Eating a more plant-based diet is not only good for the environment but it’s great for your health (and wallet too!). Plant-based diets are often lower in calories and higher in fibre in comparison to diets that are based around meat, and are often more filling too.
It’s therefore no wonder that I would recommend everyone has a go at having at least one meat-free day a week, and am one of the supporters (along side Vivienne Westwood and Joanna Lumley!) for World Meat Free Day – which is June 15th!
- What is plant-based eating?
Eating more of a plant-based or meat-free diet isn’t about cutting out animal products altogether; it’s eating a small amount of these foods and replacing them with plant-based meat and dairy alternatives and eating more fruit, vegetables, whole-grains, legumes, nuts and seeds.
Ideally two thirds of our diet should be plant-based in order to provide essential fibre, vitamins and minerals.
- Why should we eat more plant-based & less meat?
– Eating too much processed meat (ham, bacon, sausages, burgers etc.) has been linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer and obesity – so these meats in particular should be limited throughout the week.
– Raising cattle for beef and milk spews more greenhouse gases into the air, which means eating a more plant-based diet could save on carbon dioxide emissions, water use and land!
– Meat often contains more calories than plant-based protein alternative, which isn’t good news for the waist line – if ten million people went meat free for the day we would save 885 MILLION calories!
- What is the importance of protein?
It is important to incorporate protein into your meat-free meals as protein helps you feel fuller for longer (meaning that you snack less!), it is involved with repairing muscle (contributing to both the growth and maintenance of muscle mass) and it rebuilds body tissues.
On my meat-free days I personally get my healthy protein from milk, cottage cheese, yoghurt, meat-free alternatives such as Quorn*, lentils, nuts and pulses such as chickpeas.
*Quorn Mince, Quorn Meat Free Chicken Pieces and Quorn Standard Sausages are a nutritionally healthy protein source. Protein contributes to the growth in and maintenance of muscle mass.
Will you be joining in this World Meat Free Day?!
You can show your support for them by following them on Twitter: @Meat_Free_Day
To celebrate World Meat Free Day why not check out my latest recipe.. Quorn Sausage, Roast Pepper & Rocket Salad – it’s so easy to make and tastes delicious!!
*This blog post was written in collaboration with Quorn as I am an ambassador for them. Please read my disclaimer page for more information.
I definitely think that having a meat-free day a week is a great idea. I’m not a huge fan of meat anyway and I’ve discovered that it’s actually a lot easier to get meat-free protein into my diet than I initially imagined. I will be doing a meat-free day on the 15th of June.
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Hurray! I’m with you there 🙂 xx