According to Ann's cookbook, "Western medicine now stresses eating a more plant-based diet to get the essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals that are found abundantly--and in some cases exclusively--in the plant kingdom that surrounds us." This means, of course, that a strong benefit to eating a plant-based diet is that you get more cancer, heart disease, and disease-fighting components from fresh food, not just by taking vitamin pills as a nutritional supplement. Beyond the basic nutritional benefits, it makes sense to eat more plant-based food and less meat for other health reasons such as high blood pressure control, preventing diabetes, and weight loss.