For many people, the happiest, most emotionally stable, and most authentically lived years of their lives come after 65.

That probably sounds wrong. We’re surrounded by cultural messaging that treats aging as a slow subtraction of capacity, vitality, and relevance. And yes, bodies change and biology shifts. There are real challenges that come with the later decades of life, and some of them tend to be unwelcome.

But the research tells a more complicated and considerably more hopeful story. Studies show that life satisfaction may follow a U-shaped curve, dipping through the stressful middle decades and then rising again, often reaching its peak in the 70s and 80s. Many older adults report greater emotional stability, less reactivity to stress, and a clearer sense of what actually matters to them. Psychologists have identified what they call the “positivity effect,” which is a measurable shift in how older brains process experience, paying less attention to threats and more attention to what’s meaningful and good.

It turns out that the choices you make about how you eat, move, sleep, connect, and engage with the world have a profound influence on whether those later decades feel like diminishment or like the richest chapter yet.

There’s an old saying that a person with their health has a thousand dreams. A person without it has just one dream, which is to get it back. Maximizing your health can be key not only to living longer, but also to living better. So you can savor and make the most of your wisdom years.

That’s what this article is about. Let’s start with what’s actually happening in your body, and then get to what you can do about it.

How Can We Stay Healthy as We Age?

Over my career, I have taught courses that describe statistics about patterns of health, how long we live, and how these patterns have changed in remarkable ways since the mid-20^th century, when I was born. 

Two noteworthy patterns emerge from the data. Our lifespans – how long we live – have increased dramatically. At the same time, our healthspans – how long we live in good health – have not kept pace. World Health Organization (WHO) data from 2019 found that the average number of years that people live burdened by disease or disability was about 9.6 years globally, and 12.4 years in the United States. Four years later, this morbidity gap, as it’s known, had increased to 10.7 years globally and 14 years in the U.S. — the latter representing close to one-fifth of the average person’s life.

So while the average U.S. senior has gained extra years of life, they spend around a decade and a half managing chronic disease rather than living in good health. 

That’s the bad news. 

The good news is that many of the health conditions that are common as we age are preventable, and if they do develop, can be managed to reduce the impact they have on our lives. Sometimes, in fact, our lifestyle and diet choices can even put them into remission.

As I enter my 70s and move into retirement, I am transitioning to a new phase in my own life. I’ve stopped asking, “How do I live longer?” Now I’m exploring, “How do I make sure the years I have left are worth living?” 

Meaning, I have enough strength to get down on the floor and up again, enough clarity to learn new things, and enough energy to say yes to an invitation instead of staying home. In this article, I describe my understanding of how to do this, with a focus on the importance of the food choices we make.

Understanding the Changes that Come with Aging

Aging brings real physiologic changes in our bodies, but understanding them gives us an opportunity to adapt. Stomach acid production may decline, making it harder to absorb certain nutrients from food. 

Our muscles become less responsive to the protein we eat, so getting enough high-quality protein and spreading it throughout the day becomes increasingly important. 

And our sense of thirst can become less reliable, making dehydration easier to miss.

Starting as early as our 30s, we begin to lose muscle mass and strength, including some of the fast-twitch muscle fibers that help us respond quickly. For example, we may not be as quick to catch ourselves from a stumble. 

Bone remodeling also shifts with age, gradually tipping toward greater bone loss, particularly for women during and after menopause. 

Some changes mean we’ll need to pay more attention to various essential nutrients. Reduced stomach acid, which becomes more common with age, can interfere with our ability to absorb vitamin B12 from food; calcium absorption may also become less efficient; and aging skin becomes less efficient at producing vitamin D in response to sunlight. At the same time, changes in appetite, food intake, medications, and digestive health can make it more challenging to get all the nutrients we need.

These changes aren’t reasons to surrender to decline. They’re signals that some of the strategies that served us well at 40 may need adjusting at 70. In fact, many of these age-related changes are remarkably responsive to what we do next.

Once we understand what’s changing, we can respond in practical ways, with more attention to nutrient density, protein, hydration, movement, and other habits that help preserve health and function. 

Rather than fighting aging, you can learn how to work with your changing body and give it the support it needs.

The encouraging part is that many of these age-related changes are remarkably responsive to what we do next. That’s the whole premise of the rest of this article.

Feeding Your Changing Body: The Specifics That Actually Matter

A lot of the “eat healthy” advice basically consists of “eat more vegetables,” and while that’s true, it’s not nearly specific enough to be useful as we age. If you already know the basics of good nutrition, here’s what’s actually different about eating well after 60. (Since I don’t know anything about your exact situation, I need to emphasize that the following is a series of general guidelines, and not medical advice. Consult with a qualified healthcare professional regarding your specific nutritional realities and needs.)

Protein: More than you think

For decades, the standard protein recommendation for adults was 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight per day, a figure calculated from nitrogen-balance studies designed to prevent deficiency in generally healthy, younger adults. Interestingly, the January 2026 USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans moved sharply away from that baseline, recommending 1.2–1.6 grams per kilogram for the general adult population. This represented a striking 50–100% increase that has drawn considerable debate among nutrition scientists, some of whom argue the shift outpaces the underlying evidence.

Setting that broader debate aside, the case for older adults specifically has a clearer, more established foundation. As we age, our muscles become less responsive to the protein we eat (a phenomenon known as anabolic resistance), meaning the same meal that would efficiently build muscle in a 30-year-old produces a blunted response in a 70-year-old. This is why the international PROT-AGE Study Group, reviewing evidence specific to aging muscle, concluded that healthy adults over 65 should aim for 1.0–1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, with higher amounts recommended for those managing illness, recovering from injury, or already experiencing muscle loss. For a person whose healthy body weight is 150 pounds, that’s roughly 70–80 grams of protein daily.

How you distribute that protein across the day may matter, too

Rather than eating relatively little protein at breakfast and lunch and most of it at dinner, aim for roughly 20–30 grams at each meal. A protein-rich breakfast might be muesli made with fortified soy milk, hemp seeds, nuts, and berries. Lunch could be a hearty lentil soup alongside a salad topped with quinoa, chickpeas, and pumpkin seeds. For dinner, try tofu with whole grain pasta, peas, and plenty of colorful vegetables. Even dessert can contribute: A chia pudding made with soy milk and topped with nuts and berries can provide an additional protein boost. With a little planning, reaching protein targets on a plant-based diet can be surprisingly straightforward.

Note: For Food Revolution Network’s article on protein, including a calculator to determine your recommended daily intake, click here. 

Vitamin B12 needs special attention as we age

Adults over 50 should pay particular attention to vitamin B12. An estimated 10–30% of older adults may have difficulty absorbing food-bound B12, largely because reduced stomach acid can make it harder to release B12 from the protein in animal foods. For this reason, the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) recommends that adults older than 50 obtain most of their B12 from fortified foods or supplements. 

People eating fully plant-based diets need a reliable source of B12 at any age, and VeganHealth.org makes the following recommendations. For adults ages 50–64, 1,000 micrograms of vitamin B12 2 to 3 times per week may be sufficient, with periodic monitoring of B12 status. For adults 65 and older, a daily supplement providing 500–1,000 micrograms can help ensure adequate intake despite age-related declines in absorption.

Note: For FRN’s article on vitamin B12, click here.

Vitamin D deserves extra attention with age

As you age, our skin becomes less efficient at producing vitamin D from sunlight, and many older adults don’t get enough sun exposure to maintain adequate levels year-round. The RDA is 600 International Units (equivalent to 15 micrograms) per day through age 70, increasing to 800 International Units (20 micrograms) after 70. 

Because these amounts assume some sun exposure, a daily supplement of up to 2,000 International Units (50 micrograms) is a practical choice for many older adults, particularly those with limited sun exposure, darker skin, or who live in latitudes farther from the equator. Individual needs vary, however, so you may want to check your vitamin D levels periodically to help guide your supplementation regimen.

Note: For FRN’s article on vitamin D, including how to get your levels tested, click here.

Calcium: food first

Food sources are generally preferred, with supplements used when needed to fill a gap between dietary intake and requirements. Aim for 1,000–1,200 milligrams daily from food such as fortified plant milks (about 300 milligrams per cup), tofu set with calcium sulfate (up to 400 milligrams per half-cup), tahini, almonds, and leafy greens like bok choy and collards. 

Food is a better source of calcium for most people, since large-dose calcium supplements have been linked to cardiovascular concerns in some research. If you choose to “top off” with a modest-dose calcium supplement, you may want to take it in doses of 500 milligrams or less to maximize absorption. This might mean twice a day instead of all at once. Some of the most effective calcium supplements also include vitamin D3 and vitamin K2, since these can help the calcium get absorbed and make its way to your bones, not your arteries. 

Note: For FRN’s article on calcium, click here.

Omega-3s: Don’t overlook them

Alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is an essential omega-3 fat that we need to get from food. Ground flaxseeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, and walnuts are excellent sources. We don’t need much: a tablespoon or two of ground flax or chia each day, with walnuts or hemp seeds regularly in the mix. 

Our bodies can convert ALA into two other essential omega-3s: the long-chain EPA and DHA. DHA is an important structural component of the brain and retina, while EPA and DHA have roles in cardiovascular and overall health.

We may need more of these long-chain fatty acids than we’re able to convert; that’s especially true of DHA. And that’s why it may be helpful to consume a direct source of these fats.

If you don’t eat fish, a daily microalgae-based supplement providing 200–300 milligrams of combined DHA and EPA is a practical option, with some people (e.g., those managing cardiovascular risk factors) needing more under clinical guidance. 

Given that most vegans have very low levels of preformed EPA and DHA in their diets and their Omega-3 Index measures tend to be low, a daily microalgae-based supplement providing a combination of 500–1,500 milligrams of DHA and EPA may be advisable, depending on initial omega-3 status, body size, and individual response. Microalgae are the original source of the DHA and EPA that ultimately accumulate in fish, so algae-based supplements provide these omega-3s directly, without the microplastics and heavy metals that can accumulate in fish.

Note: For FRN’s article on omega-3 fatty acids, click here.

These are the foundations on which seniors can build a healthy diet. In the largest study of diet and healthy aging to date, following more than 105,000 adults for up to 30 years, following all 8 of the above recommendations was associated with better odds of reaching 70 with cognitive, physical, and mental health intact. 

There was no single “winning” diet. What the successful diets shared was an abundance of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, legumes, and unsaturated fats, alongside low intakes of ultra-processed foods, sodium, trans fats, and red and processed meat. The plant-forward Planetary Health Diet showed the strongest association of all with cognitive preservation and with living to 70.

This doesn’t mean perfection or an all-or-nothing approach. But it does suggest that the more your plate is built around vegetables, legumes, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and seeds, the more you’re working with your biology rather than against it. Whatever your starting point, moving in that direction tends to have positive effects. Ideally, our food choices stack several of these nutrients into enjoyable dishes on a daily basis. If you’re a bit stumped, or looking for inspiration, check out the recipes and examples below.

The Other Foundations: Five More Places to Put Your Attention

Nutrition is one of the six pillars of lifestyle medicine, and it’s the one I’ve focused on most so far. But what we eat is only part of the picture. The other five pillars — physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, positive social connections, and avoidance of risky substances — also profoundly influence our health and how well we age. Together, these six pillars provide a powerful foundation for maintaining health, function, and quality of life in the years ahead.

Movement

Keep moving, and make some of it challenging. Walking and other aerobic activities support cardiovascular health, endurance, and mobility, while resistance training is especially important for preserving muscle, strength, and bone as we age. Balance and flexibility exercises can help us stay steady and capable. And it’s never too late to start: even previously sedentary adults in their 70s and 80s can make meaningful gains in strength and mobility.

Restorative sleep

Good sleep supports memory, immune function, emotional well-being, and physical recovery, and can become more challenging as we age. While the amount of sleep we need does not change, how we can get it does. Seniors tend to experience less deep sleep, more fragmented sleep, and earlier sleep and wake times. Recommendations for seniors focus on supporting our circadian rhythms by building on early light exposure, regular meal timing, and sleep/wake schedules. Staying physically active and maintaining a supportive sleeping environment can also help. 

Stress resilience

Some stress is part of a full and meaningful life, and challenges such as learning a new skill or taking on a worthwhile project can help keep us engaged and resilient. The greater concern is chronic, unrelieved stress. Regular movement, time in nature, mindfulness, relaxation, and connection with others can all help us manage it more effectively.

Social connection

Strong relationships are an important part of healthy aging. Research links strong social ties to slower functional decline and better-preserved cognitive health, and the effort of maintaining them pays back many times over. Staying connected with family, friends, neighbors, and community can support emotional well-being and help keep us mentally and socially engaged. 

So can having a sense of purpose: learning, creating, volunteering, caring for others, contributing to our communities, and pursuing activities that bring meaning and joy. Healthy aging isn’t simply about avoiding disease; it’s about continuing to have a life we want to participate in.

Reducing risky substances: Alcohol, tobacco, and substance misuse raise the risk of many chronic diseases. If this is part of your story, compassionate, evidence-based support genuinely works, at any age. 

Recipes to Help You Thrive

Knowing the names and functions of these critical nutrients is useful, but my favorite way to show people how easy it is to cook real food that delivers them in meaningful doses is to share recipes. Here are three examples of delicious recipes that can help you get them into your life on a daily basis.

Easy Overnight Oats (makes 2 cups)

This creamy, comforting breakfast is assembled the night before and ready to enjoy by morning, with no cooking required. Prepared overnight oats will keep for up to three days, refrigerated, though the texture will soften over time. Soaking the grains may enhance their digestibility and improve mineral absorption. This recipe delivers plant-based protein, calcium, vitamin B12, vitamin D, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids. Customize with your favorite fruits, nuts, or spices, such as nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, or cloves. You can also replace some of the milk with unsweetened, plant-based yogurt for extra creaminess.

Ingredients

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats or other rolled grains

2 tablespoons chopped prunes, raisins, or other dried fruit

2 tablespoons hemp seeds

1 tablespoon chia seeds

2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, almonds, or other nuts

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1½ cups unsweetened, fortified soy milk or other plant-based milk

1½–2 cups fresh fruit (e.g., sliced bananas, berries, chopped or grated apple, apricot, mango, peach, or pear)

Directions

1. Place the oats, dried fruit, hemp seeds, chia seeds, nuts, cinnamon, and plant-based milk in a bowl or container and stir well.
2. Cover and refrigerate overnight (or for at least 6 hours).
3. Just before serving, stir in fresh fruit.

Optional toppings:

• Your favorite plant-based milk
• Ground flaxseeds

Nutritional Information:

Per half recipe: Calories: 444, Protein: 17 g, Fat: 18 g, Carbohydrate: 61 g, Fiber: 10 g

Minerals: Calcium: 307 mg, Iron: 4 mg, Magnesium: 189 mg, Potassium: 829 mg, Sodium: 67 mg, Zinc: 3 mg

Vitamins: A: 11 mcg, C: 11 mg, E: 1 mg, Folate: 30 mcg DFE

Percent of calories from: Protein 13%, Fat 32%, Carbohydrate 55% 

Easy Minestrone Soup (makes about 6 cups)

This soup comes together in under 30 minutes and delivers a nourishing and tasty meal. Use whole-grain pasta for a fiber boost or make it gluten-free with gluten-free pasta or potatoes. Marinara sauce and cannellini beans are sources of vitamin E. Leftover soup can be stored in mason jars and refrigerated or frozen.

Ingredients

2 cups low-sodium or regular vegetable stock or broth

1 (14–15-oz) can marinara or pasta sauce

1 (14–15-oz) can beans (any type), drained and rinsed (or 1½ cups cooked beans)

½ cup uncooked pasta

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons onion flakes or 1 teaspoon onion powder

1½ cups mixed frozen vegetables or other chopped vegetables

1–2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, combine the vegetable stock, marinara sauce, beans, uncooked pasta, garlic, onion flakes, frozen vegetables, and Italian seasoning.
2. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the pasta and vegetables are tender.
3. Taste and adjust the seasoning before serving.

Optional add-ins and variations:

• Replace uncooked pasta with 1 cup cooked pasta or cooked, cubed potato
• Replace Italian seasoning with 2–3 tablespoons each of fresh basil and oregano
• Replace the vegetable stock and marinara sauce with 4 cups of tomato juice
• Add hot sauce or pepper to taste 

Nutritional Information:

Per cup: Calories: 211, Protein: 10 g, Fat: 3 g, Carbohydrate: 37 g, Fiber: 8 g

Minerals: Calcium: 97 mg, Iron: 3 mg, Magnesium: 69 mg, Potassium: 682 mg, Sodium: 624 mg, Zinc: 1 mg

Vitamins: A: 126 mcg, C: 6 mg, E: 3 mg, Folate: 115 mcg DFE

Percent of calories from: Protein 18%, Fat 12%, Carbohydrate 70%

Easy Chocolate Pudding (makes 2 cups or 4 servings)

Silky, rich, and deeply chocolatey, this effortless pudding comes together in minutes with just two or three core ingredients. It’s perfect as a quick dessert, snack, or even a wholesome sweet for guests. Thanks to soft or silken tofu, this treat offers a smooth, mousse-like texture along with flavonoid-rich dark chocolate. Leftovers (if there are any!) will keep in the refrigerator for three to four days.

Ingredients

3½ ounces dark chocolate, chopped, or 2/3 cup of dark chocolate chips

1 (10–12-oz) package soft tofu or silken tofu at room temperature, drained

2 tablespoons maple syrup (optional)

Directions

1. Melt the chocolate:
   • STOVETOP METHOD: Place chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water until fully melted.
   • MICROWAVE METHOD: Place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl with high sides. Microwave in 30-second intervals, stirring after each, until melted.
2. Blend the pudding: Add the tofu and maple syrup and blend.
3. Chill and serve: Spoon the pudding into 4 small bowls or ramekins. Chill for at least 30 minutes to set before serving.

Optional add-ins and variations:

• For added protein, blend or stir in some peanut butter (warmed slightly or at room temperature) and/or yogurt
• Add ¼ teaspoon salt
• Add ½ teaspoon vanilla
• For an even more chocolatey flavor, blend in 2–3 tablespoons of cocoa powder

Optional toppings:

• Chocolate shavings
• Berries
• Fresh mint
• Chopped toasted nuts (hazelnuts are divine)

Nutritional Information:

Per ½ cup: Calories: 188, Protein: 7 g, Fat: 11 g, Carbohydrate: 16 g, Fiber: 2 g

Minerals: Calcium: 109 mg, Iron: 3 mg, Magnesium: 61 mg, Potassium: 243 mg, Sodium: 13 mg, Zinc: 1 mg

Vitamins: A: 1 mcg, C: 0 mg, E: 0.1 mg, Folate: 37 mcg DFE

Percent of calories from: Protein 15%, Fat 52%, Carbohydrate 33%

Is It Too Late to Start?

Adopting health-promoting habits early in life is ideal, but what if you didn’t? If you’re 68 and only now thinking seriously about improving your diet, or 79 and wondering whether it’s worth the effort of dropping unhealthy habits you’ve had for decades, it’s fair to ask whether any of this will still make a difference.

The short answer: It will. 

Some of the clearest evidence comes from studies of people who are already older and already unwell. A 2018 meta-analysis of 9 separate studies found that older adults who adhered to a Mediterranean-style, plant-forward dietary pattern had lower risk of frailty and disability.

A 2024 study found that in two large cohorts of adults aged 60 and over, those living with 2 or more chronic conditions who followed a healthy lifestyle had a 22–42% lower risk of death over the next 5–12 years of follow-up than those who didn’t. 

The evidence in adults over 70 is thinner and less tidy. But a 2022 study may convince you that even if your diet has been far from ideal so far, changing now may make a big positive difference. Researchers followed more than 1,800 adults aged 70 and older for 3 years to see whether they would become frail. And it turned out that how well someone was eating at the start of the three-year period didn’t affect whether they grew more frail as they aged. Instead, what predicted lower odds of frailty was whether they improved their diet over those three years.

If that holds up, what matters most at 75 isn’t the diet you’ve had; it’s the direction you’re moving.

Our responsiveness to better habits does not appear to have an expiration date. Whether you’re starting at 42 or 82, real improvements in health and function are still available to you.

What I Hope You Will Do

More than nutrient targets or research statistics, I hope you will remember this: This decade, and the ones after it, are chapters that you still have the opportunity to write, with perhaps greater clarity about what actually matters. Taking positive steps can help give you strength, energy, and resilience to make the most of the years ahead, because the choices you make can influence how you experience those years.

“Use it or lose it” isn’t just true of muscle. It’s true of curiosity, connection, and your appetite for life itself. So, eat the protein. Take the walk. Call the friend. Try the recipe. Learn something new. Keep participating in your own life.

Not because you’re fighting aging, but because there is still so much to live for – people to love, things to learn. Contributions to make, experiences to savor, and stories still to tell.

Aging well is about giving ourselves the best opportunity to remain strong, engaged, and fully alive at any age. Let’s go for it!

Featured image: istock.com/Miljan Živković

Tell us in the comments: 

• What’s one change you’ve made that has made a real difference in your energy, strength, or daily life?
• What are your biggest challenges in adopting healthy lifestyle habits?
• What is your vision for healthy aging? 

Read Next:

• The Blue Zones: Longevity Secrets from Centenarians

The post The Wisdom Years: How to Optimize Diet and Lifestyle at 60+ appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

As the grandson of the co-founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream chain, that question resonated with me. As the son of John Robbins, who followed his own “rocky road” and became a plant-based advocate, I knew the answer that fit me.

“Yessir! I got soy milk!”

The “Got milk?” campaign, which ran from 1993 to 2014, made an effective and lasting impression on consumers. This is one reason why so many consumers, even today, strongly associate calcium with milk and dairy products.

But is this message valid? Are milk and dairy products the best places to get calcium? Or are other calcium-rich foods better for you? And is calcium really as important as we’ve been told it is?

What’s the Role of Calcium for Your Health?

Calcium is an essential mineral for human health. It’s primarily stored in your bones and teeth (it’s what makes your pearly whites so strong). And you have more calcium inside you than any other mineral. That works out well because your body needs calcium to perform several essential functions.

Calcium helps:

• Carry messages between your brain and the rest of your body
• Your nerves and muscles move
• Transport enzymes and hormones through your blood to where they need to go
• Keep your muscles, nerves, and blood vessels functioning well
• Maintain a healthy blood pressure 

Calcium also enables the most critical muscle in your body — your heart — to receive signals and contract. Without calcium, your heart would beat like the worst drummer in an elementary school battle of the bands!

How Much Calcium Do You Need? 

According to the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, the Recommended Dietary Allowance is as follows:

The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements says that older children and teens need the most calcium, at 1,300 mg per day. Pregnancy, lactation, and menopause can also increase calcium needs, as can reaching your older years when age-related bone loss often starts to occur. 

These numbers aren’t uniformly accepted, and may be higher than necessary. The National Health Service of Britain, for example, recommends considerably less daily calcium — only 700 mg — for non-lactating adults aged 19 to 64.

So, how much calcium you need may depend on which side of the pond you stand! (Or maybe, just possibly, it could also depend on how much food industry lobbyists influence your government’s bureaucrats.) What’s clear is that the target isn’t as settled as the “drink your milk” messaging implies, and that a number, on its own, doesn’t tell you much without looking at what else your bones need.

Calcium Myths and Controversies

There are a lot of #calcium posts on social media, and traditional health reporting also covers this nutrient a lot, but that doesn’t mean everything you hear is correct. Here’s a sad-but-generally-true safe bet: The more noise about a topic, the higher the likelihood that much of that information comes from those with a profit-driven agenda like trade organizations, food companies, and industry-manipulated governments.

So, what are some of the most widespread myths about calcium that are floating around?

Myth #1 — Dairy Products Are the Best Sources of Calcium

It is true that dairy is high in calcium, and it’s a legitimate source for many people. If you enjoy dairy and it works for you and your ethics, calcium isn’t the reason to give dairy up. But here’s the myth part: The idea that dairy is uniquely necessary, and that you can’t build strong bones without it, doesn’t hold up. In fact, high dairy consumption, which is also linked to high animal protein consumption, doesn’t reliably correlate with better bone health.

Scientists have grappled with a seeming paradox for a long time. A 1992 ecological analysis (basically, a comparison of food habits and health stats across multiple groups to see what correlations exist) found that in industrialized countries, the more animal protein women consumed, the greater their risk of hip fracture. In fact, an ecological analysis published in Calcified Tissue International found that when female hip fracture rates from 34 studies across 16 countries were compared with dietary animal protein intake, industrialized countries — which also tend to have higher dairy consumption — showed a strong positive association between higher animal protein intake and higher hip fracture rates. 

It’s worth noting that this kind of country-level comparison can’t rule out other differences between nations, such as lifespan, physical activity, sun exposure, or how fractures are diagnosed and recorded. So it shows an association rather than proof that animal protein, or dairy, causes fractures. 

More recent research is mixed. Some large cohort studies have found dairy or milk consumption associated with lower hip fracture risk. A large Swedish cohort found that women drinking three or more glasses of milk a day had higher fracture and mortality rates — but interestingly, fermented dairy like yogurt and cheese showed the opposite, with lower risk. And the researchers themselves cautioned that their findings were preliminary and needed to be replicated before anyone drew dietary conclusions from them. So the honest summary is that the data doesn’t point in one clean direction.

Read more on osteoporosis prevention here.

Dairy’s relationship to other health outcomes is beyond the scope of a bone health article, but it’s worth a brief mention. Some studies have associated higher dairy intake with increased risk of certain cancers (especially prostate cancer), though the evidence varies by cancer type and is still an area of active research. Many people also have significant concerns about the ethical and environmental impact of bovine dairy production.

For our purposes here, the takeaway is simply that dairy isn’t the only path to strong bones, and for many people, as we will see, plant sources offer calcium alongside a broader package of health-supporting nutrients.

Myth #2 — Getting Enough Calcium Is the Main Thing You Need to Do for Bone Health 

Calcium is important for bone health, no question. But calcium isn’t the only thing your bones need to be strong. 

Exercise plays a critical role, too. Weight-bearing activities send signals to your bones, encouraging them to grow denser and stronger to handle the stress. Researchers have found that resistance and high-impact exercise can significantly improve bone density and reduce the risk of fractures. In other words, strength training is as essential as minerals for lifelong bone strength. 

Exercises to focus on for bone health include weight-bearing activities, such as walking, running, tennis, dancing, stair-climbing, and weight-lifting. (Note to self: invent a new sport that combines tennis, dancing, stair-climbing, and weight-lifting. On second thought, maybe not.)

And vitamin D also turns out to be pretty darn important.

Here’s a fact that’s perplexed researchers: People in many Asian, South American, and Sub-Saharan African countries consume around one-third the amount of calcium that Americans do, yet bone fractures are rare in these countries. 

How is this possible? One plausible theory is that, due to their geographic locations and lifestyles, they have much higher exposure to sunlight, which naturally increases vitamin D levels. And vitamin D turns out to be another critical nutrient for bone health.

While sun exposure helps your body produce vitamin D, factors like darker skin tone, older age, living at higher latitudes, and winter weather can severely limit production, making food sources or testing and supplementation essential for many.

For more on vitamin D, see our article here.

Vitamin K2 is another nutrient that helps regulate calcium balance in the body and is important for maintaining bone health. It may help regulate bone mineral density and reduce the risk of fracture, particularly in postmenopausal women, one of the most at-risk populations for osteoporosis.

For plant-based eaters, K2 can be tricky to get from food. The richest source by far is natto, a fermented soybean dish that’s an acquired taste for many. Smaller amounts show up in other fermented foods like tempeh, sauerkraut, and kimchi. Your body can also convert some of the vitamin K1 in leafy greens into K2, but that conversion varies a lot from person to person and isn’t always efficient. So if you don’t eat natto regularly, K2 is one of the nutrients worth paying particular attention to, and one reason it’s often included in a well-formulated bone health supplement.

For more on vitamin K2, see our article here.

Myth #3 — Everyone Should Take a Calcium-Containing Supplement

It’s a widely held assumption that a calcium supplement is simply something everyone should take to protect their bones as they age. And a substantial share of older adults do.

But the evidence tells a more selective story: The people who clearly benefit are a specific group, not the general population. Chief among them are postmenopausal women and older adults, who bear the greatest burden of osteoporosis, which affects over 10 million adults in the U.S. and more than 200 million people worldwide. In these groups, the risk of fractures in the spine, hips, and wrists rises sharply — and for postmenopausal women specifically, hormonal changes accelerate bone loss and heighten the risk of calcium deficiency.

For vegan postmenopausal women, the case may be even stronger. The Adventist Health Study 2 tracked more than 34,000 people for an average of 8 years, during which 679 hip fractures occurred. Vegan women had a 55% higher risk of hip fracture than nonvegetarians. This gap was not seen in vegan men, which points to an interaction between a plant-based diet and postmenopausal bone loss rather than veganism alone. Tellingly, among vegan women who supplemented with both calcium and vitamin D, the elevated risk disappeared.

Part of the challenge is dietary. While calcium-rich plant foods can contribute meaningfully, consistently reaching the recommended 1,200 mg per day through food alone is difficult, especially if much of your calcium comes from high-oxalate greens, which bind calcium and limit how much you actually absorb (more on this below). For people in this position, supplementation can help close the gap. 

If you do supplement, the details matter. The two main forms are calcium carbonate and calcium citrate, and how much you need depends on what you already get from food and whether you have absorption issues. Calcium is best absorbed with food and in amounts under 600 mg at a time. The body isn’t built to handle a sudden deluge, so you’re generally better off taking only enough to complement your diet and spreading it across two daily doses. If you get 800 mg from food and want to reach 1,200 mg, for example, you might ideally take 200 mg twice a day.

But supplementation isn’t risk-free, and the benefit above is concentrated in specific groups, especially postmenopausal women and vegans. For people who aren’t at elevated risk of fracture, research suggests supplemental calcium may do more harm than good. The concern that has drawn the most scrutiny isn’t about bone at all; it’s about what all that supplemental calcium may be doing to the heart and blood vessels.

Calcium Supplements and Cardiovascular Disease 

Starting in 1995, the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study tracked almost 400,000 men and women aged 50–71 for an average of 12 years. More than half of the men and 70% of the women took supplemental calcium. The researchers found that high intake of supplemental calcium was linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease death in men (but not in women). 

That’s because while calcium supplements can raise blood calcium levels, not all of that calcium ends up where it’s needed. Some may deposit in your arteries, potentially leading to stiffened arteries and higher blood pressure. Both of these contribute to the development of heart disease.

To make calcium supplementation more effective and safer, it’s important to pair it with other key nutrients. Vitamin D increases calcium bioavailability, helping your body absorb and use it more efficiently. Meanwhile, vitamin K2 plays a critical role in directing calcium to where it’s needed — your bones — and away from places like your arteries. 

It’s also important to note that calcium supplementation can prevent certain medications from working. Specifically, it can reduce the absorption of certain antibiotics, anticonvulsants, and even, ironically enough, medications used to treat osteoporosis.

9 Plant-Based, Calcium-Rich Foods

So, if dairy products aren’t necessarily the best source of calcium, and if calcium supplementation can come with some drawbacks, the question is: Where should you ideally get your calcium?

Below are some of the most naturally calcium-rich plant foods. (All calcium amounts obtained from MyFoodData.)

Plant Foods High in Calcium #1 — Soy

• ½ cup of tofu (made with calcium sulfate) = 861 mg calcium
• 1 cup of unsweetened Edensoy organic soy milk = 40 mg calcium
• ½ cup of edamame = 102 mg calcium

Organic soy foods that are unprocessed, like soybeans or edamame, or lightly processed, like tofu and soy milk, are high in calcium and great for many recipes. And tofu, when it’s made with calcium sulfate, is something of a calcium superstar (1 cup can nearly meet your entire calcium RDA!). Use extra-firm tofu in stir-fries, pasta dishes, tofu scrambles, or even sliced on sandwiches. Try silken tofu in smoothies, dips, and sauces.

You can drink soy milk by itself or use it as you would cow’s milk — for example, in cereal, as a base for smoothies and sauces, or baking. 

Edamame, or green soybeans, can be purchased in the frozen section of many markets. They are available in pods or pre-shelled. Edamame can be added to salads, Buddha bowls, or homemade hummus. 

For more on soy, read our article, Soy Facts: Is Soy Healthy or Harmful?

Plant Foods High in Calcium #2 — Seeds

• 1 ounce sesame seeds = 280 mg calcium
• 1 ounce chia seeds = 180 mg calcium

I love to keep a variety of nuts and seeds in the pantry. I sprinkle sesame seeds on a salad or roasted veggies. Chia seeds are great in smoothies, oatmeal, or ground and sprinkled on almost everything. (Not on your dog or cat, however. That’s not what they mean by “chia pet.”)

If you prefer a spread, tahini (sesame seed butter) offers 130 mg of calcium in just 2 tablespoons. That’s about 10% of what your body will need in the U.S. and 20% in Britain. (At least, according to those official government recommendations, that is!)

For more on sesame, read our article, What Is Sesame? Explore the Benefits & Uses of Sesame Seeds and Tahini.

For more on chia seeds, read our article, 9 Health Benefits of Chia Seeds and How to Eat Them. 

Plant Foods High in Calcium #3 — Beans

• 1 cup navy beans = 125 mg calcium
• 1 cup baked beans = 154 mg calcium
• 1 cup red kidney beans = 116 mg calcium
• 1 cup pinto beans = 78 mg calcium

Beans are an incredibly versatile pantry staple (and you can use them in art projects and maracas). At under $2 per pound dry (or often less than $2 per can), they’re affordable, too. Add beans to soups, salads, burritos, pasta, casseroles, tacos, and pizzas. (Under no circumstances should you spread them on your dog or cat.)

For more on beans, read our article, The Benefits of Beans: Why They Deserve a Place in Your Diet.

Plant Foods High in Calcium #4 — Okra

• 1 cup cooked okra = 123 mg calcium

In addition to calcium, okra, also known as bhindi in India, is also a good source of magnesium, vitamin K, and folate — three nutrients that work synergistically with calcium to maintain strong bones. Its unique, slimy (or, if you are building your vocabulary, “mucilaginous”) texture can add thickness to soups and stews, making it a staple in many cuisines.

In addition to soups and stews, try roasting, baking, or air-frying okra for the most palatable (i.e., least mucilaginous) consistency.

For more on okra, read our article, What Is Okra & Is it Good for You?

Plant Foods High in Calcium #5 — Almonds

• 1 oz raw almonds = 76 mg calcium
• 1 Tbsp almond butter = 55 mg calcium

Almond butter is a great alternative to peanut butter. It’s easy to make with a high-speed blender or food processor. You can add raw almonds to smoothies, muffins, and pancakes or eat them as a snack. 

For more on almonds and other nuts, read our article, Nut Health Benefits: You Won’t Believe How Good They Are for You.

Plant Foods High in Calcium #6 — Low-Oxalate Leafy Greens

iStock.com/alice_dias_didszoleit

• 1 cup of cooked collard greens = 267 mg calcium
• 1 cup cooked bok choy = 158 mg calcium
• 1 cup cooked kale = 195 mg calcium

While pretty much all leafy greens are high in calcium, some contain high oxalate concentrations. These compounds (also found in other plant foods) can block calcium absorption. Oxalates can make otherwise highly nutritious vegetables — like spinach, Swiss chard, and beet greens — not-so-great sources of calcium.

Collard greens, bok choy, and kale have lower oxalate content. Mix these into salads, or try them sauteed or steamed.

Learn more about leafy greens in our article, Leafy Greens: How to Source, Wash, Store, & Prepare Them.

For more on oxalates, read our article, Are Oxalates Bad for You? And Should You Avoid Foods that are High in Oxalates?

Plant Foods High in Calcium #7 — Oranges

• 1 medium navel orange = 52 mg calcium

Oranges are famous for their vitamin C content and are also high in calcium. I can’t think of a better way to enjoy a juicy orange than to eat it raw.

For more on oranges, read our article, Are Oranges Good for You — or the Planet?

Plants High in Calcium #8 — Broccoli Raab (Rapini)

• 1 cup cooked broccoli raab (or “rabe”) = 185 mg calcium

Regular ol’ broccoli is a decent source of calcium, coming in at around 60 mg per cup — but its cruciferous cousin and semi-namesake broccoli raab (also known as rapini) has more. It can be boiled, sautéed, or seasoned and roasted.

Plant Foods High in Calcium #9 — Dried Figs

• 3 dried figs = 39 mg calcium

If you’re not a fan of eating dried figs plain, they’re great additions to baked goods, like muffins, breads, and scones. You can also use them to sweeten and add texture to smoothies. 

For more on figs, check out our article, Figs: Are They Good for You and the Planet?

What About Calcium-Fortified Plant Milk? 

Most plant milks are fortified with calcium, though some aren’t. Fortified milk can contain as much — if not more — calcium than a glass of cow’s milk.

If you drink plant milk, check the label, as the calcium content can vary between varieties and brands.

Of course, fortification is just a way of adding a supplement to food. The good news is that because it’s in food, it comes along with other nutrients, and it’s delivered in relatively small amounts that are typically spread out over time.

Do Any Factors Affect Calcium Absorption?

If you’re one of the people who struggles with your calcium levels, it could be that the problem doesn’t stem from not consuming enough calcium. It’s possible that you’re not absorbing it properly.

Several things can interfere with how much calcium you absorb:

• Eating too much sodium. A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis found that post-menopausal women with high-sodium diets excreted a lot more calcium in their pee than other women — almost 30 mg/day more. So cutting down on salt can help protect bone health in older women.

Some ways to cut down on sodium include avoiding high-sodium processed and packaged foods, rinsing canned beans and vegetables (unless they are unsalted to begin with), and adding little or no salt when cooking. Many experts suggest keeping your sodium intake to under 1,000 to 2,000 mg per day, especially if you have heart disease or type 2 diabetes.

• Smoking and tobacco use. Tobacco can promote calcium loss by inhibiting absorption, reducing bone density, and increasing fracture risk. It’s worth noting that smokers also tend to share other bone-harming habits, like less physical activity, poorer diet, higher alcohol use, and earlier menopause, so tobacco is often one piece of a larger picture.
• Eating a lot of protein. You may have heard that protein is bad for your bones, because higher protein intake increases the amount of calcium you excrete in your urine. This is true, and it applies to plant protein as much as animal protein. A 2003 study found that protein from soy, corn, wheat, and rice raises urinary calcium about as much as eggs, milk, and meat do.

But more calcium in your urine doesn’t mean your bones are being depleted to supply it. Controlled studies using isotope tracing found that a high-protein diet actually increases how much calcium you absorb from food — and that less of the calcium in your urine is coming from bone, not more. That may be why so many studies link higher-protein diets to higher, not lower, bone density.

So protein isn’t the enemy. Quite the opposite: About half of your bone volume is protein, and getting enough is essential. What matters is the whole package. Pairing protein with calcium- and potassium-rich foods — the potassium in legumes and grains actually helps reduce calcium loss — helps you to maximize the bone health benefits of protein in your diet.

• Not getting enough of other nutrients. For your body to properly absorb and use calcium, you need other nutrients, including vitamins D, C, K, E, and B12, as well as magnesium, zinc, and boron.
• Getting your calcium only from oxalate-containing sources. Getting your calcium only from oxalate-rich sources. As we saw with leafy greens above, oxalates bind calcium in the digestive tract and block its absorption. A study directly measuring absorption found spinach and rhubarb at the bottom, while lower-oxalate options like Chinese mustard greens and cabbage absorbed several times better. The takeaway: Enjoy spinach and chard for their many other nutrients, but don’t count on them for calcium.

What Happens When You Don’t Get Enough Calcium?

Because your body treats blood calcium as a life-or-death priority, it will steal calcium from your bones to keep blood levels steady. This means your blood calcium level will usually test completely normal even if your diet is deficient and your bones are becoming brittle. True low blood calcium (hypocalcemia) is rare and typically caused by underlying medical issues like kidney or parathyroid conditions, not diet alone.

Calcium-Rich Recipes

Craving something delicious and nutrient-packed? These three recipes deliver big on flavor and calcium! From the creamy Silken Tofu Salad and the irresistible Almond Ricotta Pear Toast to the comforting Red Bean Gumbo With Okra, each dish is loaded with plant-based goodness that supports your bones and enhances your calcium intake. With nourishing ingredients like tofu, almonds, sesame seeds, red beans, and okra, these recipes make healthy eating feel like a true treat.

1. Almond Ricotta Pear Toast With Balsamic Fig Jam

Elevate your toast game with Almond Ricotta Pear Toast topped with a luscious Balsamic Fig Jam. Creamy almond ricotta pairs beautifully with sweet, tender pears and a tangy, herby fig jam for a flavor-packed bite. The almond ricotta and fig jam bring a boost of plant-based calcium, making this toast as wholesome as it is delicious. Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or a fancy snack, this dish is as nourishing as it is indulgent. Bonus: it’s so pretty you might want to snap a picture before diving in.

2. Silken Tofu Salad With Sweet and Savory Dressing

Silken Tofu Salad With Sweet and Savory Dressing is a creamy, vibrant dish packed with a refreshing crunch and bold flavors. The silken tofu melts in your mouth, while sesame seeds and a zesty dressing tie everything together for a satisfying bite. A good source of plant-based calcium from tofu and sesame seeds, this salad is as nourishing as it is delicious. Bright bell peppers, crisp cucumbers, and buttery avocado make it a feast for both the eyes and the palate. Perfect for a quick lunch or light dinner, it’s a simple way to enjoy calcium-rich plants!

3. Red Bean Gumbo With Okra

Dive into a bowl of Red Bean Gumbo With Okra, a hearty, flavor-packed dish that brings the taste of Louisiana to your table. Bursting with spices, tender red beans, and the rich texture of okra, this gumbo is satisfying and a delicious way to boost your calcium intake. Red beans and okra are powerhouses of this essential mineral, making each spoonful as nourishing as it is tasty. Served over fluffy brown rice, it’s comfort food with a wholesome twist. Perfect for cozy evenings, this gumbo is a celebration of bold flavors and plant-based goodness!

The Bottom Line on Calcium

Calcium matters, for your bones, your heart, and dozens of functions happening in your body right now. But if there’s one idea to walk away with, it’s that calcium doesn’t work alone, and it was never only about dairy.

Your bones are living tissue, remodeling today and every day. The choices you make now are shaping the skeleton that will carry you for decades to come. And the good news is that you have real influence over how that story unfolds.

So here’s the strategy, distilled: Build your foundation on calcium-rich plant foods like low-oxalate greens, tofu, beans, and seeds, which deliver calcium alongside the magnesium, potassium, and vitamin K your bones also need. Move your body with weight-bearing and resistance exercise. Get your vitamin D. And if you’re a postmenopausal woman — especially if you’re plant-based and lean — take this seriously, because your risk is real and the gap between what you eat and what you need can be hard to close through food alone. That’s exactly where a well-formulated, appropriately-dosed supplement with D3 and K2 can help.

Your skeleton has carried you through every chapter of your life so far. Give it what it needs, and it will keep carrying you, strong, steady, and ready for whatever comes next.

Tell us in the comments:

• What are your favorite calcium-rich foods?
• What special precautions do you take to avoid osteoporosis?

Featured Image: iStock.com/ratmaner

Read Next:

• Plant-Based Milk: What to Consider When Choosing a Dairy Milk Alternative

• Plant-Based Protein: The Best Sources & How Much You Actually Need

The post Calcium: How Much Do You Need And What Are the Best Sources? appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

As it turns out, Popeye was onto something, though the science is a bit more interesting than a can of spinach giving you instant cartoon muscles. Spinach really is remarkably good for you. It’s just that the reasons why are more nuanced than a sailor’s battle cry would suggest.

So let’s take a look at what spinach actually does, and doesn’t do, for your health — and how to get the most out of it.

Where Is Spinach Grown?

Spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) likely originated in Asia, in what is now Iran. Its nearest relatives are beets and chard. We have records of spinach cultivation from China in the seventh century and Europe in the fourteenth. The Moors, historical inhabitants of Europe and Rome, introduced it to Spain, a fact reflected in our name for the plant (the etymology of “spinach” is from the Spanish word hispanica). Today, four states — California, Arizona, New Jersey, and Texas — grow 98% of the commercial fresh market spinach in the U.S.

Globally, the U.S. is the second-largest spinach producer after China. It’s not even close, though: China’s spinach production reached almost 28 million tons in recent internationally compiled figures, while the U.S. produces well under half a million tons most years — putting China’s output at roughly 65 to 90 times that of the U.S.

If you like to garden, you don’t have to import your spinach, as it’s easy to grow in many climate zones. It’s a relatively hardy green that can be planted in very early spring, as well as in fall and even winter in some areas.

Types of Spinach

There are three main types of spinach: flat-leaf, savoy, and semi-savoy.

1. Flat-leaf or smooth

This type predominates in grocery stores and restaurants in the U.S. It’s also frequently included in pre-packaged salad mixes, either on its own or mixed with other greens like butter lettuce or arugula. Flat-leaf spinach is sweeter and more tender than other varieties and is delicious (in my opinion! — your mileage may vary) both raw and cooked. Some popular varieties of flat-leaf spinach include Space and Red Cardinal.

2. Savoy

This variety has distinctive wrinkly leaves that are usually around 5–6 inches long. Raw, it’s somewhat bitter, so you may want to cook it. Two popular varieties of savoy spinach are Regiment and Bloomsdale. 

3. Semi-Savoy

This type of spinach isn’t as crinkly as savoy but does still have an uneven texture and edges. This makes it easier to clean before eating. Semi-savoy spinach has the same flavor characteristics as savoy, so it’s probably best to cook this one as well. Some popular varieties of semi-savoy spinach include Tyee, Catalina, and Teton. 

Spinach Nutrition

While spinach may not give you Popeye-level instant strength, it still has a lot to offer nutritionally. And you don’t have to gulp down a full can of spinach to reap those benefits. 

Spinach contains at least 20 different important nutrients. It’s extremely high in antioxidants, containing 13 flavonoids, which are compounds responsible for many of the plant’s health benefits.

A half cup of cooked spinach delivers a striking nutritional payload. It provides more than 400% of your recommended daily vitamin K1, around 58% of your daily vitamin A, and meaningful amounts of magnesium, potassium, iron, and vitamin C. It also provides about 2.6 grams of protein in just 21 calories — which is comparable to the protein-to-calorie ratio of a cooked steak.

Health Benefits of Spinach

The nutrients and potent plant compounds in spinach make it one of the healthiest foods on the planet. Below are some of the known health benefits of making spinach a regular part of your diet.

The nutrients and potent plant compounds in spinach make it one of the healthiest foods on the planet. Below are some of the health benefits of making spinach a regular part of your diet.

1. May have anticancer effects 

Some epidemiological studies have observed a protective role of spinach consumption when it comes to cancers of the breast, colon, and esophagus. A 1997 study of more than 17,000 women found that those who ate at least 2 servings of spinach per week had a 45% lower risk for breast cancer. (Carrots had the same effect, in case you prefer orange to green.) Some of the anticancer effects of spinach may be due to its lutein content, a carotenoid that provides a yellow pigment to plants. 

In case you’re wondering why spinach isn’t yellow, consider this lesson from kindergarten: yellow and blue combine to make green. Which does make me wonder: If spinach didn’t have so much lutein, would it be blue? We may never know. But what we do know is that regular inclusion of spinach in your diet may be cancer-preventive.

2. May improve metabolic syndrome 

Metabolic syndrome refers to a cluster of conditions that raise your risk for chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. Some of these conditions include high blood pressure and blood lipids, abdominal obesity, and poor blood sugar management. Eating spinach may help prevent some or all of these conditions.

The effect was first measured in rodents. A 2017 study gave rats metabolic syndrome via a high-fructose diet, then observed the effects of a daily spinach extract. Compared to rats in the control group, the ones on the Popeye diet had lower blood sugar and insulin levels, improved cholesterol numbers, reduced inflammation, healthier hearts, and less cell damage caused by harmful free radicals. And the effects were even more pronounced when the spinach was paired with daily aerobic exercise. 

In another animal study, this one using mice, spinach consumption was found to improve insulin resistance, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, and endothelial function. Some of this benefit may be attributed to the dietary nitrates found in spinach. These compounds are converted into nitric oxide, a gas that dilates arteries and improves circulation, which in turn improves heart health.

​​(Our view on the use of animals in medical research is here.)

Researchers got around to testing the effects of spinach on humans a few years later. In a 2021 case-control study published in the journal BMC Gastroenterology, researchers analyzed 225 patients who had been diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is closely linked with metabolic syndrome, and 450 controls. The more spinach (including both raw and cooked) that the study participants ate, the lower their odds of suffering from NAFLD. 

3. May help boost your mood 

Some people may find that consuming spinach makes them happy. One telltale sign is declaring loudly, publicly, and repeatedly, “I yam what I yam.” And it’s not just a case of wishful thinking; there’s solid scientific evidence that spinach is good for your brain and may actually help boost mood. 

In one 2018 study, researchers examined the mental health effects of eating raw versus cooked or canned fruits and vegetables on young adults. They found that eating raw, unprocessed produce predicted significantly better mental health outcomes compared to cooked or canned produce. Spinach was among the top 10 fruits and veggies that improved mental health. 

Interestingly, a second 2018 study found antidepressant effects from spinach in a very different form, frozen powder extract, suggesting the mood benefits may not depend entirely on eating it raw. The researchers observed that frozen spinach powder extract increased glutamate and glutamine levels in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Low levels of these two compounds have been observed among people with depression. (In case you’re wondering, this study was conducted on some very unfortunate mice. It’s not considered ethical to decapitate humans to measure amino acid levels in their brains.)

4. May be good for your brain 

In addition to boosting your mood, eating spinach and other leafy greens may have other beneficial effects on your brain. 

In a 2018 study published in Neurology, researchers found that consuming green leafy vegetables (including spinach, kale, collards, and lettuce) significantly slowed cognitive decline in dementia-free older adults (average age 81). Even better, these benefits were seen with just one serving of leafy greens per day. But what was the most impressive thing? The rate of cognitive decline among those who consumed the most greens, compared to those who consumed the least, was the equivalent of being a whopping 11 years younger.

5. May increase your strength and athletic performance 

Spinach contains a phytosteroid called ecdysterone, which may be responsible for some of its strength benefits. In a 2019 comparative study, researchers concluded that the performance effects of this naturally occurring steroid hormone were so significant that ecdysterone could be added to the list of prohibited substances for sports, along with other anabolic agents. Good thing that Popeye lyricist Sammy Lerner didn’t know this; “I’m strong to the finich ‘cause I get my ecdysterone” just isn’t as catchy as the original.

The nitrates found in spinach may offer other strength benefits. A Swedish study found that adding nitrate to the drinking water of mice for one week resulted in much stronger muscles, compared to those of mice that didn’t get nitrates.

6. May help support eye health 

Spinach contains the antioxidant-rich carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin. These provide pigment to plants and are also responsible for many of their health benefits, particularly to your eyes. Lutein and zeaxanthin have been extensively studied for their association with a reduced risk for cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, a condition that may, over time, result in blurred vision or blindness.

According to a small 2016 study, consistent intake of lutein-rich spinach increased macular pigment optical density, visual acuity, and blood levels of lutein. The 11 healthy participants consumed 75 grams (approximately one-third cup) of frozen spinach containing 10 milligrams of lutein every day for 2 months. 

Potential Spinach Health Risks

Despite its numerous health benefits, spinach also comes with a few potential downsides to consider. While for most people its benefits far outweigh its risks, some populations may want to avoid eating large amounts of spinach.

Contains Oxalates

Spinach contains oxalic acid, which your body converts to oxalates. These compounds bind to minerals like iron and calcium, making them less bioavailable for your body to use. 

And spinach does contain a higher concentration of oxalates than most other plant foods. Just a half cup of cooked spinach contains around 755 milligrams of oxalic acid.

The good news is, most of this is excreted from your body through urine, and so doesn’t pose a risk for most people at normal levels of consumption. 

The less good news is, they may increase the risk of kidney stones in people prone to them. Healthcare providers will sometimes prescribe a low-oxalate diet to people with this susceptibility. Adhering to such a diet generally means eating less than 100 milligrams of oxalic acid per day, which means no spinach (or beet greens or Swiss chard). When this diet is prescribed, it’s usually out of an abundance of caution, because the role of dietary oxalates and kidney stone formation is inconclusive. Also, it’s possible to reduce the risk of kidney stones by drinking a lot of water.

Oxalates may also pose concerns for people who have a history of frequent antibiotic use. This is because some of the oxalates you eat are broken down by bacteria in the gut. People who lack those bacteria may benefit from a lower-oxalate diet.

Despite their ability to reduce absorption of some nutrients, oxalates are not evil. In fact, they are present in almost every food we eat, with high concentrations in some of the healthiest, including rhubarb, spinach, beets, Swiss chard, cacao, peanuts, and sweet potatoes. 

The bottom line? Spinach is a highly nutritious food. If you have concerns about your iron or calcium levels and don’t eat a lot of other sources of these nutrients, or if you are prone to kidney stones, you may want to moderate your spinach consumption. But eating a well-balanced diet can give you more of the minerals that oxalates may otherwise inhibit. 

Interference with Medications

Spinach contains large amounts of vitamin K1, in both its raw and cooked forms. Vitamin K1 is known to support natural blood clotting and to prevent excessive bleeding. Getting enough is also important for the strength of your teeth and bones, helping to regulate calcium balance and reduce the risk of fractures.

On the other hand, too much vitamin K1 can reduce the effectiveness of blood thinners like Warfarin. If you’re on Warfarin, or a similar medication, there’s probably no need to avoid spinach completely. Rather, maintaining a consistent intake of spinach and other sources of vitamin K1 can help keep blood levels of this nutrient even. And of course, this could be a good thing to discuss with your healthcare provider. 

May Contain Pesticides

Spinach remains on the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen list, where it’s listed as the second most pesticide-contaminated produce item when grown conventionally. To help minimize your consumption of pesticides, choose organically grown spinach whenever possible. 

How to Choose & Store Spinach

So perhaps you’ve put spinach on your grocery list. If so, great! Follow these few tips for buying and storage success. 

• Choose bunches with vibrant green leaves, and avoid spinach with yellowed leaves, as this shows it’s lost some nutrients.
• Avoid spinach that has wilted or slimy leaves, as this indicates it’s starting to spoil. This deterioration will spread to the rest of the leaves and give that bunch a very short shelf life. 
• Choose fresh spinach over bagged if possible, as bagged leafy greens can get soggy. They also have more contact with plastic. 
• If fresh spinach isn’t available or you prefer an option that will keep longer, go for frozen spinach. Frozen produce is picked fresh, and the freezing process keeps most of its nutrients intact. 
• Canned spinach is also an economical option. But if you buy canned spinach, choose some in a BPA-free can. (And don’t squeeze the sides to open it — use a can opener.)

When you get home, store fresh spinach in the refrigerator in produce bags or in airtight containers. Don’t wash your spinach until you’re ready to eat it, since a moisture-rich environment can promote bacterial growth and premature wilting. If you buy fresh spinach that’s not organic, wash it with water mixed with a bit of baking soda when you’re ready to use it. This combination is more effective for removing pesticides on the surface of produce than water alone, or even commercial produce cleaners. (For our article on how to wash produce to reduce pesticide contamination, click here.)

How to Use Spinach

Now for the part you’ve been waiting for! What are some of the best ways to use the delicious spinach you just brought home, pulled out of the freezer, or picked from your garden? 

Many people enjoy spinach washed and raw. It can be used as a foundation for salads, incorporated into dips (like the spinach and artichoke one below), blended into smoothies and homemade juices, or mixed into soups, stews, and curries. 

As for cooked spinach, it’s delicious in pasta dishes, sautéed with garlic as a side to just about anything, incorporated into stir-fries and breakfast scrambles, and mixed into soups, stews, and curries. To cook spinach, you can boil and drain it, sauté it with a bit of water or vegetable broth, steam it in a steaming basket, or even microwave it. Be aware that spinach is mostly water, so that giant bunch of fresh greens may end up as a quarter cup if cooked. Don’t be sad; all the good stuff is still there, just concentrated.

Research has shown that there’s more water-soluble B and C vitamins when spinach is steamed or microwaved than when boiled. Cooked spinach can actually be more nutrient-rich than raw, because the cooking process can make certain minerals more bioavailable.

Spinach-licious Recipes 

The recipes below provide just a small taste (literally!) of spinach’s diversity. Blend it to make an ooey-gooey tasty appetizer with the Spinach Artichoke Dip. Entice your kids to love their spinach by getting them to help you in the kitchen to make the Superhero Dressing (with spinach as the star ingredient, of course!) that drizzles on top of the Spinach Jeweled Salad. Or, if you want to be super sneaky, make the Cheesy Spinach Lasagna, which is (almost) guaranteed to please even the pickiest eaters. 

1. Spinach Artichoke Dip

Something magical happens when you blend spinach with artichokes and cashews — they come together to create an ooey, gooey sea of deliciousness packed with nutrients like vitamin K, iron, magnesium, and zinc. This seemingly indulgent dish is also very simple to prepare. Enjoy it as a veggie dip, spread it on a sandwich, or layer it with potatoes, then bake as a casserole. 

2. Spinach Jeweled Salad

If you want to become a real-life superhero, we have just the salad for you. Or, maybe you’re past the superhero phase, but have kids who refuse to eat their greens — entice them with the salad’s Superhero Dressing made with spinach and avocado! There are so many essential nutrients packed into this gem of a meal, including vitamin E, vitamin C, carotenoids, fiber, and much, much more, thanks to the spinach, avocado, nuts, seeds, pomegranate, and radishes. Enjoy it often!

3. Cheesy Spinach Lasagna

Including greens in your daily diet can sometimes be a challenge, and if you have greens-avoidant kids, that’s a whole other level of difficulty. Enter Cheesy Spinach Lasagna — the meal to end all leafy green challenges. This family-friendly meal will most likely satisfy even the pickiest of eaters and may even knock the socks off of some. Feel good knowing that you’re feeding your family a meal filled with nutrient-packed, plant-based ingredients for optimal health and well-being. 

Eat Your Spinach, Be Strong to the Finish

Even though he wasn’t on the leading edge of scientific research, it turns out that Popeye was onto something: Spinach is good for you and can make you strong. Plus, it has several other health benefits. Although some people may want to moderate their consumption, most people can safely include spinach as part of a healthy, balanced diet. Whether you go with fresh, frozen, or canned, aim to purchase (or grow) organic if you can, to avoid pesticides. Spinach is a versatile green that deserves your consideration for its excellent nutritional value and, in much of the world, its year-round availability.

Tell us in the comments:

• What are some of your favorite ways to prepare and enjoy spinach?

• If you haven’t been a spinach fan previously, will you try eating more now?

• Have you ever grown spinach at home, or tried any of the less common varieties?

Feature image: iStock.com/Kativ

Read Next

• Vitamin K: Benefits, How to Get It, and How Much You Need
• What B Vitamins Do You Need — And What Are The Best Vegan Sources of B Vitamins?
• Why Daily Vitamin C is Good for Your Immune System

The post Is Spinach Healthy? And How to Prepare Spinach for Flavor and Nutrition appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

But can they be at risk, too?

I can tell you from personal experience that the answer is yes.

For most of my adult life, I assumed I was doing everything right for my cardiovascular health, steering clear of animal products and eating a diet low in processed foods and high in fiber and whole plants. So when a routine blood test in 2019 came back with an LDL of 170 mg/dL (4.4 mmol/L), I thought there must be a mistake. That doesn’t happen to me.

It wasn’t a mistake.

What followed was a fascinating, humbling, and occasionally maddening education in how cholesterol actually works, and it’s a big part of why I wanted to write this article. But more on my story in a moment.

In this article, we’ll explore the science of high cholesterol. You’ll see that while diet is a huge factor, it’s not the only one. And you’ll get practical tips and steps to support healthy cholesterol levels that go beyond what you include or exclude from your plate.

What Is Cholesterol and What Does It Do?

Cholesterol is a fatty substance that performs a number of vital functions in your body. It’s needed for the construction and repair of cell membranes and to make important hormones, including:

• Sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone
• Stress hormones such as cortisol
• Water and electrolyte-balance hormones like aldosterone
• Vitamin D, which your skin starts making from cholesterol when exposed to sunlight

Cholesterol is so vital that your body doesn’t take any chances; your liver produces all the cholesterol you need. You don’t need to get any cholesterol from food.

Cholesterol isn’t water-soluble, so it can’t dissolve in your bloodstream on its own. Your body deals with this by binding cholesterol to protein molecules that can travel through the blood. These combinations of fats and proteins are known as apolipoproteins (fun tongue-twister!). 

Simplifying a bit for our discussion, there are two apolipoproteins of note. One is apolipoprotein B (ApoB), the main protein of LDL cholesterol. This is the “delivery” form, responsible for getting cholesterol to the cells where it’s needed.

The second is apolipoprotein A1 (ApoA1), the main protein in HDL cholesterol. It’s the “waste management” form, and its job is to help remove excess cholesterol from your bloodstream.

The difference between those two functions is why LDL is considered the “bad” cholesterol while HDL is thought of as the “good” one. Both are necessary for life, so “bad” and “good” are simplistic labels. But because our modern diet and lifestyle make us prone to high LDL cholesterol, and this condition is a known precursor to cardiovascular disease, it’s a useful way to think about it.

How bad is “bad” LDL cholesterol? It’s a major risk factor for some of our most common and deadly chronic diseases, including atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in arteries), coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease, and stroke.

What are Healthy Cholesterol Levels?

So, what is considered “high” cholesterol? And what are normal levels? The answers come from decades of studies that have correlated cholesterol with health outcomes. 

For total cholesterol, a level below 200 mg/dL (5.2 mmol/L) —that’s “milligrams per deciliter,” or “millimoles per liter” if you’re outside the US— has long been considered desirable. More recent research has found that, in addition to the total number, the LDL-to-HDL ratio is also a risk factor for disease.

That’s one reason why total cholesterol can be a misleading number. It lumps together different types of cholesterol, including LDL and HDL. Someone with high total cholesterol might have excellent cardiovascular health if their HDL level is especially high. It’s kind of like labeling someone “obese” based on their body weight, even if most of their weight is coming from lean muscle, not fat. Without knowing the breakdown, the total number doesn’t tell the full story.

LDL cholesterol should ideally be less than 100 mg/dL (2.6 mmol/L). That said, if you’re below 130 mg/dL (3.4 mmol/L), that’s pretty good. Between 130 and 160 mg/dL (3.4–4.1 mmol/L) is borderline high, while anything above 160 mg/dL (4.1 mmol/L) is considered high.

In contrast, higher HDL cholesterol levels are associated with better health. So HDL at 60 mg/dL (1.6 mmol/L) or higher is considered optimal, as it appears to offer protection against heart disease. For men, anything below 40 mg/dL (1.0 mmol/L) is considered a risk factor, while for women, that number rises to 50 mg/dL (1.3 mmol/L). 

There’s another blood lipid, triglycerides, that’s not part of the cholesterol family but is also important when assessing risk. For optimal health, your fasting triglycerides should be below 150 mg/dL (1.7 mmol/L).

A note on units: This table uses mg/dL, the standard in the US. If you’re in New Zealand, the UK, Australia, Canada, or elsewhere in Europe, your lab results are probably in mmol/L instead. To convert, divide the mg/dL number by 38.67 (so 200 mg/dL ≈ 5.2 mmol/L).

High LDL cholesterol and triglycerides are a problem. They’re strongly associated with increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and other forms of cardiovascular disease, which are the world’s leading killers. According to large-scale studies, every 39 mg/dL (1 mmol/L) decrease in LDL cholesterol is associated with about a 22% lower risk of cardiovascular events. Elevated triglycerides, especially when paired with low HDL, are also a key factor. They’ve been linked to a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular events and all-cause mortality.

But what about when your cholesterol gets really low? Is there a point where that becomes dangerous?

Technically, yes. Extremely low LDL or total cholesterol levels (like, below 40 mg/dL (1.0 mmol/L) for LDL and 120 mg/dL (3.1 mmol/L) for total cholesterol) have been linked in some studies to hormonal imbalances, increased cancer risk, and hemorrhagic stroke. 

What about low HDL cholesterol? If it’s the good kind, don’t we want it to be as high as possible?

Not exactly. Remember, the job of HDL is to clear cholesterol from your bloodstream. If you’re eating a fully plant-based diet that’s low in saturated fats and devoid of cholesterol, you may well have low LDL and total cholesterol levels. In that case, you don’t need so much HDL. 

Joel Fuhrman, MD, puts it this way in his book Cholesterol Protection for Life: “Populations with the highest HDL levels have the highest rates of heart disease. In other words, when you do not have an atherosclerosis burden, you do not need a high HDL to remove stored lipids within the plaque. If there is no plaque, more HDL is not needed, and the body then keeps the levels low.”

So HDL is kind of like a city’s sanitation department. You want enough garbage trucks to pick up all the trash on a timely basis, but no more. And the less garbage you produce, the fewer trucks you need. 

There’s evidence for this. The EPIC-Oxford study found that vegans had lower total and LDL cholesterol levels than meat-eaters, with HDL levels slightly lower as well. However, the favorable LDL-to-HDL ratio in vegans was associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. 

If you haven’t had a lipid panel recently, or ever, it’s worth asking your doctor for one. Knowing your numbers is the essential first step, and many people are surprised by what they find. Many guidelines recommend testing every 4 to 6 years for adults with no known risk factors, and more frequently if you have a family history of heart disease, are over 40, or have other cardiovascular risk factors.

What Factors Influence Cholesterol Levels?

So let’s get back to our original question: Can plant-based eaters have high cholesterol even if they don’t eat any foods that contain it? Yes, and I know this from personal experience.

What My Own Numbers Taught Me

For most of my life, I assumed my cholesterol numbers were the least of my worries. I ate what I considered a cardiovascularly exemplary diet, complete with little or no animal products, minimal processed food, high in fiber, and whole plants. Then in 2019, my LDL came back at 170 mg/dL (4.4 mmol/L), and my Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) was high, too. I was stunned. And then I spent several confused years watching the number stay elevated while I kept eating what I thought was an optimally healthy diet.

During that time, I had a coronary calcium scan and was relieved to find a score of 0.0, which meant no atherosclerotic buildup had occurred. I started monitoring my blood pressure regularly, and thankfully, it seemed to always be in the normal range. That was reassuring. But the high LDL numbers were still bothering me, and by the summer of 2024, my doctor was beginning to raise the question of statins.

I wasn’t opposed to statins in principle. The research on them is real, and sometimes they can be the right call. But I wanted to know first whether I could move the needle with diet. My dad suggested I try eating as pristinely as possible for a month. For me, that meant cutting out plant cheese, plant butter, bread, sweets, and all flour products and essentially eliminating every category of food where saturated fat or refined carbohydrates might be sneaking in. I ate 100% whole foods. My only oils were olive, avocado, and flax.

On October 14, 2024, my LDL came back at 99 mg/dL (2.6 mmol/L).

That was a revelation. It told me pretty clearly that my LDL is highly responsive to what I eat. I gradually loosened up again, with a bit of vegan cheese here, some dessert there, the occasional slice of bread, eating at restaurants, and sure enough, by June 2025, my LDL had climbed back to 176 mg/dL (4.6 mmol/L). I went strict again for 2 weeks and got it down to 132 mg/dL (3.4 mmol/L).

I’m still figuring this out. Honestly, I’d like to be able to enjoy a pat of vegan butter on my whole grain bread without it reading as a cardiovascular event. So more recently, I’ve been experimenting. Oatmeal most mornings. Daily amla extract, citrus bergamot, and ground flaxseed. (More on these supplements later.) The idea is to see whether targeted nutrition can give me a bit more room to maneuver. The jury is still out.

What I’ve learned is that the range of individual responses to diet is enormous. Some people can eat fairly freely, and their numbers barely move. Others, like me apparently, have LDL that tracks their diet almost in real time. As Dr. Dean Ornish puts it, “Genetics loads the gun, and lifestyle pulls the trigger.” But some people’s guns seem to fire on a hair trigger.

That’s why this article exists. Not to frighten you, but to give you the tools to understand your own numbers and to know what levers you can pull.

Now let’s look at the specific factors involved. We’ll start by looking at food and then consider other factors that could undermine even the cleanest diet.

1. How Diet Influences Cholesterol Levels

Your daily food choices directly influence your body’s cholesterol production and absorption. Every meal is an opportunity to either support healthy cholesterol levels or work against them. Here’s how to make your plate work in your favor.

Foods that Lower LDL Cholesterol 

Some foods do heavy lifting in lowering LDL cholesterol.

Oats and barley contain beta-glucan, a soluble fiber that acts like a sponge, binding to cholesterol in your digestive system and escorting it out of your body. Just one bowl of oatmeal daily may reduce LDL by 5–10%.

Legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas) are fiber powerhouses. Their combination of soluble fiber and plant protein makes them particularly effective in lowering LDL cholesterol. Aim for at least one serving daily.

Flaxseeds deserve special attention. Consuming a couple of tablespoons per day of ground or well-crushed flaxseeds has been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol. Grinding matters because whole flaxseeds can pass through undigested, so crushing them helps you absorb their omega-3s and lignans. The key is to eat flax as ground seeds (not oil), so their fiber and lignans stay intact and work together for maximum benefit. Interestingly, a 2012 study found that adding flaxseeds to drinks lowered cholesterol more than when the seeds were incorporated into baked goods. 

Plant sterols and stanols are especially plentiful in nuts, such as almonds, walnuts, and pistachios, and are also present in legumes, some fruits and vegetables, unrefined olive oil, and whole grains. They have similar molecular structures to cholesterol and compete for the same intestinal transport proteins. Practically speaking, this means they physically block some cholesterol-absorption sites and reduce the amount of cholesterol that enters your bloodstream.

Colorful fruits and vegetables provide antioxidants that prevent LDL oxidation, a process that makes cholesterol more harmful to arteries. Berries, apples, and leafy greens are especially rich in protective compounds.

Soy Foods like tofu, tempeh, and edamame contain isoflavones that modestly reduce cholesterol production. Include them a few times weekly for best results.

Beyond these broader food categories, a handful of specific foods have posted especially strong results in clinical trials — in some cases rivaling older cholesterol medications, at genuinely small daily doses.

Specific Foods With Measurable, Drug-Like Effects

Summer savory, a common culinary herb, may be one of the most potent. A double-blind randomized trial found that just 1/3 teaspoon of ground dried leaves daily dropped LDL cholesterol by 27 points in people with metabolic syndrome over 10 weeks. Try sprinkling it into soups, stews, or bean dishes.

Apples are an easy win: a randomized trial found that eating two medium apples daily reduced LDL cholesterol by 24% in postmenopausal women with elevated cholesterol, likely thanks to their pectin (soluble fiber) and polyphenol content.

Brazil nuts offer a fascinating case of “less is more.” A single dose of just 20 grams of Brazil nuts — about 4 whole kernels — dropped LDL cholesterol by 20% within 24 hours, an effect that persisted for a full month. Because Brazil nuts are extremely high in selenium, daily consumption isn’t recommended; four nuts once a month appears to be the sweet spot for benefit without risking selenium overload.

Artichoke hearts may help too. A meta-analysis of 14 studies found that artichoke supplementation lowered LDL cholesterol by 17–18 points. Most of this evidence comes from concentrated leaf extracts rather than the artichoke hearts you’d eat at dinner, so consider 1/2 cup of no-salt-added artichoke hearts daily a reasonable, food-based approximation rather than a directly tested equivalent.

Black soybeans are another strong contender. A randomized trial found that an anthocyanin-rich black soybean seed-coat extract (2.5 g/day) lowered LDL cholesterol by 14 points over 8 weeks. Whole cooked black soybeans likely offer a similar benefit, though the exact equivalent amount hasn’t been established in a peer-reviewed whole-food trial. A reasonable estimate is roughly 1 tablespoon of cooked black soybeans daily.

Lemon balm, a lemony herb in the mint family, showed a 13-point LDL reduction at a dose of about 1 teaspoon of the ground herb daily in a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of people with borderline high cholesterol. (Note: drinking lemon balm tea alone doesn’t appear to offer the same benefit — you want the ground herb itself.)

Sumac, the tangy purple spice common in Middle Eastern cooking, was shown in a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to lower LDL cholesterol by about 9 points, with an effective dose of around 1.5 teaspoons daily. (Skip it if you have a cashew or mango allergy, since sumac is in the same plant family.)

Foods That Increase LDL Cholesterol

Added sugars — especially in sugary drinks — hit your bloodstream quickly, and when there’s more than your liver can use right away, it converts the excess into fat and VLDL particles that circulate as triglycerides and LDL cholesterol, raising cardiovascular risk over time. Refined carbohydrates like white bread and pastries pose a related but distinct concern: their rapid glucose/insulin spikes. 

Saturated fat makes it harder for your liver to remove LDL cholesterol from your blood by reducing the number of receptors in your liver that normally help clear it out. Some types of saturated fat can also increase the amount of fat your liver sends into your bloodstream. 

These fats are packaged into particles called VLDL (very-low-density lipoproteins), which the body gradually converts into LDL cholesterol through an intermediate step The result? More LDL cholesterol stays in your blood, especially the small, dense type. And these are the particles most closely linked to clogged arteries and heart disease.

While meat and dairy are the main sources of saturated fat in the modern diet, there are vegan sources as well. For texture and mouthfeel, tropical oils like coconut and palm oil are often added to packaged vegan items such as vegan butters and margarines, non-dairy creamers and cheeses, and baked goods like cookies and cakes.

Trans fats, found in some processed foods, raise LDL while lowering HDL. Check labels for partially hydrogenated oils. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration deemed them “unsafe to eat” in 2015, there are still loopholes that allow small amounts into food.

What About Dietary Cholesterol?

Dietary cholesterol is only found in animal products. There is none in any vegan foods. And many vegans think this makes them immune to concern about blood cholesterol levels. But the truth turns out to be more complicated.

For most people, eating cholesterol in food has only a modest impact on blood cholesterol levels, if any at all. That’s because your liver adjusts its cholesterol production based on how much you’re getting from food. That’s why eating eggs or shrimp (which are high in cholesterol but low in saturated fat) doesn’t typically raise heart disease risk for most people, especially when they’re part of a healthy, plant-rich diet. That said, the story might be different for people who are hyper-responders or who already have metabolic or cardiovascular disease.

Cholesterol-Lowering Diets

Plant-based approaches consistently produce lower cholesterol levels, with vegans doing better than vegetarians. A 2023 meta-analysis of 30 trials found that plant-based diets reduce LDL cholesterol by 10% and total cholesterol by 7%. Vegans show a 26% lower risk of heart disease compared to meat-eaters, and significantly lower cholesterol levels. But eating a vegan diet just means you don’t eat meat, dairy, or eggs. It doesn’t indicate what you DO eat. And unsurprisingly, that matters, too.

Two evidence-based approaches stand out for cholesterol management.

The Portfolio Diet combines consumption of four classes of cholesterol-lowering components (soluble fiber, soy protein, plant sterols, and nuts) with avoidance of foods high in saturated fat. A 2003 study found that people who followed it closely reduced their LDL cholesterol levels by up to 30%, which is comparable to the effects of some older cholesterol-lowering medications. A more recent 2025 cohort study found that, adherents to the Portfolio Diet had about a 16% lower risk of dying from heart problems compared to those who followed it the least.

Joel Fuhrman’s Nutritarian Diet is a plant-rich, nutrient-dense eating plan focused on maximizing health and longevity by prioritizing foods with the highest nutrient-to-calorie ratio. It was designed to support weight loss, reverse chronic disease, and reduce dependence on medication, especially for conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

In a study published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, more than 2,200 people who adopted a nutritarian eating pattern saw dramatic health improvements. Among 328 participants not using cholesterol-lowering medications, LDL cholesterol dropped by an average of 42 points (from about 171 to 128 mg/dL or 4.4 to 3.3 mmol/L) in just 1 year. Those already taking statins saw an even greater average drop of 48 points in LDL, suggesting that even when medication is already actively lowering cholesterol, a whole food, plant-rich diet can drive substantial additional improvement. 

Many also experienced significant weight loss, lower blood pressure, and reduced triglycerides. Some even reversed symptoms of advanced heart disease — without drugs or surgery. While this was a survey-based study rather than a randomized trial, the findings add powerful evidence that a whole food, plant-forward diet can profoundly improve cardiovascular health.

2. Genetic Factors

Some people are born with conditions that lead to high cholesterol levels, regardless of diet. 

One of these is familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), which is a fancy way of saying “high cholesterol that runs in families.” It’s a genetic disorder that causes high LDL cholesterol levels from birth, more than 400–500 mg/dL (10.3–12.9 mmol/L) in children and 300 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L) in adults.

FH affects about 1 in 200–500 people and greatly increases the risk of early cardiovascular disease. Elevated lipoprotein(a) — Lp(a) to its friends — is another genetically determined condition that increases heart disease risk and is not directly influenced by diet. Lp(a) is a different case from the cholesterol numbers we’ve covered so far: it’s measured in either milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or nanomoles per liter (nmol/L), not mmol/L. Unfortunately, these units are not directly interchangeable, for reasons that might require both of us to have PhDs in molecular biochemistry for me to explain and for you to understand.

Fortunately, I can provide a table of commonly accepted thresholds.

While FH is treatable with lifestyle changes and medication, there is currently no specific medication approved to reduce Lp(a). If your Lp(a) is elevated, your best bet is to focus on lowering your overall cardiovascular risk through lifestyle management. 

3. Lifestyle

In addition to what you put into your mouth, the way you live your day-to-day life can have a significant impact on your cholesterol levels. For example, physical inactivity, stress, poor sleep, smoking, and alcohol consumption can all raise LDL cholesterol. 

Exercise

Exercise is one of the most powerful levers you can pull to improve your cholesterol levels. Especially when combined with weight loss, physical activity can reduce LDL cholesterol and support healthy HDL levels. 

Stress

Stress can ramp up cholesterol in your body in several ways. First, there are direct links, which are primarily hormonal. When you’re stressed, your body releases cortisol. Chronically high levels of this stress hormone can signal your liver to increase its production of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.

Another stress hormone, adrenaline, floods your bloodstream with triglycerides and fatty acids, mobilizing them as a source of quick energy. If they aren’t used up by running away or fighting (the original dual-purpose repertoire of the stress response), they stick around and raise circulating lipid levels.

Stress can also undermine other lifestyle strategies, like diet and exercise. Let’s put it this way: It’s more common to stress-eat cake than salad. And stress also predisposes you to sit on the couch and doomscroll through an infinite feed of social media posts rather than hit the gym, the mat, or the park.

Fortunately, various forms of stress management, including yoga and meditation, can positively affect cholesterol levels. A 2022 meta-analysis of over 50 randomized controlled trials, including more than 13,000 participants, found that yoga lowered LDL cholesterol and triglycerides by an average of 9 mg/dL (0.2 mmol/L) and 13 mg/dL (0.1 mmol/L), respectively. And practicing yoga slightly boosted HDL cholesterol, so win-win-win.

Meditation may be even more powerful. A 2024 meta-analysis of 16 clinical studies, including more than 1,000 participants, found that various forms of sitting meditation lowered cholesterol by an average of about 14 mg/dL (0.4 mmol/L) and triglycerides by about 33 mg/dL (0.4 mmol/L).

Sleep

We’ve known for a while that poor sleep is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and recently, researchers have been identifying how they’re connected. Sleep deprivation has been shown in animal studies to cause imbalances in cholesterol levels, which suppresses the conversion of cholesterol into other compounds. This leads to excess cholesterol accumulating in the body.

Smoking

Smoking is linked to many chronic diseases, including those of the cardiovascular system. One of the paradoxes of smoking is that people often gain weight after they quit, which you would think would predispose them to more cardiovascular risk.

However, it turns out that the risks of weight gain are more than offset by improvements in cholesterol levels, particularly the increases in two different forms of HDL.

Alcohol

Heavy or frequent alcohol use raises triglycerides and may raise LDL cholesterol in some people, especially if they also indulge in diets high in fat or sugar. Chronic alcohol use can harm the liver, impairing how your body handles fat and cholesterol.

A 2011 meta-analysis found that moderate drinking (defined as one drink per day for women and up to two for men) increased HDL cholesterol and one of its key components, apolipoprotein A1. But the same meta-analysis found that moderate drinking may elevate triglyceride levels. Putting this together, the American Heart Association tells us that while moderate alcohol intake may increase HDL, the risks of alcohol outweigh the potential benefits for most people.

4. Metabolic and Hormonal Factors

If you’ve never touched an animal product in your life, your cholesterol levels could still be off the charts, thanks to the cholesterol factory in your liver. Certain metabolic conditions disrupt this assembly line.

Take diabetes, for instance. When insulin resistance sets in, your liver goes into overdrive, pumping out more cholesterol-rich particles while simultaneously struggling to clear them from your bloodstream. It’s like having a factory that’s ramped up production, but the loading docks aren’t working, so packages just keep piling up.

Thyroid dysfunction can also dramatically alter this delicate balance. An underactive thyroid essentially slows down your body’s cholesterol recycling program, leading to a build-up even if you’re eating a squeaky-clean diet.

Then there’s non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. When your liver accumulates excess fat, it disrupts the dance of cholesterol production and metabolism, often resulting in elevated levels regardless of dietary choices.

We’ve seen that cholesterol is a building block for hormones. In turn, those hormones affect how cholesterol is processed in the body.

Estrogen increases HDL and lowers LDL cholesterol. That’s why LDL levels typically rise following menopause. 

Diet can come to the rescue here, at least partially. A 2021 study found that a low-fat vegan diet, which included soybeans, significantly reduced severe hot flashes and improved lipid profiles in menopausal women.

Low levels of testosterone correlate with higher cholesterol, which is why testosterone therapy has been found to lower total cholesterol, too. 

(For more on how to balance hormones with diet and lifestyle, see our article here.)

5. Environmental Factors

Many chemicals in our air, soil, and water can also raise cholesterol levels. Research shows that prolonged exposure to air pollution can negatively affect your cholesterol balance.

The worst offenders are the tiniest particles, the ones smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. Known as PM_2.5, these particles are generated by combustion from car engines, fossil-fuel-burning power plants, industrial facilities, and wood-burning sources, as well as natural sources such as wildfires, dust storms, and volcanic eruptions. 

Breathing in PM_2.5 particles has been linked to higher levels of total and LDL cholesterol, as well as triglycerides, and lower levels of protective HDL cholesterol. This is yet another reason that an indoor air filter could be helpful if you can afford it. (For more on indoor air pollution and filtration options, see our article here.)

Similarly, exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) can also impact your cholesterol. They’re ominously called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down naturally in the environment or the human body. Instead, they persist for years, decades, even centuries, accumulating in soil, water, animals, and people.

A 2023 study found that, among its many potential harms, PFAS exposure can notably increase cholesterol in certain lipoprotein particles. 

Statins: Helpful or Harmful?

Statins are the main class of cholesterol-lowering drugs. Among the most well-known are Lipitor (atorvastatin), Crestor (rosuvastatin), and Pravachol (pravastatin).

Say you’ve been eating a healthy vegan diet for many years and are physically active, but your cholesterol remains high. Should you take a statin?

For most people, they work well, typically lowering LDL cholesterol by 30–50%, which can significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular events.

And they’re generally safe, though some people experience side effects like muscle pain, digestive issues, and changes in liver enzymes. 

The problem with statins is that some people rely on them as a “free pass” and skip over the lifestyle changes that address the root of the problem. While statins can effectively lower LDL cholesterol (which, as we’ve seen, is a key risk factor for heart disease), they only address part of the picture. 

They don’t address obesity, insulin resistance, high blood pressure, or the damage to blood vessels caused by a poor diet, smoking, lack of sleep, chronic stress, and a sedentary lifestyle. And they won’t protect against other diet-related conditions like type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or certain cancers.

Whether to take a statin is a personal decision that should take into account your overall health, cholesterol levels, and individual risk of cardiovascular disease. Tools like the 10-year ASCVD risk calculator can help you and your healthcare provider make an informed choice.

One more thing worth asking your doctor about: ApoB. Earlier in this article, we mentioned apolipoprotein B (ApoB), the protein that carries LDL cholesterol through the bloodstream. Standard lipid panels measure LDL cholesterol concentration, but ApoB measures the actual number of cholesterol-carrying particles, and research increasingly suggests it’s a more accurate predictor of cardiovascular risk than LDL alone. My own elevated ApoB was part of what made my cholesterol picture more concerning than LDL alone might have suggested. Not all doctors routinely order this test, but it’s worth requesting, especially if you have a family history of heart disease or your LDL is borderline.

Can Supplements Help?

There are several supplements suitable for vegans that can help keep high cholesterol in check. 

Psyllium husk is a soluble fiber that lowers LDL. 

Red yeast rice contains monacolin K, a compound that’s chemically identical to lovastatin, one of the original prescription cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. It can be effective, but it also comes with the same risk profile as pharmaceutical statins, including potential muscle pain, liver stress, and drug interactions. The added complication is that the amount of monacolin K in red yeast rice varies considerably from product to product and even batch to batch, making it difficult to know how much of the active compound you’re actually getting. For this reason, it’s worth approaching red yeast rice with respect and caution, and having a conversation with your doctor before starting.

Amla powder, derived from the fruit of the Indian gooseberry plant, contains tannins, vitamin C, flavonoids, phenolics, phytosterols, and saponins — all of which can help manage cholesterol. Supplementation with amla has been shown in some studies to decrease LDL by 15–30% and reduce total cholesterol and triglycerides, while increasing HDL. 

For more on the remarkable health benefits of amla berries and the brand that I take daily, see our article here. 

Chokeberries (aronia) owe their cholesterol-lowering and cardioprotective effects to a rich array of phytochemicals, especially polyphenols. A 2020 meta-analysis found that daily chokeberry supplementation not only significantly reduced total cholesterol but also lowered systolic blood pressure.

Dr. Fuhman’s LDL Biotect contains a blend of plant sterols, including organic pomegranate extract, organic chokeberry, and organic amla. This exact formulation has not yet been tested in a clinical trial, but each component has demonstrated cholesterol-lowering and antioxidant effects.

Citrus bergamot appears to work as a natural statin, reducing the body’s cholesterol production. Clinical studies have found that it can lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol by 15% to 30%. While this is a step below prescription statins, which typically achieve a 30% to 50% reduction, bergamot has a much lower side-effect profile, entirely avoiding the muscle pain and fatigue often associated with pharmaceutical options. This makes it a promising option for people who can’t tolerate statins or want a natural alternative.

Typical clinical trials use 500 to 1,000 mg of a standardized extract daily. A premier choice at this dosage level is Double Wood Citrus Bergamot Extract, which provides 1,000 mg per 2-capsule serving (ideally, you want to take two 500 mg capsules at different times in the day). It uses Bergamonte®, a gold-standard trademarked extract derived directly from Citrus bergamia Risso in Calabria, Italy, to deliver a full-spectrum extract containing all the essential active compounds required to mimic the “statin-like” effect. If you try other products, look for a standardized extract. The active compounds are brutieridin and melitidin, and not all products contain meaningful amounts of them.

Importantly, citrus bergamot doesn’t have to do the heavy lifting alone. When it’s combined with amla (Indian gooseberry), oatmeal, flax meal, and other healthy lifestyle factors, research and clinical experience suggest the effect on your LDL cholesterol levels can be quite powerful. However, because it’s highly bioactive and can interact with certain medications, you should consult your healthcare provider before adding it to your regimen.ody’s cholesterol production. This makes it a promising option for people who can’t tolerate statins or want a natural alternative. 

Cholesterol-Friendly Recipes

Looking for delicious ways to support healthy cholesterol levels without sacrificing flavor? These cholesterol-friendly recipes are packed with fiber, plant-based protein, and heart-smart fats to help nourish your body naturally. From a vibrant breakfast bowl to a creamy slaw and a hearty lentil loaf, each dish is crafted with whole food ingredients that are as satisfying as they are supportive.

1. Banana Berry Breakfast Bowl

The Banana Berry Breakfast Bowl is a heart-smart way to start your morning, combining fiber-rich oats, crunchy walnuts, almonds, pecans, and pumpkin seeds, all gently sweetened with maple syrup and cinnamon. Layered with bananas, blueberries, and a splash of plant-based milk, this bowl offers a balanced mix of soluble fiber and healthy fats to help support healthy cholesterol levels and keep you feeling full and energized.

2. Easy Creamy Apple Slaw 

Fresh, tangy, and delightfully creamy, the Easy Creamy Apple Slaw combines crunchy red cabbage, crisp apples, carrots, and slivered almonds in a silky, silken tofu dressing. With apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, and mustard adding flavor without cholesterol or saturated fat, this slaw is a vibrant, nutrient-rich side that pairs beautifully with any plant-based meal.

3. Lentil Flax Loaf

The Lentil Flax Loaf is a satisfying, savory main dish made with lentils, oats, and flax for a triple boost of plant-based protein, fiber, and omega-3s. Packed with vegetables and seasoned with warming spices, it’s topped with a zesty tomato glaze for extra flavor. This loaf is a comforting and nourishing option for anyone looking to support heart health without compromising on taste.

Final Takeaway

Yes, vegans can have high cholesterol. But a fiber-rich, whole food, plant-based diet remains one of the most effective tools we have for supporting cardiovascular health, especially when combined with regular movement, restful sleep, and stress management.

If your numbers still need support after optimizing your diet and lifestyle, there are supplements like amla berry, citrus bergamot, chokeberry, and psyllium husk that could make a real difference. And, when appropriate, there are medications that can meaningfully help. None of this has to be all-or-nothing.

I’ll be honest: I’m still working on this myself. My cholesterol story isn’t over. I’m still experimenting, still testing, still trying to find the right balance between eating in a way that’s sustainable and enjoyable and keeping my numbers where I want them. What I’ve learned is that staying curious and proactive matters more than being perfect. Your body will give you feedback if you pay attention to it. Get your numbers tested. Ask your doctor about ApoB. Try the oatmeal. Add the flax. See what moves the needle for you.

The real takeaway is that cardiovascular health isn’t a fixed protocol; it’s a practice. I’m still working on mine. And the levers are there. It’s just a matter of learning which ones to pull.

Tell us in the comments:

• What is your experience with diet and cholesterol?

Read Next:

• Omega-3s: Why Are They Important — And What Are the Best Sources for Your Health?

The post Can Vegans Have High Cholesterol? appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

A few years ago, a woman in her early 60s sat across from me, eyes brimming with worry. Her mother had Alzheimer’s. Her older sister was beginning to forget names.
“I feel like I’m just waiting for the same thing to happen to me,” she said quietly.

What struck me most was not her fear, but her sense of helplessness. And she’s not alone.

We live in a time when brain-degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and ALS loom large in our collective consciousness. Headlines promise breakthroughs, yet meaningful pharmaceutical solutions remain frustratingly elusive. There is no pill that restores memory, rewinds neurodegeneration, or guarantees protection.

The Scale of the Crisis

It’s no wonder so many of us are worried. More than 7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, with that number projected to grow to 13.8 million by 2060. Parkinson’s affects over one million Americans, with a new diagnosis made every six minutes. And ALS, while less common, is fatally progressive.

The human toll extends far beyond the patients themselves. Nearly 13 million Americans provide unpaid care for people with Alzheimer’s or other dementias, and between 40% and 70% of those caregivers report clinical symptoms of depression.

The financial burden on the healthcare system is reaching a breaking point. The total economic burden of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias reached $781 billion in 2025 in the U.S., taking into account medical expenses, unpaid caregiving, lost earnings, and declines in quality of life. 

Perhaps most troubling is the trajectory. While deaths from heart disease, stroke, and HIV declined between 2000 and 2022, deaths from Alzheimer’s increased by more than 142% over the same period. Brain degeneration is not receding. It is accelerating.

A More Empowering Truth

It’s understandable if all of this feels overwhelming. But this is not a gloom-and-doom article. There’s a more empowering truth that puts much of the power back in your hands: Your lifestyle choices profoundly influence your brain’s destiny. You are not a passive observer of your future brain. You are its architect.

Neurodegenerative diseases don’t just “happen” one day when neurons start failing. They develop, under the radar, over decades, driven by chronic inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and immune signaling — factors that are deeply influenced by how you eat, move, sleep, think, and connect.

Your brain contains immune cells called microglia. Think of them as the brain’s gardeners. When conditions are supportive, they prune, protect, and repair. But when the internal environment turns hostile — driven by inflammation, oxidative stress, or metabolic imbalance — microglia can shift into a destructive mode, causing brain tissue to inflame. This shift underlies every major neurodegenerative disease we know.

Here’s the hopeful part: Microglia are exquisitely responsive to lifestyle signals. In other words:

Your Brain Is Listening to Your Daily Choices

Every one of your daily habits communicates important information to your nervous system. What you eat today. How you sleep tonight. Whether you calm your nervous system or keep it on high alert.

These signals shape whether your brain moves toward resilience or vulnerability. This insight sits at the heart of my new book, Brain Defenders, and it’s where fear gives way to agency.

And food, it turns out, is one of the most significant sources of information. Every bite sends instructions that either calm inflammation or amplify it. And inflammation anywhere in the body can push microglia toward their destructive M1 state.

A plant-forward, nutrient-dense diet supports mitochondrial function, helps stabilize blood sugar, and nourishes the microbiome — all factors that may contribute to healthier microglial function in the brain.

Don’t panic: Optimizing your brain health does not require an all-or-nothing approach or a flawless plate. Rather than chasing perfection, focus on pattern and consistency.

So what are the foods that most powerfully contribute to happy, supportive microglia in the M2 state?

Leafy greens like spinach, arugula, and kale provide folate, magnesium, and polyphenols — compounds that help modulate inflammatory signaling. Cruciferous vegetables, especially broccoli sprouts, activate detoxification pathways and support antioxidant defenses at the cellular level. 

Berries deliver powerful compounds that reduce oxidative stress. Extra-virgin olive oil stabilizes cell membranes and calms inflammatory cascades. Nuts, seeds, and legumes, including lentils, provide fiber, minerals, and plant-based fats that regulate metabolism and nourish the gut-brain axis.

These foods don’t merely “fuel” the body. They help create the conditions in which the brain can heal and defend itself.

Brain-Protective Recipes

These are not “diet recipes.” They are information-rich meals that speak directly to your brain’s biology, and these three recipes are sending the best kind of message. Each one leans on the very foods shown to support calm, resilient microglia and a thriving gut-brain connection, all while being simple enough for a busy weeknight.

Mediterranean Lentil Bowl Serves 2 | ~30 minutes

The Mediterranean Lentil Bowl brings together tender green lentils, peppery arugula, and juicy cherry tomatoes for a dish that’s as satisfying as it is nourishing. A scattering of walnuts adds richness and plant-based fats, while a bright lemon-garlic dressing ties it all together. Ready in about 30 minutes, it’s a wonderful lunch or light dinner full of the kind of whole, simple ingredients your brain loves.

Ingredients

• 1 cup green lentils
• 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 cups baby arugula
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• ¼ cup raw walnuts, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil*
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste
• Optional: kalamata olives, za’atar

*For oil-free, omit the oil or use 1 tablespoon tahini mixed with 2–4 tablespoons of water.

Directions 

Cook lentils in vegetable broth until just tender, about 20 minutes — you want them firm, not mushy. While still warm, toss with arugula, cherry tomatoes, walnuts, and parsley. Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper, and drizzle generously over the bowl. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Broccoli Sprout Pesto Makes ~1 cup | ~10 minutes

For something with a little more punch, the Broccoli Sprout Pesto puts one of the most powerful brain-supportive ingredients front and center. Broccoli sprouts blend beautifully with fresh basil, walnuts, and good olive oil to create a vibrant, versatile sauce. Spoon it over roasted vegetables, stir it into white beans, or toss it with farro. However you use it, you’re getting a concentrated boost of the compounds that help activate your body’s natural detoxification pathways.

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh broccoli sprouts
• 1 cup fresh basil
• ⅓ cup raw walnuts
• 2 garlic cloves
• Juice of ½ lemon
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil*
• Pinch of sea salt

Directions 

Combine sprouts, basil, walnuts, garlic, lemon juice, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until roughly combined, then stream in olive oil and blend to your preferred consistency. Spoon over roasted vegetables, stir into white beans, or serve over cooked farro. Keep refrigerated for up to 4 days with a thin layer of olive oil on top to preserve color. 

* For oil-free, omit the oil or use one tablespoon of tahini mixed with 2–4 tablespoons of water.

Berry-Chia Breakfast Bowl Serves 1 | ~5 minutes (+ optional overnight soak)

When you want something sweet that still works hard for you, the Berry-Chia Breakfast Bowl is the answer. Creamy plant-based yogurt meets chia and flaxseed for a dose of fiber and omega-3s, while fresh berries add natural sweetness and antioxidant power. Make it in the morning for a quick breakfast, or prep it the night before for a thicker, pudding-like texture you can grab on your way out the door.

Ingredients

• ½ cup unsweetened plant-based yogurt (coconut or almond)
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
• ½ cup mixed berries, fresh or thawed
• A small handful of crushed walnuts
• Optional: drizzle of the sweetener of your choice, pinch of cinnamon

Directions 

Combine yogurt, chia seeds, and ground flaxseed in a bowl. Stir and let sit a few minutes to thicken — or prep the night before for a denser, pudding-like texture. Top with berries, crushed walnuts, and any optional add-ins. The chia and flax deliver omega-3s and fiber in every bite.

Genes Load the Gun, but Lifestyle Pulls the Trigger

Even genetic risk factors like the APOE4 allele — a common variant that can impair how your body transports lipids and is closely linked to the development of dementia — are not destiny. Carrying the E4 variant is a predisposition, not a diagnosis. Your genes are simply the starting point; your daily lifestyle choices are the primary drivers of how they are expressed. This is the power of epigenetics.

Here are a few small, consistent practices that can reshape your brain over time:

• Regular movement, especially walking outdoors, boosts blood flow, supports neuroplasticity, and reduces inflammatory signaling. 
• Sleep is not downtime; it is the brain’s most powerful repair window, when waste products are cleared and memory circuits are reinforced. 
• Slow breathing, meditation, and nervous-system regulation send a powerful signal of safety that directly influences immune balance in the brain. 
• Social connection is linked to reduced inflammatory stress responses, while lifelong learning may build cognitive resilience against age-related decline.

None of these require perfection, but they do require intention.

Intention is simply a decision made ahead of time. It looks like setting a water glass on your bedside table the night before so it’s the first thing you reach for in the morning. It means putting the berries into a bowl right when you bring them home from the grocery store so they are the easiest snack to grab when you are tired.

You generate intention by lowering the friction between yourself and the choice you want to make. You don’t have to reinvent your entire life tomorrow. You just have to look at your day and clear a slightly smoother path for your future self to walk.

And the payoff for these small, daily investments in your health can be huge. 

A calm nervous system, stable metabolism, restorative sleep, and meaningful connection reinforce microglia’s protective role, day after day.

We may not yet have the pharmaceutical answers we hope for. But we already possess something profoundly powerful: the ability to influence our brain’s future every single day.

This is not about fear. It’s about understanding that the brain is dynamic, responsive, and deeply shaped by how you live.

You do not have to wait around for your future to happen to you.

You can build it, one choice at a time.

And that may be the most hopeful message of all.

Tell us in the comments:

• What’s your biggest concern when it comes to brain health?
• Which of the brain-protective foods or habits in this article are you already practicing, and which would you most like to add?
• Have you tried any of these recipes, or do you have a favorite brain-friendly meal of your own?

Read Next:

• Exercise and Dementia: How Staying Active Can Protect Your Cognitive Health
• The NEURO 9: Top Brain-Healthy Foods and Recipes for Optimal Health

The post Be the Architect of Your Brain’s Future appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Let’s contrast that with the videos that appear when you search YouTube for “drop a watermelon.” One video, “DROPPING WATERMELON 45FT!!” has been viewed more than 18 million times, and the channel that produced it has over 11 million subscribers. Clearly, the gravity-induced destruction of watermelons is a very important topic. But despite my desire to be hip and relevant, I’m going to leave that subject be and instead talk about what happens when you actually eat one.

Which, it turns out, people have been doing enthusiastically for thousands of years. Watermelon is one of the most beloved fruits in the world. They exceed 105 million tons of annual production, with China harvesting more than 64 million tonnes each year. The Japanese have taken their enthusiasm so far that you can buy a cube-shaped luxury watermelon, grown in a square box, at a high-end department store for $200. They’re popular gifts, harvested before ripening and sold solely for display. (Which made me a little sad. Imagine how much more efficiently we could load our fridges if all produce were cubic. Plus, they wouldn’t roll around. But I digress.)

So is watermelon actually good for you, or is it just a large, elegant sack of sugar water in a rind? Let’s find out.

History of Watermelons

While watermelons are sometimes thought of as the “all-American” summer fruit (at least, by Americans), they’re actually native to Africa. Archaeological remains of watermelon seeds have been discovered in northeastern Africa, dating from approximately 5,000 years ago. 

The oldest archaeological finds of dessert watermelons (yes, that’s “dessert,” as in the sweet ending of a meal, not “desert,” which is commonly associated with a lack of water) are from Egypt and Sudan. In a tomb dating to at least 4,000 years ago, scientists found an image of a large, striped, oblong fruit on a tray, further suggesting that the enjoyment of watermelons dates back thousands of years. Sadly, there were no artistic renderings of seed-spitting contests or what happened when they dropped one from the apex of a pyramid.

The oldest references to watermelons being sweet are in codices of Jewish laws from Israel dating to the Roman Empire. In fact, the Greek word pepon, Latin pepo, and Hebrew avattiah were all used to describe large, wet fruits with a thick rind, a description that perfectly matches our suspect, the watermelon.

If you close your eyes and think of watermelon, you’ll probably come up with the classic green-striped oblong, or the slice of red with black seeds and a white/green rind. There are also two additional species of the plant: the citron (mainly used for preserves and pickles) and the egusi (popular in West Africa and grown for its nutty seeds). 

Watermelon’s history isn’t only one of species and recipes, though. One more piece of watermelon history worth acknowledging: In the United States, watermelon became the target of a racist trope after the Civil War. Formerly enslaved people had grown and sold watermelon as a cash crop, making it a symbol of the economic independence they’d just won. Those threatened by that independence twisted the fruit into a caricature used to demean Black Americans as lazy and unrefined, and weaponized it to demean them. It’s a reminder that food is never just food; it carries cultural weight that varies depending on who’s eating it and who’s watching. The most fitting response to that history is probably what people have always done: keep enjoying the watermelon.

Types of Watermelon

While many watermelon varieties can look similar on the outside, their flesh can come in a rainbow of colors, including red, pink, orange, yellow, or even white. Cutting into a watermelon can be its own “species reveal” party, without the fire hazard. 

Watermelon rinds, on the other hand, are typically green, but don’t always have stripes. Solid green rinds or speckled rinds, as with the Moon & Star variety, are also possible. All varieties come in round or oblong shapes (when they’re not crammed into growing boxes for aesthetics). 

The three most popular types of watermelon enjoyed in the U.S. are:

1. Icebox

This is a smaller type of watermelon that you can usually store whole in your refrigerator. It weighs anywhere from 5 to 15 pounds. Some popular varieties of icebox watermelon include Sugar Baby, Cal Sweet Bush, and Garden Baby. 

2. Picnic 

Weighing 15 to 50 pounds, the picnic watermelon is very large and best cut before storing in your fridge, unless your fridge is the size of a walk-in closet. Some popular varieties of picnic watermelon include Black Diamond, Crimson Sweet, and Dixie Sweet. 

3. Seedless

Usually similar in size to picnic watermelons, seedless types are the majority of watermelons you’ll find in grocery stores. Seedless watermelons were developed around 50 years ago. And while they don’t contain mature black seeds, they may contain some immature and edible white seeds. 

While there’s a common misconception that seedless watermelons are genetically modified, this isn’t the case. They’re actually sterile hybrids created by cross-pollinating male watermelon pollen with female watermelon flowers. In this sense, seedless watermelons are sort of the mule of watermelons, made similarly to crossing a horse and a donkey. And just like mules, they can’t reproduce on their own, which means farmers have to create new seedless plants each season by repeating the cross-pollination process with seeds from the original hybrid. Popular varieties include King of Hearts, Millionaire, and Crimson. 

Watermelon Nutrition

Nutritionally, watermelons are packed with good things. As their name suggests, watermelons have a high water content, which helps keep you hydrated. They’re also high in vitamins A and C, potassium, and carotenoids. In particular, watermelons are high in the antioxidant-rich carotenoid lycopene, which gives the flesh its pinkish-red color. (As a result, red watermelons are naturally higher in lycopene than yellow or pink ones.)

Watermelons are also high in natural sugars (about 9.4 grams of sugar per cup), so they’re high on the glycemic index. But because they’re so high in water, they still turn out to be low on the more meaningful glycemic load scale. This means that despite their sweetness, they likely won’t spike your blood sugar when you eat them. 

Health Benefits of Watermelon

The watermelon is mighty not just in size and shape, but also in its health benefits. And it’s not just the flesh; watermelon seeds, sprouts, and leaves are also rich in compounds that may offer protective properties.

Some of the top health benefits of watermelon include that it may: 

1. Help you lose weight

Watermelon is rich in water and fiber, which help you feel full when you eat it. These nutrients can reduce appetite and prevent overeating that would otherwise contribute to unwanted weight gain. 

In one study of 33 overweight or obese adults, researchers found that eating 2 cups of watermelon daily for 4 weeks led to significant reductions in body weight, body mass index, and waist-to-hip ratio. Another group consumed the same number of calories from low-fat cookies and gained body fat.

2. Protect against heart disease

Watermelon is high in compounds that may reduce inflammation and offer antioxidant effects. It contains the amino acid L-citrulline, a precursor of L-arginine, another essential amino acid used in protein synthesis. As we’ve seen, it’s also a rich source of the antioxidant-rich carotenoid lycopene. Both of these compounds may help protect your cardiovascular system. 

Additionally, watermelon can help increase the synthesis of nitric oxide, a colorless gas that dilates your blood vessels and helps prevent blockages.

3. Have Anti-Cancer Properties 

Eating plenty of naturally antioxidant-rich foods — among them lycopene-rich foods — is one way you can help your body better defend itself against cancer. A systematic review and meta-analysis of 42 studies involving more than 692,000 participants found that both higher dietary lycopene intake and higher circulating lycopene levels were associated with a significantly reduced risk of prostate cancer. 

4. Help treat ulcerative colitis

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease that’s characterized by widespread inflammation throughout the digestive tract. It’s a risk factor for colorectal cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriasis.

Some research suggests that watermelon may help with UC by increasing antioxidant activity and reducing inflammation.

5. Be good for your skin

Lycopene, one of watermelon’s primary antioxidants, may help protect skin cells from UV-induced oxidative stress. Antioxidants, such as lycopene in watermelon, may help minimize wrinkles and slow other aging effects associated with UV damage.

6. Support your athletic performance

Some athletes consider foods that boost nitric oxide production “legal and healthy doping” because increased oxygen flow to muscles can reduce soreness and increase stamina. 

Remember those L-compounds in watermelon: L-citrulline, which may increase L-arginine bioavailability? They’re also associated with improved athletic performance, with several studies finding that L-citrulline supplementation can improve exercise performance and recovery. 

One study in 22 athletically trained males found that 7 days of oral L-citrulline supplementation reduced the completion time of a 4-kilometer bicycle race by 1.5% compared with the placebo group. The athletes also reported significantly reduced muscle fatigue following exercise. Of course, cyclists will not race faster if they have to carry a watermelon while riding.

Downsides To Eating Watermelon

Watermelon is clearly worth eating. But like most things in life, it comes with a few caveats to keep in mind, especially if you have certain health conditions or digestive sensitivities.

Watermelon Diet

The watermelon diet — like other diets with similar single-food names — is a fad diet intended for quick weight loss. In this diet, you eat nothing but watermelon for three days, then gradually add more foods back in. Not only is this way of eating unsustainable, but it can be dangerous. 

Such restrictive approaches to weight loss are not recommended for pregnant women, people with diabetes, or those with impaired immune function. Watermelon contains an array of vitamins and minerals, but lacks protein and other important macronutrients. Overall, watermelon is best when eaten in moderation as part of an overall balanced diet. It’s never a good bet to rely on one single food to meet all your nutritional needs. 

FODMAPs

FODMAPs (a cumbersome acronym for an even more cumbersome list: fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols) are short-chain sugars that can be poorly absorbed in the intestines. 

Watermelon is considered a high-FODMAP food because it contains high levels of fructose and other oligosaccharides. They can cause digestive problems for people with existing digestive issues like irritable bowel syndrome and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).

Allergies

Though a true watermelon allergy is rare, some people may experience an allergy-like reaction to eating it as a result of what’s called oral allergy syndrome. This phenomenon often coexists with an existing ragweed and pollen allergy. 

Oral allergy syndrome can occur because the proteins in raw watermelon are similar to those of pollen from common allergenic plants like ragweed. Bodies occasionally get confused, resulting in a similar allergic reaction.

How To Choose and Store Watermelons

For the best results, it’s helpful to know how to choose a high-quality watermelon and store it properly once you get it home.

Watermelons score relatively well on the Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce. Indeed, they nearly made the Clean 15 list, so the choice of whether to purchase organic or not may come down to availability, budget, ethical and sustainability concerns, and personal preference. 

Choosing a Ripe Watermelon

At the store, you’ll usually find whole watermelons arranged together in a display within the produce section. They should each have a light-yellow “field spot,” which indicates the part that touched the ground while the watermelon was ripening. If that spot is white instead of yellow, it probably means it was picked too early and may not taste as ripe or juicy as others. (If there is no spot, the watermelon was probably levitating.)

Your other senses also come in handy when choosing a good watermelon. A ripe melon should sound deep, full, and hollow when you gently knock on it. (If you hear, “Who’s there?”, put the melon back and try another one, or rub it and take your chances on three wishes.) 

On the opposite end from the stem, the rind should also have some give when pressed with your fingers. And when you hold the watermelon, it should feel heavy for its size, thanks to its high water content. 

Look for watermelons free of obvious bruises, cuts, or dents, as these can shorten their lifespan. It’s also important to choose a size that best serves your needs and how quickly you can eat it, as watermelons can range from fairly small to very, very large.

The Best Ways To Store Your Watermelon

When you get your watermelon home, store the whole uncut fruit on the counter or in a cellar. Keep it separate from other countertop fruits and veggies to prevent premature ripening caused by ethylene gas emitted by produce like bananas. If you want to chill it before eating it, a few hours in the fridge is fine — just don’t store it there long-term. But do not, under any circumstances, give your watermelon a name (even if it does look like a giant head), as this will make it very difficult for you to cut it up and eat it later.

Whole watermelons keep best stored between 50 and 60°F — a cool pantry or basement works well. Most refrigerators run colder than this, so while a few hours in the fridge to get it cold before serving is fine, storing a whole watermelon in the refrigerator for days can cause chilling injury, resulting in pitting, off-flavors, and color loss. Once cut, cover, refrigerate immediately, and use within a day for best quality. Freezing watermelon isn’t recommended, as this causes the rind to break down and produces a mealy, mushy texture.

Creative Ways To Enjoy Watermelon

Slices are the most traditional way to enjoy this fruit, but there are several other ways to make the most of yours. 

The watermelon seeds are also edible, though the immature white seeds may be easier to chew than the mature black ones. Still, watermelon seeds are rich in minerals such as magnesium, iron, and zinc. Enjoy roasted or sprouted watermelon seeds at home. You can throw them on your salads for extra crunch, and some people even enjoy them on their oatmeal. 

And before you get concerned about things your parents might have told you about eating watermelon seeds, it’s a myth that they can grow inside of you. Any gardener will tell you that they’re challenging enough to grow in good soil, with plenty of sun and rain. Your stomach, with a pH of around 2 and zero natural light, will not allow anything to germinate. 

If you’re into no-waste fruit, even the watermelon rind is edible when pickled. The process is similar to pickling other produce like cucumbers or carrots, where you cut the rind into chunks and use a flavorful pickling liquid to create a unique snack. You can find one example of how to make pickled watermelon rinds here.

As for the watermelon flesh itself, try some of these creative presentations: 

• Cut the flesh into chunks, or use a melon baller, and add them to a mixed green or fruit salad
• Add them to smoothies
• Make n’ice cream or popsicles by blending them with plant milk and other fruits you like, such as frozen bananas
• Make watermelon chunks into grilled fruit skewers, along with honeydew melon, orange, grapefruit slices, and even berries
• Add to cold soups like gazpacho
• Make it into a salad dressing, like a watermelon vinaigrette 
• Blend it into mocktails, or throw cubes of it into regular water to give it a refreshing melon flavor
• Make watermelon salsa, combining cubes with onion, cilantro, salt, lime, and some diced jalapeno for a little kick

Wonderful Watermelon Recipes

Incorporating watermelon into your diet can be good for your weight, skin, digestion, and heart. What’s more, it can be enjoyed in a variety of ways! Opt for sweet, savory, and cooling with the Cooling Watermelon Gazpacho. Have some summer fun and wow your picnic guests with Grilled Watermelon and Pineapple Skewers. Tempt your palate with soothing and creamy 2-Ingredient Watermelon Gelato. If all of the above recipes sound super indulgent, rest assured they’re just as good for your health as they are for your soul! 

1. Cooling Watermelon Gazpacho

Ditch your store-bought electrolyte replacement drink and enjoy this hydrating Watermelon Gazpacho instead! Not only is it super refreshing and bursting with flavor, but it’s also packed with electrolytes like potassium and natural sodium (especially good for people who sweat a lot!) and antioxidants like vitamin C and carotenoids. 

2. Grilled Watermelon and Pineapple Skewers

Warm grilled watermelon with a little lime, salt, and mint is OMG delicious! Add sweet pineapple to the mix, and you have an appetizer that will please the entire family — and wow the guests at your next picnic. Fun fact: The healthy plant-based fat in tahini will help you absorb watermelon’s lycopene more effectively, since lycopene is fat-soluble!

3. 2-Ingredient Watermelon Gelato

What do you get when you blend watermelon and banana? A magically refreshing, sugar-free, and dairy-free gelato — that’s what! Enjoy this naturally sweet and nourishing treat as an after-dinner treat, a mid-afternoon power snack, or an energizing fuel before your workout.

Watermelon: Worth Every Pound

Watermelon is a refreshing fruit that humans have loved for thousands of years. In modern times, it’s become an iconic symbol of summer in many places. There are many types of watermelon out there — both seeded and seedless — and you can eat them in a variety of ways, on their own or as part of another dish. And, along with their high water content, watermelons offer many health benefits when enjoyed in moderation as part of a balanced diet. 

Tell us in the comments:

• What are some of your favorite ways to enjoy watermelon?
• Have you tried any non-traditional watermelon varieties, or one with a uniquely colored flesh?
• Have you ever made pickled watermelon rinds or tried any other creative ways to prepare parts of a watermelon?

Feature image: iStock.com/Sahil Yadav

Read Next:

• The Best and Worst Summer Foods + 5 Healthy Picnic Recipes to Enjoy

The post Is Watermelon Healthy?  appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

The word lectin comes from the Latin “legere,” meaning “to select,” because it was thought that they choose the carbohydrates to which they bind. You can think of lectins as the bumps and holes in Lego blocks, which are unrelated to the Latin word “legere” (but it would be fun if they were).

Some researchers think plants evolved lectins to protect themselves against pests and pathogens. This protective effect is similar to that of other phytochemicals, such as flavonoids, which serve as natural defenses in plants and are extremely good for us as well.

Where Are Lectins Found?

Lectins are found in a wide variety of both animal and plant foods. About 30% of the food we eat daily contains lectins. 

Foods High in Lectins

Some of the foods richest in lectins include:

• Beans
• Peanuts
• Lentils
• Tomatoes
• Potatoes
• Peas
• Soy
• Barley
• Eggplant
• Fruits
• Wheat
• Rice

Looking over that list, we can see a few categories of lectin-rich foods: legumes, nuts, grains, fruits, and nightshade vegetables. While the amount of lectins in individual ingredients can vary greatly, these categories of foods generally contain high levels. 

The Lectin Controversy: Why the Real Story Is More Interesting Than You’ve Heard

The primary reason there is controversy over eating lectins today is the best-selling book The Plant Paradox by Dr. Steven Gundry. The book, released in 2017, advocates a lectin-free diet.

The author claims that lectins adversely impact your gut flora — the bacteria that live in your digestive system — which can lead to a whole slew of unwanted effects. He claims that many people suffer from lectin intolerance or sensitivity, symptoms of which can include gas, bloating, nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, aching joints, and even allergic reactions after eating them. 

The Plant Paradox goes so far as to say that lectins are the biggest dietary danger to our health and may even be killing us. Dr. Gundry warns against eating beans, nuts, and many fruits and vegetables, urging us to remove lectins from our diets. 

What benefits purportedly come from eating a lectin-free diet? The main claims include improved digestion, more energy, less gas and bloating after eating, better mood and brainpower, and even improved weight control. 

Those are some pretty bold promises. So what’s the deal? Are these claims backed up by research? Do we have studies demonstrating that the purported benefits of a lectin-free diet are real?

Let’s look at the science.

For Most People, Most of the Time, Lectin-Rich Foods Are Among the Healthiest You Can Eat

An admission: When I started working on this article, I thought the simple message would be that lectins are great and Dr Gundry is making everything up. But as I dug into the research, I changed my mind. The science on lectins turns out to be genuinely fascinating, and way more nuanced than either Gundry’s alarming claims or a flat dismissal of his concerns would suggest. 

A 2024 review in the journal Heliyon took stock of what scientists now know about lectins and the immune system, and it concluded that some lectins — particularly those in soybeans and wheat — can trigger inflammatory pathways in the body. Others, including lectins found in mushrooms and certain flowering plants, appear to do the opposite, calming immune responses and helping to restore balance in the gut. 

The review concludes that whether a lectin is harmful or helpful depends heavily on which lectin it is, how much of it you consume, and the specific biological environment it encounters. In other words, the science doesn’t support a one-size-fits-all verdict; lumping all lectins together as either villains or heroes misses the point entirely.

And — a little foreshadowing here — while nuance is good when searching for truth, a message demonizing all lectins turns out to be far more effective at selling supplements.

Here’s what the research shows: Most lectins in properly cooked whole foods are not only harmless for most people but also actively beneficial. Some lectins have such powerful anticancer properties that researchers are investigating them as therapies. 

Others, in specific contexts and with specific people, can cause problems. 

Let’s start by looking at the “good” lectins and what benefits they can deliver. First, Dr. Gundry gets it right: plant lectins bind to carbohydrates, which slows their digestion. The thing is, this is actually a feature, not a bug. 

Lectins can lower the glycemic index of carbohydrates, contributing to the weight loss and anti-diabetes effects of beans and many other plant foods. This may be one reason that high-lectin foods like beans, along with many fruits and vegetables, are among the healthiest foods we can eat. In general, the more you eat, the lower your risk for heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.

Beans, for example, are rich in many anticancer phytochemicals, which is why they consistently show very powerful associations with lower rates of breast cancer. There’s a type of lectin found in mushrooms that’s been found to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. And, probably not coincidentally, mushrooms are another food offering powerful protection against cancer. Tomatoes are high in lectins as well as the powerful antioxidant lycopene, which has shown extraordinary anticancer effects. 

Lectins found in soybeans, bananas, buckwheat, mushrooms, and many other plant foods exhibit such strong anticancer effects that many of them are being investigated as potential cancer therapies.

Lectins may help fight some cancers

A 2017 report published in the International Journal of Molecular Science examined how plant lectins are currently being used to fight cancers of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, colon, liver, and pancreas. Some lectins are used to detect and diagnose cancer cells. Others are used for therapeutic purposes because of their anti-tumor activity and ability to trigger cancer cell death. 

A 2022 paper reviews a lectin called Concanavalin A — the most studied plant lectin — as a potent anti-cancer agent. Researchers report that it can bind to receptors on cancer cells, modulating signaling cascades (kind of like silencing the “grow, grow, grow” chatter in the cells’ group chat), activating immune cells, and killing tumor cells through autophagy and apoptosis across various cancer types.

The journal Cancers even created a 2025 special issue dedicated entirely to “Lectins in Cancer.” (I guess that’s kind of like when People magazine has a special issue like “Cher at 80” or “Michael J Fox: His Inspiring Career”?) The researchers focused on lectin interactions with the tumor microenvironment and how they can be used to diagnose and treat cancer. This is a highly active and growing area of research.

Some people feel better when they avoid lectins

Despite all the apparent benefits of lectins, some people genuinely do report feeling better after cutting out lectin-rich foods. One likely explanation has nothing to do with lectins specifically: Eliminating grains and nightshade vegetables may, for some people, coincide with cutting out processed flour, refined sugar, and calorie-dense packaged foods. And any move away from ultraprocessed foods is likely to drive improvement. 

For people with diagnosed autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus, a temporary low-lectin elimination trial under the guidance of a registered dietitian may be worth exploring to identify specific triggers. 

Not because lectins are inherently dangerous, but because individual biology is real and your experience in your own body matters. For example, people with a compromised gut lining or specific digestive conditions may find that certain lectins cause irritation. In those cases, the issue isn’t that beans or eggplant are inherently harmful, but that the person’s digestive environment may need to be strengthened to digest these foods without gas, bloating, or other issues. This is a real phenomenon that deserves a real answer, and it’s one that a qualified healthcare professional can help you navigate.

(Food Revolution Summit speakers James and Dahlia Marin lead a team of registered dietitians who help people resolve complex gut health issues. You can find out more about their work here.)

Who Should Avoid Lectins?

Despite their potential benefits, there may be people who should avoid lectins, or at least certain lectins, such as the following:

• People with allergies to lectin-containing foods
• People with a digestive sensitivity, such as irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn’s disease
• Possibly people with some autoimmune disorders 

As in all things, listen to your own body. You are the only you on the planet. Just because most of the lectin-rich foods are shown, in numerous studies, to be beneficial to human health doesn’t mean they’re necessarily right for all people, all the time — or for you, right now. 

A small percentage of the population does have a sensitivity to lectins, just as some people must avoid wheat, corn, fruit, and tree nuts. But one person’s walnut allergy doesn’t mean that another person should refrain from eating walnuts.

If you do notice any side effects after eating lectin-rich foods, then you might have a sensitivity to certain lectins (or to other components of those foods), and you might want to consider reducing or avoiding them — or making sure they’re adequately cooked. There are some people, for example, who don’t do well eating large amounts of raw tomatoes. But they can typically handle abundant pasta sauce and other forms of cooked tomatoes without a problem.

Although eating certain lectins could present difficulties in some situations, it’s highly unlikely that you’re eating a diet high in uncooked or undercooked lectins of the problematic variety. I don’t know anyone who reaches for a handful of raw, uncooked kidney beans when their stomach starts rumbling.

The Truth About Lectin Toxicity

Given all that overwhelming evidence in favor of common lectin-containing foods, what evidence does Dr. Gundry marshal to support his claim that lectins are the Devil’s proteins? (He doesn’t refer to them in those words, but I think it’s a pretty catchy phrase. Looks like I missed my calling as an anti-lectin marketer!)

In some cases, it’s a flimsy case of guilt by association.

Dr. Gundry and his fellow “lectophobes” (I’m pretty sure I just made that word up) like to point out that one of the lectins found in castor beans, a compound called ricin, is one of the deadliest poisons ever discovered. Apparently, Russian hitmen like to inject it into the bloodstreams of their victims (sometimes with special, spring-loaded umbrella guns). The assassin casually walks away, and the recipient of the injection dies within 48 hours. 

It’s not just castor beans that can deliver a toxic dose of lectins (with or without a spring-loaded umbrella). Raw kidney beans contain a lectin called phytohaemagglutinin, which causes unpleasant digestive symptoms (extreme nausea, severe vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea) when consumed. Eating just four or five raw beans can trigger those symptoms. 

The important distinction is between lectins in raw or seriously undercooked food, where toxicity is real and well-documented, and lectins in properly prepared whole foods, where the picture is almost entirely positive for most people. 

For example, raw kidney beans contain 20,000 to 70,000 hemagglutinating units (abbreviated hau, and used as a measure of toxicity), while properly cooked kidney beans contain just 200–400 (1,000+ times less!). 

These are not the same thing, and treating them as if they were is one of the main sleights of hand in the anti-lectin argument.

Most Lectins Are Beneficial in Small Amounts

You might be thinking, “Well, if some lectins are pro-inflammatory, and others are used by Russian assassins, should I just steer clear?” After all, if the evolutionary purpose of lectins is to create “plant poisons” to prevent them from predation, why would you want to poison yourself?

The answer becomes clear when we look at the other phytonutrients: compounds in plants that are really good for us (and often indispensable to our health). It’s actually the mild stress of a tiny amount of “poison” that triggers healing responses in our bodies. Kind of like the stress of lifting heavy weights that makes our muscle fibers respond by growing stronger.

The fancy name for good stress that forces us to grow stronger is “hormesis.” Without experiencing regular doses of hormesis in the form of small, manageable challenges, we become fragile to our environments and do not thrive. The keywords here are small and manageable. 

If you look up hormesis in a scientific textbook, you’ll see a bunch of graphs shaped like the letters U or J that illustrate the dose-response nature of the phenomenon. That is, a small amount of some toxins is actually good for you, while a larger dose is not. And a large enough dose (like that contained in killer KGB umbrellas) will kill you. 

That’s one part of the answer to Dr. Gundry’s so-called “Plant Paradox.” The other part is that not all lectins behave the same way, which means the solution isn’t to avoid all lectin-containing foods, but to understand which ones work for your particular body and the best ways to prepare them.

Reducing Lectins in Food

Now, you might be worried about your daily lectin intake. How can you be sure you’re not getting too much and drifting into KGB umbrella territory through your irresponsibly enthusiastic consumption of lentils, eggplant, and barley? 

Luckily, most lectins are completely neutralized by cooking. Yes, eating a bunch of raw kidney beans will give you a miserable case of vomiting and diarrhea. But before that happens, eating raw kidney beans will give you a miserable case of broken teeth. So why on earth would you be eating raw or seriously undercooked kidney beans? 

The uncooked bean argument favored by lectophobes is a straw man; cook the beans, and the lectins are rendered utterly harmless to most people. In fact, even Dr. Gundry concedes that when beans are pressure-cooked (as all canned beans are), they’re pretty safe.

The problem with this admission is that it can still mislead people into thinking that legumes are dangerous and must be processed with all the care and attention generally reserved for a half-pound of plutonium. The truth is, beans are a staple of some of the longest-lived people on earth. And I’m pretty confident that Sardinian peasants and Okinawan farmers haven’t been using Instant Pots to neutralize their lectins for the past hundred years. 

If you want to be thorough about reducing lectins in your cooking, here’s what works: soak your legumes before cooking them. This leaches lectins into the soaking water, so you should discard it rather than cook with it. It also activates germination if you soak them long enough (at least 24 hours), making the nutrients in your beans more bioavailable.

To neutralize the remaining lectins (those really stubborn ones, I guess), pressure cook those legumes. As we’ve seen, canned beans, which are pressure-cooked, are essentially lectin-free. 

Another way to handle lectins is to ferment or sprout grains and legumes. These methods naturally break down lectins as they progress. 

And remember: For most commonly eaten foods prepared with standard cooking methods, lectin levels are not a meaningful concern for most people.

What the Broader Scientific Community Says

Given the paucity of evidence for Dr. Gundry’s argument, and the fact that The Plant Paradox is adding fuel to our already raging fire of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease by discouraging people from eating some of the most protective foods on the planet, I don’t want to portray this as just another vigorous debate among thoughtful scientists.

To understand the anti-lectin movement, you need to follow the money. 

Dr. Gundry’s solution to the Plant Paradox is a suite of supplements and programs — a lectin shield, a range of “must-have” products, and various membership offerings. His widely aired infomercials and marketing campaigns aren’t free. It would seem likely that his company is recouping its investment through high-volume repeat sales. 

A nuanced, individualized message about which lectins matter for which people in which contexts doesn’t sell supplements. A simple villain narrative (“lectins are deadly and these pills and powders will protect you”) does. When the science is genuinely complex, it’s worth asking who benefits most from flattening it into something scary and simple.

Yes, some people should limit their exposure to lectins. But I think that the vast majority of us should probably dismiss Dr. Gundry’s assertions out of hand. The truth is that the foods Dr. Gundry warns against are among the most studied, most protective foods in the human diet. Telling people to avoid them has real consequences.

Should You Eat Lectins?

The evidence is clear. For most people, properly prepared lectin-rich whole foods are among the most powerful disease-fighting foods available. These foods provide plenty of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that are great for human health. When it comes to adverse reactions to eating lectins, most people don’t experience these as long as cooking methods are adequate. Soaking and cooking legumes can minimize the potential side effects. 

I’ve seen a lot of nutritional nonsense, but I have to say that telling people to avoid plant foods such as beans, berries, and tomatoes because they contain lectins strikes me as generally (though not always) terrible advice. Here we are, with soaring rates of chronic diseases that are clearly linked to eating too many low-nutrient, low-fiber, sugar-enhanced, heavily processed foods, yet we’re being warned against eating some of the healthiest foods on the planet.

My advice? Don’t buy the oversimplification in either direction. The science on lectins is genuinely interesting and shows that most lectin-rich whole foods, properly prepared, are among the most powerful disease-fighting foods available to us. 

For most people, most of the time, beans, tomatoes, berries, and whole grains are not the problem. They’re a big part of the solution. 

If you have specific digestive or autoimmune conditions, work with a clinician to figure out what works for your body. And if someone is selling you a supplement to solve a problem that cooking your beans already solves for free, be a little skeptical.

Tell us in the comments:

• What do you think?
• Do you eat lectins? Why or why not?

Featured Image: iStock.com/malerapaso

Read Next:

• Are Nightshades Safe? Are They Healthy?
• Gluten-Free: Is it for Everyone?

The post The Truth About Lectins: What are Lectins and Are They Bad? appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

Technically, cherries aren’t berries, but stone fruits or drupes, which means they have an outer flesh that surrounds a single inner pit. They’re part of the genus Prunus in the rose family and are related to the apricot, peach, plum, and almond. (So that’s the family tree of this tree family.)

Cherries are in season in parts of the Northern Hemisphere between May and August, and in the Southern Hemisphere between November and February. 

Part of their popularity stems (ooh, a pun!) from their versatility. Cherries are delightful raw or cooked and are good in both sweet and savory dishes. 

Like other brightly colored fruits and vegetables, cherries are high in antioxidants and have a number of health benefits. So let’s take a look at the world of cherries and explore their types, health benefits, and uses. 

Sweet vs Sour Cherries

There are two main types of cherries: tart (or sour) and sweet. You can probably guess that the most obvious difference between them is flavor. The variation comes from their acidity levels and natural sugar content.

But the differences between tart and sweet cherries go deeper than their flavor profiles. Sweet cherries tend to have a darker pigmentation and can be almost purple or black, while tart cherries typically retain their bright red color from harvest. 

Most of the fresh cherries you can buy are sweet varieties, as tart cherries are more often processed into tart cherry juice, dried cherries, or sold frozen. As such, fresh sweet cherries are available during the summer months (you can also get canned or frozen sweet cherries any time), while you can find tart cherry products all year round.

Both sweet and tart cherries are rich in antioxidants, although they have slightly different profiles. Tart cherries have higher concentrations of phenolic antioxidants, while sweet cherries may have the edge when it comes to anthocyanins. But the tart ones are no slouches when it comes to anthocyanins either, so if it’s disease-fighting properties you’re looking for, you can’t go wrong whichever type you eat. 

Types of Cherries

There are more than 1,000 cherry varieties grown around the world. While varieties of cherries can differ in their size, color, and best uses, the main differences remain in their sweetness versus tartness. 

Some of the most popular types of sweet cherries include Bing, Rainier, Tulare, Lambert, Coral, Royal Ann, Chelan, Sweetheart, Utah Giant, Van, Stella, and Skeena. (That list makes me want to put them into the chorus of “Mambo Number Five”: “A little bit of Coral in my life, a little bit of Chelan by my side.”)

They range in color from yellow to bright red and have the perfect sweetness to eat on their own or to prepare in a variety of ways. 

The most prominent varieties of tart cherries include Montmorency and Morello (which, to me, sounds like a crime-fighting duo made up of a British Lord and an Italian circus clown). Both are known for being incredibly tart, so much so that they’re generally difficult to eat on their own. Tart cherries are more often used to make jam, tarts, or heavily sweetened cherry pie. 

Nutritional Profile of Cherries

Cherries are incredibly nutritious, no matter which type you choose to eat. Tart cherries and sweet cherries are similar in their overall nutritional profiles. 

One 100-gram serving of raw, pitted sweet red cherries offers the following: 

• Calories: 63
• Protein: 1.1 grams
• Fat: 0.2 grams
• Total Carbs: 16 grams
• Fiber: 2.1 grams
• Sugar: 12.8 grams
• Vitamin C: 8% of the Daily Value (DV)
• Copper: 7% of the DV
• Potassium: 5% of the DV
• Iron: 2% of the DV
• Vitamin B5: 4% of the DV

Both categories of cherries are good sources of fiber, antioxidants, and electrolytes like potassium. Their dark red color makes them an excellent source of ellagic acid and anthocyanins. 

6 Benefits of Cherries

The impressive nutrition of cherries has led to their being studied for a number of health-related uses. What are cherries good for, besides making us happy when we eat them? Here’s a summary of some of the research on the benefits of cherries for health (and no, I’m not — wait for it — cherry-picking).

What are cherries good for, besides making us happy when we eat them? Here’s a summary of some of the research on the benefits of cherries for health (and no, I’m not — wait for it — cherry-picking). 

1. Reduce Symptoms of Gout 

Sweet cherries have been shown to reduce inflammatory markers when consumed consistently and as part of a regular diet, which could benefit conditions like gout. 

In one study, healthy men and women ate 45 cherries a day for a month (that sounds like a fun month to me!) and experienced a 25% reduction in C-reactive protein (a marker for inflammation). When a similar intervention was performed among adults with gout, eating around 16 cherries a day resulted in lower uric acid levels and a 35% lower risk of gout attacks. 

And to make sure it wasn’t just an effect of antioxidants like vitamin C, grapes, strawberries, and kiwi fruit were also studied, but found to have no such effect on uric acid levels. In fact, the efficacy of cherries is so convincing that adding them to traditional gout interventions, such as a low-purine diet and medications, seems worth trying. At worst, you get to enjoy around 1,350 cherries every month (fewer in February). 

2. Cherries Can Be Good for Your Metabolic Health

Cherries are especially high in antioxidant compounds called flavonoids, which have been shown to improve cardiovascular health markers. Flavonoids can help prevent endothelial dysfunction, which can lead to atherosclerosis and heart disease. 

Researchers found that 12 weeks of drinking 2 cups of tart cherry juice daily reduced systolic blood pressure and LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels in adults and improved blood biomarkers of inflammation and oxidative stress, particularly those related to heart health.

Tart cherries are increasingly being recognized for their metabolic health benefits. A 2026 review looked at studies involving both animals and people who are overweight or obese — groups that face higher risks of heart disease. ​​(Our view on the use of animals in medical research is here.)

In animals, tart cherry supplements consistently reduced inflammation, mitigated oxidative stress, and improved metabolism. Though research in humans is still catching up, the evidence so far points to the powerful antioxidants and natural compounds in tart cherries as a promising way to support heart health, especially for people managing weight-related risk factors.

3. Cherries Can Improve Sleep Quality

Melatonin, an antioxidant compound that promotes sleep, is found in both sweet cherries and tart cherries. 

Given that, it makes sense that several studies have found that cherry consumption can improve both the quality and quantity of sleep. Tart cherry juice may help decrease insomnia severity. (There was no word on whether sweet cherries produced more sweet dreams.)

4. Cherries May Improve Exercise Recovery

Many runners, swimmers, and triathletes drink cherry juice before and after training and races, and some joke that it feels like they’re “doping” because the stuff is so powerful. For instance, a 2020 study found that tart cherry juice improved recovery of muscle function after a marathon by increasing antioxidant activity and reducing inflammation, compared with a placebo.

Tart cherry juice has also been found to improve recovery of isometric muscle strength after intensive exercise by preventing oxidative damage. In a 2016 study, endurance athletes who consumed 480 mg of tart cherry capsules once daily for 10 days experienced less muscle breakdown and immune and inflammatory stress, as well as better aerobic performance, compared to the placebo group. 

5. Cherries and Diabetes

Cherries may also offer benefits for blood sugar control. A 2008 study found that women with diabetes who consumed 40 milliliters per day of concentrated tart cherry juice for 6 weeks experienced a significant reduction in HbA1c, a long-term measure of blood sugar levels. Extracts from both sweet and tart cherries were able to prevent drug-induced diabetes in rats and mice. This appears likely to be related to the many antioxidant compounds in cherries, such as chlorogenic acid, anthocyanins, hydroxycinnamic acid, and flavanols, which may work mechanistically to prevent blood sugar spikes and improve regulation. 

A groundbreaking 2025 pilot clinical study was the first to investigate the effects of eating whole cherries instead of just juice or supplements. It provided new insights into how cherries can help regulate blood sugar. In the study, 27 healthy adults ate 280 grams of sweet cherries every day for 6 weeks. (That’s somewhere around 40 cherries a day.)

Their glucose control improved, as shown by lower HbA1c and average glucose levels. On top of that, markers of inflammation also dropped noticeably. The researchers suggested that regularly eating sweet cherries could be a simple, natural way to ward off early metabolic problems. 

One reason cherries may be helpful for blood sugar management, despite their sweetness, is their glycemic profile. Sweet cherries have a glycemic index (GI) of 62, which is lower than brown rice (68) and the same as a boiled sweet potato. Tart cherries have a much lower GI, at just 22, making them a very low-impact food on blood sugar. And when you look at glycemic load, which many researchers consider an equally important indicator of real-world blood sugar impact, both sweet and sour cherries score just 9, putting them in the low glycemic load category.

That said, if you have diabetes and are uncertain how cherries may affect your blood sugar, it’s worth enjoying them in smaller, more controlled portions and monitoring your response. And choose fresh or frozen cherries over dried cherries, since dried cherries contain much higher sugar levels.

6. Cherries May Help with Alzheimer’s Symptoms

Emerging research suggests cherries may also support cognitive health. A randomized controlled trial found that older adults with mild-to-moderate dementia who drank 200 milliliters of cherry juice daily for 12 weeks showed improvements in verbal fluency, short-term memory, and long-term memory compared to a control group. 

A 2025 study from the University of Kent took the research a step further. Researchers developed an anthocyanin-rich powder from cherries that would otherwise have been discarded during fruit processing. They found it reduced markers associated with Alzheimer’s disease in a laboratory model, with greater biological activity than cherry juice or purified anthocyanin extracts alone. Now that’s what I call upcycling!

The researchers suggested that the interaction between multiple natural compounds in the whole cherry — rather than isolated anthocyanins — may be key to its neuroprotective potential. 

What About Maraschino Cherries?

All this talk about cherries may have you wondering about those oddly neon-colored varieties typically seen on top of desserts or on the rims of cocktails known as maraschino cherries.

Maraschinos are not a variety of cherries on their own. In the past, they were preserved in a liqueur made from the Marasca cherry. These days, they’re preserved with artificial preservatives and flavors, colored with artificial colorings, and typically bathed in high-fructose corn syrup to reach their over-the-top sweetness. 

That all makes sense for the red Maraschino cherries. What about the blue and green ones? They are made by bleaching regular sweet cherries (often the Royal Ann variety) until they are so white that they can be dyed any desired color. 

These cherries are not a health food. I don’t really consider them food at all, given the processing required to produce the end result.

Risks of Eating Cherries

Cherries offer a long list of health benefits, making them an excellent addition to most diets. However, there may be a few things to keep in mind when incorporating cherries into your regular diet.

Cherry Pits

First, because cherries are stone fruits, each contains a single pit in the middle, which can be harmful if eaten. 

The problematic chemical in cherry pits is called amygdalin. When you ingest amygdalin, particularly when the pit is crushed or chewed, your body converts it into cyanide, a dangerous poison. But don’t worry — while it’s definitely not recommended to grind cherry pits into your smoothie or swallow handfuls of them whole, Poison Control says that small ingestions (like a single sneaky cherry pit) generally don’t cause any harm. 

Accidental ingestion of poisonous compounds isn’t the only risk when it comes to cherry pits. The pits themselves are a choking hazard, especially for children. It’s a good idea to remove cherry pits before offering them to young kids and to teach kids to spit out the pits when they’re old enough to eat them on their own. (But not at each other.)

Are Cherries High in Sugar?

You may have noticed from the nutritional compositions listed above that cherries are naturally high in sugars. For reference, 1 cup of fresh raspberries contains around 7 grams of sugar, whereas the same serving of cherries has 13–20 grams, depending on the variety. Can a fruit that sweet really be healthy? 

Here’s the thing: Natural sugars found in fruits and vegetables come in tandem with healthy nutrients like fiber, antioxidants, phytochemicals, vitamins, and minerals. This is vastly different from the highly processed and refined sugar that might be added to a packaged cookie. So yes, sweet fruits like cherries are healthy for most people, thanks to the rich symphony of nutrients.

Gastrointestinal Effects of Cherries

The high natural sugar content of cherries, along with sugar alcohols and compounds called salicylates, can cause digestive problems for some people. 

If you find that cherries have this effect on you, it’s probably best not to eat too many all at once. Sticking to smaller servings, like half a cup at a time, may be a good approach. I found this out the hard way recently when I ate a pound of cherries at a single sitting. My tummy felt a little uncomfortable for the next few hours, which was a pretty good indication that I had overdone it. But the cherries tasted so good.

Pesticides in Cherries

Cherries are on the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) annual Dirty Dozen list. This means they are among the top 12 most pesticide-laden crops when purchased conventionally (non-organic). In fact, according to the EWG, more than 90% of the cherry samples they tested contained residues from at least two pesticides. 

The USDA’s Pesticide Data Program has found bifenthrin residues on cherry samples in its testing cycles. Bifenthrin is a pyrethroid insecticide that works by paralyzing and killing insects and has been classified as a possible human carcinogen by the EPA.

Imported cherries may come with their own issues, given suspicions of loopholes in the oversight of organic standards in countries of origin like China and Turkey. Your best bet is probably homegrown or local, organic cherries, either fresh or frozen. Fresh organic cherries can be harder to find, so if you do choose to eat non-organic fresh cherries, it’s wise to wash them well (by soaking them in a baking soda solution for 10 minutes and then rinsing them) before consuming.

How To Choose and Store Cherries

As with any fresh produce, it’s important to know what to look for at the grocery store or market when choosing cherries. Here are some tips for choosing the best fresh cherries to optimize freshness, flavor, and shelf life:

• Choose cherries that are plump and firm.
• Choose cherries that are bright in color, but keep in mind that Bing and other purple cherry varieties have a darker appearance when ripe.
• Avoid cherries with visible bruising or soft spots, as these can indicate rot beneath the surface.

When you get your cherries home, be sure to store them in your refrigerator. Don’t wash your cherries until you’re ready to eat them, as moisture can cause spoilage and premature degradation. Fresh cherries should generally be eaten within 5–7 days of purchase (less if they are very ripe), but if you don’t think you’ll get to them by then, you can always freeze them for longer-term storage. (Pro tip: Remove the pits before you freeze cherries. Frozen pitted cherries can make a great treat-snack!)

How To Use Cherries

Like other fresh fruits, you can enjoy cherries in their most natural form. 

Of course, you can add cherries to many dishes. They work well in both sweet and savory dishes and impart unique flavors to both cold and warm recipes. Sweet cherries are generally used in desserts and sweeter dishes, whereas sour cherries are more often used in savory recipes — although tart cherry pie can be delicious, too!

Here are some ideas for using sweet or tart cherries: 

• Eat them straight (personally, this is my favorite option of all)
• Use them to make cherry preserves, jam, or jelly
• Chop them into sweet or tart chutneys and salsas
• Slice them in half and mix them into a fresh fruit salad
• Chop or slice them thinly and use them to top a leafy green salad
• Use them in a variety of desserts, like pies, cakes, and cobblers
• Use them to make cherry vanilla n’ice cream by blending frozen cherries, frozen bananas, soy or nut milk, and vanilla (yum!)
• Blend them into smoothies or homemade juices
• Blend them into homemade salad dressings and other sauces or marinades
• Use them to top plant-based yogurt, granola, or oatmeal bowls

3 Cherry Recipes

Cherries are a fun snack to enjoy on their own, especially when they’re fresh and in season. However, they can be enjoyed year-round when purchased frozen (and sometimes frozen has even more nutritional value, since they’re harvested at the peak of ripeness and frozen immediately!). 

Start the day with antioxidant-packed cherries with the Toasted Pistachio and Cherry Overnight Oats. The refreshing and crunchy Cherry Waldorf Salad will appeal to fans of the traditional Waldorf Salad, as well as those unfamiliar with the dish (give it a try!). Finally, Cherry Vanilla Crepes deserve their own category — heaven! They’re ridiculously delicious. 

1. Toasted Pistachio and Cherry Overnight Oats

Nothing beats waking up in the morning knowing that your breakfast is waiting for you. Cherries and pistachios are like a culinary match made in heaven, giving traditional oatmeal a flavor and texture lift. Not to mention, cherries and pistachios are packed with nutrients that help fight inflammation, thanks to their abundant phytonutrients. Use frozen cherries to enjoy this breakfast treat all year round!

2. Cherry Waldorf Salad

If you’re a fan of traditional Waldorf Salad, then we bet that you’ll love this version even more. If not, we’re confident we can convert you. Tart cherries with toasted walnuts and a creamy plant-based yogurt dressing make an incredible snack or side dish for your main meal. Plus, it’s packed with phytonutrients in the cherries, omega-3s in the walnuts, and probiotics in the dressing.

3. Cherry Vanilla Crepes

Whoa. Whoever thought of the combination of vanilla and cherries, thank you. We love you forever. Slightly sweet and tart cherries, combined with vanilla cashew cream, stuffed into a buckwheat crepe, might be the definition of heaven. The fact that this treat is also good for you is simply mind-blowing!

Cherries Are Sweet, Sour, and Good for You

Cherries are not only pleasing to the eye, but they can also be pleasing for your health. And the cherry on top (bet you didn’t see that pun coming!) has got to be their deliciousness. There are many varieties of sweet and sour cherries, all with a number of remarkable health benefits. Although there are a few things to look out for with cherries, including their high sugar content and the potential for pesticide contamination, with an awareness of these issues, cherries can be, for most people, an excellent addition to a healthy, whole food diet — with many ways to prepare and eat them.

Tell us in the comments:

• Are you a fan of cherries? Do you prefer tart or sweet cherries?
• What are some of your favorite ways to incorporate cherries into your diet?
• Do you live in an area where you can go cherry-picking and enjoy them right off the trees?

Feature image: iStock.com/Anna Pustynnikova

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• 7 Heart-Healthy Red Foods to Help You Thrive

The post Are Cherries Good for You? Health Benefits & How to Enjoy Them appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

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.

In a 2015 retrospective, Supermarket Sweep host David Ruprecht revealed the secret to winning the game. While the hams and turkeys were more expensive than most of the other products in the store, they had a couple of significant drawbacks. First, they were heavy and required a lot of energy to lift and toss. Second, they took up a lot of space in the carts, which prevented the players from adding more items.

Those who won the $5,000 grand prize generally avoided the meat section entirely and instead headed for the personal care aisle, where they grabbed dozens of cartons and bottles of beauty products. They were light and small, easy to hold and maneuver, and they cost much more per weight and volume than items in the meat or deli sections.

Without even knowing it, you play your own version of Supermarket Sweep whenever you eat. Instead of a cart, you have a stomach that can hold only so much food. And you have a bewildering array of options for what to put in that stomach. The question is: What’s your strategy for deciding what to chew and swallow, and what to leave alone?

There’s no single right answer. For some people, cost per calorie is the most important factor. For others, taste matters most. Habit also plays a large role, as do convenience, family tradition, and cultural identity.

But if you want your best shot at living a long and healthy life, there’s another metric to take into account as you design your diet — nutrient density. In other words, the foods that give you the most nutritional value per weight, volume, and energy (calories) are the ones that warrant your attention.

Maximizing Nutrition

Frequent Food Revolution Summit presenter (and the author of the foreword to my book, 31-Day Food Revolution), Joel Fuhrman, MD, bases his dietary philosophy on maximizing nutritional value. That’s how he formulated his Nutritarian Diet and how he came up with the ANDI (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) score, which rates common supermarket foods based on how much nutrition they deliver per calorie.

But I don’t expect you to memorize the ANDI ranking of every SKU in your local grocery store, nor do you need to pull up an app every time you go shopping. Instead, Dr. Fuhrman came up with a simple acronym to help you remember what types of foods to prioritize if you want to win the Nutritarian Supermarket Sweep: GBOMBS.

Dropping GBOMBS

Dr. Fuhrman came up with the acronym GBOMBS to help you remember the healthiest, most cancer-fighting foods you can eat. All GBOMBS are whole, plant-based foods high in nutritional value.

Sometimes I like to imagine a young Dr. Fuhrman in a lab coat, pacing in the basement of a castle in Transylvania, struggling to invent a memorable acronym: “SMOBGBS? GBMBOS? SOBGBM? I am so close!”

So what are these GBOMBS? 

The GBOMBS acronym stands for Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries, and Seeds. You may be familiar with GBOMBS already if you know Dr. Fuhrman’s work or have heard of or seen them on our website. You may even have a sense of why these foods are such powerful allies in the quest to keep your body cancer-free. (If not, I’ll recap some of their health benefits below — for details, check out Dr. Fuhrman’s full-length GBOMBS article here.)

In this article, we’ll explore the math and science behind GBOMBS and review the nutritional profiles of each. Then we’ll explore how to get your GBOMBS every day — at breakfast, lunch, and dinner (and even in between). You’ll discover how to take these simple, plant-based foods and turn them into whole meals or base an entire meal around one, some, or all of them.

The GBOMBS Formula: Nutritional Density Over Calories

GBOMBS are six types of whole, plant-based foods that deliver off-the-charts nutritional value (off the high end of the charts, just to be clear). Thanks to their high antioxidant content, these foods can help your body to heal, achieve optimal weight, and even slow the aging process. These are clean, whole foods that, in general, lack the disease-promoting, inflammatory components found in packaged foods, such as dairy, “natural” flavors, additives, high-omega-6 oils, excessive sodium, and artificial ingredients.

If you enjoy algebra, here’s Dr. Fuhrman’s longevity formula for estimating the quality of your diet: 

H = N/C (Health = Nutrients/Calories)

By nutrients, Fuhrman is referring to micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other phytochemicals that your body requires to function optimally. Calories are the macronutrients — carbohydrates, fats, and protein (plus alcohol, which technically gets included since it provides calories, even though it has no real nutritional value). 

Nutritarian philosophy holds that the more nutrients in a given amount of calories, the healthier the diet. This high nutrient intake also helps prevent overeating and addictive behaviors. 

GBOMBS could be considered the Olympic champions of health. They contain not only essential vitamins and minerals, but also hundreds of naturally occurring phytonutrients that may protect against cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, and other chronic health conditions.

GBOMBS and Weight Loss

They are also hugely important if you’re interested in losing weight or maintaining a lean body. By focusing on nutrient density over calories, you may not need to count calories but can instead depend on your body’s innate satiety signals to let you know when to stop eating. Indeed, most GBOMBS are naturally low in calories, and since you aren’t consuming “empty calories” (the ones that are largely devoid of nutritional value), every calorie counts.

The only whole plant foods you may need to eat in moderation, if your specific goal is to lose weight, are nuts, seeds, coconuts, and avocados, because they’re high in fat and therefore high in calories. And among these foods, only seeds are represented in the GBOMBS list because they have the most well-documented anti-cancer benefits.

Benefits of GBOMBS

Pretty much all plant foods deliver healthy nutrition, so let’s take a moment to see why these particular food categories are extra good for you.

Greens

Greens are a GBOMBS food with a wealth of antioxidants like chlorophyll, isothiocyanates, and isoflavones, all of which contribute to the rich hues found in leafy greens. (I know they’re called greens, but just to keep things interesting, some of them are more purple or red, like purple cabbage and red lettuce).

The isothiocyanates in cruciferous greens such as cabbage, kale, bok choy, arugula, and chard are precursors to the powerful antioxidant sulforaphane, which is one of the most potent cancer-fighters ever studied. Many are also high in folate and vitamin K, which can help protect your brain, bones, blood, and even DNA.

Beans

Beans are the food group most associated with longevity around the world. High in fiber, protein, B vitamins, and minerals like iron, magnesium, and phosphorus, beans not only help prevent cancer but also support heart health, weight loss, and blood sugar management. They deliver the lowest glycemic load of any carbohydrate-rich food. 

A bonus is that they’re relatively inexpensive, so they can help you get more from your food budget. When you look at that balance of health benefits and value, it’s easy to see why they’re a nutritional mainstay all around the world.

Onions

Onions and their cousins in the allium family, including garlic, chives, and leeks, have been used both culinarily and as medicine for thousands of years. Their strong odors arise from organosulfur compounds (based on the element sulfur), which serve to protect the plants from predators. In a remarkable twist, those compounds also seem to protect the health of those predators (that is, us).

Onions and the other alliums have antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, immune-supporting, and potentially anti-aging properties.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms, which are technically fungi, not plants, are loaded with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Being from a different kingdom, they provide some valuable nutrients that aren’t so common in many plants. These include the antioxidants ergothioneine and glutathione, which appear to boost our mood, as well as beta-glucan fiber, which fights inflammation in the gut-brain axis.

Mushrooms are also one of the few foods that may provide vitamin D if they’re exposed to sunlight while growing. All told, mushrooms are a powerful GBOMBS food that can benefit your heart, brain, gut, immune system, and cells.

While white button mushrooms are among the most nutritionally potent cancer fighters, a group of mushrooms known as medicinal mushrooms is now being studied, with great interest, for their potential as immune modulators. These include maitake, reishi, himematsutake, turkey tail, shiitake, lion’s mane, zhu ling, meshimakobu, and Chaga. 

Berries

Berries, with their rich reds, blues, purples, and yellows, are among the most colorful and healthy foods you can eat.

In addition to being great sources of vitamin C, folate, and potassium, berries are high in antioxidants and polyphenols such as anthocyanins and resveratrol. These compounds help fight oxidative stress in the body, which is often responsible for inflammation and chronic diseases like Alzheimer’s, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. 

Seeds

Seeds are phytonutrient powerhouses containing tocopherols, phytosterols, vitamin E, vitamin B6, folate, and phenolic compounds. They’re also high in fiber and minerals like magnesium and manganese.

Some seeds, such as chia and flax, also contain omega-3 essential fatty acids, which aren’t always easy to come by on a plant-based diet. Seeds offer many health benefits, including helping fight cancer and stabilize blood sugar, and can also improve mood and athletic performance.

How To Incorporate GBOMBS Into Daily Meals

Incorporating GBOMBS into your daily meals can be as simple or complicated as you like. If you’re just starting, one way to get into the GBOMBS habit is to make sure to eat from one category each day. Get on a roll and work your way up from there.

If you’re more ambitious or already familiar with GBOMBS in your diet, you can up your game by choosing one to include at each meal. Once you’re a GBOMBS pro, see if you can incorporate all six into each day. And if you’re an overachiever, try to get all six into a single meal!

GBOMBS Meal Plan & Shopping List

To make eating GBOMBS daily even easier, we’ve put together a three-day meal plan for you to try! In it, you’ll find GBOMBS recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, along with a GBOMBS shopping list of all the ingredients you’ll need to make each recipe. You can download and print the PDFs of the meal plan and shopping list below.

Download our 3-Day GBOMBS Meal Guide and Shopping List here:

GBOMBS 3-Day Meal Plan Guide

GBOMBS Shopping List

GBOMBS for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner!

Greens, Beans, Onions, Mushrooms, Berries, and Seeds are some of the healthiest foods on the planet. Their nutritional profiles rank them at the top of the ANDI score, with the most nutrients for the fewest calories. And even though, with the exception of seeds, they’re low in calories, their water and fiber content make them filling, so eating them can help you lose weight and keep it off without needing to count calories or worry about portion sizes.

Incorporating GBOMBS regularly into your diet and planning meals around them can help you get the most out of these incredible superfoods. I hope this meal guide and shopping list will help you keep GBOMBS at the forefront of your diet.

Tell us in the comments:

• Which of the GBOMBS do you like the most?
• Which of the GBOMBS do you want to eat more of?
• Have you ever eaten a meal that included all six GBOMBS?

Featured Image: iStock.com/Minadezhda

Read Next:

• 11 Detoxifying Foods To Help Cleanse Your Body Naturally

The post How to Use GBOMBS: A Meal Plan & Recipes to Supercharge Your Diet appeared first on Food Revolution Network.

But then things started getting messy. When researchers began to realize that vitamin B was actually an entire family of substances, similar in form and function, but unique in the roles they play in human health. Instead of adding more letters (there weren’t that many left, and who knew where this proliferation of Bs was going to end), the namers turned to numbers: B1, B2, B3, B5, and so on. 

A few things here. First, there’s no B4, which you could charitably chalk up to not wanting to be responsible for the following hypothetical conversation:

Parent: “Did you take your B4?”

Child: “Did I take my what before?”

Thank you, science.

Second, while there are eight B vitamins, there are no B batteries, which feels suspicious to me.

And third, the Bs aren’t even named in chronological order. If you peruse the 1,098-page classic, Handbook of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Fourth Edition, by Lundblad and McDonald, you’ll learn that B12 was first identified in 1926, while B3 wasn’t discovered until 1936. Either these folks had other things on their minds, or time travel is real. You decide.

Anyway, none of that is to take away from the importance of the B family of vitamins. In fact, all of them are essential for a healthy body and mind, and play an integral role in how your body functions, starting at a cellular level. 

Conventional nutritional wisdom holds that the best places to find B vitamins are in animal products, where you can generally find them in abundance. But is it possible to get what you need from plant-based foods? What are the health benefits and risks of the various B vitamins? And should you supplement? These are the questions that we’ll tackle in this article. And we won’t take 1,098 pages to do it.

What Are the B Vitamins?

B vitamins refer to a group of eight different vitamins that make up what’s often called the B-complex. The B vitamins are:

• Thiamin (vitamin B1)
• Riboflavin (vitamin B2)
• Niacin (vitamin B3)
• Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5)
• Pyridoxine (vitamin B6)
• Biotin (vitamin B7)
• Folate (vitamin B9)
• Cobalamin (vitamin B12)

This group of vitamins helps your body convert food into energy — a process known as metabolism — as well as create new blood cells. They’re also important for the maintenance of healthy skin cells, brain cells, and other body tissues. 

Like vitamin C, the B vitamins are water-soluble. Unlike the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K, which are best absorbed when ingested alongside dietary fats, the water-soluble vitamins can be taken with water and then used by your body. Bacteria in the intestinal tract of animals produce B vitamins, which is why some nutritionists have recommended eating animals to meet your daily requirement. This isn’t necessary, as many plants also contain these nutrients (see below for examples). 

In fact, scientists recently discovered that bacteria in the human microbiome also generate B vitamins. This makes logical sense, given that humans are, in fact, animals, but there are a couple of reasons that we can’t rely exclusively on our internal B factories. 

First, not every human digestive tract produces enough of these compounds. Second, you absorb B vitamins in the small intestines, but the bacteria that manufacture these vitamins are located in your large intestines. Since the large intestines are the next to last stop on the poop train, it’s not clear how fully and efficiently those vitamins get to their absorption sites. 

For these reasons, many of us need to be intentional with our dietary sources of B vitamins to make sure we’re getting enough. Given that there are eight of them, that might seem like a full-time job. But luckily, most B vitamins are found together in many foods, making this task much simpler than keeping track of each one separately.

8 Key Benefits of the B Vitamins

1. Protect Against Diabetes

Getting enough B vitamins is important for regulating your blood sugar. Lower levels of B1, B6, and B7 have been observed in people with diabetes, and supplementing these has been shown to improve metabolic control. Additionally, pharmaceutical doses of B1 and B3 may be useful to prevent kidney and cardiovascular complications in people with type 2 diabetes. The absorption of B9 and B12 has been found to decrease with metformin use, a drug commonly used to manage blood sugar in type 2 diabetes. So if you have type 2 diabetes or other conditions that require close monitoring of your blood glucose, it’s extra important to make sure you’re getting enough of those two B vitamins.

2. Protect Against Heart Disease

Vitamins B6, B9, and B12 help reduce levels of the amino acid homocysteine, which contributes to increased cardiovascular disease risk when elevated (called hyperhomocysteinemia, and worth 8 gazillion points in Scrabble). These B vitamins improve vascular endothelial function and help keep your blood vessels dilated, which supports healthy circulation and is good for your heart. 

Vitamins B3 and B5 have traditionally been associated with improving cholesterol — B3, aka niacin, in particular, was once widely used as a cholesterol-lowering drug and has been called “the granddaddy of cholesterol-lowering drugs” by Harvard Medical School. 

The picture has grown more complicated since niacin’s cholesterol-fighting heyday in the 1950s. Research has consistently shown that high-dose niacin supplementation does not meaningfully reduce cardiovascular events when added to statin therapy. In fact, too much niacin can actually be dangerous. A 2024 study published in Nature Medicine found that excess niacin produces a metabolite called 4PY that may actually promote vascular inflammation and increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. 

As a result, high-dose niacin is no longer recommended as a standard treatment for high cholesterol. There’s still plenty of positive news about niacin from whole food sources, though. Getting your B3 from foods like brown rice, nuts, seeds, legumes, and bananas is still good for you and doesn’t carry these risks.

3. Protect the Brain and Prevent or Treat Alzheimer’s Disease 

Vitamins B2, B6, B9, and B12 play a role in cognitive health, and a 2025 systematic review of 17 clinical trials found that supplementing with them offered a modest benefit on global cognitive function in older adults.

Some observational studies have found an association between low serum folate (B9) levels, worse cognitive function, and a higher risk for Alzheimer’s. And low serum B12 is also associated with poor brain function. Vitamin B1 is a key factor in protecting against alcohol-related dementia, as it can prevent the accumulation of iron deposits in the brain that lead to deterioration. B1 may also have the potential to help people with mild Alzheimer’s, according to a recent small exploratory clinical trial published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.

All that said, while the associations between B vitamins and brain health are real, it’s not clear yet whether B vitamin supplementation can meaningfully prevent or slow cognitive decline.

4. Protect Against Cancer

Getting your B vitamins may boost your protection against certain cancers. Vitamins B2, B6, and B9 have been shown to work against cancerous tumors when applied to lymphoma cells in a lab setting. Vitamin B6 has also been shown to reduce the risk of lung cancer. In one study, researchers followed almost 160,000 women for 18 years and found that women who took at least 50 milligrams per day of supplemental vitamin B6 had a 16% reduction in lung cancer risk compared to those who did not take the vitamin. 

And while a 2017 study appeared to suggest that vitamin B12 supplementation might increase lung cancer risk among men, especially if they smoked, data from many randomized controlled trials have found that there’s no reason to believe B12 supplementation has any adverse effect on cancer risk. In fact, a small study among 400 Canadian women found that supplemental B9 and B12 could reduce the risk for breast cancer, particularly among those with BRCA1 gene mutations.

5. Improve Mood

All B vitamins — and especially B6, B9, and B12 — seem to help prevent depression, stress, and anxiety. A 2019 meta-analysis and review of 16 studies concluded that, compared with a placebo, B vitamin supplements appear to help improve overall mood and reduce stress, especially among people at higher risk of poor nutrition or with poor mood. (For people who prefer plain talk, I think “poor mood status” can be translated to “feeling crappy.”)

6. Protect Against Birth Defects

The B vitamins are also crucial for supporting a healthy pregnancy and normal fetal development. Getting enough B9 and B12 is important to the development of a baby’s spinal cord. This is why it’s standard practice to educate mothers-to-be on supplementing with folic acid and eating folate (B9)-rich foods like dark leafy greens, lentils, and oranges during pregnancy, to meet their minimum 400 micrograms per day requirement of this nutrient. In addition, some research suggests that vitamin B3 may help bypass genetic mutations that can cause certain birth defects or an increased risk of miscarriage.

7. Balance Hormones

B vitamins have many roles within the reproductive system and may help naturally maintain hormonal balance. Many women find success with supplemental vitamin B6 for alleviating nausea associated with morning sickness, as well as reducing symptoms of premenstrual syndrome. And vitamins B3 and B5 are needed for hormone production in the adrenal glands, including sex and stress hormones.

8. Keep Nails, Hair, and Skin Healthy

All of the B vitamins may work together to keep your hair, skin, and nails healthy, but B7, B9, and B12 may be especially helpful. Biotin (B7) deficiency often presents as brittle nails, hair loss, and skin rash, and while evidence is mostly anecdotal, biotin supplementation is often used in hopes of improving these conditions. Changes in your nails are often the result of micronutrient deficiencies, including an array of B vitamins. In fact, a B12 deficiency may show up as entirely blue nails or other dark pigmentation. And a folate (B9) deficiency can cause your nails to become brittle and rigid. 

For more information about how to eat for healthy nails and hair, here’s our full article. 

And for an article about the best foods for healthy skin, we’ve got you covered as well.

Sources of B Vitamins

Now that you know how important B vitamins are to your health, where can you find them? Fortunately, there are many sources of B vitamins in whole foods that you may already enjoy — or can easily add to your diet. 

B Vitamin Food Sources

Most B vitamins can be found in animal products, like meat, fish, eggs, and dairy, but some of the best sources are plant-based and include whole grains, legumes, seeds, nuts, leafy greens, fortified foods, bananas, mushrooms, avocado, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and broccoli. 

More specifically, below are some of the best places to find each of the eight B-complex vitamins from plant-based foods:

• Vitamin B1: beans, peas, lentils, and sunflower seeds
• Vitamin B2: almonds, tofu, mushrooms, avocado, and spinach
• Vitamin B3: brown rice, nuts, seeds, legumes, and bananas
• Vitamin B5: mushrooms, avocado, nuts, seeds, potatoes, brown rice, oats, and broccoli
• Vitamin B6: chickpeas, dark leafy greens, papayas, bananas, oranges, and cantaloupe
• Vitamin B7: sweet potatoes, nuts, seeds, and avocado
• Vitamin B9: dark leafy greens, beans, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and oranges.
• Vitamin B12: fortified nutritional yeast and breakfast cereals, as well as enriched plant-based milks and yogurts

B Vitamin Supplements

Most of the B vitamins (other than B12) can be obtained from eating a variety of whole foods. But you may want to supplement with certain ones if you don’t think you get enough from your diet, or if you fall into a group at higher risk of deficiencies. 

You may want to consider supplementing with folic acid — the more bioavailable synthetic form of folate — if you fall into a group that’s at higher risk for folate deficiency, like pregnant women and people with a history of chronic alcohol use.

Vitamin B12 also deserves extra attention because it’s not readily found in plant foods. Still, it’s not just plant-based eaters who are at risk. In fact, one study conducted in 2000 by researchers at Tufts University found that nearly 40% of Americans (including omnivores) might have been deficient in this B vitamin. As such, supplementation may be advisable for most people and is strongly recommended for vegans. For more on B12, see our article here.)

If you choose to supplement, you’ll most often find all the B vitamins combined as a B-complex. Alternatively, you can take individual B vitamin supplements, but this isn’t usually necessary. The exceptions are if you know you’re deficient in certain ones or want to maximize a specific B vitamin and not the others. 

It’s also worth noting that if you choose to take a daily multivitamin with minerals, it likely contains all the B vitamins.

Risks of Taking B Vitamin Supplements

Risks of potentially overdosing on B vitamins are usually associated with taking too many B vitamin supplements, not with eating too many foods rich in them. And in general, risks associated with taking B vitamin supplements are rare because of their water-soluble nature. If you consume too much, your body will eliminate the excess through urine. Despite this built-in “overflow mechanism,” an overdose of B-complex is possible and may result in symptoms like excessive thirst, skin rashes or flushing, blurred vision, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, increased urination, and diarrhea.

It’s also worth addressing niacin (vitamin B3) specifically, since it was historically prescribed at high pharmacological doses to lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol. At those levels, a common side effect is the “niacin flush” — a reddening of the skin, often around the face and neck, typically appearing within 30 minutes of ingestion. 

While the flush itself is not dangerous, high-dose niacin carries more serious concerns. As we’ve seen, excess niacin may increase cardiovascular risk. For this reason, high-dose niacin supplementation should only be pursued under the direct supervision of a healthcare provider, and for most people with high cholesterol, other evidence-based options are now preferred. Again, there’s no need to worry about overdosing on niacin from brown rice or lentils; food-sourced B3 doesn’t carry these risks. As a side note, many internet sites recommend the niacin flush as a strategy to pass a drug test if you’d otherwise test positive for THC (the active ingredient in marijuana). Let me save you some time: It doesn’t work. (I say this as a student of research, and not from personal experience.)

One more oddity: People who take supplemental B2 (riboflavin) may find that they develop abnormally bright or neon yellow urine. If this happens to you, don’t worry. You aren’t necessarily dehydrated, and you certainly aren’t in danger of turning yellow. Your body is just excreting some of the riboflavin that it doesn’t need. Just pretend you’re a human highlighter or superhero from the planet Neon.

Testing for Deficiency

If you’re experiencing symptoms that might signal a B vitamin deficiency — like unusual fatigue, a skin rash, numbness or tingling in the hands or feet, tongue inflammation, or signs of anemia — it’s worth talking to your healthcare provider. A simple blood test can check your levels of specific B vitamins, and a 24-hour urine test is sometimes used as well. These tests can confirm whether a deficiency exists, though they can’t always tell you whether the cause is dietary or related to absorption problems. Either way, they give your healthcare provider a starting point for figuring out the right approach.

Some people are at higher risk for B vitamin deficiencies and may want to discuss testing proactively, even without obvious symptoms. This includes people with a history of heavy alcohol use, malabsorption conditions like Crohn’s disease or celiac disease, those who have had bariatric surgery, older adults, and people eating a fully plant-based diet, particularly regarding B12.

It’s also worth knowing that doctors sometimes skip formal testing when symptoms and context make a deficiency highly likely and simply recommend supplementation to see if things improve. If they do, that’s useful information in itself.

Vitamin B-Strong Recipes

With the exception of B12, getting plenty of B vitamins on a plant-based diet can be easy when you add a variety of whole, healing plant-based foods to your plate. Mushrooms may not shout “we’re good for you” as loudly as kale, but they sure do pack a lot of nutrition, including several B vitamins. Add fortified nutritional yeast and whole grain breadcrumbs to Super Stuffed Mushrooms, and you get a B vitamin smorgasbord! 

Sweet and Savory African Soup — is it soup or breakfast? The truth of the matter is that we like to enjoy this B-vitamin-rich soup for dinner, then devour the tasty leftovers for breakfast (because it gets even better overnight!). So, it’s your choice; enjoy it for soup, breakfast, or any time of the day. 

Finally, B vitamins never tasted as good as they do in the Chunky Monkey Smoothie. Chocolate and vitamins? Who knew!

1. Super Stuffed Mushrooms

Starting with the superstar mushroom, you get a rich source of B vitamins like riboflavin, niacin, and pantothenic acid. Add nutritional yeast for B12 (if it’s fortified). Then get even more B vitamins by using whole grain bread for breadcrumbs, which provide folate and thiamine. This appetizer is not only tasty but it’s also a B-vitamin jamboree!

2. Sweet and Savory African Peanut Soup

What’s in this soup that doesn’t contain an abundance of B vitamins? Not much! Peanut butter, chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and spinach all provide a variety of B vitamins to support brain health, heart health, cancer prevention, and mood. Plus, it is pretty delicious!

3. Chunky Monkey Smoothie

Vitamins never tasted so good! Getting your daily dose of B vitamins in a healthy, indulgent smoothie might be the most fun and delicious way to support brain, heart, and skin health. You’d never know that leafy greens snuck their way into this creamy chocolate-y blend!

B Vitamins Can Be Easy

B vitamins are important to just about every system in your body. And they’re protective against common and potentially lethal chronic diseases, as well as important for a healthy pregnancy, for hormone production, and for your hair, skin, and nails. While all the B vitamins can be found in whole foods, a few people may struggle to get enough of them. However, avoiding deficiency is relatively easy with testing when indicated and, in some cases, by adding appropriate supplements. Hopefully, this article has helped you to B proactive with your wellbeing!

Tell us in the comments:

• Do you take B-complex or any individual B vitamin supplements?
• Have you ever experienced a deficiency in any of the B vitamins? What did that look like for you?
• Where do you find B vitamins in your diet?

Feature image: iStock.com/OksanaKiian

Read Next:

• Vitamin B12: Why it’s Important and How to Avoid B12 Deficiency
• Folate (B9): What It Is, Where to Get it, and Why Folate is Different from Folic Acid
• How to Get Maximal Nutrition from Your Food: Putting Food Combining, Sourcing, & Preparation Methods to Work for You

The post What B Vitamins Do You Need — And What Are The Best Sources? 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.