How To Get The Most Bang For Your Buck With Plant-Based Eating, From A Nutritionist

Allow nutritionist and physiologist Simon Hill to declare: The best diet is one in which 85% of its calories come from whole plant foods (it's the very crux of his book, The Proof Is in the Plants). "In Western society, we have made animal protein the hero of the plate," he continues on this episode of the mindbodygreen podcast. "We want to flip that." 

That doesn't mean you absolutely must erase all animal sources from your plate—but he does suggest de-emphasizing meat in favor of nourishing fruits and veggies. And to nudge you just a bit further: Hill also recommends hacking your eating plan to make those plants the healthiest they can be. 

Hill references the MIND Diet—aka, a hybrid between the Mediterranean and DASH diets—as one of the healthiest eating plans for brain health. (Other experts would agree.) "It's a super plant-based diet, and it has a real emphasis on dark leafy greens and berries for [their] carotenoids and for polyphenols," he notes. 

In fact, a study conducted by Chicago's Rush University Medical Center found that of 960 participants, those who ate at least one serving of leafy green vegetables per day had brains that were operating 11 years younger than they actually were, compared to those who rarely ate those greens. 

Hill is a fan of food combining for iron absorption, specifically nonheme (or plant-based) sources of iron, which is thought to be less absorbable in the body. "There are a number of different aspects of our diet that can inhibit iron absorption or enhance it," he explains. 

For the latter, he touts vitamin C as an iron-enhancing winner (and research backs it up, too1). "Adding bell pepper to your cooking, for example, which is really rich in vitamin C, can be a great food to throw into stir-fries," he offers. "Or it could be some lemon juice, it could be strawberries—all of these are really rich in vitamin C." 

It's an idea we've discussed before from longevity expert and Harvard geneticist David Sinclair, Ph.D.: The more stressed out a plant is, the brighter colors it will have (and the healthier it may be). 

To dive into the science, a physical stress response causes plants to produce anthocyanins and polyphenols, which results in bright or dark pigments—think of a speckled stalk of broccoli or two-toned heirloom tomato. "That dark pigmentation is part of the plant's natural defense system," notes Hill, and a sign that the plant has produced potent antioxidants.