Are You a Flexitarian?
Have you ever heard the various names given to types of vegetarian diets? A vegan is someone who eats no animal products at all, including honey, eggs, dairy and might not wear leather. A lacto-ovo vegetarian is one who eats no animal flesh, but does consume eggs and dairy products. A pesco-vegetarian is someone who doesn’t eat land animals but does eat seafood. But what about a flexitarian?
Flexitarians aren’t vegetarians at all, but they retain many of the healthy advantages from that type of diet—without all the fuss. A flexitarian has a FLEXIBLE diet. Most of the time they eat vegetarian foods—no animal flesh—but when situations warrant, they will have some. Maybe it’s the practicality of a dinner at a friend’s house, where chicken is the entrée, or maybe it’s just because occasionally they get a real hankering for a grilled steak. The bottom line, though, is that most of the time they eat like a vegetarian….just not always.
Being a flexitarian can be a very healthy choice. For the most part you’d be consuming far less saturated fats. But even vegetarians need to be careful of these things. Even if you don’t eat meat (high saturated fats), cheeses can provide just as much saturated fat if it’s not kept in check.
And one more note: just because you don’t eat much meat, that doesn’t guarantee you’re getting a healthy diet. After all, most junk food fits the definition of vegetarian—no animal flesh. It’s what’s IN your food, not what’s left OUT, that makes a big difference!
Published Date 10/19/09
