Kim Kardashian's epic kitchen tour revealed her 'plant-based' diet. Here's what that means

Kim Kardashian gave a behind-the-scenes tour of her kitchen on Instagram this week — revealing both a bevy of frozen-yogurt sprinkles and her kept promise to stick to a plant-based diet.

The tour was Kardashian’s rebuttal to mockery she received on Tuesday, after posting a photo of herself promoting her SKIMS line. In it, the 39-year-old modeled the clothing while standing in front of a near-empty fridge that contained mostly milk products, prompting comments such as “Y’all eat air too?? coz I see no food in that fridge ma’am” and “I see nothing in that fridge that reflects a family with 4 kids haha! I just cant relate. Sorry.”

And so, on Wednesday night, Kardashian brought fans into her cavernous kitchen spaces through Instagram Stories. “OK, so since the inside of my fridge is so baffling, and I saw all these news reports, I’m going to give you guys a tour of my fridge,” she said.

First was the pantry, full of glass jars meant for candy and frozen-yogurt sprinkles (Kardashian recently swore off plastic for environmental reasons), a closet for a frozen yogurt machine, and a fridge with beverages in glass, cans, and boxes (“All my kids use a different kind of milk,” she explained).

In the actual kitchen, Kardashian revealed a walk-in refrigerator, where, she noted, “we keep all of our fresh, organic produce. We are building on the property all organic trees to grow our own vegetables.” She also showed some prepped meals, including vegan tacos, saying, “You guys know I eat plant-based now.” In April, Kardashian announced that she would follow a plant-based diet at home, also writing on Kourtney Kardashian’s Poosh website that the switch followed her psoriatic arthritis diagnosis.

The terms plant-based, vegetarian and vegan are all different, but can be conflated for their emphasis on fruits and vegetables. “It can be confusing, especially when there are sub-categories,” Keri Gans, R.D.N., author of The Small Change Diet, tells Yahoo Lifestyle.

People who follow plant-based diets structure their nutritional intake around vegetables and fruit, but also seeds, nuts and whole grains. And they may enjoy red meat, poultry, or fish. “If you think of your meals as a pyramid, plant foods would fill the bottom layer,” says Gans. “The plan isn’t about what you should avoid, rather what you should eat.”

That’s different than vegetarianism, which eliminates poultry, seafood, meat — the flesh itself, basically. And pescatarians, meanwhile, might eat eggs, dairy, or fish, but not red meat or poultry.

Vegans go further. “Veganism is a lifestyle that focuses on the consumption of products that do not rely on the exploitation of animals, whether that’s with food, pharmaceuticals, beauty products or apparel,” Jasmin Singer, author of the forthcoming The VegNews Guide to Being a Fabulous Vegan, tells Yahoo Lifestyle.

Therefore, all animal byproducts are off-limits. “You can’t take milk from a cow without that cow included in a system that kills them for meat or denies milk to their babies, who often become veal,” says Singer.

People usually eliminate meat for weight loss, overall health, or environmental concerns. And it’s a seemingly healthier choice. Consuming more fruit and vegetables can promote digestion and weight loss, and lower the risk of some cancers, according to Harvard University’s School of Public Health. Those who drop meat entirely reduce their intake of saturated fat and increase certain vitamins and minerals, leading to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

Some studies have poked holes in plant-heavy diets. A September study did find a very small increase in stoke among vegetarians, despite a lowered risk of heart disease, when compared to carnivores. However, as study author Tammy Tong of University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Population Health told Time, “The lower risk of heart disease does seem to outweigh the higher risk of stroke.”

People interested in making a health-based change also don’t have to make a stark choice, says Gans. The Mediterranean diet, heavy on healthy fats from fish, nuts, oil and cheese, was just ranked No. 1 in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Diets Overall list for weight loss, heart health, and cancer and diabetes prevention.

“People should strive for plant-based diets in general,” Gans says. “But it doesn’t mean that all foods can’t fit.”

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• These Vegetarian Recipes Are Exactly What Your Meatless Monday Dinners Need

• Why Kim Kardashian Shared Her Own Family Christmas Card This Year: 'She Was Over the Drama'

• Jillian Michaels criticized for ‘gross’ comments on Lizzo’s body: ‘It isn’t gonna be awesome if she gets diabetes’

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