More on Meat

Last night I read about the benefits of a whole food plant-based diet. I’ve already cut red meat to once a week but there’s still chicken, fish, lamb, and the other meats. A while back I subscribed to Vegetarian Times through a deal where it was only $4.95 for the year (?!) and I’m piling up a lot of good recipes where we’re not going to miss the meat.

Once in a while we happen to have a meat-free meal, but it’s not the norm. And doing a complete transition, not just from prepared, fake foods, but all the way to a focus on fresh plants and whole food products, is a major shift. We’re still going to eat local farm purchased meats and eggs, and maybe even a local chicken once in a while, as soon as I get over how disgusted I am with how putrid confinement chicken is, find a farm, and wait for chickens to be in season.

Some books I’ve read had quotes stating that eating vegetarian could reduce the risk of various cancers by 30%, but even conservatively the American Institute for Cancer Research reports vegetarians had almost a 10 percent reduced risk of all cancers combined.^[1]  This reduction is still true even if they eat fish (pesco-vegetarians).

It’s important to remember that the health benefits or replacing meat-oriented meals with whole plant foods is entirely different than having meatless meals based on processed refined grains, with limited variety of vegetables and plenty of sweets and soft drinks. Besides cancer, diets highest in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, poultry and fish and lowest in refined grains, French fries, and red and processed meats were linked with 36 percent lower incidence of heart disease.^[2] Of course, increasing exercise to maintain a healthy body weight makes the improved health statistics of eating a variety of plants and fiber even greater.