The Reducetarian Way

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Being in the nutrition field, we've all heard of the various diets people follow that eliminate particular animal products from their diet. Vegetarians, lacto-ovo vegetarians, vegans etc. are all eliminating some or all forms of animal products from their diets. People follow these diets for a variety of reasons. The term reducetarian was coined in 2015 and has increasingly become more popular. 

What is a reducetarian diet?

The reducetarian diet does not follow an all-or-nothing mentality. Reducetarianism aims to eat less red meat, fish, poultry, eggs. They believe this diet has health and environmental implications. Different types of vegetarians and vegans are included in this diet. This diet differs from flexitarianism in that flexitarians eat mainly plant-based with an occasional animal product. Reducetarians are gradually working to eliminate or have very minimal animal products in their diets.  They are very mindful of the animal products they consume in regards to their health and the environment.


Health Benefits


The American Heart Association says that eating less meat improves your health by decreasing your chance of heart disease, certain types of cancers, strokes, diabetes, and many other chronic illnesses.  Plant based diets are often seen as lacking in protein. In fact, it is quite the opposite. 1 cup of kidney beans packs about 40 grams of protein or 1 cup of lentils provides about 18 grams of protein. Not only are you getting protein, but plant-based foods provide fiber, vitamins and minerals. 




Environmental Effects


According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, methane and nitrous oxide waste products from livestock and agricultural related activities was 5.3 billions tons in 2018, up 14% from 2000. A study in the Journal of Scientific Reports claims that if every person reduced their meat consumption by 25%, greenhouse emissions could be reduced by 1% within a year. 








Small changes make a big impact to your health and to the environment.  Reducetarianism is gaining more popularity in part to documentaries on social media (listen to Meat Me Halfway on streaming platforms) and through the work of The Reducetarian Foundation. Their goal is "to improve human health, protect the environment, and spare farm animals cruelty by reducing societal consumption of animal products." For anyone that wants to make small changes and improve their health and help the environment- this might be the diet/lifestyle for you!


AH

References:

Comments

  1. Jennette DemeraskiOctober 27, 2023 at 9:50 AM

    So cool, what a great topic! The term reducetarian is new to me and i'm excited to have a new documentary to watch! Thanks for sharing. J.D

    ReplyDelete

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