Benefits of Eating Less Meat

Why aim to eat less meat?  There are numerous benefits to decreasing your meat consumption. Just check out this impressive list:

It’s Better for Your Health:

•  Heart disease - Meat contributes a large percentage of a day’s total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol consumption, making it hard to adhere to healthy heart recommendations.  Vegetarians have been shown to be 50% less likely to develop heart disease.  In addition, the research shows that vegetarians also have lower rates of high blood pressure and stroke.  Want to know more, read Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease
by Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., M.D., from the Cleveland Clinic. (note: this is not to goad you into giving up something you may enjoy, but just to suggest that a reduction in meat intake can have positive benefits on your health)
•  Cancer – The National Cancer Institute found that those who ate 5 or more ounces of meat daily (equivalent to 1-1/2 Quarter Pounders) increased their risk of cancer by 30-40% compared to those who ate less than 1 ounce daily.
•  Diabetes - Some research indicates that a vegetarian diet makes your body more responsive to insulin, which is a very good thing if you have diabetes. In fact, in a 2006 study of Type 2 Diabetes published in the journal Diabetes Care, 43% of people who ate a low-fat, vegan diet reduced their need for diabetes medications.

It’s Better for the Planet:

•  Grain – The amount of grain needed to produce 1 ton of beef could produce 7 tons of edible plants.  Eating plants is much more efficient.
•  Water – With the amount of water it takes to produce one pound of red meat, farmers can grow up to one hundred pounds of grain, which makes a lot of bread, pasta, and cereal. One pound of beef can only feed four people for one lunch, whereas one hundred pounds of grain can feed four people for a month!  Over ½ the water in the US is used in beef production.  In fact, it takes an average of 2,500 gallons of water to produce a single pound of red meat. That’s as much water as a typical family uses in a month!
•  Greenhouse gases – US livestock are responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas emissions.  That’s more than all transportation!  A meatless diet is 50% more effective at cutting CO2 emissions than switching from a standard car to a hybrid.
•  Other – US livestock is responsible for 55% of the soil erosion, 37% of pesticides, 50% of antibiotics, and over 30% of nitrogen and phosphorus contamination in our water.

It’s Better for Animals:

Choosing less meat – and making a conscious choice to purchase meat that was raised humanely (organic/free-range/grass-fed/etc.) – can do a lot toward reducing suffering in the world.  Modern factory farming keeps cows, calves, pigs, chickens and other animals in overcrowded stalls and cages.  Often, these animals are unable to turn around or take even a single step their entire lives.  At that, these animals are then slaughtered in ways that would horrify any compassionate person.  This situation is not only bad for the animals – it is bad for humans, too.  These conditions create unsafe and cruel working conditions for the employees and lead to contamination of our food supplies. Check out this video called, “Meet Your Meat.”

As Ghandi said, “The greatness of a society and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.”

Getting Started with a Meat Reduction

The following tips can help you get started on eating more vegetables and grains - and they can save you money, too!

•  Meatless Mondays – pick one day a week to go vegetarian.  You may find it tastier and easier than you thought!  It’s possible that you will soon be adding more meatless days to your week.
•  Do the 50/50 swap – cut back on meat by 50% by substituting beans (black, kidney, or pinto) and/or more vegetables.
•  Try more meat-free recipes – there are lots of great websites for you to try.  Check out All Recipes or Eating Well and search for vegetarian recipes.  Or try my family’s favorite pasta salad recipe below.  Don’t be afraid to experiment.  A great way to start is to peruse the vegetarian cookbooks at the library for recipes your entire family will enjoy. 
•  Add some non-meat substitutes like soy crumbles to your recipes that call for ground beef.

One of My Favorite Meatless Recipes:

Going vegetarian has been a gradual process for me, and I still struggle at times to find things that my whole family likes to eat.  Here is one of our favorite Moosewood recipes.

Mexican Pasta

Serves 4-6, total time 20-25 minutes

½ pound short, chunky pasta such as small shells or penne (use 100% whole wheat!)
1 c. fresh or frozen corn kernels
3 scallions minced
1 c. chopped bell peppers (red, green, yellow or a mixture)
1½ c. cooked kidney beans, pinto beans or black beans (15 oz. can, drained & rinsed)
1 c. chopped tomatoes
¼ c. sliced Spanish olives (not for me!)
2 tsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon or lime juice
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
½ tsp. ground black pepper
salt to taste
grated Cheddar-style cheese (optional)
prepared Mexican-style red salsa (optional – I mix mine with a bit of sour cream to make a dressing.  Yum!)

Bring a large covered pot of water to a boil.  Cook the pasta for about 10 minutes, until al dente.  Add the corn during the final 2 minutes of cooking.  Drain the pasta and corn, rinse with cold water, and set aside to drain for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the scallions, bell peppers, beans, tomatoes, olives, olive oil, lemon or lime juice, cumin, cilantro, and black pepper in a large bowl.  Mix in the pasta and corn and add salt to taste.  If desired, top each serving with a tablespoon of grated Cheddar and a spoonful of salsa.  Serve immediately or chill to serve later.

Just in case you want to know, here’s the info on the dish:
Per 10 oz. serving:  289 calories (but who’s counting!), 12.2 g protein, 4.7 g fat, 52.2 g carbohydrate, 6 g saturated fatty acids, 7 g polyunsaturated fatty acids, 1.4 g monounsaturated fatty acids, 0 mg of cholesterol, 357 mg sodium, 4.1 g total dietary fiber.

Do you have any other suggestions for how to reduce the amount of meat we eat? Which of my different ideas did you try? Are you enjoying it?
Please share the answers to these questions and any of your favorite vegetarian dishes in the comments section!

Also, check out some of the other great blogs and tips this week.

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Sara Armstrong is the owner of Zoi Wellness Consulting. In addition to wellness coaching, Sara specializes in health education seminars, diabetes prevention and management, Health for EVERY Body, and worksite wellness design. You can email Sara for a free wellness consultation at sara@zoiconsulting.com.