cancers, type 2 diabetes, and other illnesses. The leading risk factors were high salt intake, low whole grain intake, and low fruit intake.

Not that this is cutting-edge knowledge. Humans have known that food affects health long before epidemiological research, or science, or — most probably — language itself. 

The Disappearance of Food as Medicine

Humans didn’t need peer-reviewed studies to sense that food and health were connected — that intuition predates written history. But it took modern science, especially over the past several decades, to move that intuition from folk wisdom to documented mechanism.

My late father, John Robbins, put it simply: “A doctor who doesn’t know about food is like a firefighter who doesn’t know about water.” That was true when he said it. It remains true today. Most doctors still graduate from medical school with little or no training in the foundation of health.

Medical education has long focused on pathology and treatment — what goes wrong with the human body, and the interventions research has produced to address it. Pills, procedures, and protocols. 

What’s been missing, of course, is human health before disease or injury. What keeps us well? What can return us to health? Medical education has largely ignored these questions, and so medical practice has pretended they’re irrelevant to its mission.

Meanwhile, healthcare leadership built a system in which fast food could colonize medical centers and shuttle customers onto a conveyor belt of chronic disease.

A Disconnect Between Symptoms and Cause

The modern disease epidemic has hit us faster than anyone might have imagined. It’s been more than 4 decades since we had the first signs that type 2 diabetes, known then as “adult-onset diabetes,” was affecting youth. Between 2001 and 2017, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes among U.S. adolescents ages 10 to 19 rose from 0.34 to 0.67 cases per 1,000 youth — a 95% increase, according to the CDC-funded SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study, the largest population-based surveillance project tracking pediatric diabetes in the U.S. Over roughly the same period, the annual rate of new type 2 diagnoses in youth climbed by about 4.8% a year — nearly three times the growth rate of new type 1 diagnoses. By 2017–2018, type 2 diabetes was being newly diagnosed in adolescents at a rate of nearly 18 per 100,000 each year, closing in on the rate for type 1 diabetes at about 22 per 100,000 — a gap that would have seemed unthinkable a generation ago, when type 2 diabetes in children was rarely diagnosed at all.

If there were a vaccine that protected against type 2 diabetes, public health authorities would recommend it for every child in the United States. But because the disease is foodborne, vectored by Big Macs, Whoppers, and Baconators, we’ve acted as if prevention were impossible. That abdication of medical responsibility has sentenced our young people to shortened lives full of avoidable pain and suffering.

We’ve graduated healthcare providers with a gap at the foundation of their education. We’ve built an acute care system to handle the flood of after-effects, and forgotten that we had the means to turn off the faucet. The result, decade after decade, has been epidemic obesity, heart disease, diabetes, depression, and cancer, in a culture that fosters the continuation of our poor habits. And every year that we’ve waited, the costs — measured in lives, dollars, and human suffering — have compounded.

Meanwhile, patients whose lives are on the line are told nothing about nutrition by doctors who, despite all their best intentions, were never taught it.

Leading the Charge for Nutrition in Medical Education

The movement that finally got McDonald’s out of Macon’s Atrium Health Navicent campus is still fighting to remove unhealthy food from health care facilities. A 2024 survey by PCRM found that nearly 70% of U.S. medical school hospitals still host a fast-food restaurant on-site.

At the same time, we’ve opened a new front: pushing to get nutrition taught in medical schools themselves.

Some of this work happens one lecture hall at a time. My dear friend Michael Klaper, MD, spent a long career in clinical practice before concluding that the hardest problem wasn’t what he could do for the patient in front of him. It was what he had never been taught to do in the first place. He now brings that reckoning straight to medical students, traveling to schools across North America and internationally to teach how a patient’s diet can either cause disease or reverse it. His initiative, Moving Medicine Forward, backs those visits with Nutrition Interest Groups on campus, toolkits for student leaders, and a CME-accredited masterclass in plant-based clinical nutrition built in partnership with the Rochester Lifestyle Medicine Institute. His book, Moving Medicine Forward, traces his own path from country GP to advocate for reversing chronic disease through plant-strong nutrition. Neal Barnard has called it vitally important and overdue. I agree, and I’d add that it’s the book I wish every physician graduating this year would read.

One key lever is medical education. Like most academic institutions, medical schools teach to the test. So here’s a question: Out of the thousands of questions on the certification exam for physicians, how many were about nutrition? For years, the answer was: almost none.

And if you’re a medical school recruiting the best students, how much energy will you put into teaching a topic that doesn’t show up on the exam that determines your graduates’ careers? Right again: almost none.

Recognizing this, Food Revolution Network partnered with Bright Line Eating and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine in 2019 to fund the Lifestyle Medicine Question Bank. The campaign set out to raise $250,000 to fund 1,000 multiple-choice questions designed for use on categorical assessment tests and licensing exams — the goal being to motivate medical schools to include lifestyle medicine subjects in their curricula, and to eventually get some of these questions folded into official testing. The campaign hit its funding goal on December 22, 2019, and ACLM faculty now use the resulting question bank to teach and test medical students on lifestyle medicine. That kind of grassroots pressure, alongside years of advocacy from clinicians and researchers, has helped keep nutrition on the table as institutions like the National Board of Medical Examiners have moved to expand nutrition-focused content across all three U.S. medical licensing exams, with nutrition performance now appearing in score reporting.

The underlying principle is straightforward: What gets tested gets taught. If nutrition and lifestyle medicine are meaningfully represented on high-stakes exams, educators will be far more likely to prioritize them in the curriculum. These efforts represent important progress. These are steps on a long path, but at least we appear to be moving in the right direction.

A Turning Point: 40 Hours, Finally

Then, in March of 2026, something shifted, and I was in the room when it happened.

For years, advocates had been reciting the same dismal baseline to anyone who would listen: Only 14% of U.S. residency programs had a required nutrition curriculum. Three-quarters of U.S. medical schools had no required clinical nutrition classes. Medical students reported an average of 1.2 hours of formal nutrition education per year, less than the time most of them spend in a single pharmacology lecture.

In 2025, HHS issued a public call for medical schools to change this, and in March 2026, HHS and the U.S. Department of Education announced that 53 of the nation’s medical schools, across 31 states, had committed to require at least 40 hours of nutrition education — or a 40-hour competency equivalent — beginning in fall 2026. That number has kept growing: by June 2026, 19 more schools signed on, bringing the total to 73, and more may have joined since.

I watched HHS Secretary Kennedy, Education Secretary McMahon, CMS Administrator Dr. Oz, and AMA President Dr. Mukkamala take the stage together to mark the occasion. That lineup represented federal health policy, federal education policy, Medicare and Medicaid, and organized medicine. Whatever you think of any one of them, seeing those voices united around a single message was something I hadn’t seen before: Nutrition belongs at the center of medicine.

AMA President Bobby Mukkamala didn’t cite his own credentials as expertise — he offered them as an admission of a gap. After 25 years in practice, he recently earned board certification in Lifestyle Medicine specifically because he felt his own medical training had left him without enough grounding in how food and daily habits affect disease. As he put it: “For too long, nutrition has been treated as an elective in medical education — a few hours here and there. Considering how important what we eat is for our health, it should be a basic foundational training.“

He’s right. And on that day, at least, the people with the power to act agreed.

Now, more than 30,000 physicians will graduate each year with at least a foundational understanding of nutrition — and that number will only grow as more schools sign on beyond the original cohort.. These are doctors who will spend decades in practice, each one having tens of thousands of conversations with patients about their health.

This is a genuine breakthrough. It’s also, to be clear, a set of voluntary commitments from roughly a third of U.S. medical schools. Getting nutrition into some curricula is not the same as getting it onto licensing exams, into residency training, or into the daily habits of the millions of physicians already in practice. We still need mandatory continuing medical education on nutrition, so that doctors who graduated without this knowledge can fill in the gaps. And we need the remaining two-thirds of medical schools to follow.

But the movement that clinicians, researchers, and advocates have been building for decades, from Michael Greger to Neal Barnard to Senator Cory Booker to thousands of unnamed patients and practitioners, is finally reaching institutional weight. The Question Bank, the 40-hour commitments, the eviction of McDonald’s from hospital lobbies: These are all part of the same story. 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Sometimes that arc feels very long indeed. 

But one thing is clear: It won’t bend all by itself. We all have a part to play. 

What Comes Next

It’s tempting to read a headline like “53 medical schools commit to 40 hours of nutrition” and feel like the work is done. It isn’t. The children being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes today won’t benefit from a curriculum reform that reaches them in their 40s. The patients in cardiac wards this year deserve doctors who already know what to tell them about food.

The work ahead is to translate institutional commitments into practitioner habits — classroom hours into residency training, residency training into hospital protocols, and hospital protocols into the conversations that doctors actually have with patients. That last mile — the exam room conversation, the discharge instructions, the follow-up call — is where decades of advocacy will either land or fail to land.

This is one of the most consequential public health opportunities of our generation. Hundreds of millions of people stand to live longer, better lives if we get this right. And whether we get it right doesn’t depend only on what medical schools, regulators, and advocacy groups do next. It depends, in large part, on the choices each of us makes — about what we eat, what we ask of our doctors, what we expect from our hospitals, and what we’re willing to push for in the systems that shape all of our lives.

How You Can Take Action

Here are three ways you can add your weight to the movement to put food back at the center of medicine:

• Eat like food matters. The most direct way to shift the food-as-medicine landscape is to live it. Lean into more whole, plant-based foods. There are abundant resources right here on this site to help you make that shift, one meal at a time.
• Bring food into the exam room. Ask your doctor how much nutrition training they received in medical school. Ask what role they think food plays in your specific health concerns. And if they seem interested in going deeper, let them know that lifestyle medicine offers excellent CME credits and even a board certification. These conversations, multiplied across millions of appointments, shape what physicians prioritize and what their hospitals and medical schools take seriously.
• Use your voice. Share articles like this one. Talk with friends, family, and colleagues about why nutrition belongs at the center of medicine. Support the organizations doing this work — including PCRM, ACLM, and Food Revolution Network — and make clear, with your time and your dollars, that this is the kind of healthcare you want.

Each of us has a choice. We can be passive patients or empowered participants in our own health and in the health of our communities. We can be complicit in the status quo, or we can be everyday revolutionaries.

And maybe one day soon, the most common order at the hospital restaurant will be kale salad with sweet potatoes and fresh fruit — with the same goal as the cardiologists down the hall.

Tell us in the comments:

• What is your experience with hospital food?
• Do you think medical education should focus more on nutrition and prevention?

Featured Image: iStock.com/AlessandroPhoto

The post Nutrition Was Missing From Medicine for Decades. That’s Changing. appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

I tell you this partly because I think it’s a great story, and partly because it captures something essential about soybeans: They’re not quite like anything else in the plant kingdom. While they’re members of the legume family, their unique biochemistry has made them useful in ways that most foods never are — as food, as industrial material, as soil replenisher, and as one of the most hotly debated ingredients in modern nutrition.

That last part is what we’re here to talk about. Because for all the enthusiasm around soy, and there’s a lot of it, in both directions, the actual science is more interesting and more nuanced than the loudest voices on either side would suggest.

Should You Eat Soy?

Soy does get eaten by people — especially in many Asian cultures, where it’s been a significant source of nutrition for centuries. In fact, the Chinese word for soybean is “tatou,” which means “the greater bean.” 

Legumes like soy make up a substantial portion of the diets in the Blue Zones — the areas around the world known for longevity, with many people living to 100 years or older. 

Traditional Okinawans, who live in the Blue Zone of Okinawa, Japan, eat a lot of soy, mainly in the form of tofu and miso. They have among the world’s highest life expectancies. And those tend to be healthy life-spans. Soy-eating Okinawan elders are among the healthiest people in the world. Compared to North Americans, they have a staggering 80% less breast cancer and prostate cancer, and less than half the ovarian cancer and colon cancer. 

Studies have also found that regular consumption of whole soy foods is associated with lower rates of many other forms of cancer, as well as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. 

Despite all this positivity, soy is not without its detractors. Some wellness influencers blame soy for promoting breast cancer, and even growing “man boobs.” They also point out that most soy substitutes for cheese and meat are highly processed. 

There are also valid environmental concerns. Some soy farming contributes to rainforest destruction. And most soybeans grown today are genetically engineered to be herbicide-tolerant, and then sprayed with glyphosate and other problematic pesticides.

So where does that leave us? Should you avoid organic tempeh? What’s good about soy, and what considerations are necessary when adding it to your diet? And what are some of the best ways to consume soy? Let’s get the facts.

What is Soy?

Soybeans, also called soya beans in the United Kingdom, are legumes that are native to East Asia. The official name of the soy plant is Glycine max (which sounds like the name of a streaming platform: “All soy, all the time.”) Most dried soybeans are light tan or pale yellow, while some varieties are black, brown, and even blue.

Fresh soybeans, called edamame in Japanese, are always green. They’re often sold in their pods: raw, frozen, or pre-cooked.

Where Is Soy Grown & How Is It Used?

Soy has spread out from its East Asian origins and is now grown abundantly in Brazil, Argentina, India, Paraguay, Canada, and the United States. From humble beginnings — a few seeds grown by a colonist in Georgia in 1765 — soy has colonized much of American cropland, to the point where the U.S. is now the world leader in soy production. In fact, in the U.S., approximately 119 million metric tons of soybeans are grown on 86 million acres of land each year. That’s more than 100 times the size of the entire state of Rhode Island, which at this point has probably come to accept its role as America’s official unit of measurement for things that dwarf it.

For comparison, wheat covers about 50 million acres, while corn tops the charts with 90 million acres. But unlike those crops, soy can actually restore soil fertility when grown responsibly. 

George Washington Carver, the brilliant agricultural scientist whose research transformed Southern farming in the early 20th century, found that rotating soybeans into planting cycles actually increased cotton yields, thanks to the legume’s ability to transfer nitrogen from the air into the soil.

You can see that soy could be a kind of wonder crop, feeding people, replacing petroleum in manufacturing, and replenishing agricultural soil. Unfortunately, we’re using most of our soy crop in wasteful and environmentally harmful ways. More than 75% of the enormous amount of soy grown worldwide is fed to livestock. In the U.S., that number rises to more than 90%. 

And the vast majority of the soy consumed by humans in the U.S., South America, and Europe is highly processed into soy oil and soy protein isolate, along with other ingredients that often end up in ultra-processed foods. By contrast, in Asian countries, whole soybeans and fermented soy products like edamame, tempeh, soy sauce, and natto are common fare, and have been for centuries. 

Soy Nutrition

The soybean is significantly higher in fat, lower in carbohydrates, and slightly higher in protein than other legumes. It tends to be more digestible than other plant proteins and contains all nine essential amino acids. (In this case, “essential” simply refers to the ones that our bodies cannot metabolize, and so we must source them from food.) 

The carbohydrates in soybeans are primarily oligosaccharides, which promote healthy gut microbiota like Bifidobacteria by acting as a prebiotic in your intestinal tract. The fat content of the soybean consists of 19% to 41% monounsaturated fats, 46% to 62% polyunsaturated fats (including a modest amount of omega-3 fatty acids), and 10% to 15% saturated fats. Soy is also packed with a wide array of vitamins and minerals. 

One-half cup of roasted mature soybeans has the following nutritional composition:

• Calories: 400
• Protein: 33 g
• Total Fat: 22 g
• Fiber: 15 g
• Calcium: 120 mg 
• Iron: 3.5 mg
• Magnesium: 125 mg
• Phosphorus: 310 mg
• Potassium: 1265 mg
• Folate: 180 µg

The soybean also contains a small amount of zinc, copper, selenium, manganese, vitamin C, and B vitamins. 

6 Health Benefits of Soy

The soybean offers some substantial health benefits. Some of the most well-known, evidence-based benefits of soy include the following:

1. May extend life

A 2020 study from Japan found that regularly eating fermented soy foods like miso and natto might help lower the risk of dying. Researchers looked at health information from over 90,000 people (men and women aged 45 to 74) across 11 public health centers. They found that those who ate the most fermented soy foods had about a 10% lower chance of dying compared to those who ate the least. The study also showed a link between eating these foods and a lower risk of heart disease.

2. May help treat menopause-related hot flashes

Hot flashes are a common complaint among women during menopause. Some studies have found a lower incidence of hot flashes among menopausal women who consumed soy foods, compared to those who didn’t. For example, a 2019 study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women who consumed soy products (but not soy milk) experienced fewer reported hot flashes. Another 2019 study discussed how the soy isoflavone genistein could have therapeutic effects on menopause symptoms like hot flashes, as well as several menopause-related diseases, with few to no adverse side effects. 

3. May help prevent metabolic syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is a group of health problems that often happen together, like high blood sugar, high blood pressure, extra belly fat, and unhealthy cholesterol or triglyceride levels. If you have metabolic syndrome, your chances of having a stroke, heart disease, or type 2 diabetes go up.

A study from 2019 looked at over 5,500 Korean men and women aged 40 and older who didn’t have metabolic syndrome at the start. It found that people who regularly ate soy foods were less likely to develop metabolic syndrome. The more often they ate soy, the stronger the protective effect. 

4. May help prevent bone loss and increase bone mineral density

As we age, our bone mineral density typically declines, increasing the risk of degenerative skeletal diseases such as osteoporosis. Factors like weight-bearing exercise (e.g., walking, running, playing tennis) and getting enough calcium and vitamin D are known to have protective effects on bone strength. 

It turns out that soy isoflavones may also help maintain bone density. A 2020 meta-analysis of 52 research trials found that soy isoflavones may help prevent osteoporosis in people of all body weights. 

In addition, there’s a strong association between protein consumption and the reduction of osteoporosis risk. Soy is one of the highest-protein plant foods, and as such, it could be helpful for building and maintaining strong bones.

5. Contains compounds that may help fight chronic diseases

Soy has special plant compounds called glyceollins that help protect the body in several ways. These compounds are made by some legume plants as a natural defense when they’re stressed. 

Although most research has been conducted on animals (our view on the use of animals in medical research is here), a 2017 review showed that eating soy rich in glyceollins might have many health benefits. These include improved insulin response, reduced inflammation, lower cholesterol, protection against harmful free radicals, and possibly slowed tumor growth. This replicated the results of a 2013 study that found that glyceollins can help reduce “bad” LDL cholesterol and high triglyceride levels. Plus, a 2018 study suggested that glyceollins might protect the brain by boosting antioxidant activity.

6. Is a healthy source of plant-based protein

While all plant foods contain all nine essential amino acids, most don’t provide them in the proportions needed for human nutrition in a single food. Soy is an exception. It provides them — including lysine, methionine, threonine, and tryptophan — in the ideal proportions for human nutrition, all in a single food. A cup of tempeh, made from fermented soybeans, contains 34 grams of protein, which is half of the daily requirement for many adults. 

Soy Controversies

There are more than 2,000 peer-reviewed studies related to soy and health. Given that the bulk of these studies have documented substantial health benefits, and the fact that many of the world’s healthiest and longest-lived peoples are avid consumers of soy, you might think there’s consensus on soy benefits and facts.

Unfortunately, that’s not the case. There’s a lot of controversy. I was about to write “a surprising amount of controversy,” but when you consider who funds the anti-soy movement, it’s actually not surprising at all.

In the 1970s, the vegetarian movement turned to soy as a substitute for meat and dairy because it’s versatile, high in protein, cheap, and much more environmentally friendly than animal agriculture. And while the movement started small and the initial soy-based meat and dairy analogs were pretty mediocre in taste and texture, the meat and dairy industries saw it as a threat to their bottom line. 

From funding anti-soy research to creating “astroturf” organizations (i.e., industry shills posing as grassroots movements) to purchasing large amounts of advertising and PR to extensive lobbying, the meat and dairy industries sought to scare the public away from soy consumption and protect their market share.

And they did a pretty good job of it, judging by the myths and misinformation that still swirl around this most excellent legume. In fact, if you aren’t confused about soy to some extent, you probably haven’t spent much time on the internet. So let’s address some of the most common accusations and beliefs surrounding soy and see what the science and facts actually tell us. 

Soy Concern #1:
Soy Causes Cancer

One of the main anti-soy claims is that it can cause or promote cancer — especially hormone-related cancers such as breast, thyroid, prostate, and ovarian cancer. But the truth is, there’s much more evidence supporting whole soy foods for cancer prevention. And a good amount of evidence that the foods that soy replaces — meat and dairy — are cancer accelerators.

For many years, cancer patients — especially those with hormone-related cancers — were often encouraged to avoid soy either during or after treatment, as well as to prevent onset or recurrence. This was because soy was believed to mimic the effects of the hormone estrogen (the fancy scientific word for this is “estrogenic”), which is implicated in the development of breast cancer after menopause. 

While there have been conflicting conclusions drawn from studies throughout the years, the confusion usually stems from compounds in soy called isoflavones. Some researchers have said that soy isoflavones possess both estrogenic and anti-estrogenic effects on breast cancer cells. 

The Truth: 

1. Soy’s estrogen-like compounds may actually reduce cancer risk

Soy contains isoflavones, compounds sometimes called phytoestrogens because their chemical structure is similar to human estrogen. This is where the concern comes from, but also where the story gets interesting.

Isoflavones don’t behave exactly like estrogen in the body. They bind to estrogen receptors differently, and in many cases, that difference matters enormously. Rather than amplifying estrogenic activity, isoflavones often do the opposite, occupying estrogen receptor sites in a way that actually blocks more potent forms of estrogen from binding. Think of it as sticking a nickel into a coin slot to prevent dimes from being inserted. The slot is occupied, but nothing harmful gets through.

2. The evidence on breast cancer points in a clear direction

A 2003 study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that women with high soy intake had a 54% lower breast cancer risk than those with low intake. A 2010 study in JAMA linked soy consumption to reduced breast cancer recurrence and mortality.

The more pointed question is about women with estrogen-positive (ER+) breast tumors — tumors that are stimulated by estrogen. Could soy’s weak estrogen-like activity make things worse for them? Early animal studies raised this concern, but those mice had isoflavone blood levels far higher than any human eating normal amounts of soy would experience, and the effect hasn’t been seen in humans. Population studies show no increased risk for breast cancer survivors who eat soy.

In fact, the evidence points the other way. The American Institute for Cancer Research notes that soy consumption is associated with greater survival and decreased recurrence, including in women with ER+ cancer. A major 2024 meta-analysis found that soy isoflavones were linked to a 26% reduction in breast cancer recurrence risk, with the strongest associations in postmenopausal women and women with ER+ diagnoses specifically.

3. Soy also contains natural compounds that fight cancer directly

Soybeans contain protease inhibitors, which are compounds that interfere with enzymes cancer cells need to grow and spread. If you’ve heard of protease inhibitors before, it’s probably from HIV or hepatitis C treatment, where pharmaceutical versions of these compounds are used as drugs. In soy, they occur naturally, and research has linked them to reduced incidence of breast, colon, and prostate cancer.

(A note on pronunciation, since this comes up: It’s “pro-tee-ace,” not “pro-teeze,” which would imply someone was being paid to go “Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!”)

Soy Concern #2:
Soy Causes Breast Growth in Men

This belief has received tremendous attention. In fact, it’s probably one of the most joked about reasons why some men choose not to drink soy milk — to avoid “man boobs.” It’s part of the marketing narrative of the meat industry, which paints meat as “real food for real men” and views vegetarians and vegans as weak and feminized. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s iconic line from the 2013 movie Escape Plan, “You hit like a vegetarian,” typifies this mockery. (Schwarzenegger has changed his tune; the former animal-protein-guzzling bodybuilding champion, movie star, and politician is one of the stars of the 2018 film The Game Changers, which documents the benefits of a plant-based diet on athletic performance, strength, and endurance.)

What’s the evidence for this fear that soy will turn men into women, either physically or constitutionally? How convincing is it?

There is a case report from 2008 of a Japanese man who consumed soy foods and experienced growth in his breast tissue, as well as erectile dysfunction and decreased libido. When questioned, he said he drank 3 quarts of soy milk per day, about 9 times the amount normally consumed by Japanese men. 

And a 2011 case report also chronicles a decrease in sexual desire and functioning in a 19-year-old male with type 1 diabetes whose diet consisted almost entirely of “large quantities of soy-based products.” The moral of these two stories, each of which features a single individual, is that unbalanced diets of any kind can be harmful. 

In 2009, Men’s Health published a stridently anti-soy article based on the 2008 case report mentioned above. The article said that eating soy can cause male feminization. While the publication eventually changed its stance in subsequent articles, it took years, and the original article is still widely circulated, perpetuating the misconception. As Paul Simon sang, “A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.” 

The Truth:

1. Only over-consumption may pose an issue

Most people aren’t going to eat anywhere near the amount of soy consumed in these two case reports. In fact, you would probably develop a nutritional deficiency if you did. As with anything you eat, enjoy soy as part of a balanced diet, and you’ll probably be fine.

2. Feminization from soy is rare

The likelihood of soy causing a “feminization” effect in male breast tissue, under anything like normal consumption patterns, is rare to non-existent. Numerous studies have shown that there’s no rise in estrogen levels among men who consume soy foods, nor is there an effect on testosterone levels. A 2010 meta-analysis of 15 placebo-controlled studies concluded that “neither soy foods nor isoflavone supplements alter the measures of bioavailable testosterone concentrations in men.” 

3. Dairy, on the other hand

If anything, dairy products are more likely to contain hormones that could cause breast growth in men. Dairy products are known to contain exogenous estrogen, which has been found to reduce the secretion of testosterone in men. It makes sense, if you think about it, that the milk from a lactating mammal would have an impact on human hormone balance. Especially when you consider that many dairy cows are given hormones to increase their milk production.

Soy Concern #3:
Soy Inhibits Thyroid Function

Some people worry that eating soy can harm the thyroid. The concerns center on a few specific claims: that soy may contribute to hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid, which can cause weight gain, fatigue, and sluggish metabolism), that it may interfere with thyroid hormone production, and that babies fed soy formula may develop goiters — an abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland. A 2002 review of the literature raised these concerns, suggesting that soy’s estrogen-like compounds and its potential to promote goiter formation were worth taking seriously.

The Truth:

1. More iodine, not less soy

One important thing about that 2002 paper: Almost all the evidence cited was from studies on rats, not humans. And even in the rats, researchers actually failed to find a correlation between hypothyroidism and genistein (an isoflavone and phytoestrogen). This puzzled the authors of the paper, who surmised that some as-yet-unidentified “additional risk factors” must come into play for soy to damage thyroid function. 

What could one of those risk factors be? It’s more likely that an iodine deficiency caused the problem, not the soy. 

It is true that if you eat too much soy and your diet is deficient in iodine, your thyroid gland may become swollen and underactive, you may develop symptoms of hypothyroidism (such as lethargy and depression), and your risk of thyroid cancer could increase. But the answer isn’t to avoid soy. It’s to make sure you consume enough iodine. Studies tell us that soy does not cause thyroid problems in people who consume adequate amounts of iodine. 

Meeting iodine requirements is pretty easy and can be achieved with ¼ teaspoon of iodized salt per day, increasing your intake of sea vegetables, or with a reliable iodine supplement. 

In the 1950s and 1960s, some infants were fed soy formulas that caused enlargement of their thyroid glands. But again, these formulas did not contain iodine. So the real cause was most likely the lack of iodine, and not the soy itself. Soy formulas have been fortified with iodine, which solved this problem. 

2. Soy formulas with iodine are safe for babies

A 2018 review searched for and examined global studies from January 1980 to June 2017 on soy infant formula and phytoestrogens, to assess what is currently known about how phytoestrogens in soy formula may impact child development. The authors found that soy formulas don’t cause any problems with things like sexual growth, brain development, immune health, or thyroid function.

Of course, any discussion of infant formulas needs to come with a very clear disclaimer: For almost every baby, the milk from its own mother is best if available. Infant formulas of any kind, whether soy- or dairy-based, should be seen as an option only when milk from human mothers is not available. 

3. Soy has little to no effect on thyroid hormones

A review and meta-analysis of 18 studies found that soy supplementation has no effect on thyroid hormone levels and may modestly increase TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone). This may affect people who already have hypothyroidism, but it seems unlikely that it’s clinically significant enough to show a clear correlation. More research is needed, but overall, the link between soy consumption and thyroid problems seems weak.

Soy Concern #4:
Soy and Heart Health

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) almost never endorses any specific food for its health efficacy. But in 1999, citing an overwhelming body of evidence that soy consumption could help to reduce heart disease, the FDA issued a ruling that allowed products containing at least 6.25 grams of soy protein to state that:

A total of 25 grams of soy protein a day, as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, may reduce the risk of heart disease. A serving of [name of food] supplies __ grams of soy protein.

You may have seen this, or variations of it, on product labels. 

So why the controversy? In a rare, potential about-face, the FDA released a statement in 2017 that it was considering revoking its endorsement of soy for heart health. The main argument against the pro-heart health statement was that “some studies, published after the FDA authorized the health claim, show inconsistent findings concerning the ability of soy protein to lower heart-damaging low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.” 

At the time, it was widely anticipated that the proposed revocation would go into effect within a matter of months. But as of this writing, nine years later, it has not. So what’s the deal?

The Truth:

1. Lobbyists have an influence 

We don’t always know exactly which factors lead the FDA to make its decisions. But one thing’s clear: As a government body, it is not immune from the influence of lobbyists or political forces. In this case, the meat and dairy industry stands to lose out if soy is more widely consumed because soy products are often consumed in place of animal products. And the soy farming industry, ironically, could lose too — since most of our soy crop is fed to livestock. But despite its announced intention, the FDA still hasn’t followed through. 

2. Science does say soy is good for your heart

Part of the reason could be that new studies continue to show soy’s benefits for heart health. For instance, a 2019 cumulative meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Heart Association concluded that soy is heart-healthy and lowers LDL “bad” cholesterol, which can increase the risk of heart disease. A 2020 study with over 200,000 participants found that eating at least 1 serving of tofu per week was linked to an 18% lower risk of heart disease compared with those who rarely ate tofu. 

Soy doesn’t just help to bring down LDL (‘bad”) cholesterol levels. A 2011 study concluded that when people ate 30 grams of soy foods per day (equivalent to 1 ounce of tofu), they raised their HDL “good” cholesterol levels by 1% to 3% and lowered triglycerides by up to 5%. 

Clinical research has also shown that soy foods can help lower high blood pressure. In two meta-analyses from 2010 and 2012, soy isoflavones were shown to improve impaired endothelial function among postmenopausal women, lowering their blood pressure and their risk for heart disease. 

There’s still no telling what the politically influenced FDA might ultimately do. But the overwhelming body of evidence seems clear: For most people, soy can help to prevent cardiovascular disease and support heart health.

The Shadow Side of Soy

While there are many good things to say about soy and most popular fears surrounding soy consumption are not backed by research, there are a few meaningful concerns that prospective soy-eaters should consider. 

Soy Allergy

Soy is one of the top eight allergens that must be clearly identified on food labels. In such an allergy, the proteins in soybeans bind to IgE antibodies made by the person’s immune system, causing the immune system to regard soy as a foreign invader requiring destruction. This triggers an excessive immune response, resulting in an allergic reaction. Obviously, if you have a genuine soy allergy, you need to avoid soy.

Processed Soy Foods

As we’ve seen, most of the soy consumed directly by people in Western countries is turned into soybean oil, soy protein isolates, and other refined products. These highly processed foods aren’t as good for you as eating whole soy foods. 

Soy oil contains none of the beneficial protein, fiber, or isoflavones. Processed soy foods, such as soy hot dogs, ice cream, or snack bars, have much lower amounts of isoflavones than whole soy foods. They also tend to contain chemical additives, fewer overall nutrients, and have higher concentrations of trypsin inhibitor, which makes them harder to digest than whole soy foods. Furthermore, unless the soy-containing foods are certified organic or certified non-GMO, they contain genetically engineered soy.

Genetically Engineered Soy

In 2024, 96% of the soybeans in the U.S. were genetically engineered. Most genetically engineered soy has been directly sprayed with glyphosate and other herbicides, some of which are probably carcinogenic. Glyphosate has made news recently as the subject of a staggering number of cancer lawsuits — Bayer/Monsanto has faced over 192,000 total claims since litigation began, and despite settling approximately 100,000 of them for roughly $11 billion, the company still faces around 65,000 active lawsuits. Choose organic or non-GMO certified soy to steer clear. 

Deforestation

Voracious global consumption of soy is a leading driver of the destruction of tropical rainforests. Monocrops often drive small-scale family farmers out of business. And soy is one of the biggest monocrops on the planet. But where is all this soy going? The vast majority isn’t turning into edamame, tofu, tempeh, or miso. It’s not even turning into soy burgers or soy milk. 

Approximately three-quarters of the world’s soy harvest is used as livestock feed. This isn’t just inefficient. It’s a protein factory in reverse. Why? Because it takes an estimated 8 to 14 pounds of feed (such as corn or soy) to produce 1 pound of feedlot beef (for all the math and more insight on the health and environmental impact of beef, see our article here). 

For pork, it takes 4 to 9 pounds of feed to produce 1 pound of edible meat, and for chicken, 2 to 5 pounds of feed. No wonder approximately three-quarters of the world’s soy crop and more than half of its grain is being used as livestock feed. 

What’s the moral of this story? As counterintuitive as it may sound, if you want to save farmland and rainforests from being turned into soy plantations, you might actually be most effective if you eat more soy and less meat. It kind of blows my mind that there’s probably more soy in a pound of feedlot beef than there is in a pound of tofu.

How To Eat Soy

The best way to enjoy soy is in whole or minimally processed form, organically grown whenever possible. Here’s a quick guide to the main forms you should know.

Edamame are simply immature soybeans, harvested before they harden. They’re one of the most straightforward ways to eat soy. You can enjoy them steamed or boiled in the pod, lightly salted, and eaten as a snack or appetizer. You can also find shelled edamame to toss into salads, grain bowls, or stir-fries.

Tempeh is made by fermenting whole soybeans into a dense, firm cake. It’s the most protein-rich form of soy, with around 34 grams per cup, and fermentation makes it easier to digest while adding beneficial probiotics. Its nutty, slightly earthy flavor can be a bit bitter on its own, but it takes well to marinades and works beautifully as a meat substitute in tacos, sandwiches, and grain bowls.

Natto is a traditional Japanese food made from fermented soybeans. It has a strong flavor and a distinctively sticky, stringy texture that takes some getting used to. But it’s arguably the most nutritionally dense form of soy, and one of the richest dietary sources of vitamin K2. Worth trying if you’re adventurous.

Miso is a salty fermented soybean paste used as a seasoning and condiment. A small amount adds deep umami flavor to soups, dressings, marinades, and sauces. Because it’s high in sodium, it’s best used in small quantities as a flavoring rather than a main ingredient. Miso contributes probiotics and nutrients without adding significant calories.

Tofu is made by coagulating soy milk and pressing the curds, not unlike how dairy cheese is made. It comes in textures ranging from silken to extra-firm, making it one of the most versatile forms of soy. Silken tofu works well in smoothies, sauces, and desserts; firm and extra-firm tofu can be baked, pan-fried, scrambled, or grilled. It absorbs whatever flavors you cook it with, making it a versatile canvas in almost any cuisine.

Soy milk is a high-protein plant milk. To steer clear of added sugars, look for unsweetened varieties with minimal added ingredients. Some brands deliver as much as 12 grams of protein per cup. Fortified brands may have a nutrient profile similar to cow milk, without the saturated fat. 

Soy curls are made from whole soybeans and have a meaty, chewy texture when rehydrated, making them a useful whole food option for people looking for a less-processed meat substitute than many packaged soy products offer.

What’s worth avoiding, or at least minimizing, are highly processed soy products like soy protein isolate, soy oil, and most packaged meat analogs that use soy as an ingredient alongside long lists of additives. These bear little resemblance to the whole soy foods associated with health benefits in the research.

Savory Soy Recipes

Soy is wonderfully versatile. It can be fermented into miso paste and used as a condiment for flavoring many dishes. You can enjoy immature edamame soybeans, boiled or steamed as an appetizer, or sautéed in a stir-fry. Nutritional powerhouse tempeh can sub in for meat, as it’s packed with protein (and fiber, a vital nutrient not found in meat!). Experiment and let us know your favorite way to incorporate organic soy foods into a healthy diet. 

1. Ginger Miso Sprout and Carrot Salad

When the umami of miso is combined with the nutty flavor of tahini and a touch of rice vinegar and lime, it makes a perfect dressing for this sprout-and-carrot salad. Make extra dressing so that you can use it on grain bowls and other salads throughout the week.

2. Sautéed Garlicky Mung Bean Sprouts with Edamame Beans

While edamame might be a favorite choice as a plant-based appetizer at restaurants, it can also be used in a wide variety of dishes. From stir-fries to bean burgers to this garlicky sautéed dish, where it comes together with bean sprouts, the delightful edamame never disappoints!

3. Tempeh Bacon

This tempeh bacon has a sweet smokiness and can be used in many ways. Make a tempeh “BLT” (or “TBLT”) sandwich, add it to grain bowls, crumble it into salads, enjoy it alongside a breakfast scramble, or eat it all by itself as a snack!

The Soy Takeaway

Soy is a highly nutritious staple enjoyed around the world. For most people, it can be beneficial in preventing chronic illnesses like cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes, and in promoting life expectancy. It’s also an abundant source of plant-based protein. But most of the world’s soy crop is genetically engineered and then fed to livestock, which creates negative environmental impacts. And most soy eaten by humans is highly processed, which significantly erodes its nutritional value. Whole soy foods that are grown organically and consumed by humans are another matter entirely. They can be sustainable, nourishing, and supported by decades of research.

If you have specific health concerns, including thyroid conditions, hormone-sensitive cancers, or soy allergies, it’s worth a conversation with your healthcare provider about how soy fits into your particular situation. For most people, though, the evidence points clearly in one direction: Whole, organic soy foods are a genuinely valuable part of a healthy diet.

Tell us in the comments:

• Do you typically enjoy soy foods? Why or why not?
• What’s your favorite way to incorporate whole soy foods like tofu, tempeh, or edamame into your diet?
• Are you feeling inspired to try any new soy foods or dishes?

Feature image: iStock.com/naito8

Read Next:

• Plant-Based Protein: What You Need to Know
• The Truth About Lectins

The post Soy Facts: Is Soy Healthy or Harmful? appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Am I a fan of infrared saunas? Or of chelation to remove heavy metals? What about fasting, coffee enemas, or cleansing programs? Or Epsom salt baths and megadoses of vitamin C?

Some of these ideas can have value. But before you spend a lot of money and effort detoxing your body, the first thing to do is stop bringing toxins into it in the first place. And the place to start is with the food on your plate.

What? We’re getting toxins in our food? 

Oh my goodness, yes. As I write this, we’re consuming the most chemical-laden food in the history of humanity. (And, not by coincidence, the most addictive.)

The sheer number of food additives in use today is staggering. And the disturbing reality is that many of them have been declared safe only by the companies that make them — without any testing or oversight by government agencies.

How Your Body Detoxes Naturally (and Brilliantly)

The good news is that your body can already deal with toxins. Its detoxification system is constantly hard at work eliminating dangerous toxins and invaders before they can harm you. 

Six organs, in particular, have critical roles.

The Liver

Your liver is your body’s most powerful weapon against toxins. 

It performs some 500 functions — such as filtering the blood and deactivating toxins, including food additives, medications, and excess hormones. 

It also shuttles nutrients into your bloodstream. And it transforms the rest into waste material that exits your body via your kidneys or intestines.

The Kidneys

Kidneys are also workhorse organs. Their tasks include regulating fluid and electrolyte balance in your body, controlling your blood pressure, and dealing with hormone secretion.

Think of your kidneys as the ultimate quality assurance team for your blood. They filter it to excrete waste from muscle metabolism and urea from protein breakdown. 

They also eliminate excess fluid, bacteria, medications, and other chemicals through your urine. 

The Gastrointestinal System

From your mouth to your colon, your intestinal tract both digests food and helps to eliminate toxins. 

Intestinal microflora breaks down nutrients, which are absorbed into your bloodstream, while toxins are routed to your small intestine and removed from your body through excrement. 

The Respiratory Tract

Your respiratory tract (lungs and bronchi) removes toxins mainly as CO2 and phlegm. 

Your lungs are busy. They breathe in and out approximately 11,000 liters of air every day. And unlike the filters in vacuum cleaners and HVAC systems, you don’t need to replace them regularly! (Thank goodness! Just imagine the confusion at Home Depot if you had to remember the model number for everyone’s lungs.)

The Skin

Skin is an organ, even if we don’t usually categorize it like that. (Let’s give skin its due: It’s actually the heaviest organ you’ve got, weighing up to 15% of your body mass.) Skin plays an important role in eliminating toxins. 

Sweating has been found to help eliminate BPA, phthalates, and heavy metals. 

And while it can be porous (absorbing skin cream, for example), skin keeps out all sorts of bad things — from dangerous bacteria to poisonous chemicals. It’s your body’s first line of defense against a broad array of toxins. 

The Lymphatic System

Your lymphatic system includes fluid-filled nodes, vessels, glands, and organs. 

Its main purpose is to cleanse toxins, protect against invaders, and carry waste away from your tissues and into your bloodstream, where it can be processed and removed.

Why We’re Overloaded with Toxins 

Your body’s detoxification system is powerful. But in our modern age, it’s also likely under considerable pressure. 

Pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, heavy metals, chemicals, and stress can all strain your natural detoxification systems. It’s like one person is mopping the floor while another is stomping around the kitchen in muddy boots. 

And toxin exposure starts early. Before we’re even born, in fact. Testing of the umbilical cord blood of newborn babies has revealed an average of over 200 synthetic chemicals, some of them with carcinogenic potential.

The effects many of these chemicals have on our bodies still aren’t fully understood. Yet evidence ties many of them to health problems.

And drinking water can be a source of toxins, too. Studies have found an array of chemicals in public water supplies, including chlorine, lead, chromium-6, and drug residues from antibiotics, antidepressants, hormones from birth control pills, and painkillers, among others.

(For an overview of the problems with our drinking water and a review of some of the top water treatment options, click here.)

Stress can also play a part. It diverts energy and other resources from the detoxification process. 

The physiology of stress is rooted in the “fight or flight” response, which the body interprets as signaling a clear and present danger to your continued existence. 

Detoxing when all the energy in the body is needed to escape from a predator would be like insisting on mopping the floor while a tornado is tearing your roof off.

But because most of our stressors are mental and emotional (traffic jams, financial worries, annoying emails), the body can under-prioritize detoxification even when it’s the most useful thing it could be doing. Like, “I can’t mop the kitchen floor while The Wizard of Oz is on TV; that tornado is too dangerous.”

Given the prevalence of toxins in our environment — and often also in our bodies — many people want to know what they can do to protect themselves. 

Can you remove these harmful substances if they get into you? Or must they stay with you for life?

Does “Detoxing” Help?

The term “detox” is used in many different ways. 

The most common type of “detox” is a program used to wean people off alcohol and drugs. That makes sense — when someone is under the influence of these substances, they’re “intoxicated.” That is, they are suffering the effects of toxins in their bodies.

In natural health circles, detoxes are typically used to address environmental toxin exposure, gastrointestinal disorders, and autoimmune diseases — as well as for general cleansing and prevention. 

Practitioners who offer detoxes often claim they can aid in weight loss, support digestion, and fight inflammation, allergies, bloating, chronic fatigue, candida overgrowth, heavy metal accumulation, and parasites.

Because “detox” has become such a massive health buzzword, the term is, unfortunately, used to sell a lot of products and services with little or no basis in science.

Some detox programs recommend using laxatives or diuretics, going into “starvation mode,” going overboard with unsustainable exercise routines, popping unproven (and expensive) supplements, drinking diet sodas that are sweetened with dangerous chemicals, or even eating nothing but grapefruit. (Yes, that really is a thing.) None of these approaches has been proven to be helpful in the long run. 

Key Questions to Ask

Before trying any detox program, it’s worth asking a few specific questions, since most detox products have research, testimonials, and before-and-after photos. The question is whether any of it holds up.

Who is selling this, and what do they gain? If the person recommending the detox is also selling it, that’s worth noting. Financial incentives don’t automatically invalidate a product, but they’re a reason to look more carefully.

What does the evidence actually show? Testimonials and transformation photos are not evidence; they’re marketing. Look for peer-reviewed studies in independent journals, not just anecdotal endorsements. Studies funded by the company making the product can be useful to a point. If no such studies exist, proceed with a little more caution.

What specifically is being “detoxed”? A credible program should be able to name the toxins it targets and explain the mechanism by which it removes them. Vague claims about “cleansing” or “resetting” your system without specifics are a red flag.

Does it require you to buy proprietary products? Your liver, kidneys, lymphatic system, and skin are already continuously detoxifying your body. Any program that claims these organs need expensive outside help to function should be approached with some skepticism.

What does a doctor or registered dietitian say? Does a doctor or a dietitian (not a wellness influencer, but an actual clinician) with no financial stake in the product endorse it? 

The truth is that most of what legitimate detox programs achieve can be attributed to the elimination of processed food, alcohol, and excess sugar — not to any special supplement or protocol. Eating more whole plants, drinking more water, sleeping well, and moving your body will probably support your body’s natural detoxification systems more reliably than just about any cleanse on the market.

How Detoxifying Foods Can Boost Your Detox Ability

Several specific foods and beverages have been shown to help your body boost its detox power, in addition to providing many other health benefits.

Here are eleven of the top ones.

1. Cruciferous Vegetables and Leafy Greens

Members of the cruciferous family belong on every list of the world’s healthiest foods. They include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and bok choy, among others. 

A 2015 study published in the journal Evidence Based Complementary Alternative Medicine reported that cruciferous veggies boost liver health through anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral effects. They’re also high in fiber, which encourages the excretion of toxins through bile and stool.

Two leafy greens that aren’t members of the cruciferous family, spinach and dandelion greens, are also excellent sources of chlorophyll, which is considered the top detoxifying plant pigment.

Broccoli, in particular, has been linked to protection against air pollution. Broccoli sprouts have also been found to contain enzymes that protect against cancer-causing chemicals. 

One reason broccoli is so powerful is its effect on glutathione — often called the body’s “master antioxidant.” Think of glutathione as your internal cleanup crew: It grabs onto toxins and escorts them out. Sulforaphane from broccoli and broccoli sprouts directly stimulates your liver to ramp up glutathione production. Garlic, green tea, and turmeric do the same, which is one more reason variety across these foods matters more than loading up on just one. 

For more on sulforaphane, see our article here.

2. Lemon 

Lemons are one of the best detox fruits. A 2014 study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food found that the citric acid in lemons can protect liver function and prevent oxidative (stress-related) damage.

Another 2014 study published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism found that daily lemon ingestion, combined with daily walking, helps regulate blood pressure.

Lemon water is an easy way to get more lemon into your life. Squeeze fresh, organic lemon into a glass of water for an amped-up version of H20. If you drink this a lot, you may want to use a straw and rinse your mouth with water right away to prevent damage to the enamel coating on your teeth. Also, wait at least 30 minutes after drinking lemon water and other acidic beverages before brushing your teeth, for the same reason.

For our article on how to use lemon in recipes, click here.

3. Avocado

This creamy green fruit provides a wealth of antioxidants and other nutrients. 

A 2001 study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that the fatty acids in avocados help protect rats’ livers against damage caused by a powerful liver toxin. ​​(Our view on the use of animals in medical research is here.)

For more on avocado, see our article here.

4. Green Tea

Green tea is one of those good-for-you beverages that has been used as a medicinal aid for thousands of years.

High in antioxidants, it helps keep your body in balance and protects against free radicals that can cause aging and degenerative diseases.

Green tea has also frequently been shown to have a protective effect against certain types of cancer. 

A study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention found that a green tea concentrate boosted production of detoxification enzymes, which play a key role in cancer prevention. 

For more on tea and its remarkable health benefits, see our article here.

5. Apples

An apple a day really might keep the doctor away! These popular snacks are rich in the soluble fiber pectin. The pectin in apples helps purge toxins from the bloodstream and lower LDL cholesterol.

A 2006 study published in the journal Phytotherapy Research found that pectin can aid in the excretion of toxins, such as mercury and lead. 

For more on apples, see our article here.

6. Garlic

A 2014 research review of studies on garlic published in the Avicenna Journal of Phytomedicine found that this pungent veggie has a whole host of health benefits. Researchers found that garlic can inhibit carcinogen activation, enhance detoxification, and even protect DNA. 

For more on the health benefits of garlic and other allium vegetables, see our article here.

7. Turmeric

Also known as “Indian saffron,” this gorgeous yellow spice has been used medicinally for nearly 4,000 years.

In 2011, the editors of Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects reviewed the evidence on this ancient spice and found it to have “antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antioxidant, antiseptic, cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, nephroprotective, radioprotective, and digestive activities.” 

The primary active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin, which gives it its bright yellow color. But if you just eat turmeric straight, you may not absorb much of it. I love mixing fresh and dried turmeric into all sorts of foods, and I always try to include black pepper because studies show that piperine (found in black pepper) helps to increase curcumin absorption substantially. 

For more on turmeric, see our article here.

8. Beets

These bright-red veggies have long been touted for their high levels of antioxidants and other health-promoting properties.

But beets are also a detox tool. A 2015 study published in the journal Nutrients found that beet juice can amplify specific enzymes that support the liver and aid in detoxification.

For more on beets, see our article here.

9. Blueberries

Besides being delicious, blueberries are nutrient-dense and are an abundant source of antioxidants.

They’ve been shown to lower blood pressure, boost vascular health, fight cancer, protect lungs, and prevent Alzheimer’s, among other effects.

As far as fighting toxins, a 2011 study published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism found that the berries enhanced the activity of the body’s natural killer cells, which fight against cancer cells.

For more on blueberries, see our article here.

10. Cilantro

Some plants are actually considered “chelators” — meaning they can bind to heavy metals and help your body excrete them. This flavorful herb is one of them! 

A 2013 study published in the Scientific World Journal found that cilantro can enhance mercury excretion and decrease lead absorption. Put that in your guacamole and eat it!

11. Ginger

Rich in phytochemicals — the healthy compounds found in plants — ginger is widely used as a gastrointestinal aid.

Since the intestines perform so much detoxification work, ginger can help boost your body’s ability to process food and eliminate waste.

A 2013 research review published in the International Journal of Preventive Medicine found that ginger protects against oxidative stress, has anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effects, and offers a wealth of antioxidants. 

For more on ginger, see our article here.

Foods To Avoid When Cleaning Out Your Body

As you learn how to get rid of toxins from your body naturally, the first step is to avoid foods and drinks that are sources of toxins. Back to our mopping-the-kitchen analogy: Before you get out the mop and bucket, stop stomping around in muddy boots. Avoid these foods.

Most Fish

Most fish flesh contains high levels of chemical residues, including mercury and synthetic chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). 

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Seafood poisoning from marine toxins is an underrecognized hazard for travelers, particularly in the tropics and subtropics.”

And because of plastic pollution in the ocean, almost all fish consume microplastics that end up in your stomach when you eat them. 

If you choose to eat fish, the least dangerous options for humans (all fish consumption, of course, is lethal for the fish) are low-mercury fish, such as wild salmon, sardines, mackerel, and herring. Read our full article about eating fish here.

Meat 

Processed meats (bacon, lunchmeat, hot dogs, etc.) have been classified as carcinogenic (cancer-causing) by the World Health Organization, so it’s likely best to avoid them altogether. 

Even unprocessed meats are often contaminated with bacteria due to the processes, equipment, and conditions of many farms and slaughterhouses. 

Dairy

Cow’s milk contains a whole host of substances, including powerful growth hormones, that can cause health issues in humans. 

Dairy consumption has been linked to acne, asthma, heart disease, and many types of cancer. 

A 2011 study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found up to 20 different chemicals in cow’s milk. These included the anti-inflammatory drugs niflumic acid, mefenamic acid, and ketoprofen (all used as painkillers in animals and people). 

If you want to ditch the dairy, you can opt for plant-based milk, such as cashew, almond, soy, or oat instead. (See a doctor’s thoughts on the healthiest plant-based milk here.) 

Bioengineered Foods (Also Known as GMOs)

Bioengineered food ingredients, also known as genetically modified organisms (GMOs), first hit U.S. grocery store shelves in 1994, and widespread commercial cultivation of GMO crops took hold in the mid-to-late 1990s. Despite industry claims, studies have found that they have led to higher pesticide use and no meaningful improvement in flavor, nutrition, yield, or water consumption. 

Instead, what they’ve created are plants that are engineered to withstand massive dosing of toxic herbicides — and plants that function as living pesticide factories. Bayer’s Bt corn, for example, is actually registered with the EPA as a pesticide.

Many credible scientists have significant concerns about the safety of these crops for human and animal consumption. 

And GMO crops are typically contaminated with glyphosate, which is a probable carcinogen, a suspected endocrine disruptor, and has been patented as an antibiotic. 

The primary GMO foods available in the U.S. are corn, soybeans, canola, sugar beets, papaya, and cottonseed oil. Many processed foods also contain genetically modified corn and soy.

You can avoid GMOs by steering clear of these ingredients unless they are organic or certified non-GMO. 

For more on Bioengineered foods, see our article here.

Take Care of Your Body So Your Body Will Take Care of You

Cleansing your body of toxins doesn’t require an expensive program, a proprietary supplement, or a week of eating nothing but grapefruit. Your liver, kidneys, skin, and lymphatic system are already working hard on your behalf every day. The most powerful thing you can do is make their job easier.

That means reducing what comes in by eating less processed food, less alcohol, fewer pesticide residues, and less plastic contact with your food and water. And it means supporting what’s already working with cruciferous vegetables, garlic, green tea, fiber-rich whole plants, and plenty of clean water.

Start with one or two of the foods on this list if you’re not already eating them regularly. Add a second pair the following week. Small, consistent changes to what’s on your plate will probably do more for your body’s natural detoxification capacity over the long run than any cleanse you could buy.

Tell us in the comments below:

• Have you tried any detox diets?
• What are your favorite ways to eat these detoxifying foods?
• Did this article teach you what you wanted to know about food and detoxification?

Read Next:

• How to Do a Natural Detoxification with 5 Types of Nutrient-Rich Foods

The post 11 Detoxifying Foods To Help Cleanse Your Body Naturally appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

But in other parts of the world, particularly the Middle East, dates are not only popular snacks; they’re also celebrated and revered. Evidence suggests that people in the Middle East and North Africa have been eating dates for over 6,000 years. 

They’re such a central part of some cultures that dates are offered at important social events and are sometimes referred to as “the fruit of heaven.” The Prophet Muhammad urged his followers to eat seven dates a day to protect against poison and witchcraft. And across the world’s Muslim population, worshippers consume the fruits to break their fast each evening during the holy month of Ramadan. Dates are also known as “the fruit of kings,” as they were originally eaten by royalty and thought to fend off fatigue. 

Today, many plant-based eaters think of dates as a whole food sweetener. Their sticky consistency and high sugar content make them an effective sugar substitute. But when something tastes that good, is there a catch? Are dates actually good for us and the environment? And if so, what are some delicious and healthy ways to add them to your diet? 

What Are Dates?

Dates are the fruit of the date palm or Phoenix dactylifera, which definitely sounds like a magical dinosaur from a fantasy novel. The scientific name refers to the plant’s ability to spring to life from the desert’s searing heat, like its mythological namesake bird, the phoenix, which rises from the ashes to live again.

The date is a one-seeded fruit (also known as a drupe), like a peach or nectarine. Typically oblong, dates can vary significantly in shape, size, color, quality, and consistency of flesh. Dates that are ready to eat are generally brownish in color, and their taste depends on their ripeness. 

Date palms are native to the Persian Gulf area of the Middle East, but they are also grown in many other warm or tropical climates. Egypt is the world’s largest producer of dates, followed by Iran, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The U.S. produces a small amount (roughly 4% of Egypt’s crop), with most of the U.S. harvest coming from California. 

Types of Dates

While it’s not obvious from the options in most Western grocery stores, there are more than 2,000 varieties of fresh dates. The two most widely grown in the United States are the Deglet Noor and the Medjool. 

Other types of dates enjoyed around the world include the following:

• Safawi/Kalmi are darker-colored dates with a potent taste. They’re more resistant to damage than other varieties. 
• Ajwa are small, black dates with a sweet, fruity taste. They’re considered luxury dates and among the most expensive. 
• Sukkary dates are often described as “sugary,” with a blonde color and a fresh, sweet pulp.
• Mabroom dates have a subtler, less sweet flavor than other varieties. They also have a slender, firmer shape.
• Khudri dates tend to have a uniform dark brown color and fewer wrinkles than other varieties. 
• Sagai are very soft dates with a unique combination of crunchiness and softness. 
• Barhi dates are soft, creamy, and known to have a flavor similar to butterscotch candy.
• Thoori dates are also called “bread dates” and are considered one of the oldest foods in history, if not the first food ever cultivated by humans. They have a peanut-like flavor and a firm, pastry-like texture.

Looking to taste some of these varieties for yourself? Most are available with online searches. And Oasis Date Gardens offers a selection of 16 different organic varieties grown in the U.S. 

Dates Nutrition 

Are dates healthy? Generally, yes! And far more so than most people think. 

Dates of all varieties boast a compelling nutritional profile. For starters, dates are a good source of several micronutrients, including vitamin A, iron, potassium, calcium, manganese, copper, and magnesium. They’re also high in dietary fiber and carbohydrates, with a single date containing nearly two grams and 18 grams, respectively. They’re also very energy-dense, with Medjool dates providing around 70 calories each. 

Dates are also rich in antioxidants. They contain many classes of bioactive plant compounds, including carotenoids, polyphenols, isoflavones, lignans, flavonoids, tannins, and sterols.

Given how incredibly sweet they are (even to folks who consume a lot of refined sugar), you might expect eating a date to send your blood sugar through the roof. But surprise: Dates have a low glycemic load. 

A study testing 5 date varieties found glycemic index values ranging from roughly 44 to 55 (solidly in the low GI range) in both healthy people and people with type 2 diabetes. Blood sugar response was similar between the two groups, suggesting that dates, in moderate amounts as part of a balanced diet, may be appropriate for people managing diabetes.

Benefits of Dates

In addition to being naturally sweet and nutritious, dates offer a range of benefits for your health and the environment. If you’re on the fence about including dates in your diet, consider what the following research says about their positive impacts. 

Health Benefits of Dates

1. Dates may support a healthy pregnancy and breastfeeding

I’m not sure how they came up with the idea, but apparently, some researchers woke up one day and thought, “Can dates speed up labor in women expecting their first child?” Actually, the question makes sense when you consider that giving birth is pretty much the most grueling endurance sport there is. Triathletes consume energy gels, bars, and drinks during their races, but so far, nobody has marketed “Birth Bars” to women in labor. 

In a 2017 study, Iranian researchers found that 91 women who consumed dates late in their pregnancy, beginning in the 37th week, experienced shorter labor and a reduced need for oxytocin to accelerate labor. The benefits were seen after eating the equivalent of eight to nine dates daily. 

A similar study found that women who consumed dates daily for four weeks toward the end of their pregnancy were much more likely to experience spontaneous labor. (“Spontaneous” here means labor wasn’t induced by drugs like oxytocin and prostaglandin or via c-section; not that the baby came out prior to full-term or emerged doing an improv set.) The date-eating mothers also had a significantly higher mean cervical dilatation (3.5 cm vs. 2 cm) upon admission compared to women who did not eat dates. And check out the difference in length of the first stage of delivery between the date eaters and the controls: 8.5 vs. 15.1 hours. That’s almost the entire first season of Bridgerton!

Dates have also been shown to help increase breast milk quantity in breastfeeding mothers. A randomized controlled trial published in Breastfeeding Medicine found that consuming 10 dates per day for four weeks led to a significant increase in breast milk volume. 

2. Dates may support women’s health across the lifespan

The benefits of dates for women extend well beyond pregnancy. A 2025 systematic review of 21 studies found that dates support women’s health across multiple life stages, from hormonal balance and improved ovulation in women with PCOS, to improvements in sexual function and performance in postmenopausal women. Few foods have been studied across such a wide range of women’s health outcomes, which makes dates worth knowing about at every stage of life.

3. Dates may protect your heart health

A 2009 comparative study examined the effects of eating Medjool and Hawaiian dates on heart health biomarkers. The authors found that eating 100 grams of dates (around 12 dates) per day for 4 weeks, especially Hawaiian types, improved serum triglycerides and oxidative stress. Despite their high natural sugar content, dates didn’t negatively affect blood sugar levels or blood fats, leading the authors to conclude they are anti-atherogenic, or helpful in preventing plaque buildup in arteries, which can lead to heart disease.

Animal and in vitro research suggests dates may help reduce high blood pressure and high cholesterol, largely thanks to their potassium content and cholesterol-lowering effects seen in rodent and rabbit studies. Dates are also rich in antioxidant compounds like phenolics and flavonoids, which may help protect against oxidative stress and inflammation that can harm the heart and overall health — though human clinical trials confirming these cardiovascular effects are still limited.

More recent research adds some nuance to the cholesterol picture. A 2025 meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that date consumption significantly reduced total cholesterol in patients with type 2 diabetes, which is good news for heart health. The effects on LDL (“bad”) cholesterol, HDL (“good”) cholesterol, and triglycerides were not significant, suggesting that while dates show promise, they’re not a magic bullet for full lipid panel improvement. As with most whole foods, they work best as part of an overall heart-healthy diet.

4. Dates may support healthy blood sugar management

A 2020 review published in the journal Foods discusses how dates contain antioxidant compounds that support healthy insulin sensitivity and blood glucose control, which can be beneficial for people with diabetes. Other research suggests that, despite their sweetness, dates contain compounds that can be helpful in the nutritional management of diabetes and other insulin-resistant conditions. 

5. Dates may protect against toxins and carcinogens

A lab study has shown that date flesh extract can help prevent chemically induced cellular mutations. Other studies have found that the antioxidants in dates can fight free radicals that cause oxidative damage, which can lead to cancer. Furthermore, animal studies have shown that dates may even have anti-tumor characteristics, though the mechanism isn’t entirely understood. 

6. Dates are anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial

Dates appear to have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects, helping prevent disease. Some studies have shown that date fruits can reduce swelling and inflammation biomarkers in the body. Additionally, date extract, particularly from the leaves and pits, has been shown to help fight off a number of viruses, fungi, and bacterial strains in lab studies.

Environmental Benefits of Dates

1. Dates can be zero-waste fruits

Date palms produce much more than just their sweet fruits. The main components of date palm biomass are the structural and fibrous compounds cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, which can be utilized in other ways. For instance, date palm biomass can be used to produce biofertilizers, biofuels, and fuel pellets that can replace coal in power plants and other industries. Date palm fibers and other biomass may even be used to make paper, transportation fuels, and heating energy.

Of course, just because it can be done doesn’t always mean it is. For instance, Oman practices a zero-waste growing system. But Saudi Arabia does not, opting instead to burn date palms, which causes air pollution.

2. Date palm fibers can remove toxic metals from the environment

Some research shows that date palm fibers can absorb heavy metals and toxic metals, such as lead, from the environment. Some scientists recommend using date palm waste for this purpose, as it’s a practical and low-cost solution to the accumulation of metals in the environment from industries such as batteries, petrochemicals, and newspapers.

3. Date palms are naturally hardy and drought-resistant

Date palms are well-suited to arid climates with hot summers. As climate change heats the world, this could make them increasingly popular in areas like the Middle East and the western U.S., where water can be scarce. 

Downsides To Eating Dates

Dates are packed with flavor and nutrition, but that doesn’t mean they come without potential considerations. 

Some people may experience gastrointestinal issues, like bloating, as a result of the fruit’s high sugar and fiber content. If you’re not used to eating dates, it’s probably a good idea to start with just one to make sure your body responds well to them, and then work up to more. 

Because dates are calorically dense and have a high sugar content, they may also contribute to unwanted weight gain if you treat them as a dietary staple. Just 1 date can add around 70 calories to your diet, so keep this in mind if you’re monitoring overall energy intake. 

Some commercial dried dates may contain sulfites — compounds the FDA banned from use on fresh fruits and vegetables in 1986 after identifying numerous cases of sulfite-induced asthma linked to their use, and which can still trigger allergic-type reactions or asthmatic episodes in susceptible people when present in processed foods like dried fruit. Keep this in mind, especially if you’ve ever experienced a reaction to other dried fruits. Allergy symptoms may include bloating, diarrhea, stomach pain, and even a skin rash in some people. Fortunately, sulfite-free dates are widely available.

Lastly, the high sugar content of dates makes them a potential factor in promoting tooth decay. This is less likely to be a risk if you practice regular oral hygiene. 

Choosing and Storing Dates 

To have the best experience with dates, it’s helpful to know how to choose and store them correctly. 

Despite their lack of popularity in the U.S., dates are available online and at many grocery stores, health food stores, and even farmers markets. Medjool dates are often eaten fresh, as a juicy fruit with a delicate flavor. But outside of California and the Middle East, fresh dates can be tricky to find. 

Dried dates are often sold in a plastic container at the store. When looking through your options, it’s okay if some have wrinkles; just avoid those that are so dry they are hard to the touch. Also, look for signs of sugar crystallization, which indicates moisture loss from aging. This will appear as white spots on the skin. 

If you’re in the U.S. and you’re looking for an online source of dates, you might consider Date People, a small farm that practices agroecology and sustainable growing techniques.

When you get your dates home, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for the longest shelf-life. This way, they’ll keep for several weeks before their sugars start to crystallize. In the freezer, you can revisit the same batch of dates for up to a year. 

How long do date seeds remain viable? In 2020, archeologists discovered 33 date seeds in the Judean Desert that were at least 2,000 years old. Scientists sprouted the seeds, six of which have grown into living plants. We’ll know in a few years if the female trees will bear fruit. 

Ways To Eat Dates

Dates can be enjoyed in a number of ways. They work perfectly as a natural sweetener in baking and desserts, in the form of date sugar, date syrup, date paste, or pureed dates.

Here are some ways to use dates: 

• In smoothies or date “shakes” — depending on your blender’s power and your patience, you can either pulverize them completely in liquid, or leave flecks of date floating in your shake
• To make a sweet and satisfying snack stuffed with nut butter or plant-based cream cheese
• Chopped as a topping over oatmeal
• As a main ingredient in date bars or energy balls
• Chopped and mixed into salads or sandwiches
• Made into a sweet, thickened sauce to use for veggies or tofu dishes

However you choose to use dates, be sure you remove the pits first, if they’re not already pitted, as a date pit can ruin a blender (or a tooth!). All you have to do is gently slice the date lengthwise with a knife and pull out the pit. I’ve occasionally found pits in dried dates labeled as “pitted,” so it’s a good practice to give even these dates a squeeze to make sure nothing is hiding inside. 

Pro tip: If your blender sounds like a jackhammer while making your smoothie, you may have accidentally dropped a date pit into the container. If this happens, stop blending. Date pits are probably tougher than the sides of your blender. 

3 Date-licious Recipes

One of the loveliest qualities of dates is that they can easily substitute for processed sugar in sweet or savory recipes, adding a natural sweetness that, to me, tastes even better. And as we’ve seen, they’re packed with nutrition like potassium, magnesium, antioxidants, and fiber. 

I suggest starting with the Super Simple Date Paste and keeping it in your fridge, so it’s ready to add to recipes all week long. You can also try dates in a savory recipe by making the Pomegranate Balsamic Dressing. And use whole dates for texture and natural sweetness in the satisfying and energizing Sesame Sunflower Chia Bites. Have fun experimenting with date paste or whole dates in a variety of recipes where you might want a little sweetness!

1. Super Simple Date Paste

Nutrient-packed, natural sweetness in desserts can come from fruit pastes, which are made by soaking dried fruit in water, sometimes with spices or citrus, and then pureeing the thick mixture until smooth. Dates are the most commonly used (in addition to figs, apricots, and mangos) due to their ability to sweeten everything from baked goods to muffins to dressings and sauces. Plus, dates add fiber, potassium, and magnesium, not to mention many other nutrients mentioned in this article!

2. Pomegranate Balsamic Dressing

Salad dressings are often laden with processed oils and sugar to thicken and add a little sweetness. Turns out, you can do that with date paste — its thick consistency and natural sweetness also add lots of nutritional value from fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients. Using date paste instead of processed sugar is one of our favorite ways to add a little sweetness or cut the acidity in sauce and dressing recipes! 

3. Sesame Sunflower Chia Bites

These nutritious bites are sweetened with whole, pitted dates that perfectly complement the nutty flavors of sesame and sunflower seeds. Dates’ carbohydrate content provides a natural source of energy, and seeds provide plant-based protein and healthy fats. Both dates and seeds offer lots of fiber, too. The combination of carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber makes for an ideal snack that sustains and satisfies!

The Fruit of Kings

Dates are a highly nutritious fruit with a storied history. They have a number of health and environmental benefits and a wide range of culinary uses, including as whole food, plant-based sweeteners. But do keep in mind that they’re quite calorie-dense, so you may want to use them in moderation if you’re monitoring your overall energy intake. 

Tell us in the comments:

• Do you enjoy dates? What are your favorite ways to use them?
• What are your favorite varieties of dates?
• Have you tried using dates in blended drinks? What’s your favorite combination?

Feature image: iStock.com/baibaz

Read Next:

• Exploring the Healthiest Sugar Alternatives: A Comprehensive Guide to Types of Sweeteners
• Vegan Substitutions for Cooking & Baking

The post Are Dates Good For You, or the Planet? appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

In promotional language rivaling that of movie studios promoting their Oscar nominees, chickpeas have been called “a prince among pulses” and even “the new cauliflower,” indicating that they’ve gone from back-of-the-pantry to kitchen staple status. One of their top qualities is their relatively neutral taste, which makes them a versatile base for many products and recipes. 

If your relationship with chickpeas has been limited by viewing them solely as a bean, I hope this article and its accompanying recipes will open your eyes to their near-endless possibilities. So let’s get into it. What are the benefits of chickpeas? Are there any downsides to eating them? And what are some creative ways to use chickpeas?

What Are Chickpeas?

Chickpeas are legumes, like peas, lentils, and other beans. They’re also called garbanzos, which sounds like the name of a clown or a faithful squire in a novel from the Golden Age of Spain. In many English-speaking countries, the terms are used interchangeably (chickpea and garbanzo, not clown and squire). 

Some Italian brands of canned chickpeas I’ve seen on supermarket shelves call them “ceci,” which comes from the Latin word for the bean: cicer. Apparently, the Roman orator Cicero got his name from an ancestor who had a cleft at the end of his nose that resembled a chickpea, which is a fact I’m betting you weren’t expecting to learn today.

In Hindi and Gujarati, chickpeas are known as chana; if you’re at an Indian restaurant and have a hankering for chickpea curry, look for chana masala on the menu. 

Chickpeas are also common in many African and Middle Eastern cuisines, where they’re sometimes known as Egyptian peas. Geographically speaking, this isn’t a bad guess: The original plant likely originated in what is now southeastern Turkey or northern Syria — just around the corner from Egypt. 

Chickpea is the world’s second most widely grown legume (the soybean takes top honors, and I don’t have good statistics for jelly beans). While archaeobotanists like to argue about which crops were the big stars in the birth of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent, most consider the chickpea one of the eight founder crops, along with ancient varieties of wheat, barley, flaxseeds, and lentils. 

Although the chickpea you most commonly find in stores is tan or beige, there are also yellow, red, dark green, and brown varieties. 

Chickpea Nutrition

Chickpeas, like other legumes, are among the most nutritious foods on the planet. They’re a healthy source of fiber, plant-based protein, and a number of vitamins and minerals. 

A one-cup serving of cooked chickpeas boasts the following basic nutritional profile: 

• 269 calories
• 14.5 grams of protein
• 12.5 grams of fiber
• 49 grams of carbohydrates
• 73% of the Daily Value (DV) for manganese
• 64% DV for copper
• 71% DV for folate
• 26% DV for iron
• 19% DV for magnesium
• 16% DV for thiamin (B1)

Wow — check out the impressive stats for a bunch of essential minerals — copper, iron, and magnesium — in just one cup of chickpeas. They’re also a good source of B vitamins (especially folate and thiamin), which are important for metabolism, tissue health, and disease prevention.

The Health Benefits of Chickpeas

OK, so chickpeas are a great source of a bunch of nutrients. Is there evidence that eating them can benefit your health? 

Indeed, research shows that eating garbanzo beans — including the hummus you can make from them — is associated with a number of health benefits, including a lower risk of various diseases and improved overall nutritional status.

 1. Chickpeas and Cancer

Beans are the first “B” in the acronym G-BOMBS (the second B is for berries, which are also great, but not the star of this article), coined by my friend and colleague Dr. Joel Fuhrman. G-BOMBS (Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries, Seeds) names some of the best anticancer and health-promoting foods on the planet, and the mnemonic encourages you to incorporate them into your diet on a daily basis.

Beans like chickpeas are a rich source of nutrient-dense carbohydrates that digest slowly, helping stabilize blood sugar. They contain high levels of fiber and resistant starch, which the bacteria in your intestines ferment, creating cancer-preventing fatty acids in the process. 

Those fatty acids help generate an intestinal environment inhospitable to cancer growth. In fact, including chickpeas and other legumes at least twice per week may cut your risk for colon cancer in half!

The anticancer potential of chickpeas goes deeper than fiber alone; there appears to be something special about chickpea proteins as well. A 2023 review published in Frontiers in Nutrition found that bioactive peptides derived from those proteins do a bunch of useful things in the body that help fight cancer.

How do you get a hold of these peptides? It’s easy — they’re produced when chickpea protein is broken down, which happens both during cooking and digestion. That’s right — your bowl of chana masala or tub of hummus is a veritable natural pharmacy ready to deliver goodness to your cells. The emerging science suggests that chickpeas work on multiple fronts to support your body’s natural defenses against cancer — a compelling reason to make them a regular feature on your plate.

2. Are Chickpeas Good for Your Heart?

A 2015 study found that legumes like chickpeas can help prevent and manage several health conditions. 

For example, a high intake of legumes is associated with a lower risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. And eating beans like chickpeas may help lower blood fats, like LDL “bad” cholesterol, which are known to raise your risk of developing heart disease. 

A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that proteins taken from various pulses significantly decreased LDL cholesterol. The authors recommended using these pulses to prevent and manage cardiovascular disease.

3. Metabolic Benefits of Chickpeas

Eating chickpeas may also make you less likely to develop metabolic syndrome. This describes a group of harmful conditions associated with type 2 diabetes and heart disease. 

According to a 2020 study published in Applied Sciences, which examined data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2005–2016), adults who regularly ate chickpeas and hummus were, respectively, 48% and 62% less likely to have metabolic syndrome.

When combined with high glycemic foods, chickpeas can help reduce the overall glycemic load of the whole meal of which they’re a part. Because of their high fiber content, they can help slow the rise in blood sugar and insulin response. 

One study found that adding chickpeas to white rice at a meal significantly reduced the glycemic response compared to eating white rice alone.

4. Chickpeas and Weight Loss

Eating beans has also been found to help keep you feeling fuller, which can prevent overeating and unwanted weight gain. Consuming beans like chickpeas is also associated with lower body weight, smaller waist circumference, and a reduced risk of obesity in epidemiologic studies.

A 2024 review that examined 30 clinical and observational studies, including randomized controlled trials and cohort studies, found consistent evidence that pulse consumption, including chickpeas, supports a range of positive health outcomes. The review reinforces what earlier research has long suggested. The combination of high fiber, plant-based protein, and a low glycemic index makes chickpeas one of the more effective whole foods for managing appetite and supporting healthy body weight over time.

5. Are Chickpeas Good for Your Gut?

We’ve seen that garbanzo bean fiber can feed your gut bacteria, which ferment it into health-promoting fatty acids. These and other fermentation byproducts can also contribute to improved digestive health. 

Legume consumption is associated with better bowel regularity and a lower incidence of constipation. Plus, chickpeas may help reduce inflammation in the GI tract. 

A 2018 animal study (our view on animals in medical research is here) found that supplementing the diet of mice with 20% cooked chickpea flour for 3 weeks before being induced with an inflammatory colon condition reduced inflammatory biomarkers compared with mice not given the chickpea supplement. (Of course, it would be nice if humans could just give the mice chickpeas, without having to give them a disease, too.)

A 2024 review confirmed that chickpeas support gut health by improving intestinal integrity and serving as an energy source for the gut microbiota, and provided additional evidence for the beans’ anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities.

Downsides To Eating Chickpeas

If you’re new to chickpeas, there are a few things to take into account before you make them a dietary staple. 

Gas from Garbanzo Beans

Like any bean, some people may take time to adjust to the fiber content in garbanzos. If you’re not used to eating a lot of fiber-rich foods in your diet — like raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and other legumes — chickpeas may cause digestive symptoms like increased gas, abdominal cramps, or bloating. 

However, one study suggests that consumer perception of the link between eating beans and unwanted gas may be exaggerated. (Sadly, the published study, soberly titled “Perceptions of flatulence from bean consumption among adults in 3 feeding studies,” did not reference the ditty that starts with “Beans, beans, the musical fruit” — possibly because accurate attribution of authorship may be impossible to ascertain.)

To minimize gas while eating chickpeas, start with a small number of beans and increase your intake slowly. Be sure to drink plenty of water for smoother digestion. 

What About Antinutrients? 

Chickpeas, like other beans, contain phytates and lectins, which have been the subject of some nutritional controversy. Phytates have been dubbed “antinutrients” because they can inhibit the absorption of certain micronutrients when eaten around the same time. 

The so-called antinutrients bind to certain essential minerals, including iron, calcium, zinc, and magnesium, which can make those minerals harder for your body to access and metabolize. This sounds like a bummer, but it’s been made out to be more alarming than it actually is for most people. 

Phytates and lectins seem to be most problematic when consumed in raw form. But last I checked, most of us aren’t sitting down to eat a bowl full of uncooked garbanzos. (If you are, I suspect your dentist would like a word with you!)

You can significantly reduce the phytate and lectin content of legumes simply by cooking them. If you choose to cook chickpeas in their dry form, soaking them will reduce phytates and increase the bioavailability of some of their nutrients. It’s ideal to soak beans for 24-48 hours, rinsing twice daily, before cooking.

Sprouting and fermenting also help neutralize phytates and lectins and increase mineral availability. Since canned chickpeas are pre-cooked, they will naturally have a lower phytate content as well.

Since garbanzos are not eaten raw (unless sprouted, and even then, I’d recommend cooking them), most of the phytates are destroyed before they hit your plate. Even so, if you’re still worried about their effects, eating chickpeas with foods rich in vitamin C (which tends to support nutrient absorption) can help make sure you’re absorbing the vitamins and minerals you need.

Chickpea Allergy

While not as commonly heard about as peanut or dairy allergies, chickpea allergies can occur. This is more likely if there is already an allergy to other legumes, especially lentils and peas. 

The most frequent reaction to chickpeas is hives or other skin reactions. If you suspect you have a chickpea allergy or have been diagnosed with one, it’s best to avoid chickpeas and products made with them. 

Glyphosate in Chickpeas

Glyphosate, an herbicide manufactured by Bayer and the primary active ingredient in the controversial Roundup, is sprayed on crops such as wheat, chickpeas, and other legumes as a desiccant to speed up harvesting. Glyphosate is widely considered an endocrine disruptor and a probable carcinogen. It’s also been patented as an antibiotic. Because of this, some caution may be warranted when consuming large amounts of conventionally grown chickpeas and products made with them, including hummus and chickpea pasta. 

Fortunately, organic foods cannot be sprayed with glyphosate. While they, like most foods today, could still contain minuscule amounts due to cross-contamination, levels are much lower. 

What should you do to avoid glyphosate exposure? Try to choose chickpeas and hummus that are lower in glyphosate or have non-detectable amounts according to the EWG test results table. Or just go organic!

Are Chickpeas Sustainable?

One of the biggest questions that many eco-conscious consumers have about popular foods is whether they’re sustainable. I’m happy to report that, when it comes to chickpeas, the answer is a solid yes. 

Chickpeas can help restore soil, and, if they’re well managed, even sequester carbon from the atmosphere. (Basically, that means taking carbon out of the air and containing it in organic matter in the soil, where it doesn’t negatively affect the climate.) Like all legumes, garbanzo beans also leave behind extra nitrogen in the soil they’re grown in. This benefits the crops planted in those beds in the future and reduces the need for fertilizer. 

Researchers from Trinity College Dublin deem chickpea pasta a more sustainable alternative to pastas and grain products made from wheat. And they appear to be healthier for the consumer, too. The chickpea alternative was found to contain one and a half times more protein and over three times more fiber than durum wheat pasta.

Chickpea Foods and Products

Chickpeas in their whole-bean form come dry or canned. Stored in a cool, dark place, dried chickpeas will keep for at least a year. The use-by date for canned beans typically gives you a couple of years after purchase, so both are excellent options for pantry staples. 

With the popularity of chickpeas soaring, food companies have jumped on the bandwagon to offer a wide array of new chickpea products. Wheat-free chickpea pastas, including shapes such as rotini and penne, are showing up on supermarket shelves. Roasted seasoned chickpeas, chickpea puffs, and chips are also now regulars in the snack aisle. 

Chickpea flour is a gluten-free option you may already be able to find in the baking aisle. 

And that old staple, hummus (along with other chickpea-based dips), continues to sell well, with new varieties and flavor profiles coming to market all the time. 

How To Use Chickpeas

Chickpeas are super easy to incorporate into your diet and require very little prep work. If you choose to buy them canned, all you have to do is drain and rinse them. 

If you buy dried garbanzos, you’ll have to soak and cook them. 

To soak chickpeas, cover them with water in a large pot and let them soak for 24–48 hours, rinsing twice a day. Then, you can either cook them by simmering them in fresh water on the stove, in a crockpot, or in a pressure cooker (this last method can cut the cooking time way down). 

You might want to add a bay leaf or a little dried kombu (a sea vegetable) to the cooking water for extra flavor. Spices like fennel, cumin, caraway, ginger, and turmeric are great flavoring agents for garbanzos and can even make them more digestible.

Here are a bunch of ways to use cooked chickpeas in your own culinary creations:

• Dips like hummus
• Seasoned and dry-roasted in the oven for a snack
• In Indian dishes like chana masala, dals, or curries
• In soups and stews
• As a binder for veggie burgers and patties
• As a topping for dishes like baked sweet potatoes or salads
• Mashed and used in place of canned chicken or tuna in chickpea salad sandwiches
• Blended in a food processor with peanut butter, oats, and dates as a base for high-protein snack balls (see the recipe for Oatmeal Chickpea No-Bake Cookie Dough below!)

The liquid from cooked and canned chickpeas that most people generally discard is called aquafaba (Latin for “bean water”). You can use it in baked goods as a binder and a vegan alternative to eggs. You can even whip it into a meringue! Simply whip it with a bit of cream of tartar and watch a stiff foam form in a matter of minutes.

3 Creative Chickpea Recipes

The recipes below are just the tip of the iceberg (or “the tip of Cicero’s ancestor’s nose,” to coin a new phrase) when it comes to making a wide range of delicious and healthy chickpea creations. 

We weren’t sure whether to start or end with the Oatmeal Chickpea No-Bake Cookie Dough, since this recipe could easily serve as a sustainable breakfast or a healthy treat, thanks to its high fiber and protein content. We’ll let you choose, so let us know which way you love most. 

If you’re a crunchy snacker, Moroccan Baked Chickpeas will soon be your BFF with their worldly flavor. 

And finally, move over black beans; it’s time to experiment with another bean for a super-flavorful, samosa-style chickpea-and-potato burger that’s as tasty as it is easy to make!

1. Oatmeal Chickpea No-Bake Cookie Dough

This recipe is sure to confirm your notion that chickpeas are pretty magical. In this Oatmeal Chickpea No-Bake Cookie Dough, high-protein, high-fiber chickpeas create the most delicious cookie dough you can enjoy straight out of the jar or bake into a soft, chewy treat. With 7 grams of plant-based protein and over 5 grams of fiber per serving, plus flavor to boot, you can’t go wrong with this tasty and nutritious snack!

2. Moroccan Baked Chickpeas

Do you consider yourself a crunchy snacker? Looking for an ideal nibble to replace those chips that aren’t serving your health so well? Chickpeas get perfectly crunchy in the oven (with a little tossing in between). All you have to do is add your favorite seasonings. This flavorful, Moroccan-style baked chickpea snack will get you started on a healthier, high-fiber, protein-rich alternative to traditionally fried, salty chips.

3. Chickpea and Potato Samosa Burgers

Chickpeas make fabulous burgers, and if you love Indian spice as much as we do, then trust us, these burgers might make it to your recipe library of fame. Serve them with mint chutney and plant-based yogurt, and top with plenty of veggies like pickled onions, leafy greens, or sliced tomato for the ultimate chickpea burger experience.

Chickpeas Deserve a Spotlight in Your Kitchen

Chickpeas are an increasingly popular plant food, and for good reason. Like other legumes, they’re highly nutritious and a good source of plant-based protein. As well as offering many important health benefits, they’re a sustainable crop with a wide variety of uses in cooking and baking. 

While there are a few potential downsides to consuming chickpeas, including exposure to glyphosate in some non-organic products, they can make an important contribution to a varied and whole food-based diet.

Tell us in the comments:

• What are your favorite ways to eat garbanzos? What new ways are you considering trying them in your diet?
• Have you ever used aquafaba in baking? What did you think?
• Have you noticed an increased presence of chickpea products in your local markets?

Feature image: iStock.com/nito100

Read Next:

• Benefits of Beans + 12 Recipes That Will Make You Love Them
• Gluten-Free: Is it for Everyone?

The post Chickpeas 101: Health Benefits, Downsides & What to Make with Them appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Mine is. I love peanut butter, whether I slather it onto a slice of whole-grain bread, mix it into a curry sauce, or meld it into a warm, satisfying soup.

One of my secret late-night snacks is a banana dipped in peanut butter. (Oops, the secret’s out.) I also smear it into the grooves of celery sticks. And my dad used sometimes to spread peanut butter on a slice of cantaloupe!

There are endless ways to enjoy peanut butter, but that leads me to an important question. Can a food that tasty and creamy actually be good for you?

If you’re in the 2% of people who have a peanut allergy, the answer is clearly no — cases of anaphylactic shock that can arise from peanut exposure can be life-threatening. And if you suffer from arachibutyrophobia (the fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth, which is a real thing that’s probably related to a more generalized fear of choking), the nutritional profile of peanut butter may also be beside the point. But for the rest of us, let’s explore the humble peanut and see what’s what.

Peanut Butter Basics

Did you know that peanuts aren’t nuts? Botanically speaking, they’re actually legumes, in the same family as beans, peas, and lentils. But from culinary and nutritional perspectives, they are indeed very much like nuts.

Grind roasted peanuts into a paste and voila! You’ve got peanut butter.

Who came up with the idea of mashing up peanuts, anyway? 

George Washington Carver, an American botanist and inventor, is often erroneously credited with inventing peanut butter. Carver did find a lot of uses for peanuts — over 300 to be exact — but (mythbusting alert!) peanut butter wasn’t one of them.

There’s evidence that, long before Carver, roasted peanuts were being ground up by the Aztecs and Incas.

In the 19th century, peanut butter turned into a commercially available product thanks to several enterprising businesspeople. Marcellus Gilmore Edson patented peanut paste in 1884. In 1895, Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (the corn flake fellow) patented a new process for making peanut butter and then advertised it as a protein for people without teeth.

You can now find peanut butter-flavored everything, from cookies to snack bars to cereals. Peanut butter itself comes blended with many flavors now, too — chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, maple, and even cookie dough.

Peanut Butter Nutrition

People love peanut butter because it’s affordable, simple, versatile, and (to most people, though definitely not everyone), delicious. Is it also nutritious? Let’s see what it has to offer. 

1) Peanuts Provide Healthy Plant Protein

Around 25% of the calories in peanuts come from protein, making them a great plant-based protein source. For you number-crunchers, that comes out to about 8 grams of protein per 2-tablespoon serving of peanut butter. (And for those of us who’ve been known to eat it straight from the jar with a spoon, two tablespoons sure feels like a serving.)

Peanuts offer more protein than any actual nuts. They also contain all 20 amino acids used by the human body, including arginine, which is important for heart health.

2) Peanuts Have Complex Carbohydrates and Fiber

Peanut butter contains complex carbohydrates. And if you’re eating one of the natural varieties with no added sugar, it’s low on the glycemic index scale, so it won’t spike your blood sugar.

Peanut butter also provides fiber (about 1 gram per tablespoon), which will help you feel fuller longer. That fiber feeds not only you; it also nourishes the beneficial bacteria in your microbiome so they have enough energy to do their important work on your behalf.

3) Peanuts Contain Important Vitamins, Minerals, and Are Nutrient-Dense

Peanuts are a rich source of manganese, niacin, vitamin E, magnesium, and phosphorus. They also provide a wide range of antioxidants, boasting as many antioxidants as strawberries. (That was unfair; I’ve never heard a peanut boast about anything. For all their goodness, they’re quite humble.) Despite their humble demeanor, peanuts are both energy- and nutrient-dense. They’re also a highly filling food. 

Because they’re so filling, peanuts have been used as an important source of nutrition for people on difficult expeditions to remote areas and under challenging conditions. Peanuts have helped people travel to Antarctica, fly into space, and trek all over the world. Peanuts have also played a crucial role in confronting malnutrition in several African countries. 

The downside of peanut butter’s energy density is that it’s possible to eat too much. Those 2 innocent tablespoons I (I mean someone) just scooped out of the jar contain 194 calories, including over 15 grams of fat. While the role of fat in weight gain is hotly debated, it’s reasonable to think that, if used as a staple food and eaten in large quantities, peanut butter might not help you lose weight.

Health Benefits of Peanut Butter

With all those nutrients, you might suspect that peanut butter confers health benefits. And you might be right, too!

1) Peanuts Can Decrease Cell Damage and Inflammation

All those antioxidants in peanuts help your body counteract oxidative stress that can lead to chronic disease. 

Peanuts contain one particularly potent antioxidant, resveratrol, which may help reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and cancer.

2) Peanuts Can Be Good for Your Heart 

A 2015 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at the impacts of nut consumption on mortality risk among just under 72,000 European and African Americans of low socioeconomic status.

They found that those individuals who ate the most nuts — especially peanuts (which they considered a “nut for the purposes of the study”) — had the lowest risk of death overall and from cardiovascular disease, in particular. 

3) Peanuts Can Help Prevent Cancer 

A 2018 study in the Nutrition Journal looked at peanut, pine nut, and almond consumption among 923 colorectal cancer patients and 1,846 controls in Korea. For both men and women, a higher intake of nuts (at least 3 servings per week) was strongly associated with a reduced risk for colorectal cancer. 

A 2013 study published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment followed 9,000 preteen girls for 15 years and found that those who ate peanut butter regularly had a 39% lower risk of developing benign breast disease as young women. This matters because certain forms of benign breast disease are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer later in life.

4) Peanuts Can Help Keep Your Brain Healthy 

Peanuts are rich in unsaturated fats, vitamin E, and B vitamins, all of which are important for brain health. 

Some studies have shown that eating nuts can help improve cognition, memory, and recall. The 2020 ARISTOTLE study and related lab findings suggest that peanut and peanut butter consumption may benefit brain function and reduce stress in healthy adults, possibly due to bioactive compounds like polyphenols and antioxidants.

Other studies have found that peanuts, in particular, produce a specific brainwave associated with better sleep, improved immunity, and the body’s natural healing ability. 

And the niacin in peanuts has been found to be beneficial in preventing Alzheimer’s disease. 

5) Peanuts Can Help Fight Stress 

No, I’m not talking about feeling better after stress-eating a few tablespoons straight from the jar. Peanut butter contains a phytosterol called beta-sitosterol, which has been shown to help normalize high cortisol levels in studies of endurance athletes.

Cortisol is also known as the body’s stress hormone, so eating peanut butter may help manage feelings of anxiety. 

The Controversial Side of Peanut Butter

The ingredient list for peanut butter can be as simple as: peanuts.

Some manufacturers, though, add ingredients to change the flavor and texture, and even alter the nutritional profile. Some of these additives can be downright dangerous.

Where and how peanuts used to make peanut butter are grown can also affect the healthfulness of the end product.

6 Things to Consider Avoiding in Your Peanut Butter

While peanut butter requires only “ground peanuts,” some commercial varieties contain problematic substances. In addition, even some “peanut-only” brands may raise health concerns. 

1. Sugar 

Sugar is used to add sweetness to peanut butter. I was recently at the store looking for a new brand of peanut butter to try, and was appalled by how many of them (even varieties labeled “natural”) contained added sugar. 

I’m sure you don’t need another lecture on the health problems that are caused by added sugar. It’s a primary culprit behind obesity, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and practically every other major chronic disease of our times. And it’s not just in donuts and candy. A surprising amount of the sugar in the modern diet is snuck in as an additive to foods (like peanut butter!). 

(If you would like to explore the problems with refined sugar, and discover some healthier alternatives, without a lecture, check out our comprehensive article here: “Exploring the Healthiest Sugar Alternatives: A Comprehensive Guide to Types of Sweeteners.”)

Both Skippy and Jif regular peanut butters feature sugar as the second ingredient, with Skippy adding 4 grams per 2-tablespoon serving and Jif slightly less.

2. Salt 

Salted peanut butter can contain 50 to 75 milligrams of sodium per tablespoon. 

If you use peanut butter frequently and want to minimize your sodium intake, look for unsalted versions. Relatedly, if you make your own peanut butter at home, purchase unsalted peanuts. 

3. Oil

As if 15 grams of fat in every 2 tablespoons wasn’t enough, many peanut butters also contain added oils. 

Some of the biggest peanut butter brands, like Skippy, use fully hydrogenated oil, which has been linked to many health problems, including heart disease. 

Many of the more natural brands of “no-stir” peanut butter contain added palm oil. In addition to being a source of saturated fat, this comes with ethical concerns. Palm oil plantations are a major driver of deforestation in the rainforests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. Bulldozing old-growth forests to plant rows of oil palms destroys the homes of Native people and already endangered species, like orangutans. 

There are also reports of palm oil corporations violating human rights. Farmland and forests are cleared without permission, and the companies involved provide unsafe working conditions and inadequate pay to their workers. If you’re going to eat palm oil and you don’t want to contribute to these major problems, look for a “fair trade” certification as a step in the right direction.

4. Aflatoxins 

You may be surprised to learn that peanuts don’t grow on trees or bushes. They grow underground. And since they grow best in hot climates, they’re susceptible to fungal infections. When it’s humid as well as hot, some of these fungi produce a class of toxins known as aflatoxins. They’re concerning because they have been known to increase cancer risk in humans. 

Peanuts are not the only potential culprit here; other foods at risk for containing aflatoxins include corn, figs, cereals, cottonseed, and tree nuts. 

How do you choose peanut butter with the lowest amount of aflatoxins? 

DrWeil.com reports that when Consumers Union tested a variety of peanut butter brands, the lowest aflatoxin concentrations were found in the best-known brands, while the highest levels occurred in fresh ground peanut butter at supermarkets. The National Cancer Institute of the U.S. National Institutes of Health recommends buying only “major commercial brands of nuts and nut butters” to avoid this contaminant.

In general, I’m a fan of fresh foods and local production. But due to the aflatoxin concern, when it comes to peanut butter, it seems wise to opt for a variety produced by a well-known company that contains only peanuts (and maybe salt) as ingredients. 

This is one food where it’s best to steer clear of the bulk bins and “fresh ground” found in many natural foods stores.

If you choose to purchase your own peanuts and grind your own butter at home, be sure to examine and throw out any nuts that don’t look right. Moldy, shriveled, or discolored peanuts belong in the compost pile, not in your peanut butter. 

And as a side note, researchers at Johns Hopkins University found some evidence that certain plant compounds may counteract the negative effects of aflatoxins. These include chlorophyll in green vegetables like spinach and phytochemicals in root vegetables such as carrots and parsnips. (Here at Food Revolution Network, we can’t resist praising fresh produce, even in an article about peanut butter!)

5. Pesticides 

Unless you buy organic peanut butter, the jar likely contains pesticides. 

According to the USDA Pesticide Data Program, 13 pesticides are commonly found in peanut butter. 

The most common is called piperonyl butoxide, a known endocrine disruptor, a possible carcinogen, and a threat to honeybees. 

When consuming peanut butter, the best way to reduce your exposure to pesticides is to purchase a certified organic brand.

6. Genetically Modified Ingredients

Another reason to avoid peanut butters with added hydrogenated oil is that the oil used usually comes from a genetically modified crop. 

Rapeseed, soybean, or cottonseed oil are some of the most commonly used. The majority of these crops are genetically modified in the United States and Canada.

There’s been talk of another genetically modified component that may eventually reach jars of peanut butter everywhere: allergy-free peanuts.

Researchers can edit peanut genes in experimental settings and are actively working to reduce allergenic proteins, but this hasn’t yet produced peanut products that are safe for people with peanut allergies to eat or are available to consumers. Extensive additional research, testing, and regulatory approval are still required. And there are some doubts about whether the result would be as rosy as promised, but it is something to keep in mind for the future if you want to avoid GMOs, or on the flip side, if you or someone in your household has a peanut allergy. (For more on GMOs, also known as bioengineered foods, see our article here.)

A Note on Peanut Allergies

Odds are you know someone with a peanut allergy. 

What’s interesting is that there’s evidence that suggests we might not be as allergic to food itself as we are to what’s being done to food. 

For instance, in the United States, our food system is teeming with GMOs, artificial flavorings and ingredients, fillers, chemicals, and dyes. Peanut butter is no exception. 

Peanut allergies have seen a dramatic increase in the last generation. Around 2.5% of children are now allergic to peanuts, which is a 21% increase since 2010. 

The good news is that we’re more aware of this as a society, medical professionals are better equipped to diagnose and treat them, and parents have more ways to help prevent their kids from developing peanut allergies. 

In 2017, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases released new guidelines recommending that high-risk infants — those with severe eczema or egg allergy — be introduced to peanut-containing foods as early as 4 to 6 months of age to reduce their risk of developing peanut allergy.

And it goes without saying, but it’s worth saying again: If you have a peanut allergy, don’t eat peanuts.

How to Choose the Healthiest Peanut Butter

To select the best quality, healthiest peanut butter, here are some guidelines:

• Choose organic to reduce pesticide and GMO exposure
• Make sure it contains only peanuts, without unnecessary extras like sugar and oils
• Avoid the bulk bins and little-known brands due to aflatoxin risk
• Choose kinds that separate; healthy peanut butter needs stirring

Making your own peanut butter is also incredibly easy. 

In a high-speed blender or food processor, simply add peanuts and blend until a paste forms. You can even add a little cinnamon, vanilla, raisins, or dates to give it a different flavor. 

The Verdict: (The Right) Peanut Butter Can Be Healthy

Most of the peanut butter eaten today is loaded with added sugars, salt, and genetically engineered hydrogenated oil. Then it’s often paired with sugary jam and smeared on white flour bread. 

Unless you work for the Skippy PR department, you’ll probably agree with me that this is not a healthy way to eat.

But it’s not the peanut’s fault! 

A healthy peanut butter made with nothing more than peanuts can be a fabulous addition to most people’s diets. It’s a remarkably affordable source of abundant protein and fiber, as well as many other nutrients. And it tastes pretty good, too!

Tell us in the comments:

• Do you eat peanut butter? Why or why not?

• If you do, what are your favorite ways to enjoy it?

• Now that you know the answer to the question “Is peanut butter good for you?”, do you have any other questions about peanut butter?

Read Next:

• You won’t believe how healthy nuts are for you

The post Is Peanut Butter Healthy? Everything You Need to Know appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

In the U.S., however, about 97% of the cows raised for beef spend the end of their lives in feedlots, where they’re fed corn and soy instead of their natural diet. There are two big problems with this arrangement. 

First, land that’s used to grow corn and soy for cattle isn’t available for other, better uses: healthy produce for humans, or wild pastureland or forest. 

Second, cattle are not suited to consume corn or soybeans, so they convert it into themselves — into our meat — quite inefficiently. Since it takes anywhere from 4 to as many as 20 pounds of grain to make a pound of feedlot-derived beef (depending on who is doing the calculation and what they include), we actually get far less food out than we put in. What we’ve created is effectively a protein factory in reverse. And we do this on a massive scale, while nearly 650 million people on our planet face hunger, and over 2 billion experience moderate or severe food insecurity.

Around the world, people are waking up to the harms of industrialized beef. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is calling on humanity to eat less meat to help save the planet. Organizations such as the American Heart Association and the National Cancer Institute are urging consumers to eat less (or no) red meat to help fight heart disease and cancer.

A small number of municipal governments have taken action: several UK councils, including Lewisham, Faversham, and Hythe, have committed to serving only plant-based food at council events, while some Canadian cities, such as Vancouver, have considered similar procurement policies. Health Canada’s national food guide also now recommends choosing plant-based proteins more often., while 67 cities globally have signed the Plant-based Treaty, aligned with the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change 2015 Paris Agreement, pledging to “halt the widespread degradation of critical ecosystems caused by animal agriculture” and promote shifts toward plant-based diets. Perhaps most significantly, China, which is home to 1.3 billion people (nearly one-fifth of the world’s population), has made reducing meat consumption by 50% an official government policy to support both public and environmental health.

The Rise of Grass-fed Beef

Despite the calls for consumers to eat less meat to fight climate change and other environmental harms — as well as research showing that red meat isn’t doing your health any favors — beef consumption in the U.S. has been on the rise over the past two decades. This is partly due to the rapid growth in the sales of grass-fed beef. 

Advocates for grass-fed beef say it has health and environmental benefits compared to conventionally raised beef. Marketers and enthusiasts praise it as a healthy food rich in protein, B vitamins, iron, and other nutrients. And some environmentalists gush over the theory that properly managed grass-fed beef could help sequester carbon in the ground, helping fight climate change while restoring topsoil. 

And consumers are responding. Financial analysts estimate the current grass-fed beef market at around $13.5 billion, projecting it to rise to over $21 billion by 2035. The reasons include “a shift in consumer preferences toward healthier… food choices” and “rising awareness surrounding the importance of animal welfare and sustainability in farming practices.”

Are those good reasons, or is it industry hype, seeking to soothe the consciences of a bunch of environmentally conflicted burger-lovers? Is grass-fed beef really better for you, the animals, and the environment than conventional beef? Will it save our topsoil and reverse climate change? And what is grass-fed beef, anyway?

Before the 1950s, grass-fed beef was just called “beef.” That was the way meat cattle were raised. Cows got to live longer back then, sometimes reaching their 3rd birthdays. (For context, cows live 15–20 years on average, with the oldest known cow, Big Bertha, reaching her 49th year on a farm in lush County Kerry, Ireland.)

In the middle of the 20th century, as the popularity of hamburgers and fast food in the U.S. grew, farmers and ranchers needed a way to fatten up cows faster, so they started feeding them energy-dense grain and soy instead of grass. 

Today, most cattle in the United States start out eating grass, but are fattened — or what the industry euphemistically calls “finished” — on grain and soy for their last 160–180 days of life. While this accounts for barely a third of their lifespan, more than half of their weight gain occurs during this final half-year. Cows that are fattened up in these Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) reach their slaughter weight in around 15 months. 

Grass-fed cows, on the other hand, feed on grass and other forage for their entire lives. Since the grass they eat is much less calorie-dense than feedlot grain, they’re sent to slaughter later, usually between 18 months and 2 years old. Their average weight at slaughter is about 1,200 pounds, compared with about 1,400 pounds for feedlot cows. 

And keep in mind that most of that weight is hoof, hide, bone, excess fat, and inedible body parts. Grass-fed cattle carry less finishing fat and proportionally larger digestive organs, so they dress out at a lower percentage of live weight than grain-fed cattle (roughly 53–58% versus 60–64%). The actual edible meat on a 1,200-pound grass-fed steer might be around 400–430 pounds, whereas the edible meat on a grain-fed CAFO steer might be around 570 pounds.

So grass-fed cows live longer and yield less edible meat than their grain-fed counterparts.

Is Grass-Fed Beef Better than Conventional Beef?

We’ve seen some of the claims that grass-fed beef is better than conventional beef; what does the research tell us? Let’s take a look at the three main areas where grass-fed beef is said to be a better option: nutrition, the environment, and the treatment of animals. 

Grass-Fed Beef Nutrition

While grass-fed beef is marketed as nutritionally superior, the actual health benefits are marginal. For example, proponents tell us that grass-fed beef contains roughly 3 times more omega-3 fatty acids than grain-fed beef. And it’s true. But according to research from Texas A&M University, this “superior” amount is still nutritionally negligible. A 4-ounce grass-fed patty provides only about 55 mg of ALA, which is a tiny 3% to 5% of the daily recommended intake (1.1 g for women, 1.6 g for men). Those numbers are tiny compared to a single tablespoon of ground flaxseed (about 2,350 mg of ALA) or chia seeds (about 1,800 mg), or an ounce of walnuts (about 2,600 mg) — all figures from USDA FoodData Central. Fatty fish supply the more bioactive long-chain omega-3s EPA and DHA directly: a 100-gram cooked serving provides anywhere from roughly 900 mg (trout, sardines) to just over 2,000 mg (anchovy, herring, salmon), depending on species. Even a single tablespoon of canola oil provides over 1.4 grams. Ultimately, trying to source omega-3s from beef is like trying to hydrate by eating a cracker; the levels are so low that the distinction between grass-fed and conventional beef doesn’t actually make a difference for human health.

When it comes to vitamins and minerals, the differences between grass-fed and conventional beef are generally modest. While grass-fed beef contains higher levels of vitamins A and E, the concentrations of essential minerals like iron and zinc remain comparable across both types. Ultimately, these minor variations aren’t dramatic enough to significantly alter the overall nutritional profile.

In other words, switching from conventional to grass-fed beef may slightly tweak the nutritional profile in a beneficial direction. But it doesn’t transform it into a “health food.” In fact, grass-fed beef is a bit higher in saturated fat and in trans fats, which are linked to an increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. 

And then there’s cancer. Red meat of all kinds, including grass-fed beef, is labeled a class 2A carcinogen by the World Health Organization, meaning that it’s “probably cancer-causing” to humans. 

Recent research also suggests that red meat, grass-fed or not, promotes the body’s production of a compound called TMAO, which can contribute to heart disease and other chronic lifestyle diseases. And all red meat can be a nasty vector for the spread of pathogenic bacteria, which can sneak into meat during processing, grinding, and packaging, and cause foodborne illness. While the risk of dangerous bacterial contamination from grass-fed beef is lower, it’s certainly not zero. 

While grass-fed beef has a superior nutritional profile on paper, there is a total lack of long-term scientific evidence proving that eating it translates to better health outcomes for humans over time.

Grass-Fed Beef & the Environment

Grass-fed beef advocates claim that it’s better for the environment than traditional beef. But that, in and of itself, is not saying much. After all, conventional beef production is nothing short of an environmental disaster. 

Problems With the Cattle Industry

At least one-third of the world’s arable land is used to raise livestock. And new areas are constantly being cleared through deforestation to make more room, most alarmingly in the precious and irreplaceable Amazon rainforest. 

Beef cattle production contributes an enormous amount of greenhouse gas emissions, including methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide. According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, livestock supply chains account for roughly one-seventh of global human-caused emissions, with cattle the largest source. And that might be a conservative estimate; some experts argue that it downplays the significant “opportunity costs” of the land if it were freed up for more environmentally responsible uses.

Cows eat plants, which is where they receive the nutrients that they capture in their flesh. But they also turn those plants into hoof, hide, bones, energy, methane, and manure (lots and lots of manure, as anyone who’s spent more than 10 minutes at a dairy farm or grazing pasture will confirm). After cows arrive at a feedlot, they gain enough weight to produce about one new pound of beef for every 14 pounds of feed input. The other 13 are essentially wasted.

Is Grass-Fed Beef Better for the Environment?

Proponents of grass-fed beef tell us it can actually be good for the planet. Before we get to that argument, it’s worth understanding just how deep a hole conventional beef has dug. A 2011 Environmental Working Group analysis found that beef produces about 10 times more greenhouse gas emissions per pound than chicken or pork, and roughly 100 times more than beans. Meanwhile, some estimates put the water cost of a single pound of conventionally raised beef at over 1,800 gallons, compared to about 220 gallons for wheat and 148 gallons for a pound of corn. So when advocates say grass-fed is better for the environment, the bar they’re clearing is low.

Carbon Sequestration and Rotational Grazing

The earth has lost enormous reserves of soil carbon as humans have converted forests and grasslands into cropland and cattle pasture. The idea of soil carbon sequestration is that carbon can be returned to the ground through practices that restore degraded soils and build soil carbon pools.

One approach is called carbon farming, in which farmers use plants to capture carbon dioxide and lock it into the soil through long-rooted crops, adding organic matter, and reducing tilling.

Another is rotational grazing, where a pasture is divided into multiple paddocks and livestock are moved from one to the next on a planned schedule. This rest-and-recovery cycle lets grazed areas regenerate, encouraging grasses to rebuild deeper root systems. Those roots feed soil microbes and deposit organic matter underground — producing soil that is healthier, more water-retentive, and genuinely richer in carbon.

The climate benefits are real, but limited. One meta-analysis found rotational grazing can increase soil organic carbon by 21% in its first 3 years. The catch is that those gains are front-loaded: Sequestration slows significantly after 5–20 years as the soil approaches a new equilibrium — it can only hold so much. Results also vary widely by region, climate, and how carefully grazing intensity is managed. And rotational systems require significant land — land that, devoted to growing plant foods instead, could feed far more people per acre.

Most importantly, better soil carbon doesn’t close the climate loop on its own. Cattle still belch methane, which accounts for roughly 37% of global methane emissions. Methane is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 100-year time frame. With the higher fiber content in grasses than grains, grass-fed cows may produce even more methane than grain-fed ones. And with grass-fed cattle living up to 60% longer as feedlot cattle, they produce methane for longer, too.

Research consistently shows that soil carbon gains from even well-managed grazing typically don’t fully offset those ongoing emissions. Rotational grazing is meaningfully better than continuous or intensive grazing: It restores degraded land, improves ecosystem health, and delivers real, if partial, climate benefit. But it’s an improvement, not a solution.

If you’re looking for more powerful ways land can capture carbon, check out the eight solutions in this article. (Spoiler: the word “beef” does not appear.)

The Rest of The Environmental Picture

Even if grass-fed beef could achieve carbon neutrality in the long run, is that a reason to chow down on beef? Nearly 60% of the world’s agricultural land is used for beef production. And all that land yields less than 2% of humanity’s calories. What else could be done with that land that might more effectively regenerate soil and sequester carbon? What if we used it to grow cover crops? Or used it to grow trees? 

In some ways, grass-fed beef might actually be worse for the planet than feedlot beef. The biggest reason for this is that grass-fed cows take longer to fatten up, so they live an average of 18–24 months, whereas feedlot cows are typically killed at around 15 months. This extra longevity necessitates more cows roaming around — and more land on which to grow their (grass) food. If we moved all cows out of feedlots, and we didn’t reduce our beef consumption dramatically, we’d find ourselves with a severe shortage of grazing land. According to a 2012 study published in the journal Animals, if all the U.S. beef produced in 2010 were grass-fed, the industry would have required an additional 200,000 square miles — an area larger than all the land in the states of New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Ohio combined. Of course, we’d free up some of the land currently growing corn, soy, and other feedstuffs for cattle feed. But not nearly enough to provide for all those cows roaming around for all those additional months. 

Amazonian Deforestation

For a look at the worst possible environmental impact of large-scale, grass-fed beef production, we need look no further than Brazil, where an environmental nightmare of epic proportions is unfolding. Multiple analyses — including Greenpeace’s own reporting — have found that cattle ranching is responsible for roughly 80% of deforestation in the Amazon region, and the Brazilian Amazon cattle sector alone accounts for about 14% of the world’s total annual deforestation. Greenpeace estimates that deforestation driven by cattle ranching worldwide releases about 340 million tons of carbon annually — roughly 3.4% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Since then, the situation in Brazil has only gotten worse. Brazil is the world’s largest beef exporter and home to the planet’s largest commercial cattle herd. According to Brazil’s official statistics agency (IBGE), the country’s cattle herd stood at about 239 million head in 2023 — though USDA estimates put it closer to 187 million head by 2025 as the sector moves through a herd-contraction phase, a reminder that even a headline livestock number shifts year to year. . Multiple analyses — including statements attributed to Brazilian government sources — have found that cattle ranching is responsible for roughly 80% of deforestation in the Amazon region, making beef production the single largest driver of forest loss there.

As global demand for beef has grown, so too has pressure on one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth. Much of the remaining 20% is for land to grow soy, which is not mostly used to make tofu. Instead, three-quarters of Brazil’s soybeans are exported to China, where they are primarily crushed into soymeal for livestock and aquaculture feed, along with soybean oil. 

Amazonian cattle are free-range, grass-fed, and possibly organic, but they are still a plague on the planet and a driving force behind global warming. And because U.S. supply can’t keep up with demand, the vast majority of what is sold in the U.S. as “grass-fed beef” is actually sourced from Brazil, Uruguay, New Zealand, and Australia. Thanks to a labelling loophole, it’s typically sold as a “product of the USA.”

Is Grass-Fed Beef Better for Cows?

Cows that graze for their whole lives are healthier, and almost certainly happier, than conventional cows that are finished in feedlots. Feedlots such as California’s Harris Ranch routinely cram more than 100,000 cattle onto roughly 800 acres — about 1.25 square miles. But the cows aren’t potty trained, and they don’t pay for sewer hookups, either. So they live their entire lives in a mess of their own excrement.

Feeding cows grain in feedlots can cause health problems, too, including liver abscesses, which is one reason that grain-fed cows are typically given antibiotics right in their feed.

Author Michael Pollan describes what happens to cows when they are taken off of pastures and put into feedlots and fed corn:

“Perhaps the most serious thing that can go wrong with a ruminant on corn is feedlot bloat. The rumen is always producing copious amounts of gas, which is normally expelled by belching during rumination. But when the diet contains too much starch and too little roughage, rumination all but stops, and a layer of foamy slime that can trap gas forms in the rumen. The rumen inflates like a balloon, pressing against the animal’s lungs. Unless action is promptly taken to relieve the pressure (usually by forcing a hose down the animal’s esophagus), the cow suffocates.”

Feedlot beef as we know it today would be impossible if it weren’t for the routine and continual feeding of antibiotics to these animals. This leads directly and inexorably to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These new “superbugs” are increasingly rendering our antibiotics ineffective for treating disease in humans.

In comparison, cattle experience greater well-being and better health when they’re able to eat the diet for which their digestive systems were designed, and when they have access to more outdoor space. 

Still, the life of all cows, whether grass-fed or grain-fed, does come to an end. And there’s still nothing cheery about their deaths. A better life is worth a lot. But it doesn’t change the final chapter. 

What Grass-Fed and Organic Beef Labels Actually Mean

Grass-fed and organic beef command what economists term premium prices. (Translation: They’re expensive.) But the meaning of the phrases is poorly regulated, leading to misunderstandings among often well-meaning consumers. Technically, grass-fed should mean that a cow lived its entire life on pasture, without confinement, eating grass. But keep in mind that most cows are grass-fed for at least part of their lives, until they weigh 600 to 800 pounds, at which point they are shipped off to a feedlot for fattening. 

The government’s regulation of “grass-fed” beef is complicated and often unclear. While the USDA withdrew its formal standard in 2016, companies must still seek approval from the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) by providing their own records. The most recent FSIS guidance (2024) relies heavily on producer documentation. It has varying enforcement, which may allow some meat to be legally sold as “grass-fed” even if the cattle spent part of their lives in feedlots eating grain and soybeans.

Consumers who care about this critical distinction need to make sure they’re getting 100% grass-fed beef, which is sometimes called “grass-finished beef.” 

The USDA organic certification guarantees that the animals were raised on pesticide-free food and were never given hormones or antibiotics. But beef labeled “organic” can still come from animals that were cooped up in feedlots and fed (organic) grain and soy for the latter part of their lives. 

Anyone looking for truly organic, 100% grass-fed meat needs to look carefully at what they’re actually getting. 

The American Grassfed Association (AGA), which advocates for grass-fed producers and offers a certification program for cattle farmers, assures that beef bearing its seal comes from cattle raised on a 100% grass-fed diet. And they add further specifications, including that the cattle are raised by family farmers on pastures without confinement and are never fed antibiotics or hormones. There appear to be a few hundred member farms across the U.S. that currently carry the AGA certification. 

There are other certifying bodies, too, including the Food Alliance Grass-Fed Certification and the USDA’s Small & Very Small Producer Program. 

The Best Beef? None At All

Conventional feedlot-finished beef is nothing short of a health, environmental, and ethical disaster. And grass-fed beef is arguably better on all three fronts. So if you’re going to eat beef, then there are good reasons to choose grass-fed and organic beef over the products of feedlots. And if you’re concerned about climate change, then regenerative is a step better yet.

But if you want to save money and do a good turn for your health, the planet, and the animals, there are plenty of plant-based options to choose from. (For our article on how to get rolling on a whole food, plant-powered diet, click here.) 

There are also plant-based meats, of course. Not all of them are highly processed (though most are). But don’t forget about beans. If the whole world started swapping beans for beef even some of the time, we could take a huge bite out of climate change. We could save what’s left of the Amazon rainforest. We could spare the lives of tens of millions of cows. We could restore the fertility of our soils. And we could prevent countless heart attacks, too. 

Tell us in the comments:

• Do you eat grass-fed beef? Why or why not?
• Do you think that grass-fed beef can be part of the climate change solution?
• What are some of your favorite beef-free food alternatives?

Feature image: iStock.com/adamkaz

Read Next:

• Veggie Burgers and Plant-Based Meat: Pros and Cons
• What’s All Wrong About Annals Of Internal Medicine’s Red and Processed Meat Advice

The post Is Grass-Fed Beef Good for Your Health & the Planet? appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that line, I’d have, well, a lot of dollars. 

There are many reasons that cheese is so tough to say goodbye to. There’s the taste, of course. The mouthfeel. The dopamine-firing saturated fat, and the saltiness. And the way so many iconic meals in Western cultures feature cow cheese as an indispensable ingredient: lasagna, blintzes, enchiladas, cheeseburgers, and, at the top in the U.S., pizza.

Of course, as addictions go, you might argue, cow cheese isn’t that bad. It’s delicious, it contains calcium and vitamin A, and it’s got a bunch of protein. So what’s the problem?

The Problems with Cow Cheese

Cow cheese is one of the leading sources of saturated fat and sodium in the standard Western diet, both of which are linked to the development of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. According to the National Cancer Institute, cow cheese and pizza are the top two contributors of saturated fat, accounting for almost 15% of the total saturated fat intake in the American diet. That’s as much as all chicken, sausage, franks, bacon, ribs, and burgers combined! Cheese is also responsible for roughly one-tenth of the sodium consumed by Americans each year.

It’s not just our individual bodies that are harmed. Almost all cheese eaten in the industrialized world is produced in ways that degrade the environment. Regions with lots of dairy farms suffer from severe air pollution, with particulate matter from dust and manure, compounded by high methane concentrations. And the effects of dairy farming aren’t simply local — the cattle industry is one of the most significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions via cow eructation and flatulence (or, as 1st graders prefer to put it, burps and farts).

The runoff from dairy farms degrades our water supply. Wisconsin, long known as the cheese capital of America, is systematically poisoning groundwater aquifers through high concentrations of nitrogen from dairy operations. Dairy farms in California, the other primary producer of cheese in the U.S., are likewise responsible for egregious levels of air and water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

How is the Modern Dairy Industry Contributing to the Problem?

If you’re concerned about cruelty to animals, you won’t love the practices of the modern dairy industry. The milk that gets turned into our cheddar and mozzarella is produced because millions of cows are forcibly impregnated and kept in a state of near-permanent pregnancy their entire lives. 

When the calves are born, they are taken away from their mothers almost immediately so humans can drink that milk. The female calves are fated to join their mothers in the industrial dairy farms, while the male calves are often crated for veal.

A cow’s natural lifespan is 15–20 years, and the oldest known cow, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, enjoyed over 48 years on a farm in County Kerry, Ireland. But the average dairy cow lives no more than five years. And those five years are no picnic. It is estimated that more than half of all dairy cows become lame from standing on concrete floors their whole lives.

Do you remember the ads proclaiming that great cheese comes from happy cows, and happy cows come from California? Those ads, produced by the California Milk Advisory Board, depicted cows blessed by the sun, enjoying dreamy California pastures. 

When the California Milk Board was sued for false and deceptive advertising, it was revealed that the photographs used in the ads, showing dairy cows happily grazing in bucolic green pastures, were actually taken in New Zealand. The reality is that California cow cheese, like virtually all industrial cheese on the market today, comes from cows who endure lives of unremitting pain, disease, and suffering. Many never see a blade of grass in their lives.

The Good News: Nut Cheese to the Rescue

What if — stay with me here — there was a way to enjoy all the deliciousness of cheese without harm to your health, your ethical sensibilities, or our planet? And, even more boldly, what if we could enjoy the wide variety of cheesy experiences, from ooey-gooey melty cheese, to sharp tangy Jack, to creamy buffalo mozzarella, to pungent bleu cheese, to whatever type or brand your heart and mouth desire?

Enter the hero of our story, nut cheese!

Nut cheese is exactly what it sounds like: cheese made out of nuts. Although, to be completely accurate, you can use some seeds as well, like pumpkin and sunflower. And unlike dairy, nuts and seeds ARE healthy for most people. In fact, epidemiologic studies have linked nut consumption with reduced rates of heart disease and gallstones, as well as beneficial effects on hypertension, inflammation, type 2 diabetes, and many types of cancer. (More on the tremendous health benefits of nuts here.)

What makes cheese cheese isn’t the dairy itself, but rather the chemical process that coagulates and sometimes ferments or curdles a mixture of fats and proteins — plus a good amount of salt and sometimes, other flavorings. That’s where the amazing taste comes from. And the same principles can apply to cheese made from nuts (and seeds)!

A Quick History of Nut Cheese

When I was a kid, the only commercially available non-dairy cheddar or mozzarella options were hyper-processed, extremely expensive packaged versions found in natural foods stores. To be perfectly honest, those early products left a lot to be desired in terms of taste and texture. Some of the most popular brands even included the dairy protein casein, which accommodated lactose-intolerant people but not those who wanted to avoid dairy completely.

You could also find, in some vegan and vegetarian cookbooks of the time, a non-dairy cheese recipe that involved soaking cashews or almonds, blending them in water along with herbs and spices, and letting the mixture sit out on the counter overnight to develop a bit of tang from the fermentation process. The result was often tasty and nicely spreadable, but no one with taste buds would ever mistake it for “real” cheese.

We now live in a golden age of nut cheese, thanks to a bunch of creative, intrepid kitchen adventurers who have been experimenting for the past couple of decades to produce nut-based, dairy-free cheeses that can delight almost anyone. Using probiotics or fermented-grain water called rejuvelac, both of which are easily accessible to home cooks, these innovators have started producing downright delicious cheeses.

Types of Nut Cheese

Nut cheese is often made from cashews, which produce the creamiest cheeses, along with almonds, pistachios, and macadamia nuts, as well as the aforementioned sunflower and pumpkin seeds. Sometimes coconut oil is added for additional firmness at refrigerated temperatures. Depending on the base material, the additions, and the process, you can make hard cheese, smoked cheese, meltable cheese, sliceable cheese, and even (no judgment here, if it’s your thing) stinky cheese with a moldy crust. (If you’re a Monty Python fan, feel free to start reciting lines from their “Cheese Shop” sketch.)

Uses for Nut Cheese

You can use nut cheeses exactly like you’d use dairy cheese: as a key ingredient in a velvety sauce for various dishes; as a spread on sandwiches, crackers, or veggie slices; in a dip for veggies or chips; sliced on sandwiches or crackers, and in baked dishes like casseroles, lasagnas, enchiladas, and so on. 

Where Can You Get Nut Cheese?

The nearest commercially produced nut cheese is probably no farther than the “alternative dairy” refrigerated section of your local grocery or health food store. Some of these brands are fairly “clean,” while others contain unspecified natural flavorings, additives, and oils.

If you live in the U.S., you have a variety of options to choose from. One of the cleanest brands is Treeline, which uses cashew nuts, probiotics, and herbs and spices. They make a soft, spreadable French-style cheese, available in four flavors, and two flavors of aged artisanal hard cheese.

Kite Hill cheeses are widely available in natural food stores and many other locations nationwide. Their cheeses start with almond milk, to which they add salt, enzymes, and herbs. They feature “cream cheese-style” spreads and also make yogurt, ricotta, ravioli, and tortellini.

Rebel Cheese crafts a variety of handmade, plant-based cheeses designed to mimic the flavors, textures, and culinary roles of traditional dairy cheeses. Their lineup includes items like cave-aged Brie, pistachio chèvre, sundried tomato “fromage,” sharp cheddar, and pimento cheese — many of which are fermented or aged to deepen flavor. Their cheeses can be ordered online or purchased at the Rebel Cheese Essex Market on the Lower East Side of New York City, where you can do a cheese tasting! 

Miyoko’s Creamery is one of the most recognized names in plant-based cheese. The company uses traditional creamery techniques, like culturing organic cashew milk with live cultures, to produce cheeses with the depth and tang of dairy. Their lineup is broad, ranging from fresh mozzarella and cream cheese spreads to aged artisan wheels in varieties like Smoked Farmhouse and English Farmhouse. Most products are certified organic, soy-free, and palm oil-free. They also tend to use “natural flavors” and coconut oil.

If you don’t live in the U.S., don’t despair! Simply V makes almond-based cheeses for sale in Germany and Austria, while the Italy-based Euro Company, a certified B corporation, created a brand of nut cheese named Fermè, using a base of just fermented cashews, water, and salt. Can’t get much cleaner than that!

And since nut cheese doesn’t take a lot of capital investment, you can always make your own!

How Do You Make Nut Cheese?

One of the best things about nut-based cheese is that you don’t need giant laboratories and factories to produce delicious and authentic-tasting creations. With a few ingredients, a couple of pieces of equipment, and a short learning curve, you can make your own nut- and seed-based cheeses, and even share your innovations with the world.

I’ll share a video tutorial and a couple of books with you below, but I wanted to give you the basic steps now so you can see how amazingly easy and non-intimidating it is to make your own nut cheese.

1. Start by soaking your nuts and/or seeds in water. When they’ve absorbed enough water, blend them in a food processor or a strong blender. 
2. Then add any other “flavor” ingredients, such as salt, herbs, and spices.
3. If you’re making a fermented-style cheese, add probiotic powder at this point. You can literally open a probiotic capsule from your refrigerator door and tap the powder into your nutty mixture, and then stir it in.
4. If you want to add more complex flavorings to mimic your favorite dairy cheeses, now’s the time. For example, Dr-Cow adds a smoky Chinese tea, lapsang souchong, to approximate the taste of smoked Gouda. And for a firmer final product, add in some agar or guar gum.
5. Ferment according to the recipe. Typically, nut cheeses ferment at room temperature anywhere from 12 hours to 3 days. If your nut cheese isn’t fermented, simply skip this step.
6. Next, chill to harden the nut cheese. Some cheeses harden in the fridge, while others, like Miyoko Schinner’s Buffalo Mozzarella, require an ice bath to reach optimal hardness.

At this point, you can start enjoying your block, round, or spreadable cheese, or allow it to age to develop deeper and more subtle flavors. Some commercial nut cheeses are aged for months to approximate the texture and flavor of Parmesan.

Book Recommendations for Making Nut Cheese

If that simple explanation piqued your interest and the desire to dive into nut cheese making, here are two books I recommend:

Artisan Vegan Cheese, by Miyoko Schinner. This was the first vegan cheese instruction manual to take advantage of the advances in nut cheese making that Miyoko, among others, pioneered. You can find hard cheeses, a remarkable Buffalo Mozzarella that lets you enjoy caprese salad again, and a delicious semi-spreadable Gouda with liquid smoke. Miyoko also shares recipes for dishes that incorporate her cheeses. This is more of a hobbyist book than a cookbook; you’ll need some specialized ingredients and equipment, and a fair amount of time. 

This Cheese is Nuts!: Delicious Vegan Cheese at Home, by Julie Piatt. This is a great starter manual, since many of the cheeses take just a few minutes to prepare, and a day or less to age. You’ll need a dehydrator, and you may find yourself buying unusual items like cheesecloth, springform pans, and various strains of probiotics, but you can make many of the recipes using normal kitchen stuff. Julie also includes recipes for dishes featuring the cheeses you’ll make from this book.

If you want to get started right now with a super simple nut cheese sauce, check out this video:

Recipes

Thanks to the versatility and richness of plant-based foods, you don’t have to give up your favorite cheesy flavors, creamy textures, or ooey-gooey cheesy spreads! In fact, you can enjoy cheese the plant-based way with these seemingly indulgent (yet super nutritious) nut- and veggie-based recipes. With so many ways to transform plants into cheese, we’re pretty sure you’ll feel like an artisan cheese maker in no time!

1. Herbed Cashew Cheese

Herbed Cashew Cheese hits all the right texture and flavor notes in the plant-based cheese department. Silky and creamy cashews become exquisite-tasting cheese when you have the key plant ingredients and the right blending equipment (a high-speed blender gets it extra creamy!). Have fun by getting creative with this recipe and customizing the herbs and cheese combination any way you’d like! 

2. Cauliflower Squash Cheese Sauce

Move over cashews, there’s another star of the show when it comes to creating silky, cheesy, and practically drinkable plant-based cheese! Cauliflower and butternut squash give the creamy texture, and nutritional yeast gives the cheesy flavor in this Cauliflower Squash Cheese Sauce. Not only does this sauce taste delicious on everything from whole grain pasta to bean tacos to steamed veggies, but it’s also packed with fiber and phytonutrients — two important nutrients for health that you can’t get from traditional dairy-based cheese sauces. 

3. 3-Ingredient 2-Minute Cheesy Topping 

Looking for a sprinkle cheese topping that is reminiscent (yet way better) of the stuff in the green plastic shaker bottle? We’ve got a tasty plant-based alternative that makes ditching cheese for plants easy as Parmesan pie! This 3-Ingredient 2-Minute Cheesy Topping is nutty, parmesan-y, and has the perfect umami bite (thanks to the nutritional yeast and garlic). Sprinkle on top of your favorite savory plant-based dishes, or anywhere you’re craving cheesy, rich flavor! 

4. Cashew Mozzarella Cheese 

Cashew Mozzarella Cheese hits the nail on the head in mimicking the creamy, melty texture of the traditional dairy-based version. What makes this version even better is that, unlike dairy cheese, this cashew-based cheese is loaded with plant-powered protein, heart-healthy fats, loads of minerals, and tons of flavor. Finally, a mozzarella cheese you can feel good about eating! Use it as a plant-based pizza topping, whole grain pasta sauce, or steamed veggie dip — trust us, you won’t miss dairy cheese one bit!

5. Vegan Cream Cheese 

Cream cheese gets the plant-based treatment with this four-ingredient recipe. Velvety cashews and apple cider vinegar recreate the tangy, slightly sour taste that makes cream cheese so alluring. When made the plant-based way, you can take pride in knowing that your (whole grain) bagel with schmear is loaded with plenty of phytonutrients and protein, and is good for the environment too! 

So, Will You Try Nut Cheese?

There’s no doubt about it: Cheese can be tasty. And you don’t need cows to make it! With a bit of effort and willingness to step outside the box, you can make nut cheeses that could endear the most discerning turophile (that’s a word that means cheese lover, which I looked up just for you). And with all the health benefits of nuts and seeds, you can do your health a good turn in the process. All 100% moo-free. 

Bon appétit, cheese lovers!

Tell us in the comments:

• If you’ve given up dairy cheese, what helped you kick the habit?
• What’s your favorite plant-based cheese?
• Have you ever made your own fermented nut or seed cheese? How did it go?

Read Next:

• Is Cheese Healthy? See What the Research Says

Featured Image: iStock.com/krblokhin

The post What’s So Great About Nut Cheese – and How to Make Your Own appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Meanwhile, in a 2019 review of 44 studies published in the highly specialized medical journal PLEFA (Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids isn’t what most people would call light reading), researchers concluded that children of mothers who ate seafood weekly had significantly higher verbal IQ scores. The review also concluded that children who ate seafood had better school grades and higher IQ scores than their peers who ate no fish, by an average of 7.7 points.

Why are we seeing these benefits? Is it because fish is high in the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, and these are beneficial for brain and cardiovascular health? Is it because fish-eaters are generally eating less red meat, or less processed foods, and these are the real culprits in harming cognitive development? Do fish-eaters tend to get more exercise? Are they less likely to smoke? Do they generally live healthier lifestyles?

Research is ongoing, and the data isn’t necessarily conclusive. However, there is substantial evidence that, for most people, at least compared with the Standard American Diet, fish consumption may be linked to positive health outcomes.

But There’s Something You Should Know About Eating Fish

But before you run out to chow down on a fish burger or buy a bunch of stock in the nearest fishing fleet, there’s something you should know.

Fish are killed, of course. And for ethical vegetarians, that’s reason enough to steer clear. It’s true that some scientists say that fish lack the neurophysiological capacity for conscious awareness of pain and do not feel pain the way humans do. But others say that it is impossible to definitively know whether another creature’s subjective experience is like our own. 

What’s certain is that in recent years, fish biologists around the world have discovered substantial evidence that, just like mammals and birds, fish also experience conscious pain. It is now widely accepted that fish produce the same opioids — the body’s innate painkillers — that mammals do.

A 2025 study, for example, found that rainbow trout experience roughly 10 minutes of “moderate to intense pain” during slow asphyxiation after being removed from the water.

And there are other issues as well. Modern fish swim in polluted waters and exist at the top of very long food chains. As a result, many fish today are contaminated with dangerous levels of mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and other toxins. And industrialized fishing operations are practically strip-mining the oceans, leaving fish stocks depleted, eviscerating marine food chains, and threatening the viability of the commercial fishing industry for future generations.

What about fish farms? They have some big, big problems, too, which we’ll explore below. So many people are wondering whether there are any better ways to obtain the health benefits of eating fish without devastating our oceans or exposing consumers to dangerous levels of pollution.

Types of Fishing

When many of us think of fishing, we conjure up images of intrepid fishermen in yellow oilskin jackets bravely sailing out of the harbour, enduring lashing rain and fierce winds, and returning at the end of the day with a fresh catch. That romantic vision has nothing to do with how most fish are caught these days. The modern fishing industry relies on two methods for the vast majority of its product: trawling in oceans and seas, and farming in human-made lakes and tanks.

Wild-Caught Fish

Fish labeled as “wild-caught” come from the ocean through commercial fishing methods. There are several huge problems with wild-caught fish.

Overfishing

Overfishing is exactly what it sounds like. We’re pulling more fish from the ocean than the ecosystem can replenish, creating an unsustainable system that has put certain species on the brink of extinction. Overfishing has been a problem since at least the early 1800s, when the whale population was severely affected by humans seeking blubber for lamp oil. 

Commercial fishing industries harvest 92 million metric tonnes (around 200 billion pounds) of sea life out of the ocean every year. That’s more than half a billion pounds every single day. And according to the FAO, over a third of the world’s fish stocks are already being fished beyond sustainable levels. A 2024 investigation published in Science found the situation may be even worse than official figures suggest, with the number of collapsed fisheries likely 85% higher than currently reported.

One obvious outcome of this collapse is that there will be no more fish for us. We’ll regale our wide-eyed grandchildren with unbelievable tales of shelves loaded with cans of wild-caught salmon.

We don’t know exactly how removing entire species from the web of ocean life will affect the rest of the food chain and ecosystem, but various models make it clear that we can expect devastation, leading to dead zones and impaired human health. As ocean biodiversity declines, more room is left for invasive species to colonize coastlines and further destabilize ecosystems. As algae-eating fish go extinct, algal blooms can pollute water and contribute to epidemics of disease in humans (and other species, too). 

And while commercial fishing produces the vast majority of the fish we eat, there are still plenty of places where old-style fishing cultures are still catching enough for subsistence and a local economy. These cultures are being devastated by the die-off of their preferred seafood sources due to overfishing. 

Bycatch

Commercial fishing nets — also called trawling nets — are no joke. They can be up to two miles long and around the size of a football field at their opening. Do you think a net that large will only catch the salmon, shrimp, or tuna that commercial fishers set out to catch? 

The answer turns out to be a resounding “no.” Estimates suggest approximately 40% of the global commercial catch is actually not the intended species. This 40% is called bycatch and can include species like dolphins, sharks, whales, sea turtles, and anything else that happens to be swimming through at the time of the catch. 

Besides being incredibly sad, bycatch causes other problems. It leads to more overfishing, slowing down the recovery time for exploited and overexploited species. It kills already endangered species like sea turtles and seabirds. They may be caught in the nets and killed, or they could become entangled in netting debris, carrying around pieces that are disfiguring and can even drown or starve them. Bycatch is also extremely wasteful, both physically and financially. Even fisheries certified as sustainable have been found to discard a large percentage of their catches.

Destruction of Ocean Ecosystems

Millions of ocean species cannot be killed without also disrupting the ocean itself. Any dead carcasses thrown overboard can attract scavenging species and disrupt the ocean’s nutrient balance.

Plastic Pollution

Netting debris often gets caught in the physical ocean environment, like the seabed, coral reefs, and sponges. A 2019 Greenpeace report found that the biggest source of plastic pollution in our planet’s oceans comes from fishing. More than 640,000 tons of lost or abandoned fishing gear find their way into the ocean every year. Just to give you an alarming visual, that’s the weight equivalent of about 210,000 SUVs, or a new SUV hitting the water every two and a half minutes, all year long.

This “ghost gear,” as it is known, kills hundreds of giant sea turtles annually, and can compromise the ability of whales to filter water as they feed. It can also suffocate seabirds, crustaceans, and small fish. 

Farm-Raised Fish

Spurred on by the depletion of the oceans and the stocks of fish that swim in them, an ever-growing share of the world’s fish is being produced in fish farms. In fact, over half the world’s fish harvest now comes from aquaculture. Unfortunately, this isn’t great for the oceans, either.

Farm-raised fish contribute significantly to pollution and disease. The largest source is the waste that fish produce, as well as uneaten food that sinks to the bottom of the pens and contaminates the water. Chemicals, such as pesticides, antibiotics, disinfectants, and anti-corrosives, are widely used in fish farming to prevent the spread of diseases. However, these chemicals contaminate the water, the equipment, and the fish themselves. 

And in a protocol similar to factory farming of cows and pigs, fish are given routine doses of antibiotics simply to keep them alive under miserable conditions. The overuse of antibiotics in these environments poses a significant public health risk, increasing the likelihood that antibiotic-resistant bacteria will enter our food system. 

Nutritionally, there are measurable differences between farm‑raised and wild fish. In a direct comparison of farmed and wild Atlantic salmon, researchers found that farmed salmon fillets contained substantially more total fat and a markedly higher omega‑6 to omega‑3 fatty‑acid ratio than wild salmon. This reduces the concentrations of anti‑inflammatory long‑chain omega‑3s (EPA and DHA) that are especially abundant in wild salmon. That said, a single 150-gram portion of salmon, whether farmed or wild, will still contribute more EPA and DHA than the recommended weekly intake for adults.

You may have noticed a color difference between farm-raised and wild-caught salmon. Because fish raised on farms don’t have access to things in the ocean that would naturally give them their carotenoid-rich pink pigmentation, like crustaceans and algae, most salmon farmers add pigmenting compounds like astaxanthin to their salmon feed to enhance the coloring that consumers want. These chemical dyes that turn otherwise grey fish into a rich reddish hue are actually the most expensive part of farm-raised salmon feed.

Historically, producing one pound of farmed salmon required roughly five pounds of wild-caught forage fish — species like mackerel, anchovies, or sardines — once processed into fishmeal and fish oil, according to a landmark 2009 analysis in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Many of these forage fish are threatened or ecologically important, and their harvest for fish feed can contribute to population declines and disrupt marine food webs. 

In a bit of good news, salmon farming has become dramatically more efficient at using marine ingredients since then. Recent analyses using updated accounting methods show that farmed salmon and trout are now roughly “net neutral” — producing about as much fish biomass as they consume in feed — while fed aquaculture as a whole now produces three to four times more fish than it uses as feed. Nonetheless, farmed fish diets may still include plant-based ingredients such as GMO soybeans and byproducts from land-based livestock operations, raising questions about resource use, environmental impact, and the overall sustainability of these systems.

Genetically Engineered Fish: A Threat That May Have Passed (For Now)

For years, the fish farming industry pursued genetically engineered (GE) fish as the next frontier. At least 35 fish species were being genetically engineered around the world, including trout, catfish, salmon, and tilapia — often modified with growth hormone genes to make them grow faster and larger.

The most controversial example was AquaBounty Technologies’ AquAdvantage Salmon, approved by the FDA in 2015 despite significant opposition from consumers, environmental groups, and members of Congress. The salmon was engineered to grow twice as fast as regular salmon, raising serious concerns about what would happen if these fish escaped into the wild and crossbred with wild populations, potentially eliminating natural salmon stocks.

The good news? By 2024, AquaBounty faced significant financial challenges and operational setbacks, effectively endingcommercial production of GE salmon in the North America. As of now, genetically engineered fish are not widely available in the marketplace.

However, the technology still exists, and regulatory frameworks vary globally. The AquAdvantage salmon saga serves as an important reminder to stay vigilant about novel food technologies being rushed to market without adequate long-term safety studies or environmental impact assessments. Just because GE fish aren’t currently on your plate doesn’t mean the issue has disappeared permanently.

Can Fish Be Farmed Sustainably?

Since our oceans are increasingly depleted, and human appetite for fish has been on the rise, the question naturally emerges: Is there a way that fish can be farmed safely and sustainably? 

With farm-raised fish production outpacing that of wild-caught fish and of global beef, the good news is that there’s a growing conversation about sustainability. The goal of more sustainable fish farms is to raise healthy fish that don’t damage local ecosystems. 

How has that been going? When we look at aquaculture operations that have adopted practices aimed at improving sustainability, concerns remain about the environmental and health impacts of farmed fish. Even when so-called “more sustainable” farms limit non‑essential additives, synthetic chemicals, and routine use of antibiotics or hormones, these measures do not fully eliminate potential risks. 

While some producers are incorporating natural, plant‑derived feed components and alternative health-promoting ingredients (e.g., phytogenics, probiotics) to support fish welfare and disease resistance, the long-term effects of these interventions remain unclear. Aquaculture continues to pose challenges related to ecological impact, feed sourcing, and chemical exposure, making it far from a truly sustainable or risk-free source of seafood.

More sustainable fish farms are vigilant about monitoring water quality to ensure they don’t produce pollution levels that harm local ecosystems or native wild fish. Some are in the deep open ocean, where the water is more pristine, and currents are strong and steady enough to continually flush the farms of fish waste and pests such as sea lice. Others are placed in zero-waste, closed-loop land-based systems. 

While practices like these can be a big step forward, the reality is that there is stunningly little government oversight of the aquaculture industry, and claims of “sustainable” may or may not mean anything. So if you wish to partake, here are a couple of labels that might mean something:

• The Global Aquaculture Alliance developed the voluntary Best Aquaculture Practices Certification. The standards address environmental and social responsibility, animal welfare, food safety, and traceability.
• The Aquaculture Stewardship Council, founded by the World Wildlife Fund and the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative, certifies responsibly farmed seafood and manages global standards for sustainable aquaculture. It doesn’t represent the most stringent of standards, but it’s a meaningful step in the right direction.
• And probably the single best “one stop shop” resource for reviewing the sustainability of different fish is Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, linked here.

However, even if aquaculture were to evolve into a sustainable model, fish eaters would still face another concerning problem: contamination.

Contaminants in Fish

Fish tissue tends to be fatty, and most environmental contaminants are fat-soluble. Complicating this problem is that larger fish eat smaller fish, so contaminants become more concentrated as they move up the food chain. And a lot of the fish we love to eat are pretty high on that food chain. You can’t see the contaminants, so you never know what — or how much — of something harmful could be lurking in the fish you buy. 

What are some of the most common contaminants in fish, and where do they come from?

Nearly all fish contain at least trace amounts of mercury, and some contain a significant amount. Mercury is a toxic metal. It can cause neurological and chromosomal problems and harm unborn babies if they are exposed during pregnancy. 

Certain species tend to contain more mercury than others, largely due to their predatory position in the aquatic food chain. For this reason, many experts advise avoiding the consumption of shark, swordfish, tilefish, and king mackerel, as these fish tend to eat many smaller fish, which contributes to their mercury levels. Albacore, yellowfin, and bigeye tuna are also very high in mercury.

And fish lower on the food chain can still contain mercury. This is why pregnant women are advised to limit or avoid certain high-mercury fish to protect fetal development 

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are toxic, artificial industrial compounds that can build up in the fatty tissue of fish. Unfortunately, even though the use of PCBs has been banned in many places, they tend to stick around in the environment for a long time. The EPA considers fish a persistent source of PCBs in the human diet. 

Consuming PCBs can have lasting neurological, endocrine, circulatory, digestive, and central nervous system effects. Some states have advised people to limit their consumption of all fish and shellfish from nearby freshwater or coastal areas due to a high risk of PCB contamination. Research has shown that PCBs can cause congenital disabilities, smaller birth weight, and delayed learning among infants, and older adults can experience reduced memory and learning. 

In addition to mercury and PCBs, recent studies show that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — so-called “forever chemicals” — are increasingly found in both farmed and wild fish. PFAS can accumulate in human tissue over time, raising potential health concerns for frequent seafood consumers.

Dioxins are cancer-causing industrial pollutants and have been called some of the most toxic chemicals known to science. They’re also known to harm reproduction and human development. Unfortunately, fish are a major source of dioxins in the human diet. Like mercury, dioxin tends to accumulate in larger fish up the food chain. In fact, EPA data show that TCDD — the most-studied dioxin compound — can reach concentrations in fish tissue roughly 38,000 to 128,000 times higher than in the surrounding water.

Pesticide residues from factory farms can also end up in the fish you eat, by way of the waterways that run into the ocean. 

And lastly, plastics from landfills can end up in the water, be eaten by the fish, and ultimately end up in your body. Research has shown that plastics can linger throughout generations of fish. 

The good news for farmed-fish fans is that in recent years, regulatory changes have brought down the contamination level in farmed fish. It’s still a real concern, but it may, in some cases, be lower than in wild-caught fish.

What You Can Do

Probably the most important question to ask after recognizing the concerns about eating fish is: What can you do about it?

One option, of course, is to reduce (or eliminate) your fish consumption altogether. The fish will be grateful, and so will the oceans. Plus, you’ll be sparing yourself exposure to heavy metals, microplastics, and other contaminants. 

If you do choose to eat seafood, you may want to choose fish from one of the more sustainable and low mercury options, such as wild salmon, sardines, anchovies, and herring, which are all uniquely high in omega-3 fatty acids and tend to be low in mercury. 

You can buy wild-caught fish or farm-raised fish certified by third-party organizations such as BAP (Best Aquaculture Practices), ASC Pangasius, Naturland, Canada Organic, or the MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) to minimize contamination and ensure sustainability. Or take advantage of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, which provides a guide to how responsibly certain types and origins of fish are produced. 

And if the main reason you’re eating fish is for DHA and EPA, consider taking an algae-based DHA and EPA supplement instead. Pair this with a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds, and you can reap the benefits of these long-chain fatty acids without the risk of marine contaminants, the ethical problems associated with all forms of animal agriculture, and the environmental concerns raised by eating fish.

About the comments: This article may stir some controversy. In the comments below, I encourage you to (respectfully) share your opinions and experiences. Robust dialogue can make us all wiser and healthier. Just please remember that most other people reading and engaging care about the planet, animals, and the well-being of future generations, like you do — even if they eat or think differently.

Tell us in the comments:

• What is your biggest takeaway from this article?
• Do you eat fish? Why or why not?
• Do you do anything special to ensure you are getting enough DHA and EPA?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Natissima

Read Next:

• 5 Key Supplements for Vegans and Vegetarians to Thrive on A Plant-Based Diet

The post Is Eating Fish Good for You? Health & Environmental Impacts appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

On the extreme end of the spectrum, there’s also sushi made with a kind of blowfish (called fugu in Japan) that’s so potentially lethal (in the hands of a poorly trained or momentarily inattentive chef) that it kills about 100 people per year. 

Plus, eating fish has its own environmental issues (if current trends continue, by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans) and is often high in mercury and other contaminants.

Yet sushi is so popular and just tons of fun. It’s finger food; it travels well to picnics or potlucks; it can be beautiful; and it involves dipping. Can we get all the benefits of sushi without the fish? Can we even enjoy it safely in Omaha? And, to answer the question posed by the headline, can vegans eat sushi?

In this article, we’ll explore the world of sushi and how to go fish-free with vegan sushi. We’ll look at different forms of sushi, see how to make it exclusively with veggies, and check out some delicious plant-based sushi recipes. 

Types of Sushi

Sushi comes from the word sushimeshi,meaning “sour rice,”a nod to the vinegar-seasoned rice used in sushi-making. Sushi is a traditional Japanese dish featuring rolled seaweed sheets, specially prepared rice, and usually some type of seafood, nuts, and/or vegetables. Sushi ingredients are typically raw, cooked, or pickled. And there are different types of sushi, differentiated by their structure and composition. The types of sushi include:

Makizushi

Makizushi is the best-known type of sushi, consisting of a single sheet of seaweed rolled around rice and fillings, then cut into 6-8 pieces. The word “maki” means “to roll.” Makizushi comes in two basic sizes: larger-circumference rolls with more fillings are known as futomaki, and slimmer rolls with a single filling are called hosomaki. Each piece is meant to be dipped in soy sauce and eaten in a single bite (thus avoiding double dipping). 

Another word for makizushi is norimaki; nori is the seaweed sheet that’s lightly toasted, filled with rice and other ingredients, and rolled. 

Uramaki

Uramaki is inside-out makizushi. Same form, same ingredients, but with the seaweed hidden inside the roll, and a decoration of sesame seed, fish eggs, or other toppings typically clinging to the outer rice layer. Uramakiis an American invention, from the days when sushi was unfamiliar and the idea of eating seaweed altogether unheard of. The best-known version of uramaki is the California roll, with cucumber, avocado, and crabmeat inside the nori and rice outside. 

Nigiri

Nigiri is an oval-shaped mound of rice, topped with a slice of something. Sushi makers mold the rice into a mound and press the topping onto it by hand, which explains the name nigiri, which means “gripped or pressed (by hand).” Traditionally, the sliced ingredient on top is a fatty fish like tuna, salmon, or shrimp. 

Temaki

Temaki, also known as a hand roll, consists of a nori sheet wrapped around fillings in a cone shape. These are typically larger and more filling than the other rolls — one or two of these can make a complete meal. 

The Evolution of Sushi

What Americans think of as sushi is quite different from traditional Japanese sushi, which itself isn’t that old. Whereas sushi in Japan is often eaten at special occasions, many Americans consume their favorite finger food multiple times per week.

Sushi originated in Southeast Asia as a way of preserving fish. Fishers would press their fresh fish between piles of salted rice, pile on a heavy stone, and leave it to ferment. Initially, this process took several months. Once complete, the rice was tossed as waste. And since it was so labor-intensive, only the wealthy could enjoy this delicacy. 

Over time, people figured out that adding vinegar to the rice could speed up fermentation from months to weeks or even days. At these speeds, the rice itself stayed tasty and safe enough to consume, and fish and vegetables became popular toppings and fillings because they were readily available.

The evolution of sushi continued in the port city of Edo, Japan (now Tokyo), where fishmongers found that putting the fish next to hot cooked rice could reduce prep time to just a couple of hours. But modern sushi as we know it really came about in the 1820s when entrepreneur Hanaya Yohei opened a sushimeshi stall on the banks of the Sumida River. With access to such fresh fish, Yohei dispensed with cooking and fermenting and simply sliced raw fish over cooked, seasoned rice in the nigiri sushi style. In a sense, sushi became an accessible, fast food thanks to Yohei (albeit healthier than the modern version).

The Problem with Eating Fish

I want to acknowledge that research shows fish can be part of a healthy diet. Studies show that people who eat fish tend to live longer and enjoy healthier lives, with a lower risk of chronic diseases that affect much of the Western world. But fish also have some serious drawbacks. 

The problem is, we aren’t actually fishing our oceans; we’re overfishing them. That is, we’re pulling fish out at a faster rate than they can reproduce. According to a 2024 report, the fishing industry worldwide is heading toward collapse much faster than previously believed.

And we’re catching a lot more than just the species we eat. Thanks to nets up to two miles long with openings the width of a football field, fishing trawlers catch marine life such as whales, dolphins, sharks, and sea turtles. In fact, up to 40% of all catch is what’s termed “bycatch” — marine animals that will not get sold, and may end up dead or disfigured due to these extremely inefficient and cruel methods of industrial fishing. 

Farm-Raised Fish

So maybe we can avoid the problems associated with fishing by raising fish in farms, rather than catching them in the wild? Nope. Farm-raised fish — which now comprise half of the world’s fish harvest — are, if anything, actually worse than wild-caught fish on most counts. They generate massive amounts of pollution, and large amounts of antibiotics are required to keep fish alive under toxic conditions. 

Other chemicals, including pesticides and anticorrosives, are liberally used and leach into the environment. Not to mention that the fish raised in captivity aren’t as health-promoting as wild-caught, with less protein and a less favorable omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.

Pollution & Other Contaminants

On the topic of health, wild-caught species are often nearly as polluted as their farm-raised counterparts. We’ve been treating our oceans, rivers, and lakes like garbage dumps, resulting in the fish we love eating becoming riddled with toxins such as mercury, PCBs, and even pharmaceutical drugs. 

What’s more, fish used for sushi is typically raw, which also means a heightened risk for bacterial and parasitic infections.

Ethical Concerns of Eating Fish

From an ethical perspective, eating fish also means taking another creature’s life. And studies tell us that fish do feel pain, as evidenced by their ability to produce endogenous opioids (natural painkillers). Many people prefer not to cause pain to other sentient beings if they don’t need to.

(For a whole article on the pros and cons of eating fish, click here.)

Fish Tastes Fishy

And finally, not everyone loves the taste of fish, especially when it’s raw.

The good news is, you can still enjoy sushi if you don’t eat or like the taste of fish(for whatever reason). The trick is to view sushi as primarily a rice, veggie, and seaweed dish, rather than a delivery system for raw fish.

Types of Vegetarian Sushi

Rice seasoned with salt and vinegar is a pretty good base for a vegan meal. However, to make vegan sushi, the trick is to replace the fish with fish-free fillings and toppings. You can make sushi out of almost any food you can think of. Here are some typical vegan sushi options you can find at restaurants or make at home.

Cooked Vegan Sushi

One favorite cooked vegan sushi filling is mushrooms, which mimic the texture and mouthfeel of certain kinds of sushi fish. In addition to the common white button mushroom, you can also use shiitake, portabella, baby bella, or just about any other kind of edible mushroom. 

Cooked veggies that go well in sushi include eggplant, carrot, and sweet potato. You can steam or microwave these vegetables, or cut them into strips, marinate them, and bake or air-fry them to mimic the taste and crunch of bacon. 

Baked tofu also adds a chewiness to vegan sushi and can absorb whatever flavor you soak or cook it in. And lately, the inventive vegan blogosphere has been abuzz about techniques for turning beets and even tomatoes into very convincing mock raw fish. Done well, it even looks like raw tuna!

Raw Vegan Sushi

To make raw vegan sushi, you can start with the plant-based ingredients from traditional sushi making. Avocado and cucumber pair well together in sushi. Avocado is a classic substitute for fatty fish, and cucumber adds moisture and crunch. You can cut and slice either veggie in many ways to accommodate the form and visual appeal of whatever kind of sushi you’re making. 

Carrots, sliced thin or julienned, also add color, flavor, and texture to your rolls. And raw cashews or macadamia nuts, laid in a tight row over the rice before rolling, can add a fatty crunch to every bite. 

You can also sprinkle raw sesame seeds on the rice for visual and flavor appeal. Black sesame seeds, available in specialty shops and online, make a nice black-and-white contrast that shows up especially well when making uramaki sushi (the inside-out variety).

Pickled or Fermented Sushi

You can also pickle or ferment many types of vegetables for vegan sushi. Some of the classics include radish, summer squash, and asparagus, but you can go to town here, and consider pickling carrots, cabbage, beets, or whatever’s in your garden or fridge. A word of caution here: Some Asian grocery stores sell commercially produced pickled squash and radish, which may include preservatives and artificial coloring. Check the label before purchasing, or ferment it yourself.

You can also ramp up the flavor of your sushi with the fermented soybean dish known as natto (one of the best sources of the essential vitamin K2), or use the tangy, slightly sweet, and very salty umeboshi plum paste.

Vegan Sushi Goes Mainstream

What began as a creative reinterpretation of a traditional dish has evolved into a broader culinary movement. Vegan sushi isn’t just a home-cooking trend — dedicated vegan sushi restaurants and inventive plant-based sushi offerings are expanding in cities across North America and beyond. From meticulously crafted vegetable nigiri to plant-based versions of tuna and salmon rolls, this growing popularity reflects rising demand for sushi that delivers on flavor, artistry, and tradition — without relying on fish.

How to Make Vegetarian or Vegan Sushi

If you’ve seen the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, about a master sushi maker who approaches each cut and roll with the attention of a surgeon performing a heart transplant, you might be intimidated about your own ability to make sushi. Certainly, becoming a master sushi chef takes decades of practice. But just as you don’t have to win the Indy 500 to drive to work, you can start enjoying vegetarian or vegan sushi right away at home. Sure, your initial rolls might look a little rough around the edges. But the good news is, they’ll probably taste awesome from Day 1. 

Here’s how to get started. 

Sushi Tools for the Kitchen

First, you’ll need some basic tools. The only tool most people don’t already have in their kitchen is a sushi mat. You’ll need this to make neat, tight, even-diameter rolls all the way through, and to apply enough pressure to help the rolls maintain their shape once you cut them into pieces. Here’s one that I like for under five bucks.

If you don’t have a sharp knife, your sushi will look like you tried to shape it with a hammer. Dull blades rip the nori and squash the edges of each piece. This 8-inch gyutou knife pairs traditional Japanese design with German engineering and costs about $30. It also includes the very helpful advice, “Do not use your hand to test the hardness of the blade.”

Along with a knife, you’ll need a cutting board unless you enjoy scratching your countertop and ruining your knife on a regular basis. While you can always find a cheap plastic cutting board, I recommend using a natural material such as wood or bamboo. Here’s a beautiful, organic bamboo cutting board that should last you a long time.

Sushi-Making Supplies

One thing you definitely need to make sushi is a seaweed wrap. You can get sheets of nori, usually in packs of 10 or 50, in Asian grocery stores and upscale supermarkets. You can also order nori online, where you’ll have a better selection. I recommend buying organic nori if at all possible. You can find lots of organic options here. 

Next, you need your grain filling. Rice is traditional, but we’re adventurous food iconoclasts here, so you might want to try quinoa or millet or even riced cauliflower if you’re concerned about arsenic in rice. If you do go with rice, get sushi rice or short-grain rice, as it will be stickier than basmati or other longer-grain rice. And you definitely need your rice to be sticky so your rolls don’t fall apart. 

Since the word sushi refers to the sour taste of the rice, you’ll need rice vinegar to flavor your grain. Some rice vinegars are pre-sweetened with refined sugar (they’re often called “sushi rice vinegar” or “seasoned vinegar”). But if you want to avoid white sugar, get plain rice vinegar and then (if you so desire) add your own sweetener, such as maple syrup or date paste. These are good for making your rice stickier. To add umami flavor to the grain, you can use tamari soy sauce (or a soy-free alternative such as coconut aminos) or umeboshi vinegar or umeboshi paste.

Finally, choose your optional dipping sauce. This is usually a salty liquid, such as tamari, soy sauce, coconut aminos, and the like. If you enjoy the taste and sensation of horseradish or Chinese mustard, you can mix green wasabi paste with the tamari for that special feeling of having your sinuses cleared by a power washer. Again, beware of commercial wasabi paste; that bright green hue is almost certainly due to artificial colors. Look for natural wasabi paste, or buy dry wasabi powder and make your own. 

New Plant-Based Sushi Options

Today’s plant-based food industry includes products made to mimic raw fish — like vegan tuna and salmon blocks or poke cubes — making fish-free sushi even more convincing and convenient for home cooks and chefs alike.

How to Make Vegan Sushi

Now that you have your sushi-making tools and supplies, it’s time to roll up your sleeves — and your sushi. If you haven’t done this before, I recommend starting by watching some videos. It’s much easier to watch someone make sushi than explain all the steps in print. (Writing them out makes it seem much harder and more complicated than it really is.) But if you prefer to read instructions, check out this WikiHow on how to roll sushi. 

For visual instructions on rolling sushi, here’s a short (3-minute) video by a professional sushi chef that shows you everything you need to know about how to make sushi. 

Let me tell you from experience that your first rolls will probably not be anything to write home about, unless your letters home include statements like “My sushi looked like a bunch of gladiators had a food fight.” Be patient, and enjoy the process. Even a roll that falls apart when you look at it isn’t a complete waste — just dump it into a bowl, add some condiments, and pretend that was your plan all along. You’ll be making fine-looking, delicious, and healthy vegan sushi before you know it. To get you started, here are some recipes for inspiration.

Fish-Free Vegan Sushi Recipes

How many versions of vegan sushi are there? The options might just be endless! While we had to limit ourselves to just five for this article, we encourage you to experiment in your own kitchen with a variety of veggies and grains after trying our offerings below. 

Our Veggie Nori Rolls are the classic vegan sushi you may already know and love. Then kick your culinary experience up a notch by making the Vegetable Hand Rolls using a nori sheet (which is sort of like replacing whole-grain tortillas used in traditional wraps). Have fun experimenting with grains other than rice by using quinoa to make the Avocado and Mango Quinoa Nigiri or millet to make Rainbow Millet Rolls with Miso Peanut Sauce. 

Finally, deconstruct your sushi (which might happen naturally during early sushi-making sessions!) to make a Vegan Sushi Bowl with Wasabi Mayo. No matter how you roll it, err, create it, have fun making these vegan sushi options!

1. Veggie Nori Rolls

We provided a list of suggested vegetables to include in the nori rolls, but anything goes! Use whatever veggies you have on hand, just make sure they’re julienned or cut small enough to fit into these plant-based sushi rolls without busting the seams!

2. Vegetable Hand Rolls

You can enjoy temaki sushi like any other wrap. Add whole grains such as brown rice or quinoa, a plant-based protein like tofu or tempeh, colorful vegetables — think carrots, sprouts, and peppers — and your favorite sauce to a nori sheet, then wrap it into a unique little cone shape. This vegan sushi is a great way to switch things up with your wraps by adding variety to your diet with mineral-rich nori.

3. Avocado and Mango Quinoa Nigiri

Sushi-making can bring out your inner artist! Forming the oval-like nigiri shape, wrapping the quinoa in nori, carefully placing the mango and avocado on top, and finishing it with a drop of Sriracha and a sprinkle of paprika make this piece of art almost too good to eat. Almost! Because it tastes pretty darn good, too, just be sure to take in your artistry before you dive in. 

4. Rainbow Millet Roll with Miso Peanut Sauce

Set aside what you may think of as sushi and take the non-traditional route by using millet instead of rice, peanut sauce instead of soy sauce, and, of course, veggies instead of fish. What’s traditional about this plant-based sushi roll is the nutrient-packed nori seaweed that lends the sushi its crunchy texture and signature flavor.

5. Vegan Sushi Bowl with Wasabi Mayo

Vegan sushi roll transforms to Vegan Sushi Bowl, with all the usual tasty (vegan) sushi ingredients, but disassembled! Make it your own by using veggies from your fridge or garden. Pretty much any veggies are a-go here, but to truly create the sushi experience, don’t skip the sushi rice, nori sheets, or wasabi mayo!

Roll Up Some Fish-Free Sushi

Sushi is a fun, portable dish that originated in Japan and has since spread around the world, becoming immensely popular. Although it’s often made with fish, vegan options that use a variety of plant-based ingredients are fun to make and delicious, too! So don’t be afraid to experiment, get creative, and give fish-free, vegan sushi a try!

Tell us in the comments:

• Have you ever tasted vegan sushi? What did you think?
• What ingredients do you want to try in your homemade vegan or vegetarian sushi?
• Have you tried any of the vegan “mock fish” sushi on the market? How did it taste?

Read Next:

• Healthy Snack Ideas That Taste Good & Are Good for You
• Healthy Plant-Based Starters and Appetizers for All Occasions

The post Vegan Sushi: How to Make It & the Benefits of Fish-Free Sushi appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

The evidence is now overwhelming — as I documented in my 2025 article for the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine — that shifting toward plant-based food systems may be our most powerful lever for change.

So grab a cup of something warm, and let’s dive into what stood out in 2025, and why it matters for your plate, your community, and our shared future.

When Animal Agriculture Shows Its Cracks: Eggs, Beef, and Supply Shocks

iStock credit: RLT_Images

Food prices rose in 2025, but not uniformly. In the US, grocery prices climbed about 2%–3%, slightly more than overall inflation. What many families felt most, though, wasn’t steady inflation — it was the wild volatility of animal products.

Egg supply decreased with H5N1 bird flu outbreaks, leading to a staggering 53% price increase (including a 15% jump in January 2025 alone).

As of August 2025, beef prices were almost 14% higher than 12 months earlier, and both beef and veal prices were predicted to increase by another 10%–14% by the end of the year.

2025 was a reminder that animal-based foods are uniquely vulnerable to supply shocks, while plant staples remain steadier, reinforcing the financial resilience of eating lower on the food chain.

Hunger Didn’t Go Away — Even When Headlines Did

Even as inflation cooled and most food prices stabilized, food insecurity and hunger remained painfully widespread in 2025. The last time the US measured, in 2023, about 14% of households—roughly 47 million people, including nearly 1 in 5 children — were unable to buy enough calories to stave off hunger. Feeding America reported that, in that year, more than 50 million people in the US turned to the charitable food system. 

Things haven’t improved: Real-time 2025 surveys indicate that just as many people in the US went hungry this​​ year. Food banks continued to report heavy demand, while SNAP tightening and eligibility fights created new uncertainty.

Around the world, there was a slight improvement on average, but the situation worsened in Africa and Western Asia, where nutritious foods remained unaffordable for many. Conflicts and funding cuts in humanitarian aid have deepened crises in hotspots worldwide.

Hunger is driven more by economic and structural forces than personal choices. That said, centering a diet on plant-based staples remains one of the most powerful responses available — both for individuals and for the food system as a whole. For families, it’s a simple way to stretch a food budget while supporting health. At scale, shifting away from animal agriculture, which uses 83% of farmland to produce just 18% of calories, could free up vast amounts of land, water, and grain currently fed to livestock, helping address global food insecurity.

The Ultra-Processed Food Reckoning Finally Arrives

Data provided by UNICEF marked a troubling milestone: There are now more obese than underweight children globally, with the childhood obesity rate at almost 9.5%. For context, in 2000, the rate was just 3%.

Much of the blame for this epidemic can be laid at the feet of the manufacturers of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which are now everywhere — not just in wealthy nations but also in low- and middle-income countries.

Policy Finally Catches Up

At the same time, there’s growing recognition that UPFs are a policy problem, not just a personal one. California passed the first US law to phase ultra-processed foods out of public-school meals over the next decade, while other states advanced bans on some artificial colorings and additives.

In a major milestone, Texas passed a groundbreaking food additive law requiring warning labels on foods containing 44 ingredients that are banned or discouraged in Europe, the UK, Canada, or Australia. The law will pressure manufacturers to reformulate or face fines starting in 2027. And the effects will likely be felt far beyond the Lone Star State, as food companies reformulate their product lines, since it’s easier and cheaper to adopt a single, cleaner formulation across all US and even global markets rather than maintaining different recipes for every state and country.

And then in late October 2025, US House of Representatives lawmakers introduced the Plant-Powered School Meals Pilot Act (H.R. 5867), which would create a voluntary 3-year United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant program to help school districts offer 100% plant-based food and milk options in National School Lunch/Breakfast programs. If enacted, it would fund procurement and training to increase the availability of plant-based entrées and non-dairy milks to students. 

The Senate also advanced provisions to expand access to non-dairy milk in cafeterias without requiring medical paperwork, a quiet but meaningful inclusion win.

Hopefully, this is the beginning of a structural shift: making healthier choices the easiest choices — especially for kids.

Food as Medicine Gains Momentum

The attention given to UPFs mirrors a growing policy concern with the other end of the food spectrum: foods that can heal. In 2025, “Food is Medicine” became a widely recognized term. In essence, Food is Medicine is a series of policy initiatives currently being promoted at the state level across the US, aimed at making healthy food a key part of healthcare to help fight chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease. This includes programs like medically tailored meals and produce prescriptions through Medicaid and other health programs. Several states, including Delaware, Oregon, and North Carolina, are already testing these programs with strong support from their governors. 

GLP-1 Drugs vs. Food-Based Solutions

The other reason obesity is a hot news item is that the increasing use of a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists has led to, for the first time in many decades, a decline in obesity rates in adults in the US. The drop wasn’t huge — from just under 40% in 2022 to 37% in 2025 — but it signaled what is hoped to be a sea change in effective weight management. 

A big downside of these drugs, which include the rapidly-becoming-household-names Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, and Mounjaro, is their cost, currently exceeding tens of billions of dollars annually. As FRN friend and summit presenter Susan Peirce Thompson reported in an article published in 2025 in the prestigious Frontiers of Psychiatry journal, similar — and in fact better — results can be obtained with food. Choosing and sticking with health-promoting foods can save money and provide better health outcomes without the side effects that often accompany GLP-1 agonists. 

What Climate Change Actually Did to Farms in 2025 

Intensifying climate extremes, from heat waves to droughts to floods, disrupted crop and livestock production worldwide. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization reports growing losses across cereals, produce, meat, and dairy as shocks exceed “normal variability.”

While end-of-year global grain totals looked strong overall, that average masked regional devastation and local price shocks.

Even though the ultimate impact of climate change, and the extent to which humans are causing it, is still fiercely debated in political circles, serious scientists are largely united in recognizing that climate change is real, that human activities are driving it, and that it is likely to cause massive disruption to human civilization within the next generation.

And it’s become increasingly clear that the harmful impact works in the other direction as well: Industrialized food production, particularly that of livestock, is a — if not the — major contributor to the galloping climate chaos. Which, in a way, is good news, because it means that reinventing agriculture can be part of an overall climate solution.

I’m proud to say that Food Revolution Network has been raising awareness about the impact of food on climate change since our founding in 2012. And we continue to raise our voice to inspire hearts, change minds, and shift policy.

How Federal Policy Made Farmers’ Lives Harder While Subsidizing the Wrong Foods

The US food system is already stressed, with wild price swings, fragile supply chains, and farmers struggling to survive in the face of razor-thin profit margins. Federal policies in 2025 have increased volatility across the system. In particular, tariffs raised input costs and triggered retaliation against farm exports, placing many farmers, who typically work under high stress and very thin margins, in significant financial difficulty.

Additionally, changes in immigration enforcement policy contributed to farm labor shortages, particularly for fruits and vegetables, leaving some crops unharvested and pushing farms toward lower-labor-intensity commodities.

On top of that, USDA climate-smart and conservation funding freezes — including the cancellation of the $3 billion climate-smart commodities program — slowed farming upgrades to resilience and efficiency, putting small farmers at increased risk of financial ruin.

Finally, huge cuts to Local Food for Schools and Local Food Purchase Assistance reduced stable markets for small and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) farmers and limited fresh food for schools and food banks.

On the positive side, the USDA launched a $700 million Regenerative Pilot Program in December 2025 to help farmers boost soil health and reduce erosion, signaling a major federal investment in regenerative agriculture as a strategy for both environmental and public health.

At the same time, the federal government increased subsidies by more than $50 billion for crops like corn and soy, which are a primary feed for US livestock. 

While allegedly intended to support farmers, these subsidies make industrial animal agriculture and concentrated feeding operations appear more economically viable than they really are, shaping a food system that favors scale and uniformity over regional diversity, resilience, and produce-rich farming.

The Battle Over Saturated Fat: When Politics Trumps Science

Every year, researchers discover more about nutritional science, and, in an ideal world, their advances would be translated into government policies that promote public welfare. In 2025, things got complicated.

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, supported by hundreds of scientists, doctors, dietitians, and statisticians, published a report to guide policy recommendations for the USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

The report included new evidence supporting diets centered on whole plant foods and reduced consumption of red and processed meats. It reaffirmed decades of evidence that saturated fat should account for no more than 10% of daily calories and that people would be much better off replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats from foods like nuts, seeds, avocados, and olive oil. For those worried about getting enough protein on a diet with less red meat, it highlighted beans, peas, and lentils as primary and healthful sources of protein.

In theory, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee was supposed to make recommendations that would, in turn, guide the updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The newest update has not yet been released, but it is widely expected to be significantly influenced by political pressure. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., along with several HHS officials and aligned influencers, have circulated what the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has identified as misleading claims about the scientific process behind the Guidelines. Kennedy has publicly advocated for “ending the war on saturated fats” and is urging Americans to eat more full-fat dairy and meat. 

What the Science Actually Says

Nutrition and public-health experts warn that this is bad advice, based on a selective reading of the science. The Center for Biological Diversity’s Health Organizations’ Recommendations on Saturated Fat compiles up-to-date guidance from major health bodies, including the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, American Cancer Society, American College of Cardiology, American College of Lifestyle Medicine, American Diabetes Association, American Institute for Cancer Research, American Heart Association, American Medical Association, American Public Health Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Cancer Institute, and the World Health Organization.

Their shared message is simple: Keep saturated fat low, and prioritize unsaturated fats and whole-plant foods to improve LDL and cut cardiovascular events.

Why This Matters for Public Health

CSPI argues that the nutritional rhetoric we may soon see in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans not only misrepresents the evidence but also places the responsibility for one’s health status solely on the individual, ignoring the structural barriers — such as poverty and food access — that prevent Americans from following the Guidelines. They tell us that stronger adherence to the existing recommendations, not political reinterpretation, is what’s most needed to improve public health.

The Solutions Strengthened

Even as hunger persisted and policy battles raged in 2025, something remarkable was happening: The evidence for plant-based solutions was mounting, and awareness was spreading faster than ever.

Compelling Research Linking Food and Planet

In 2025, I published a journal article in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine (AJLM), outlining how plant‑based food systems can simultaneously reduce chronic disease, lower healthcare costs, cut greenhouse gas emissions, conserve water, and restore ecosystems. The paper synthesizes global evidence showing that shifting diets is one of the most powerful, scalable environmental and public health solutions available today.

Landmark Studies: Eating Lower on the Food Chain

One of the great things about 2025 was the publication of multiple landmark studies supporting what I argued in that AJLM article: that shifting toward plant-centered diets is among the most powerful steps we can take — as individuals and as a society — for both health and climate. 

The EAT-Lancet “Planetary Health Diet”

The prestigious EAT-Lancet Commission published a powerful report touting the benefits of what they termed the “planetary health diet” — essentially a largely plant-based diet. The researchers presented compelling evidence that widespread adoption of such a diet could prevent millions of early deaths and dramatically cut carbon emissions, the leading contributor to global warming.

Every Step Down the Food Chain Matters

Researchers from Spain published a study that modeled the environmental impact of mass adoption of a vegan diet. They found that each step down the food chain, from animal products to plants, reduced carbon footprints. The vegan diet, at the bottom of the food chain, cuts impacts by nearly half. 

Stanford Shows the Power of Reducing High-Impact Meats

Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment published new research showing that reducing high-impact meats (especially beef and lamb) delivers outsized wins. Specifically, shifting to a plant-based diet can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by close to 40%, conserve land and water resources, protect biodiversity, and improve overall diet quality.

Real-World Trial Confirms the Benefits

In November 2025, researchers published their environmental analysis of a randomized trial conducted 6 years earlier, in which participants were randomized to a vegan or omnivorous diet for 16 weeks. They found significant reductions in diet-related greenhouse gas emissions with a vegan diet.

Animal Agriculture: A Bigger Climate Driver Than We Thought?

A 2025 paper in Environmental Research Letters by climate scientist Gerard Wedderburn-Bisshop argues that the way we usually count climate pollution may actually understate agriculture’s role by a lot. 

Wedderburn-Bisshop used advanced measurement techniques to conclude that agriculture is the leading driver of present-day warming, with animal agriculture responsible for most of agriculture’s impact. 

Under this framework, animal agriculture is responsible for more than 50% of a metric called ERF, which measures how much a gas or activity warms or cools the Earth. Wedderburn-Bisshop concludes that animal agriculture accounts for just over half of warming to date — substantially more than fossil fuels — largely because of deforestation and methane production (not to put too fine a point on it, “cow burps and cow farts”).

While this interpretation is debated in the wider scientific community, it underscores a crucial point: If we want a livable climate, transforming our food system — and moving away from industrial animal agriculture — must be part of the solution.

What this means: Your plant-based choices aren’t just healthier — they’re climate action. Every time you choose beans over beef, you’re voting with your fork.

Plant-Based Change Is Economically and Socially Workable

Plant-based agricultural and dietary change is not only necessary but also economically and socially viable, as two major 2025 analyses have shown.

New research from the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute found that moving toward a more plant-based diet could create millions of jobs in the horticulture sector — provided there’s support for farmers and workers to transition out of animal-based agriculture.

And the World Business Council for Sustainable Development made the case that the 2025 EAT-Lancet update we looked at earlier matters for business resilience as well as planetary and human well-being. Companies that invest in plant-rich diets, regenerative production, and food-waste reduction are better positioned for a climate-strained future.

Eating Well Still Costs Less on a Plant-Centered Plate

Not only is plant-based eating better for individual and planetary health, but it’s also more economical than the standard industrialized diet. A 2025 grocery-cost analysis found that vegan and vegetarian grocery patterns were among the most affordable, with vegan shopping baskets averaging about $34/month less than omnivorous baskets — driven by replacing expensive animal foods with legumes, grains, and produce.

Plant-Based Popularity Keeps Rising — Despite Claims to the Contrary

The “big news” in some mainstream media about plant-based trends has been that early-generation meat substitutes lost momentum and didn’t take over the market for burgers, nuggets, and similar products. Despite this, 2025 shows continued momentum for plant-forward eating, especially among those calling themselves “flexitarians.” 

No, that doesn’t mean they can touch their toes while eating. A flexitarian — the word is a portmanteau of “flexible” and “vegetarian” — is someone who follows a flexible, primarily plant-based diet, meaning they eat mostly vegetarian foods but occasionally include meat or other animal products. 

And the ranks of the veg-curious also continue to grow; participation in “Veganuary” reached record scale in 2025, with more than 25 million people enjoying a vegan diet for January.

What Food Revolution Network Did in 2025

All of these shifts in schools, in policy, and in public awareness matter because they change what’s possible for millions of people. In 2025, we saw that possibility turn into measurable action within the Food Revolution Network community.

We Reached People Around the World

In 2025, millions of people turned to Food Revolution Network for guidance, inspiration, and trustworthy resources. Over the past 12 months, our website received 12 million page views, and 3.8 million unique readers explored articles, recipes, and expert insights to support healthier lives.

We’ve Helped Plant 700,000 Trees Total!

Through customer purchases of our digital products, we’ve continued supporting Trees for the Future in the landmark milestone of 700,000 organic fruit and nut trees planted over the last 8 years, including another 43,200 in 2025! These trees are sequestering roughly 7,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year while providing food to low-income communities.

A Powerful Presence Across Social Media

This year, your engagement helped Food Revolution Network’s message echo far beyond our website. Across our social channels, our content generated 101.8 million impressions, reaching people with ideas that matter for their health and the planet.

We also welcomed 676,300 total followers across social media platforms and now reach more than 1 million members on our email list, strengthening a vibrant community committed to a healthier future.

Meaningful Growth in Our Plant-Based Coaching Certificate Program 

• 50,474 people attended our Plant-Based Coaching Workshops
• 211 people joined the 2025 cohort of our Plant-Based Coaching Certificate program and are now on the path to bringing plant-based coaching to communities around the world

Masterclasses That Create Real Impact

Across all masterclasses combined, this year we welcomed 205,639 registrants to our masterclasses:

• Healthy Heart with Dr. Mimi Guarneri
• Brain Breakthroughs with Drs. Dean and Ayesha Sherzai
• Get to Know Your Gut with Dr. Alan Desmond
• Tackling Type 2 with Brenda Davis, RD

And each of those 205,639 registrants is someone taking a step toward greater vitality and confidence in their well-being.

Health Films That Inspire Change

Our free online film screenings (177,245 registrants) continued to resonate deeply this year — sparking conversations, motivating lifestyle shifts, and empowering people with life-changing information. 

• The Need To GROW
• Eating For Tomorrow
• From Food To Freedom

The Food Revolution Summit: Measurable Impact

The Food Revolution Summit brought together inspiring 372,000 attendees. Each person represents a story of learning, awakening, and transformation, and we’re grateful for every single participant.

We surveyed a small random sample of participants. As with any survey, responses skew toward people who were most engaged, and we only measured impacts on respondents—not the ripple effects on their friends and families. Still, the results offer a meaningful window into real-world change.

Here’s what we heard. Since attending the Summit:

• 88% said they feel more motivated to improve their food and health choices
• More than half reported noticeable health improvements since the Summit, including better digestion, more energy, weight loss, lower blood pressure or cholesterol levels, and improved mood and mental clarity

We also saw a significant drop in red-meat intake:

• 6% are eating 6 fewer red-meat meals per week
• 13% are eating 4 fewer
• 12% are eating 1 fewer

If this data holds across the full Summit audience, that adds up to more than 18 million fewer red-meat meals per year. If those meals were replaced with beans or lentils, the environmental ripple effects would be huge:

• Roughly 5 billion gallons of water saved (about a year of household water use for 167,000 Americans)
• About 30 square miles of farmland freed up, with potential for forest or grassland restoration
• Carbon emissions avoided: Equivalent to removing almost 44,000 cars from the road for a year

Most popular Blog Posts

Of the 104 articles published this year on our website, these were FRN’s most viewed blog articles in 2025:

• Honoring John Robbins: A Life Dedicated to Compassion and to Love
• 11 Banned Foods Americans Should Stop Eating
• Plant-Based Protein: Best Sources & How Much You Actually Need
• The Top 3 Healthiest Snacks You Should Be Eating
• Cooking with Sweet Potatoes: Flavorful Recipes to Try Today

2025’s Most Popular Recipes:

• Super Simple Homemade Date Paste
• 4-Ingredient Banana Oatmeal Butter Breakfast Cookies
• Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Sweet and Savory African Peanut Soup
• Lemon Drop Cookies

On the Front Lines of the Food Is Medicine Movement

The Food is Medicine movement is continuing to grow. While most doctors still do not learn much about nutrition in medical school, more and more of them are hungry for this knowledge and are taking it seriously once they encounter it.

The AMA Embraces Plant-Based Eating

In August of 2025, I attended the International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine, where I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, the president of the American Medical Association. Dr. Mukkamala shared that the AMA, which represents physicians across the United States, is now endorsing a plant-based dietary pattern to help fight breast cancer and other chronic diseases. 

That’s right — the AMA, which is as mainstream a health organization as you can find, is calling for hospitals to remove processed meat from their menus, to serve more plant-based options, and to encourage health care providers to be informed about the power of nutrition to help their patients get well. Dr. Mukkamala recently earned certification in lifestyle medicine. Hearing this kind of leadership from the head of the AMA gives me a lot of hope.

Speaking to Healthcare Providers

In September, I delivered a keynote at the International Conference on Plant-Based Nutrition. Standing in front of 500 healthcare providers, I shared how today’s doctors, nurses, and coaches play a profound and powerful role in advancing the food revolution in their clinics, hospitals, and communities.

In November, I had the privilege of speaking to Northern California Kaiser Permanente physicians as part of their continuing medical education Lifestyle Medicine Series. My presentation, The Intersection of Health and Planet, invited them to see every prescription, every meal, and every policy choice as part of a larger story about human health and the future of life on Earth. 

The response was warm and engaged. I have since been invited to speak to additional Kaiser physician groups as part of Kaiser’s deep commitment to supporting lifestyle medicine among its 12 million members. Thanks in part to the organization’s focus on prevention and lifestyle medicine, Kaiser Permanente members are 33% less likely to experience premature death due to heart disease compared with nonmembers in their communities.

In 2025, I also had the joy of serving as a keynote speaker on the Holistic Holiday at Sea cruise. There, surrounded by people who had traveled from around the world to learn, heal, and play, I saw again how many lives are being changed by simple, powerful truths about food. From cruise ships to hospital systems to major medical conferences, the message is the same. Real, whole, plant-powered foods can help prevent, and in many cases even reverse, much of the chronic disease that is driving so much suffering today. And more leaders in health care are starting to listen. 

You can find out more and register to join me on the 2026 cruise here.

A Personal Note: This Year I Lost My Father and Published Groundbreaking Research — Both Teaching Me That Legacy Lives in Action 

On June 11, 2025, my father, John Robbins, left his earthly body after a profound life of 77 years.

For those who knew him through his books, his speaking, or his decades of advocacy, he was a visionary who walked away from the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire to champion a radically different path — one centered on health, compassion, and the healing power of food. For me, he was also my colleague, my mentor, my coach in running and in life, and my beloved dad.

The last years of his life were marked by post-polio syndrome, a condition that slowly took away the physical strength he’d worked so hard to reclaim after childhood paralysis. Watching this brilliant, fit man lose his ability to walk, to move freely, to live without pain — it seemed unbearably unfair. And yet, in those final years, he cultivated a quality of acceptance and inner peace that was in some ways as powerful as any of his earlier activism. 

My dad used to say that those who are not conversant in the language of gratitude can never be on speaking terms with happiness. In his final months, even as he lost so much, he leaned deeper into gratitude than I’d ever seen. He was grateful for every person who cared for him, for every moment of connection, for the legacy we’d built together at Food Revolution Network, and for the powerful community of kindred spirits working to build a more ethical, sane, and loving world.

When he died, I felt something I didn’t expect: His spirit wasn’t diminished by death — it was freed. Free from pain, free from trauma, free from the body that had become so heavy. And what remained felt pure: the love he’d learned, the meaning he’d created, the courage he’d lived.

Before he passed, he told me, “When I die, if I have the option, I want to be a force. I want to be a force for good and healing in this world.” I believe he is. I feel him as an ally now, not just for me, but for anyone touched by his message, his mission, his legacy of love in action.

In 2025, we launched the nonprofit Food Revolution Alliance to advance my dad’s legacy. More than 300 people made donations in my dad’s honor, and their gifts are helping us expand the work he loved: making healthy, ethical, sustainable food available and accessible for all.

My dad’s life proved that we don’t have to accept the world as it is. We can choose differently. We can walk away from harm and toward healing. We can make every bite an act of love — for ourselves, for each other, for the earth.

Now the torch is in all of our hands.

Find out more about his life and legacy on his memorial page, linked here.

Make a tax-deductible contribution to support his legacy through Food Revolution Alliance, here.

The Torch Is in Our Hands

The year 2025 tested us. It also showed us our power.

The challenges we faced this year — from political battles over nutritional science and the persistent volatility of the global food system to the rising crisis of diet-related illness — are immense. But so is the progress we’ve seen, together.

The science is clearer than ever: from the landmark EAT-Lancet report to new peer-reviewed studies linking whole-food, plant-based diets to profound health and climate wins, the path forward is visible. We’re seeing systemic shifts, from California’s ultra-processed food phase-out to the rise of Food is Medicine initiatives.

And a lot of this forward momentum is powered by you.

Every ultra-processed and factory-farmed meal not eaten. Every child who learned to love vegetables. Every doctor newly trained in lifestyle medicine. That’s you. That’s us. That’s the revolution happening, on millions of plates.

It is powered by the people who joined the Food Revolution Summit, attended our masterclasses, saw our messages on social media, read our blog (hello, there!), signed up to become plant-based coaches, and collectively committed to personal changes while spreading the word within their own communities.

Hope isn’t a spectator sport; It is a direct result of the actions we take. It comes from the choices you make on your plate every single day.

Thank you for showing up with curiosity, courage, and compassion. Thank you for all the ways that you seek to align your actions with your deepest values. Together, we are building a future where healthy, ethical, and sustainable eating is normal, affordable, and joyful for all people and the planet.

In 2026, let’s keep going. For our health. For our kids. For the planet that makes it all possible.

Onward.

Tell us in the comments:

• How has plant-based eating impacted your life this year?
• What was your favorite FRN recipe, article, or program?

The post Food Revolution Network’s 2025 Year-in-Review appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

While Hans Selye was studying the effects of certain chemicals on the rodents’ sex hormones, he would routinely chase the frightened rodents around his lab, bemoaning his lack of coordination. What he didn’t realize was that his mishaps were leading to one of the most important discoveries in modern medicine. The rats who received the treatment and the control group were both being chased around the lab regularly, and they both developed the same mysterious symptoms: enlarged adrenal glands and stomach ulcers. 

​​(Our view on the use of animals in medical research is here.)

Selye had stumbled upon what we now call the stress response — and the hormone at its center, cortisol. In this article, you’ll meet cortisol and discover why it’s so much more than just a stress hormone. You’ll see how it functions in the body, and what happens if you have too much or too little, or if its daily rhythm gets disrupted. 

We’ll also explore solutions, including the best foods, nutrients, and lifestyle practices (and possibly supplements) to support a healthy cortisol balance, plus how to test your cortisol levels and when it’s advisable to get professional guidance.

What Is Cortisol?

Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands. Steroids are characterized by a distinctive four-ring structure; other well-known examples include testosterone and estrogen.

Cortisol is often referred to as the stress hormone because it plays a vital role in your body’s response to stress. What’s less well known is that it’s involved in many bodily functions beyond stress management; cortisol also regulates metabolism and blood sugar, reduces inflammation, controls salt and water balance (which affects your blood pressure), and supports wakefulness and energy during the day via your circadian rhythms.

Cortisol’s Daily Work Schedule

Your cortisol levels change throughout the day, ideally based on how much energy you need at any given time. This daily rhythm affects not just “get-up-and-go,” but also mood, metabolism, and the ability to handle stressors. 

A healthy cortisol workday starts with a morning peak, typically at its highest 30–45 minutes after waking up. Scientists who like acronyms refer to this as the CAR, or cortisol awakening response. (Insert corny “vroom-vroom” joke here.)

This surge helps you wake up and feel alert. It tells your metabolism to increase blood sugar as fuel for movement. It supports healthy blood pressure, and helps you focus on important tasks and environmental cues. Think of it as your body’s built-in cup of coffee.

Interestingly, the CAR also suppresses your immune response. This prevents your immune system from overreacting to normal tissue repair that occurs during sleep. (It’s like turning off your home’s alarm system so workers can get in and repair the leaking kitchen faucet.)

In most healthy people, cortisol levels naturally decline throughout the day. This gradual taper allows you to maintain stable energy levels without tipping into overstimulation (think overtired toddler past bedtime). It also supports a regular eating pattern by syncing your metabolic activity with your food intake. 

By bedtime, cortisol should be on its way down, reaching its lowest point around midnight. This allows melatonin, the sleep hormone, to rise. Your body relaxes and focuses on digestion and tissue repair rather than external activity. It invites you into a night of deep, restorative sleep. 

Cortisol and Stress

Let’s get back to cortisol’s main claim to fame: When you’re stressed out, your brain tells your adrenal glands to release cortisol into the bloodstream. It works like a game of telephone, but in this case, the network isn’t AT&T, but the HPA axis, and the message doesn’t get garbled, but amplified. 

The HPA axis is named after the three glands that participate in the message relay. The hypothalamus, which you can think of as the brain’s control center, detects stress and sends a “release cortisol” signal. This signal gets picked up by the pituitary gland, which is the body’s message delivery center. The pituitary raises the volume, adds a “code red” tag, and places an order with the adrenal glands, the factories that produce the cortisol and pump it into your bloodstream.

The result is a stress response, which often looks like “fight or flight.” That is, the body mobilizes to deal with what the mind perceives as an immediate physical threat to life and limb. It’s a good thing we’ve got this response, because it’s what allowed our ancestors to survive long enough to produce other ancestors who eventually produced us. 

The problem isn’t that we turn into the Flash or the Incredible Hulk when faced with a predator; instead, it’s that most of us in the modern world are flooding our bodies with cortisol on a chronic basis. Modern life throws at most of us, not predators and murderous rivals, but traffic jams, social media arguments, and work deadlines. We then deal with all that using the same biology our ancestors used to survive on the tundra and savannah. And those daily stressors drain our energy, dampen our mood, and damage our health. 

Some of the symptoms of chronically elevated cortisol levels include weight gain (especially around the abdomen), insomnia, anxiety and mood disturbances, high blood pressure, blood sugar dysregulation, and a weakened immune system. This last can lead to frequent infections and illnesses. 

In the long term, chronically elevated cortisol can lead to depression and mental health disorders, accelerated aging, cognitive decline, and cardiovascular disease.

Can Cortisol Be Too Low?

Too much cortisol, especially over time, can wreak havoc on the body. But too little can be a problem, too. People with Addison’s Disease, a rare condition of primary adrenal insufficiency, don’t produce enough cortisol. They often suffer from extreme fatigue, low blood pressure (especially when standing), salt cravings, and poor stress tolerance.

This brings us to a more controversial topic: adrenal fatigue. This term, popularized by some alternative medicine practitioners, describes a collection of symptoms — like fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, digestive issues, and poor sleep — that they attribute to the adrenal glands becoming “burned out” from chronic stress. The theory goes that this leads to cortisol levels that are chronically too low.

However, mainstream endocrinologists don’t recognize adrenal fatigue as a legitimate medical diagnosis. Studies don’t consistently show cortisol abnormalities in people labeled with it, and many continue to produce normal amounts of cortisol.

Still, that doesn’t mean there’s no real issue. Many people with these symptoms are clearly struggling. A growing body of evidence points to stress-related nervous system dysregulation, and sometimes chronically elevated cortisol, as the deeper root cause. Over time, the body may become desensitized to cortisol’s effects or experience circadian rhythm disruptions, without the adrenals failing outright.

In other words, whether or not the problem is “adrenal fatigue,” it could be a form of stress overload — and the solution may lie not in boosting cortisol, but in calming the system that’s been running on overdrive for too long.

How To Naturally Lower High Cortisol

Fortunately, there are a lot of things you can do to bring high cortisol levels into a healthy balance. These include dietary improvements, as well as lifestyle changes that reduce stress and prioritize recovery. 

Lifestyle Shifts

Moderate exercise reduces levels of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol while stimulating the production of endorphins, which are your brain’s natural painkillers and mood elevators. The key is finding the sweet spot: Gentle activities like yoga, walking, tai chi, and moderate aerobic exercise for about 30 minutes daily can reliably reduce cortisol, while high-intensity workouts or long-duration intense cardio can significantly spike cortisol levels in the short term. 

Interestingly, moderate exercise helps you respond more calmly to future stressors; a morning walk might help you handle an afternoon deadline with more grace. Yoga and tai chi deserve special mention here because they combine movement with breathwork and mindfulness, engaging your parasympathetic nervous system to shift your body out of stress mode actively.

Sleep: Your Cortisol Reset Button

We’ve seen that cortisol levels follow a daily rhythm, typically lowest around midnight and peaking around 9 a.m. Poor sleep can throw this entire system out of whack. Recent research tracking daily cortisol and sleep patterns has found that higher cortisol levels before bed predict shorter sleep, poorer sleep quality, and longer time to fall asleep that same night. Not getting enough sleep one night results in higher cortisol levels the next evening, making it even harder to fall asleep the following night. Talk about a vicious cycle!

Good sleep hygiene helps restore your natural cortisol rhythm. It includes strategies like consistent sleep timing, getting bright light (ideally sunlight) first thing in the morning, avoiding evening screens, and keeping your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet.

Cortisol and Mindfulness

Mindfulness and breathwork can do magic for your excessive cortisol levels. A 2021 study found that participants in a three-month mindfulness meditation retreat showed direct correlations between increased mindfulness scores and decreased cortisol levels. 

A comprehensive 2024 meta-analysis of 58 studies found that mindfulness and relaxation practices, including focused breathwork and body scans, consistently outperformed other interventions in reducing cortisol, with the largest reductions seen in that morning CAR. 

You don’t need hours of meditation; simple breathing techniques like box breathing (inhale 4, hold 4, exhale 4, hold 4) or the 4–7–8 technique can calm your nervous system and lower cortisol in under 5 minutes by directly engaging your vagus nerve and shifting you out of fight-or-flight and into “rest and digest” mode.

Dietary Approaches

What you put on your plate plays a surprisingly powerful role in managing your body’s stress response. Research shows that following a whole food diet rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes, and healthy fats can significantly dampen cortisol levels compared to diets high in processed foods, refined sugars, and saturated fats. 

The Mediterranean diet pattern, which emphasizes lots of colorful produce, whole grains, nuts, and seeds, has been studied specifically for its cortisol-lowering effects. A 2018 study found that a Mediterranean-style diet led to lower cortisol levels and reduced stress reactivity. 

Consumption of magnesium-rich foods like leafy greens, nuts, and seeds can also help to regulate cortisol by supporting your nervous system and calming overexcited brain circuits that trigger stress responses. 

On the flip side, while coffee has significant health benefits, lowering cortisol levels isn’t one of them. Caffeine can increase baseline cortisol secretion throughout the day and heighten your stress response. Research also tells us that foods high in added sugars and refined grains are associated with significantly higher cortisol levels, and that alcohol disrupts your natural cortisol rhythm and can leave you feeling more anxious the next day. 

Best Foods To Support Cortisol Balance

Here is a list of science-supported, whole foods that help promote healthy cortisol balance. They support the HPA axis, lower inflammation, regulate blood sugar, and/or buffer the body’s stress response.

1. Leafy Green Vegetables

Vegetables like spinach, Swiss chard, and kale are rich in magnesium, which as we’ve just seen is critical for adrenal health and moderating the body’s stress response. Among many other crucial functions, magnesium helps reduce HPA axis reactivity and supports sleep. 

For more on leafy greens, see our article here.

2. Nuts and Seeds

Almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, and others are good sources of magnesium, zinc, and healthy fats. Zinc plays a role in HPA axis feedback regulation, and omega-3s (in abundance in flax and chia seeds) help reduce systemic inflammation. 

For more on leafy nuts and seeds, see our article here.

3. Legumes (e.g., lentils, black beans, chickpeas)

Beans, chickpeas, peas, and lentils are high in complex carbohydrates, B vitamins, plant-based protein, and fiber. These nutrients help maintain stable blood sugar and support nervous system resilience, both of which are essential for cortisol regulation.

For more on legumes, see our article here.

4. Whole Grains (e.g., oats, quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat)

Whole grains like oats, quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat, and others provide fiber, complex carbs, and B vitamins. Like legumes, they stabilize blood glucose, prevent cortisol spikes triggered by hypoglycemia, and nourish your gut, which is heavily involved in a healthy stress response. 

For more on whole grains, see our article here.

5. Berries and Fruits

Strawberries, oranges, kiwis, guavas, and many other fruits are rich in vitamin C, a known cortisol-lowering antioxidant that also supports adrenal function.

For more on fruit, see our article here.

6. Fermented Foods

Fermented foods like sauerkraut, miso, kimchi, and tempeh support a diverse and healthy gut microbiome, which can influence cortisol production. Improved gut health has been linked to better stress resilience.

For more on fermented foods, see our article here.

7. Green and Herbal Teas (and herbal teas like chamomile or lemon balm)

Green tea contains L-theanine, which promotes relaxation without drowsiness and helps reduce cortisol response to stress. Herbal teas such as chamomile and lemon balm support parasympathetic tone and sleep. 

For more on tea, see our article here.

8. Dark Chocolate (fair trade, at least 70% cacao, unsweetened or lightly sweetened)

In the “almost too good to be true” department, dark chocolate may reduce perceived stress and lower cortisol, as well as providing magnesium and polyphenols to benefit mood and vascular health.

A 2019 study (out of Switzerland, fittingly) found that people who ate 25 grams per day of high-polyphenol dark chocolate for 4 weeks had lower salivary cortisol compared to the folks who ate low-polyphenol dark chocolate. Many of the participants who ate the high-polyphenol chocolate also reported being in a better mood. (Imagine that!)

For more on chocolate, see our article here.

Understanding Cortisol Testing: Getting Accurate Results

When it comes to testing cortisol levels, timing matters. As we’ve seen, your body naturally produces the highest amounts of this stress hormone early in the morning, with levels gradually declining throughout the day. This natural rhythm means that when you test matters just as much as what you’re testing for, so any cortisol assessment needs to account for these expected fluctuations.

For the most accurate results, there are several factors to consider before testing. Caffeine and alcohol can influence your results, as can intense physical activity, so steering clear of these factors before testing will give you a clearer picture of your baseline cortisol patterns.

Also, major stressors can temporarily spike cortisol levels, so it’s best to avoid high-stress situations beforehand. (Easier said than done!)

The type of test your healthcare provider recommends will largely depend on the symptoms you’re experiencing and your health context. If you’re dealing with persistent fatigue, unexplained weight changes, sleep disturbances, or heightened anxiety levels, these symptoms help guide which testing approach will be most informative for understanding your unique cortisol profile and developing an appropriate management strategy.

Can Supplements Help With Cortisol Balance?

While nothing replaces good food, quality sleep, and finding ways to chill out, some natural supplements might give you that extra support when life gets overwhelming.

Here are several research-backed supplements for stress support and cortisol balance.

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera)

This adaptogenic herb has demonstrated significant promise in clinical studies. A 2012 study found that 300 milligrams of standardized extract taken twice daily for 60 days meaningfully reduced serum cortisol levels while improving stress resilience and mood.

For more on ashwagandha, see our article here.

Our favorite supplement comes from our friends at Purality Health (linked here).

Phosphatidylserine

This substance, which sounds like the main character in a Jurassic Park movie, plays a crucial role in modulating the HPA axis. A 2014 study of 75 stressed-out men showed that 400 milligrams of phosphatidylserine, when combined with 400 milligrams of phosphatidic acid, blunted excessive cortisol spikes in response to acute stress.

Rhodiola rosea

Well-regarded for its adaptogenic properties, Rhodiola has shown effectiveness in enhancing mental performance and energy while helping normalize cortisol patterns, particularly in people experiencing burnout or chronic fatigue.

Magnesium

Essential for proper adrenal function, magnesium is closely linked to increased stress resilience and lower cortisol output. At FRN, we advocate a food-first philosophy that prioritizes a varied, whole food, plant-based diet rich in natural magnesium sources. And there may be some instances in which targeted supplementation can be a helpful adjunct when additional support is needed. The glycinate and citrate forms offer superior bioavailability and digestive tolerance.

For more on magnesium, see our article here.

L-Theanine

This amino acid, naturally found in green tea (and especially high in matcha), promotes relaxation without sedation. Studies demonstrate its ability to reduce stress-induced cortisol elevation while maintaining mental clarity and focus.

We love the Sun Goddess Matcha from our friends at Pique.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids (EPA/DHA)

These essential fatty acids help modulate inflammatory responses and HPA axis activity. A 2011 study found that 2.5 grams daily significantly reduced both cortisol levels and subjective stress responses.

For more on omega-3 fatty acids, see our article here.

Dr. Fuhrman’s DHA+EPA Purity is a great option for supplementing omega-3s.

Vitamin C

Critical for adrenal gland function, vitamin C supports the body’s ability to clear cortisol efficiently after a stressful episode. It also reduces the oxidative damage caused by cortisol spikes. A 2002 study found that consuming 3,000 milligrams daily led to meaningful improvements in stress recovery.

For more on vitamin C, see our article here.

Important Considerations

Supplements should be viewed as complementary to, not replacements for, fundamental lifestyle practices including quality sleep, balanced nutrition, appropriate boundaries, and stress-reduction techniques. Individual responses to adaptogens can vary significantly, and some may actually increase stimulation in sensitive people.

It’s generally best to work with a qualified healthcare practitioner before beginning any supplement regimen, particularly if you’re taking medications or managing hormone-related conditions.

Cortisol-Friendly Recipes

When your body feels wired, worn out, or slightly off track, food can become one of your most powerful tools. Here are three recipes that feature ingredients to help support a healthy cortisol rhythm, including magnesium-rich seeds, fiber-filled legumes, fermented foods, and antioxidant-packed fruits. Whether you’re in the mood for something creamy, crisp, or deeply nourishing, you’ll find a dish designed to help your body find its natural balance.

1. Chocolate Raspberry Smoothie

The Chocolate Raspberry Smoothie combines vitamin C-rich raspberries and antioxidant-loaded cacao for a delicious way to support adrenal health. With raw almonds and dates for steady energy and magnesium, this blend helps regulate stress hormones while offering a soothing, chocolatey treat your nervous system will appreciate.

2. Plant-Powered Lunch Bowl

The Plant-Powered Lunch Bowl is a vibrant mix of kale, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and avocado that fuels your body with cortisol-calming nutrients. From turmeric’s inflammation-fighting properties to hemp seeds and leafy greens rich in magnesium, this bowl brings together the kind of steady energy and nourishment your stress system thrives on.

3. Kelp Salad with Baked Tempeh and Kimchi Miso Dressing

The Kelp Salad with Baked Tempeh and Kimchi Miso Dressing offers deep nourishment for your gut and your stress response. Fermented ingredients like kimchi and tempeh feed a resilient microbiome, while mineral-rich kelp and crunchy vegetables bring texture, balance, and plant-based support to help regulate cortisol production from the inside out. 

Conclusion: Cultivating Calm and Cortisol Harmony

Cortisol is essential for life, but balance is key. Through nourishing foods, sleep, exercise, and stress management, you can support a healthy cortisol rhythm. Your body — and mind — will thank you for it.

Tell us in the comments:

• Do you struggle with excessive cortisol levels?

• What helps you bring cortisol levels down?

Read Next:

The Science of Hunger: Understanding Hunger Hormones and How To Control Them

The post Cortisol: The Stress Hormone That Could Help or Hurt Your Health appeared first on Food Revolution Network.