Becoming flexitarian - a flexible way to eat
With more and more of the population becoming obese, it has prompted many people to look at healthier ways of eating such as diets which include the five fruits and veggie theory, becoming a vegetarian or even a flexitarian. An odd word used to describe people who eat meat or fish occasionally.
Flexitarians include the health conscious, who eat two or three meatless dishes a week and those who are vegetarian inclined, that is those who replace meat dishes for meatless alternatives and maintain a largely vegetarian diet eating four or more meatless dishes a week.
In recent years the market for vegetarian type foods has increased dramatically. More consumers are turning to a flexi diet for health, animal and environmental reasons. Grocery stores and supermarkets also carry more ethnic type foods making it easier to buy vegetarian products.
Vegetarian type diets tend to be healthier with flexitarians more likely to eat the recommended daily intake of fruit and veggies. The only difference is flexitarians like to include the odd piece of meat or fish in their diet.
So how do we wean ourselves onto a flexi or meatless diet, when we are so used to having meat with every meal. Well studies have shown that meatless meals are lower in fat and cholesterol and include more of the foods containing the nutrients needed for good health, namely Vitamin A and C, potassium and fiber.
The main thing however is to start gradually as for many people, meat tends to be the main focus of any meal with a smattering of vegetables dotted around the plate. To switch suddenly to meatless meals can leave one craving meat and this is where being a flexitarian really comes into its own. Here you have the advantage of not only eating a vegetable based diet which is nutritious, but by adding a little meat or poultry to a mainly vegetarian dish you are adding flavour as well as satisfying that desire for meat.
Try eating a vegetarian meal once a week to begin with and building up from there.
Buy a vegetarian cookbook and try new dishes until you find one that suits your palate. If you still need meat, try a recipe which combines both meat and vegetables or grains. Use smaller meat portions in your meals. With the surge of new shops catering to the various palates of migrants, there is a wide variety of foreign and meatless foods to appeal to your taste. Finally test and tweak foods until you come up with a healthy food plan that is right for you, while bearing in mind that consuming less meat is important in reducing your fat intake and lowering your chances of developing diseases such as heart disease and cancer. These steps though small contain big rewards to enjoying a much healthier way of life.
Complements for Health, owned by Andrea Paduchak PT,LMT is a provider of massage therapy,
prenatal massage, and integrative therapy in Nashua, NH. Visit us at www.complementsforhealth.com.
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