The flexitarian diet follows a semi-vegetarian eating pattern that emphasizes plant food and minimizes meat. There are no fixed rules for certain options for being a flexitorial. For example, flexitarians could eat meat six days a week and have a “meatless Monday”, while heavy meat residents only have meat once a week. As the name suggests, flexitarianism is flexible.
How a flexitarian diet works
There are no hard rules for how much meat flexitarians can or can eat in a typical week. In contrast to strict diets with rigid guidelines such as a ketogenic dining plan (keto diet), a milk-free diet, gluten-free diet or a vegan diet, a flexit diet does not prohibit any animal food.
You can eat eggs, dairy products, chicken or everything else that you like to eat on a flexit diet as long as the decrease in meat intake to a certain degree is part of your weekly meal plan.
According to a study of 2021, about half of all flexitarians eat four or more days a week. There are three meat restrictions among flexitarians described by themselves, whereby in each category there is a different percentage of the flexitarian:
- Easy meat restorers
- Moderate meat frictioners
- Heavy meat frictioners
Light meat restors can eat meat every day, except on certain days, such as B. a meatless Monday. In contrast, flexitarians, which are heavy meat-resistors, tend most of the time like vegetarians and may only have meat once or twice a week.
Avoid protein and amino acid deficiency
Protein and amino acid deficiency are possible with flexitarians who eat very little meat, especially in older adults. The use of a protein powder nutritional supplement with essential amino acids on vegetarian days is a simple and practical way for flexitarians to compensate for deficiency risks.
What to eat?
Since a flexible nutrition plan is so flexible, you do not have to follow a seven-day meal schedule with a uniform size. You can personalize your plate to avoid nutritional gaps and make individual decisions about how many days you want to eat meat.
On meatless vegetarian days, it is important to eat in meat with high protein and other important nutrients on a vegetable basis in order to avoid micronutrient defects such as iron deficiency anemia.
If you eat like a vegan or vegetarian meal, make sure that your personalized menu with high calcium, iron, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, vitamin D and zinc contain.
In the following you will find some iron foods with high protein and other important nutrients that can be used on vegetarian days as building blocks for your personalized plates:
- Beans and legumes
- Dairy products and eggs
- Leaf green vegetables (not high in protein, but filled with iron)
- Nuts and seeds
- Whole grain products
What is considered meat?
Meat is every form of animal tissue that is consumed as food. A flexitarian could eat on carnivorous days poultry (Chicken, turkey, duck), Red meat (Beef, pork, lamb) or seafood (Fish or shellfish). “Pescatarian” is the term for a person who eats seafood but does not eat other forms of animal meat.
A 7-day menu
The following is a seven -day meal schedule for someone who is considering the flexitarian diet. This does not apply to everyone, and individual needs can require different diets. This was designed with regard to protein, so that you can get enough protein even on meatless days to feel full.
1. Monday (vegetarian)
- Breakfast: Protein omelet
- Lunch: Pizza with fungus and onions
- snack: Vegan protein powder -shake
- Dinner: Kale salad with fried tofu
2. Tuesday (seafood)
- Breakfast: Protein waffles with strawberries and whipped cream
- Lunch: Tuna salad
- snack: Baby carrots with almond butter
- Dinner: Grilled salmon with asparagus and potatoes
3. Wednesday (vegan)
- Breakfast: Vegan oatmeal with coconut
- Lunch: Vegan chickpea salad
- snack: Vegan protein powder -shake
- Dinner: Vegan black beans -chili with quinoa
4. Thursday (meat)
- Breakfast: Fried eggs with turkey sausage
- Lunch: Grilled chicken breast sandwich
- snack: Celery dip with peanut butter
- Dinner: Pasta with broccoli, olive oil and garlic
5. Friday (vegetarian)
- Breakfast: Simple yogurt with berries and walnuts
- Lunch: Grilled temeh -sandwich with tomato and cheddar cheese
- snack: Vegan protein powder -shake
- Dinner: Tofu roast
6. Saturday (meat)
- Breakfast: Eggs Benedikt
- Lunch: Beef taco salad
- snack: Fruit yogurt
- Dinner: Lamb chops with apple sauce and Brussels sprouts
7th Sunday (vegetarian)
- Breakfast: French toast with strawberries and banana
- Lunch: Grilled cheese and tomato soup
- snack: Vegan protein powder -shake
- Dinner: Veggie burger
Advantages of flexit food
Flexitarian food often includes many healthy, vegetable food and less processed meat than the average omnivore diet. A flexitorial being matched the principles of healthy diet. Flexitarianism focuses on eating more vegetables and fruit and at the same time reducing meat absorption. The food of less meat, which is often high in saturated fat, has numerous health benefits.
A study from 2015 showed, for example, that eating a semi-vegetarian diet with a reduction in the risk of dying of cardiovascular diseases (a group of disorders that affect heart and blood vessels) compared to those who do not affect pro-vegetarian dietary habits were used with fewer animal foods.
In addition to the individual health advantages of flexitorial food, meat consumption is good for the planet and benefits our collective global community. Flexitarians and other “meat shearers” that reduce weekly meat consumption help to slow down the environmental deterioration.
Considerations and nutritional restrictions
Flexitarianism is based on the flexibility of nutrition. Apart from the fact that it tries to reduce meat consumption at least once a week, flexitarian meal contains very little dogma or inflexible nutritional restrictions. The only real consideration in deciding how to eat a flexitorial meal is whether you want to be a light, moderate or heavy meat frictioner.
Flexitarians against vegetarians against vegan diets
While vegetarians never eat meat and vegans never eat foods from animal sources, flexitarians can eat like a vegetarian or vegan for a few days a week, but not others.
Summary
Flexitarians are flexible vegetarians. In contrast to strict vegetarians, flexitarians sometimes eat meat. There are no rigid guidelines about how often a flexitarian can eat meat. Some light flexitarians can eat every day of the week with the exception of a meat, while heavy flexitarians only have red meat, poultry or seafood once or twice a week.
A flexitarian center of the street can track a seven -day menu, which includes chicken, beef or fish three days a week and meatless four days a week. The food of protein-rich foods on a plant-based basis and the use of a protein powder supplement on meatless days falls the risk that less meat deficiency occurs when eating in the event of defects.