Hello again, savvy savers! This week’s Battle Of The Bulge Series, Budget-Style will focus on going meatless! As well, here is my weekly health breakdown: Today I am 31 years young, I am 5’6”, and weigh 202 lbs; this week past week I have lost 3 pounds. My lifestyle is beginning to change, as I have ventured into Yoga this week, and now incorporate this ancient-practice once a week into my Battle-Of-The-Bulge lifestyle changes.
1) Limiting Your Cancer Risk. There are numerous medical journals and studies that suggest eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables may reduce cancer risk; noting that both red and processed meat consumption is associated with colon cancer.
2) Potentially Reducing Heart Disease. A 2012 study from Harvard University study found that replacing saturated fats with foods rich in polyunsaturated fat, the lipids found in nuts and vegetable oils, reduces the risk of heart disease by twenty percent.
3) Help Stave Off Diabetes. Research suggests that higher consumption of red and processed meat increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.
4) Help curb Obesity. Cutting meats out of your diet, even for one day a week, can help lower body weights and body mass indices, according to a recent study from Imperial College London.
5) You May Live Longer. Red and processed meat consumption are associated with increases in cancer mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality.
6) You Can Improve Your Diet. Consuming beans, lentils, or peas one day a week can result in higher intakes of fiber, protein, folate, zinc, iron, and magnesium. with lower intakes of saturated
7) You Can Reduce Your Carbon Footprint.The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization estimates the meat industry generates nearly one-fifth of the man-made greenhouse gas emissions that are accelerating climate change worldwide; which is 3-times the amount emitted by cars.
8) Water Conservation. Going meatless for one day a week can help conserve vastly needed fresh water supplies, as an estimated 1,800 to 2,500 gallons of water go into a single pound of beef production; feeding the cow and the like. Soy, in comparison, uses only 220 gallons of water per pound consumed.
9) You Can Help Lessen Fossil Fuel Dependence. Consider this, according to the FDA, 40 calories of fossil fuel energy are expended, for every one calorie of beef consumed in this country. Eating one day a week without beef, for example, is a great way to cut fossil fuel demand.
10) Cutting Your Food Budget. Cutting meat out of your weekly menu by one day will save you nearly $20.00 a month, and $240.00 annually!
11) Causing You To Think Outside The Box. Going meatless one meal a week will cause you to look for new ways to prepare dishes. Think globally. Try more ethnic dishes. Going meatless can help expand your culinary palette!
Here’s to the Journey!
