Cutting Down On Meat Actually Helps Clean Your Body AND The Planet
I come from a family of carnivores. My dad and brother LOVE steaks and burgers of all kinds; it helps that my mother is one hell of a cook. Seriously, she would give ‘Salt Bae’ a run for his money.
Since I grew up in a household that was always serving up great tasting meals, I was never a picky eater – and yes, I LOVED me a burger, medium rare. However, about a year ago, I watched the documentary Racing Extinction, a movie that shows how human behavior is accelerating the rate of animal and environmental extinction. That’s when I began to rethink my ways and slowly started to move towards a “meatless” life.
Current Status: In the midst of a very prolonged stage one – but I am TRYING.
At the end of the movie, they present you with facts about how one simple change can make a huge difference and be a step towards a better world. The one that stuck out to me and propelled my movement was this one from Earthday.org
If the entire U.S. did not eat meat or cheese for just one day a week, it would be the equivalent of not driving 91 billion miles – or taking 7.6 million cars off the road.
7.6 MILLION CARS ?! And all my non-picky self had to do was skip out on meat OR cheese one day a week? COUNT ME IN.
I don’t know about you, but I want this world to be as clean and as healthy as possible. I have to live here for the rest of my life, and so do my kids, and my kid’s kids… you get it. This decision was a no-brainer for me – unless you’re an alien from Mars (which is super cool, btw) – it should be to you too.
BUT these types of things are more easily said than done. Meat and cheese are a staple in my household so NOT eating them gives me only two choices: find alternatives or starve.
Finding replacements for protein is not an easy task. I’ve heard from countless people that eating a lot of soy is not good for the body. There is also research being done to find links to breast cancer, so I just wanted to play it safe and stay away from relying on it.
Finding something that was not soy, but still good for me and tasted good was the struggle, but eventually, I came across brands such as Gardien and Boca Burgers. The switch suddenly became a little more manageable. Honestly, I had to check the ingredients to make sure there was no meat in these products, that’s how delicious they were!
Fast forward to a year later and I’m still working towards being COMPLETELY meat-free, but I was able to cut off red meat. I work on eating chicken alternatives at least once a week, but sometimes I do it two to three times. I’ve noticed now that because I’m more aware of what is in my food, I’ve been making healthier choices based on ingredients.
This change is not something that can be done overnight. It’s a year later, and I’m still in the process. Truthfully, I can’t seem to give up chicken or fish, but I’m not asking for you to go as drastic as I did.
All you need to do is commit to ONE DAY a week. Think about it this way, for every one day you commit to the challenge; you add one healthy day to earth! Whether you’re working towards a healthier planet or a healthier you, give it a shot! Every day counts.
…Happy Munching!
