Dr. W. Ness - Flexitarian Diet for Beginners Lose Weight On A Vegetarian Diet That Lets You Still Eat Meat!

Flexitarian Diet for Beginners: The Vegetarian Diet for Meat Eaters!

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Introduction

The Flexitarian Diet is a style of eating that encourages mostly plant-based foods while allowing meat and other animal products in moderation.

Its more flexible than fully vegetarian or vegan diets.

If youre looking to add more plant foods to your diet but dont want to completely cut out meat, going flexitarian may be for you.

This guide provides an overview of the Flexitarian Diet, its benefits, foods to eat and a one-week meal plan.

What Is the Flexitarian Diet?

The Flexitarian Diet was created by dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner to help people reap the benefits of vegetarian eating while still enjoying animal products in moderation.

Thats why the name of this diet is a combination of the words flexible and vegetarian.

Vegetarians eliminate meat and sometimes other animal foods, while vegans completely restrict meat, fish, eggs, dairy and all animal-derived food products.

Since flexitarians eat animal products, theyre not considered vegetarians or vegans.

The Flexitarian Diet has no clear-cut rules or recommended numbers of calories and macronutrients. In fact, its more a lifestyle than a diet.

Its based on the following principles:

Eat mostly fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains.

Focus on protein from plants instead of animals.

Be flexible and incorporate meat and animal products from time to time.

Eat the least processed, most natural form of foods.

Limit added sugar and sweets.

Due to its flexible nature and focus on what to include rather than restrict, the Flexitarian Diet is a popular choice for people looking to eat healthier.

Overall, the goal is to eat more nutritious plant foods and less meat.

SUMMARY

The Flexitarian Diet is a semi-vegetarian style of eating that encourages less meat and more plant-based foods. There are no specific rules or suggestions, making it an appealing option for people who are looking to cut back on animal products.

Possible Health Benefits

Eating flexitarian may provide several health benefits.

However, since there is no clear definition of this diet, its difficult to assess if and how researched benefits of other plant-based diets apply to the Flexitarian Diet.

Nevertheless, research on vegan and vegetarian diets is still helpful in highlighting how semi-vegetarian diets may promote health.

It appears to be important to eat mostly fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and other minimally processed whole foods in order to reap the health benefits of plant-based eating.

Decreasing meat consumption while continuing to eat refined foods with lots of added sugar and salt will not lead to the same benefits.

Heart Disease

Diets rich in fiber and healthy fats are good for heart health.

A study following 45,000 adults over 11 years found that vegetarians had a 32% lower risk of heart disease, compared to non-vegetarians.

This is likely due to the fact that vegetarian diets are often rich in fiber and antioxidants that may reduce blood pressure and increase good cholesterol.

A review of 32 studies on the effect of vegetarian diets on blood pressure showed that vegetarians had an average systolic blood pressure almost seven points lower than that of people who ate meat.

Since these studies looked at strictly vegetarian diets, its hard to assess if the Flexitarian Diet would have the same effect on blood pressure and heart disease risk.

However, flexitarian eating is meant to be primarily plant-based and will most likely have benefits similar to fully vegetarian diets.

Weight Loss

Flexitarian eating may also be good for your waistline.

This is partially because flexitarians limit high-calorie, processed foods and eat more plant foods that are naturally lower in calories.

Several studies have shown that people who follow a plant-based diet may lose more weight than those who do not.

A review of studies in more than 1,100 people total found that those who ate a vegetarian diet for 18 weeks lost 4.5 pounds (2 kg) more than those who did not.

This and other studies also show that those who follow vegan diets tend to lose the most weight, compared to vegetarians and omnivores.

Since the Flexitarian Diet is closer to a vegetarian diet than a vegan one, it may help with weight loss but possibly not as much as a vegan diet would.

Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a global health epidemic. Eating a healthy diet, especially a predominantly plant-based one, may help prevent and manage this disease.

This is most likely because plant-based diets aid weight loss and contain many foods that are high in fiber and low in unhealthy fats and added sugar.

A study in over 60,000 participants found that the prevalence of type 2 diabetes was 1.5% lower in semi-vegetarians or flexitarians compared to non-vegetarians.

Additional research showed that people with type 2 diabetes who ate vegetarian diets had a 0.39% lower hemoglobin A1c (three-month average of blood sugar readings) than those with the condition who ate animal products.

Cancer

Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains and legumes all have nutrients and antioxidants that may help prevent cancer.

Research suggests that vegetarian diets are associated with a lower overall incidence of all cancers but especially colorectal cancers.

A 7-year study on cases of colorectal cancers in 78,000 people found that semi-vegetarians were 8% less likely to get this type of cancer, compared to non-vegetarians.

Therefore, incorporating more vegetarian foods by eating flexitarian may reduce your cancer risk.

SUMMARY

The Flexitarian Diet may aid weight loss and reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes. However, most research analyzes vegetarian and vegan diets, making it difficult to assess if flexitarian eating has similar benefits.

May Be Good for the Environment

The Flexitarian Diet may benefit your health and the environment.

Reducing meat consumption can help preserve natural resources by decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as land and water use.

A review of the research on the sustainability of plant-based diets found that switching from the average Western diet to flexitarian eating, where meat is partially replaced by plant foods, could decrease greenhouse gas emissions by 7%.

Eating more plant foods will also drive the demand for more land to be devoted to growing fruits and vegetables for humans instead of feed for livestock.

Cultivating plants requires far fewer resources than raising animals to eat. In fact, growing plant protein uses 11 times less energy than producing animal protein.

SUMMARY

Eating flexitarian and swapping meat for plant protein is good for the planet. Plant-based diets use fewer fossil fuels, land and water.