{"id":4261,"date":"2022-04-03T06:09:46","date_gmt":"2022-04-03T06:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/wordpress116\/blog\/2022\/04\/03\/easy-methods-to-eat-less-meat\/"},"modified":"2022-04-03T06:09:46","modified_gmt":"2022-04-03T06:09:46","slug":"easy-methods-to-eat-less-meat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenfuturemedia.com\/?p=4261","title":{"rendered":"Easy Methods to Eat Less Meat"},"content":{"rendered":"

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We've all heard an earful recently from the benefits of a plant-based diet. From supporting better health to supporting a more sustainable ecosystem, reducing meat, whether going full-time vegan or vegetarian, or choosing a more “flexitarian” lifestyle that focuses more on plants and less on protein, can possess a insightful benefits.<\/p>\n

2022 was even declared the International Year of Pulses – otherwise known as beans, seeds and legumes -as a way to heighten “public understanding of the nutritional advantages of pulses as part of sustainable food production directed at food security and nutrition”.<\/em> But a push towards pulses was just one part of a larger effort to advertise a far more plant-based lifestyle. As news involves light from the benefits of a plant-based diet for the environment and our overall health, the most hardcore omnivores happen to be shifting towards eating more plants.<\/p>\n

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If you already eat your broccoli, you might be thinking, what makes going plant-based so excellent for the earth?<\/strong> And just what does “plant-based” mean, anyway? While everyone may have their own unique ideas of what “plant-based” really means, generally a “plant-based diet” means a diet consisting mostly of-or entirely of-well, plants.<\/em> Picture your typical dinner plate and what's on it- a standard American diet might have a big steak, a scoop of mashed potatoes, and maybe some chopped veggies (hopefully fresh). Typical Monday night fare, right? Now make that plate plant-based: remove the steak, and give a big serving of green salad with a rainbow of veggies along with a scoop of spiced, protein-rich chickpeas having a hunk of crusty bread on the side. Maybe a drizzle of essential olive oil and a sprinkle of Maldon salt (if you want other great ideas, here are 31 chickpea recipes). Which meal would you imagine is better for that earth and for you?<\/em> Increasingly, science is pointing for the plant-based meal:<\/p>\n

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To put it simply: it requires less land, water and to develop plants of computer does to raise animals for protein. Therefore, consuming more plants and less meat includes a less stressful effect on the environment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But environmental surroundings isn't the only thing that benefits when we consume less food meat. It should not come as much of a surprise, but shifting from the Standard American Diet (hilariously S.A.D. for short) towards a more plant-based lifestyle has a number of benefits for our health, too. A well-balanced diet composed of mostly plants has been shown to support cardiovascular health, potentially decrease the risk and cases of diabetes, and support mental health-to mention a few of the numerous benefits. The Mediterranean diet is an ideal example of a plant-based<\/em> (but nonetheless flexible) diet that's been shown to have many benefits:<\/p>\n

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Cutting back on animal protein and focusing more on plants could have a domino effect on wellbeing and quality of life. Learning to prepare satisfying meals consisting of mostly plants takes practice, but ultimately could lead to consuming less pre-packaged and processed food, which could lead to better-supported health.
\nBut going plant-based does not have to suggest going full-time vegan or veg (unless, of course, you want it to). Simply reducing the amount<\/em> of protein you consume and concentrating on the quality and quality-of-life from the meat you do<\/em> consume can still create a world of difference. All set to go plant-based? Listed here are four easy ways to consume less food meat right now:<\/p>\n

#1 – Practice “Meatless Mondays”<\/h2>\n

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We've all likely heard the term “Meatless Mondays”, but did you know the concept was originally introduced during WWI to lessen consumption? Reintroduced in 2003 as a public health initiative, Meatless Mondays simply asks that people make our meals on Mondays vegetarian. Why? Combined with the overall health benefits, skipping even just one serving<\/em> of meat one day a week for a year could save the same emissions of driving 348 miles in a car. Imagine if EVERYONE did that one very simple thing-the environmental impact could be huge.<\/p>\n

#2 – Try new proteins<\/h2>\n

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Chickpeas, lentils, nuts, seeds- there is a an entire world of alternative protein sources available, you just have to give them a chance. Try replacing a pet protein once a day with a plant-based option (swap your chicken for chickpeas, your morning eggs for oatmeal topped with nuts and swirled with nut butter, or perhaps your evening steak with a hearty lentil stew). Don't know how you can prepare plant proteins? All the better! Experimenting with plant-based proteins could even open up a completely ” new world ” of cooking for you-check out some vegetarian cookbooks from the library and cook your way through them.<\/p>\n

#3 – Make simple swaps<\/h2>\n

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Protein shake after the gym? Try swapping your pure whey protein for a vegan option. Love fajitas for supper? Swap the steak for meaty portobello mushroom strips and black beans. Do you eat a yogurt parfait for breakfast every day? Test out plant-based yogurt options or try overnight oats or chia pudding instead (you can add a number of that vegan protein powder for additional oomph). Making these simple swaps for foods which are similar feels easy while still satisfying a longing for a popular food.<\/p>\n

#4 – Concentrate on less-and better-meat<\/h2>\n

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If you need to do decide to eat meat, help make your meals veggie-forward by focusing on plants first. Pile your plate with as numerous colors and textures as you can-think roasted root veggies topping a salad with some sauteed greens, or perhaps a big serving of steamed vegetables and cauliflower rice or brown rice taking up much of your plate, then<\/em> add a small serving of responsibly-raised local meat if you think it. By concentrating on local, better-quality and responsibly-raised meat, you'll be supporting small farmers who work hard to provide animals a better standard of living (which produces meat that's better for you) <\/em>instead of factory farms, which deplete the land and have been shown to possess atrocious conditions. By concentrating on small and better- <\/em>farms, servings, etc.-you'll likely find yourself consuming fewer animal products.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We've all heard an earful recently from the benefits of a plant-based diet. From supporting better health to supporting a more sustainable ecosystem, reducing meat, whether going full-time vegan or vegetarian, or choosing a more “flexitarian” lifestyle that focuses more on plants and less on protein, can possess a insightful benefits. 2022 was even declared […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[38],"class_list":["post-4261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-green-foods","tag-green-foods"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfuturemedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfuturemedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfuturemedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfuturemedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfuturemedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfuturemedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfuturemedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfuturemedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfuturemedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenfuturemedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}