What do you call people who eat both plant-based and animal-based foods? Omnivores. Okay, that was an easy one. But what do you call someone who eats plant-based foods, and animal-based foods, but eats less animal-based foods than they did previously? Or less animal-based foods than the person next to them? What about if you only eat animal-based on Tuesdays and Thursdays? Is that a flexitarian diet? Well, all of those folks are still omnivores. However, some people are using a new label to differentiate themselves from others who share similar diets.
Have you heard of the term ‘flexitarian’? Flexitarians are people who consider themselves to be vegetarians, but who still ‘occasionally’ eat meat, according to IDEA. Despite the obvious oxymoron inherent within its definition, flexitarianism is gaining popularity amongst some folks in the United States. Why? Well, the fact is that the US understands that it has a health problem, even if it doesn’t understand how to fix it. And people want good health. But is being a flexitarian the answer?
It’s well established that the more plant-based foods you eat, coupled with the less animal-based foods you eat, the better your health will be. So flexitarianism doesn’t put any parameters around how much animal-based food you eat. The whole premise is based on maintaining your flexibility to eat meat, poultry, seafood, and dairy, as much and as often as you like. Which sounds a lot like… You guessed it, an omnivore. Sadly, changing the name doesn’t change the outcomes.
Upgrade Your Health
If you really want to upgrade your health, you’ll want to eliminate animal-based foods from your diet altogether. Numerous studies have shown that there are significant health risks associated with consuming more than 5% of your daily protein from animal-based foods. If you’re interested in changing your diet out of concern for the environment, the way animals are treated, or your health, then the best thing you can do is to adopt a 100% plant-based whole foods diet.
Have you been tempted to become a vegetarian, but the thought of giving up barbecues or your mom’s meatloaf seems too daunting? Thankfully, you can obtain many of the same benefits of vegetarian living without forgoing meat completely. You just have to become a “flexitarian.”
Source: Flexitarian Eating