Dr. Lindsay Self, ND.
  • Home
  • About Me
  • My Medicine
    • What I do and how I do it
    • What to expect
    • Qualifications
  • Clinic & Contact
  • Downloads
  • Be Healthy Blog
  • Resources and Links
  • Home
  • About Me
  • My Medicine
    • What I do and how I do it
    • What to expect
    • Qualifications
  • Clinic & Contact
  • Downloads
  • Be Healthy Blog
  • Resources and Links
Picture

The Case for Meatless Mondays

2/24/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
I don't eat much meat, maybe only a few times per month. I have developed some simple yet pretty high standards for animal products: ethical and nothing-added. And no pig. In the process, I've become quite adventurous in the kitchen and have learned some pretty amazing recipes, including my all-time fave Meatless Meatballs. Heaven.

Switching to a veggie diet can be a daunting task so starting small can help. Enter Meatless Mondays. Probably due to my veggie-loving influence, we've been meatless weekdays (Dan's idea, believe it or not) for about 6 months, but even he started out small and it grew from there. When asked how he feels from then to now, here's what I got: "Definitely better. Less logey." The latest addition is the morning smoothie (thank you, dear Vitamix) and I can't wait to tell you about that later. What a wonderful guinea pig.

Here's why a meatless day might be a good addition to your schedule.

1. Health Benefits. From reduced cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer risks to reduced all-cause mortality, there's a fair body of evidence showing the benefits of a more plant-based diet. Now, whether or not going veggie one day a week will provide drastic results is hard to say, but it's certainly a step in the right direction. It's all part of adopting healthier habits and a healthier lifestyle. Unfortunately, it probably won't undo the Big Mac you had yesterday.

2. Gets you exercising your culinary cleverness. Who knew you could make meatballs with walnuts or gooey nacho cheese sauce with potatoes and carrots? Tempeh is a great meaty substitute, or try seitan if you're okay with gluten. Invest in a nice and thick vegan or vegetarian cookbook to give you ideas you never new existed. There's tons of ideas out there. I even made fake ribs the other day which were meat-lover approved! What?!

3. Your children and children's children will thank you. The environmental impact of raising factory-farmed animal sources is huge. Sustainable veggie diets can reduce nitrogen footprints by a substantial amount, though dwarfed by pollution, industry, etc. But still, it's something.

4. You'll get to go on vacation sooner and more often. Beans, lentils, quinoa, millet, brown rice, barley, and chickpeas: all mainstays in our kitchen. I probably spend about $60 every 6 months at the bulk store stocking up on these staples. Yes, you read that right. Fresh veggies are, of course, stocked more frequently but you get the idea of the savings. Much cheaper than what our future medications would cost.

Happy Monday!

Additional references:
  1. Kim MS, Hwang SS, Park EJ, Bae JW. Strict vegetarian diet improves the risk factors associated with metabolic diseases by modulating gut microbiota and reducing intestinal inflammation. Environ Microbiol Rep. 2013 Oct;5(5):765-75. PMID:24115628.
  2. Weiss, ES. Stop the beef eaters, save the world. CMAJ. 2010 April 6; 182(6): 636. PMCID:PMC2845700 .
  3. Stevens CJ, Leach AM, Dale S, Galloway JN. Personal nitrogen footprint tool for the United Kingdom. Environ Sci Process Impacts. 2014 Feb 7. PMID:24510050.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Follow @DrLindsayND
    Tweets by @DrLindsayND

    Archives

    June 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    July 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    November 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011

    Categories

    All
    Awesome Foods
    Awesome Foods
    Clean And Green
    Conditions
    Fertility
    Fitness
    Heart Month
    Recipes
    Simple Tips
    Simple Tips

©2021 Dr. Lindsay Self, ND. Toronto, Ontario. 
Photos used under Creative Commons from betsyweber, GDS Infographics, Nesster, Old Photographs Archive Spain, quinn.anya, Bill Kasman, Neeta Lind, acidpix, FolsomNatural, scomedy, noricum, GabboT, ebbandflowphotography, blumenbiene, mealmakeovermoms, gruntzooki, Ly Thien Hoang, Hey Paul Studios, katerha, gwdexter, Alan Cleaver, law_keven, Katrin Gilger, richard_north, bradley j, jimw, frostnova, Lori Greig, biology flashcards, scottobear, liverpoolhls, katerha, TipsTimesAdmin, timsackton, AndyRobertsPhotos, Skley, jerine, babbagecabbage, Stephen Cummings, kyducks