Thinking of Meatless Mondays?
Have you been pondering eating more vegetarian meals? Worried you won’t get enough protein if you cut down on meat, dairy and poultry? It could be good for the environment if collectively we all did!
A 2019 article in Nutrition Reviews by Christopher Gardner, PhD et al titled “Maximizing the intersection of human health and the health of the environment with regard to the amount and type of protein produced and consumed in the US” lays out how decreasing our total protein consumption by 25%, especially animal protein would contribute to substantial climate change mitigation. Beef and dairy products have more adverse environmental impact than most other dietary components due to reliance on and low efficiency of converting crops (soy and corn) to feed. It would approximate 8% of the green house gas emissions reduction pledged under the Paris Agreement. There would be significant savings of fresh water used for irrigation and livestock as well, an estimated 14%.
Dr. Gardner also reviews protein requirements for different age groups, health status and his overall message is if we are eating a diverse diet, including varied sources of plant based protein, we all are probably getting enough. Interestingly , he talks about plant based proteins containing all necessary essential amino acids! This was news to me as we think of ‘complete proteins’ with all essential amino acids as being animal sources and tofu only when in actuality, all plant foods have all 20 amino acids.
There are health benefits to eating less animal based protein sources as well! Saturated fat in animal foods is a well known risk for heart disease but also when red meat is processed by your GI tract and broken down by the microbiome, it creates a byproduct called tri-ethyl amine oxide (TMAO) which can be another risk factor for heart disease. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for both men and women in the US.
So Meatless Monday? Think about trying it! Here is a resource of some ideas from All Recipes.
20 Meatless Monday Ideas That Everyone Will Love (allrecipes.com)
Interested in starting with a vegetarian meal kit? Look at Purple Carrot (my family loves it, really delicious!)
Flexible Weekly Plans | Purple Carrot
Here is link to Dr. Gardner’s article if you want a dense but fascinating read.