There are many controversies or ongoing discussions about being vegan, benefits of meat, and different types of diet and so on. However every type of diet or nutrition you have has its own benefits. There are a large number of people in India that consume meat in their diet and are quite healthy. On the same hand there are a lot of vegetarians who are equally healthy. However not having meat can also have its own benefits. Sometimes cutting down your meat intake can reduce the risk of many diseases. Today we will know about how having less meat or avoiding it can improve your health.
Nutritionist on Avoiding Meat
We have Ms. Shilpa Singh, Clinical Nutritionist from Fatima Hospital, Lucknow to tell us about effect of cutting down meat from our daily routine. She says that this majorly depends on the type of activity you do regularly. An average person does not need daily dose of meat because it also has a lot of carbohydrates and fats along with protein. Hence it gets accumulated and can create a number of health issues. It also depends on what type of meat you are having, every meat has different effect on your body, some gets easily digested and release energy, whereas other take a lot of time. However, cutting down your meat intake can definitely improve your overall health.
5 Benefits of Cutting down Meat from Daily Routine
1. Supports weight management
Sometimes avoiding or having fairly less amount of meat can have a positive impact on your weight. People who turn vegetarians or do not have meat are more likely to get their weight balances faster. Plant based diets improve the insulin resistance in the body and lower the risk of diabetes as well. Cutting down meat is also associated with reducing risk of obesity which is linked to numerous health problems.
Having less meat and more of plant based nutrition can also increase these nutrients in your body-
- Antioxidants
- Fibre
- Macronutrients
It is important to know that cutting down meat and still having refined carbohydrates or refined sugar also won’t be beneficial. You need to keep a good check on what you are consuming.
2. Reduces Risk of Heart problems
There are various problems associated with heart health when it comes to saturated fats. Meat can have a lot of saturated fats because of which you can get obese and thus it can have a negative effect on your heart health. Especially red meat is a source of saturated fats therefore it is important to regularize it. Plant based nutrition has comparatively very low amount of saturated fats in regular diet because of which it becomes a much more healthy option for your daily routine.
Consuming more vegetarian diet can replace saturated fats with unsaturated fats reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke. Even if your need to take some meat, try to consume fish rather than red meat. It is best to have more unsaturated fats in your diet-
- Nuts and seeds
- Avocados
- Olive oil
- Flax and walnuts
Vegetarian meals are also richer in dietary fibre that aids in reducing blood cholesterol levels and associated heart problems. Processed meats are high in sodium which also has a negative impact on the heart.
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3. Improves Gut Health
Fruits, vegetables and wholes grains are quite beneficial when it comes to dietary fibre. It helps to improve your gut health. Legumes and other plant food also aid in increasing the amount of good bacteria in your gut. Meat is not so productive for gut health and hence avoiding it can be beneficial. It has anti-inflammatory and immune supporting role in the body which is useful in preventing growth of cancer cells.
It also helps to improve body composition and prevents type-2 diabetes. Gut health supports anti-inflammatory compounds and immune supporting roles in the body which comes through vegetarian diet. There have also been studies that suggest that fats and proteins from animal meat decrease the gut health and have a negative impact in the metabolism in the heart disease.
4. May have positive impact on preventing cancers
Reducing the amount of meat in your diet and increasing healthy vegetarian diet can be helpful in preventing certain types of cancers. Switching from meat to vegetarian diet does not guarantee not having cancer, but it can reduce the risk? Smoked meats, bacons, hot dogs, etc have been linked to increase in risk of colorectal cancer.
Red and processed meat intake can affect your health and it may increase the risk of breast cancer. Red meat should definitely be avoided as much as possible as it has nutrients can have affect your health negatively. Actually processed meats develop carcinogenic compounds when they are heated and cooked which becomes dangerous for your health.
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5. Environment Friendly
This can be a debatable topic if not given attention. We are not commenting on animal meat as food, but the process of making requires more sources which have an effect on environment. green house emissions. It also contributes to pollution on a large scale. Therefore it is healthier for both environment and your health to cut down your meat intake. Even if you want to consume meat, try to have more healthy options rather than red meat especially.
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