Give Up Meat? Are you Crazy? My Journey to Adopting a Plant-Based Diet.

     Adopting a plant-based diet may seem overwhelming. Give up meat? The staple of the Standard American Diet. Wait, what is a "plant-based" diet, one might ask? There is some controversy surrounding an exact definition. One proposed definition for a plant-based diet is "a dietary pattern in which foods of animal origin are totally or mostly excluded."(1) As with most healthy changes you adopt, it takes small steps to gradually reduce your consumption of meat. A few years ago, while meal planning, I adopted meatless Mondays to our repertoire. This seemed an easy way to cut back on meat, while improving our health and our environment. As time went on, I might only consume meat once per week, now it may be once per month. There are many more vegetarian and vegan options in the grocery store and at restaurants. However, one of the healthiest aspects of the plant based diet is that it starts with whole foods and seeks to eliminate heavily processed foods. 

    What is the difference between a plant-based diet, a vegan diet, and a vegetarian diet? Let's start with some basic definitions. A vegan diet is the most restrictive diet, being completely plant-based, eggs and dairy are not allowed. A vegetarian diet excludes meat (e.g. beef, pork, lamb, venison, chicken, and other fowl) and related meat products. A lacto-ovo vegetarian diet includes dairy products and/or eggs. A pesco-vegetarian or pescatarian diet includes fish and seafood with or without eggs and dairy (2). 

    As a physician and a nutrition science major, I have studied how various diets affect our health. I have also witnessed first-hand how metabolic disease contributes to heart disease resulting in heart attacks, vascular disease resulting in strokes, and fatty liver disease resulting in liver failure. Our dietary habits are shaped by our culture, by our family, and by our access to food. No one diet is perfect. However, incorporating more whole fruits and vegetables, and less processed food is a recipe for health. 

   After learning how beef consumption has increased the demand for beef, resulting in unhealthy breeding grounds, slaughter, and waste contributing to global warming, my perspective on the omnivorous diet changed. For the sake of our world, we must consume less meat. "The tens of billions of chickens, pigs, cows, and other animals we raise and slaughter for food annually account for around 15 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from cow burps, animal manure, and the fertilizer used to grow the corn and soy they eat" (3). If we all ate less meat, we could save our planet. Over 800 million trees in the Amazon rainforest and 4.2 million acres of Amazon rainforest were cut down in the past 6 years due to global demand for Brazilian beef (3+4). That is why I have adopted a flexitarian diet. I mainly avoid meat, and will not buy heavily processed meat. I may have eat when out to dinner or at a holiday meal. 

   There is more protein in 100 calories of broccoli than 100 calories of steak. Many plant based foods have all essential amino acids. However, there are some nutrients that are lacking in a plant-based diet. You will have to ensure you get enough vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron, omega 3 fatty acids, calcium, and zinc. As always, consult your doctor before trying a new diet. 

    Some amazing vegan/vegetarian cookbooks and websites include Bad Manners: https://www.badmanners.com/, Sweet Potato Soul: https://sweetpotatosoul.com/, and La Vida Verde: https://todoverde.org/products/la-vida-verde-signed-copy. For breakfast, we often make fruit smoothies (can use oat milk or a nut-based milk) and add a plant-based protein scoop. For lunch, a large salad with beans or quinoa. For dinner, some of our go-to meals include sweet potato, yellow squash, and black bean enchiladas; vegetarian lasagna; butternut squash/kale curry. 

1. Hargreaves SM, Rosenfeld DL, Moreira AVB, Zandonadi RP. Plant-based and vegetarian diets: an overview and definition of these dietary patterns. Eur J Nutr. 2023 Apr;62(3):1109-1121. doi: 10.1007/s00394-023-03086-z. Epub 2023 Jan 22. PMID: 36681744.

2. Wang T, Masedunskas A, Willett WC, Fontana L. Vegetarian and vegan diets: benefits and drawbacks. Eur Heart J. 2023 Sep 21;44(36):3423-3439. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehad436. PMID: 37450568; PMCID: PMC10516628.

3. https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23778399/media-ignores-climate-change-beef-meat-dairy

4. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/02/more-than-800m-amazon-trees-felled-in-six-years-to-meet-beef-demand