Omit that Meat

The old saying, we are what we eat, is something we should remember when doing our weekly meal planning.  By eliminating meat at least once per week, you can drastically improve your overall personal health. If you’re serious about a healthy diet, you may want to consider having a meatless day at least 1 to 3 times a week. Here are some facts that may help you along.

~ Eating more plant-based foods with fiber can lower your risk of obesity. Meatless meals tend to focus more on vegetables, along with fruits and grains.

 ~ Replace some of the meat in your diet with non-meat sources of protein. Beans, legumes, eggs, whole grains and dairy products all contain protein. Nuts, seeds, eggs and soy foods are good choices. Increasing fish choices as they have less saturated fat than meat, pork and poultry.

~Meat consumption is often compared to tobacco, and we all know how dangerous smoking can really be. Animal products kill a lot more Americans than tobacco. According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, about as much cancer could be prevented by diet and exercise as is caused by smoking.

Harvard researchers (todaysdietician.com) have linked high processed-meat intake to a 42% higher risk of coronary heart disease.

Gina Kolata, an American science journalist who has published multiple books regarding health, stated that, “The real culprit, they proposed, was a little-studied chemical that is burped out by bacteria in the intestines after people eat red meat. It is quickly converted by the liver into, yet another little-studied chemical called TMAO that gets into the blood and increases the risk of heart disease.” (Gina Kolata, New York Times)

You don’t have to get rid of meat completely, but if you do decide to continue eating meat, choose organic farm fresh options which have been fed less chemicals and fillers. A great way to start kicking the “meat habit, is by making a food menu for the week. Make sure to include a variety of seafood, grains, vegetables and healthy protein choices.

For more information checkout the The EPIC Study article, the High Red Meat Consumption article from the Physicians' Academy for Cardiovascular Education website, or the Meat Consumption and Cancer Risk article from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.