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We’re not advocating for you to cut out meat entirely, but there are good reasons to cut back on meat in your diet. We tell you exactly how this can be done.
Most of us cannot imagine our life without meat. It’s true that juicy ruddy steaks, fragrant roast, baked leg of lamb look appetizing… But eating meat in large quantities is harmful to our health and the environment. Without urging you to give up meat completely, we have explored various possibilities of how to reduce its share in our menu.
Cro-Magnons were already active meat eaters, and since then this habit has only strengthened and developed in a person. It’s time to firmly tell ourselves – we eat too much of it! If a European of the 20th century ate an average of less than 88 kg per year, today each of us has an average of up to XNUMX kg! Meat itself is not harmful to our health, all problems arise because of the fats contained in it. These saturated fats are difficult to remove from our body, and accumulate in it, they can cause various diseases, in particular diabetes. So-called trans fats are also bad for our intestines, putting us at risk of colon cancer.
In addition to harm to health, the increase in human consumption leads to other adverse consequences: it has a significant impact on the environment. However, due to various reasons and habits, most of us continue to eat meat, often without proper measure. Perhaps we still have a strong stereotype, according to which the proteins necessary for our body, we can really get only from meat. Meanwhile, there are many ways of healthy eating that do not require extremes from us: following them, we are not required to either consume a piece of meat with every meal, nor become a strict vegetarian.
1. Cook meat as an addition to the main course
In recent years, some European fine dining restaurants have been pushing for a more sustainable diet. French chef Alain Ducasse says: “We must consume more responsibly, with global equity in mind. The French are leaders in the culinary industry, “trendsetters”, and therefore we must show the rest of the example of what needs to be done so that this planet can feed the maximum number of people for as long as possible. According to this award-winning culinary specialist (who, however, is known as an eccentric among his colleagues), meat should be prepared as an addition to the main dish – that is, it should fulfill the role of what, as a rule, vegetables or a more complex side dish do. That is, the point is not to decisively abandon animal proteins or break with established culinary traditions (it’s true, it’s hard not to salivate at the sight of a fragrant juicy chop), but to bring vegetables, cereals and seasonings to the fore.
Since our body does not require the supply of a myriad of proteins with each meal, we may well treat ourselves to vegetables (preferably seasonal), prepared according to some exquisite recipe. Here the magician Alain Passard can be a good clue. More than 10 years ago, the recognized specialist in roasts and roast beef completely abandoned red meat in favor of vegetables at his Arpège restaurant, where Parisians used to drop in, wanting to taste a rack of lamb or a leg of lamb. Now Passard applies all his skills in handling meat to vegetables. “Vegetables don’t have to be stewed at all,” he says. – But they can be fried in a pan, on a grill, singed over high heat, smoked and fried in a salt crust. Everything that I learned in meat cooking, I put at the service of vegetables. And yet they have a lot of things that you don’t find in animal meat: color, seasonal differences, playing with structures – all this allows you to create incredible things! For example, carrots: after all, no one has ever done anything like this with it! So many discoveries to come! And if you still try to use only seasonal vegetables, you will immediately feel the special smell and taste of your dish, it will surely delight you with the freshness of its color scheme.
2. Give preference to fish, eggs and dairy products
In an effort to reduce meat consumption, the best remedy is the choice of fish. In addition, it contains essential fatty acids (such as omega-3) that our body needs and cannot produce on its own. It is important to know that it is preferable to choose fish caught from natural habitats than artificially grown fish (the latter contains more toxic substances – pesticides, etc.).
Read more:
- 10 reasons to think about fish
When you eat eggs or dairy products, also do not overdo them in an effort to compensate for the lack of proteins – although those found in dairy products are more beneficial for our body. The fact is, experts warn, that we eat too many foods containing chemicals, and they destroy our stomach flora. Prefer natural yoghurts over creamy desserts. Cheese should also be limited to about 40 grams per day. We don’t realize that today we eat twice as much yogurt and dairy desserts every day as we did in 1980. As for eggs, two or three a week will be enough.
3. Prioritize quality
If you still decide to taste the meat, it is best to go to a familiar butcher in the market, who will answer you truthfully both about the origin of the product and about its quality. Choose a piece of the best quality possible. Let it cost more, but its price will just moderate your meat-eating ardor. And the meat treat will become an event for you (just like it was in the era of our grandparents), and not a daily food ritual. Yes, indeed, the demand for meat is steadily increasing in the countries of Asia, Latin America and those that export oil. Globally, the demand for meat and fish products is steadily growing, and at the same time, the impact of their production on the environment is aggravated. Inevitably, the price of meat, fish, soy products and cereals is also rising. As a result, whether we are driven by the desire to reduce the harm we cause to the environment, or by being expensive, or most likely by a combination of these reasons, a turn to diets containing less animal proteins and more vegetable proteins is probably inevitable. .
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4. Bet on the vegetable-grain duo
Contrary to popular belief, our body needs not so much the proteins themselves as such, but the amino acids contained in them. The content of each type of amino acid we need varies depending on the type of protein. But all kinds of amino acids that are found in animal proteins can be found in plant proteins. The set of amino acids contained in meat proteins does not match in proportions with what we find in wheat or, for example, lentils. That is why it is recommended to combine legumes and cereals. It is very important to understand that there is much less protein in vegetables than in legumes. In the old days, legumes were even called “meat for the poor” (this is, first of all, different types of beans, peas and lentils). Of particular interest is soy: its composition of amino acids is so similar to that found in meat that soy is considered the best meat substitute. The same can be said about quinoa (a South American cereal containing a lot of useful substances).
Proteins are also found in cereals, so not only rice and pasta are very useful, but also spelled, barley, quinoa, buckwheat and oats. However, although they are an excellent source of iron, if they are combined with vitamin C (broccoli, tomatoes, strawberries) in the same meal, iron is not absorbed by the body as well as in the case of a meat dish. That is why it is recommended to eat beef or lamb meat at least twice a week. Do not neglect other sources of proteins, especially since they still contain calcium and fatty acids: nuts (hazelnuts, almonds, pine nuts), oilseeds (sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkins) it is preferable, of course, to buy them in the departments of bioproducts .
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- Good taste can be cultivated!
5. Take a closer look at … insects
Imagine adding a handful of…grasshoppers to an omelette or cookie dough! Are you not comfortable? Meanwhile, more than 1000 species of insects are already eaten in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and this trend is spreading wider and wider. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has published a report containing strong recommendations for growing and eating insects. Learning to enjoy the taste of grasshoppers, locusts, (or simply remembering how our distant ancestors did it), we will find a magical way to solve the global nutrition problem. Recall that by 2050 it will be necessary to feed more than 9 billion people. Insects are not the worst option, and here’s why. Firstly, they contain a lot of proteins (100 g of crickets are equivalent to 150 g of minced meat, that is, they contain about 34 g of proteins); secondly, the cost of their production is significantly lower (to grow 1 kg of insects, 2,1 kg of food is required, while in the meat industry, to get 1 kg of meat, you need to spend 25 kg of food for cows); thirdly, much less greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere (insects emit 100 times less methane than in traditional animal husbandry) … It seems that crickets and grasshoppers are an ideal option for saving humanity.
Of course, our distant ancestors ate insects, but today not many will be seduced by the idea of frying or pouring boiling water over a bunch of living tiny creatures. That is why the world’s major supermarket chains are slowly starting to accustom customers to this type of treat, putting on the shelves aperitif bags with crickets or silkworms. The French Auchan was the first to do this, together with the Crickeat brand, which specializes in edible insects and has its own insect farms in Thailand. He was joined by Carrefour, who launched a new brand of insect biscuits in onion, tomato, cheddar cheese or caramel flavors to suit all tastes.
So far, you can hardly find these exotic delicacies in our country, and in order to join this global trend, you will have to go at least to Europe (where you will find insects in some fine restaurants) or (to be sure) to Asian countries.