By Thomas Wong
EAT WHAT?
While many people have made the full plunge into vegetarianism or even veganism, others have found a compromise with flexitarianism. A flexitarian is like a semi-vegetarian. People who practice this type of diet limit their intake of meat and animal products. It’s called “flex”-itarianism because there are no set rules. So while some flexitarians eat meat only a couple days a week, others may choose to eat it everyday but in limited amounts. The key is moderation.
WHY?
There are many reasons why people choose this type of diet:
FOR THE HEART
Heart disease is the most common causes of death in North America. Red meat is the biggest concern due to its high saturated fat content. Thus, the risk of heart disease can be lessened by simply eating less red meat in your diet and replacing it with foods that have less saturated fat, like fish or chicken. Research suggests that limiting your meat consumption to one serving a day is also enough to decrease the risk of heart disease.
SAYING NO TO GLOBAL WARMING
In order to satisfy our love for animal meat, farmers have to raise a lot of livestock. So much so that global livestock is now contributing more to global warming than all of the world’s vehicles combined! Some flexitarians hope that the more we limit our animal meat intake, the less livestock will have to be raised.
PROTECT THE ANIMALS
Some people believe that the methods used to raise and process animal meat is cruel. Pigs, hens, veal calves and other animals are sometimes raised in extremely crowded and physically restrictive conditions. While this isn’t always the case, animal abuse does exist in the livestock industry. By not eating as much meat then, some flexitarians think they are also protesting animal abuse.