One
Step At a Time...
You
Can Go Meatless
For
All Three Meals
There’s
growing support for adopting a more plant-based diet, even in the
2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which offer the general
recommendation to eat a plant-based diet that focuses on consuming
vegetables, cooked dry beans and peas, fruits, whole grains, nuts,
and seeds with moderate amounts of lean meats, poultry, eggs, and
dairy.
A
paper published by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics concluded
that a plant-based, vegetarian dietary pattern is completely
healthful and nutritionally adequate for people throughout all stages
of life and that it has several health advantages, including lower
blood cholesterol and pressure levels and lower risk of heart
disease, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes.
Semivegetarian,
lacto-vegetarian, and vegan women have a lower risk of overweight and
obesity than do omnivorous women, according to data from 55,459
healthy women participating in the Swedish Mammography Cohort,
suggesting that advice to consume more plant foods and less animal
products may help individuals control their weight.
In
a recent meta-analysis, Harvard researchers linked high
processed-meat intake to a 42% higher risk of coronary heart
disease.4 Data from the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, which
included more than 440,000 participants, revealed that eating a daily
100-g serving of red meat was linked with a 19% increased risk of
developing type 2 diabetes, and eating a daily 50-g serving of
processed meat was associated with a 51% greater risk.
The
NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, which included more than 500,000 men
and women, found a significantly higher risk of cancers of the
colorectum, esophagus, lung, and liver associated with red meat
intake; an increased risk of colorectal and lung cancer was
associated with higher intake of processed meat; and red and
processed meat intake was associated with cancer mortality.
In
addition to health, people are interested in reducing their animal
food intake for environmental benefits. Italian researchers performed
a life cycle assessment to evaluate the “cradle-to-grave”
environmental impact of several dietary patterns. They reported that
an organic, vegan diet had the smallest environmental impact, while a
conventionally farmed diet that included meat had the greatest impact
on the environment—and the more meat consumed, the greater the
impact. Beef was the food with the single greatest impact on the
environment. Cattle require lots of feed, water, and fossil fuels to
turn plants into protein, the scientists said. To produce 1 kcal from
beef requires 40 kcal of fossil fuels, whereas producing 1 kcal from
grains requires only 2.2 kcal of fuel.
The
Meatless Monday message helps people ease into the concept of
decreasing animal intake by selecting just one day per week to go
meatless. The campaign does not ask people to cut out meat totally
from the diet. It is all about moderation; it’s one simple tool to
help people incorporate healthier—and also more environmentally
sustainable—alternatives to meat into their diets just one day each
week. It’s a platform to introduce new and often overlooked foods,
and ideally this will trickle over into other days of the week and
ultimately translate into healthier eating habits and dietary
patterns over time.
Healthy
Meatless Recipe:
Roasted
Red Peppers Stuffed with Kale & Rice
(adapted
from kitchendaily.com)
Ingredients:
3 medium
red bell peppers
1
tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/4
teaspoon salt
Freshly
ground pepper to taste
8
ounces kale (6 cups lightly packed), trimmed
1
tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1
medium onion, chopped
1/2
cup chopped red bell pepper
2
cloves garlic, minced
3/4
cup cooked short-grain brown rice (see Tip)
1/2
cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4
cup toasted pine nuts, divided (see Tip)
1
tablespoon lemon juice
1/4
teaspoon salt
Freshly
ground pepper to taste
Directions:
1.
To prepare peppers: Preheat oven to 400°F. Halve peppers lengthwise
through the stems, leaving them attached. Remove the seeds. Lightly
brush the peppers outside and inside with oil; sprinkle the insides
with salt and pepper. Place, cut-side down, in a 9-by-13-inch baking
dish. Bake until peppers are just tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool
slightly. Turn cut-side up.
2.
To prepare filling: Bring 2 cups salted water to a boil in a large
wide pan. Stir in kale, cover and cook until tender, 10 to 12
minutes. Drain, rinse under cold water; squeeze dry. Finely chop.
3.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and
chopped bell pepper; cook, stirring often, until onion is golden, 6
to 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Stir in
the kale. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Stir in rice,
Parmesan, 2 tablespoons pine nuts and lemon juice. Season with salt
and pepper. Divide the filling among the pepper halves. Sprinkle with
the remaining 2 tablespoons pine nuts.
4.
Add 2 tablespoons water to the baking dish. Cover the peppers with
foil and bake until heated through, 15 to 20 minutes. Uncover and
bake for 5 minutes more. Serve hot.
Serves
6.
Tips:
To cook brown rice: Place 1 cup brown rice, 21/2 cups water and a
pinch of salt, if desired, in a medium saucepan; bring to a simmer.
Cover; cook over low heat until rice is tender and most of the liquid
has been absorbed, 45 to 50 minutes. Makes 3 cups.
To
toast pine nuts: Heat a small dry skillet over medium-low heat. Add
pine nuts and cook, stirring constantly, until golden and fragrant, 2
to 3 minutes. (Or spread in a small baking pan and bake at 400°F for
about 5 minutes.
Enjoy
and Bon Appetit!
Healthy
Weekly Motivator:
Strategize
to Subdue Stress
There
are many ways to beat stress, but you’ll find that some work better
than others.
Keeping a positive attitude, stepping out of the
situation, enjoying a laugh, accepting that there are things we
cannot control, and asserting your feelings instead of becoming angry
or passive are all methods that can lead to less stress and a happier
life.
This
week, consider which tools have worked for you before and perhaps try
out some new ones. Having a few “go-to” stress-reducing
techniques up your sleeve can make all the difference.
Have
a great week everyone and remember a better tomorrow starts with what
you eat today!
Do
you have a favorite meatless recipe you would like to share with us?
Send it my way!
Wishing
you health and wellness from the inside out,
Lisa
LQ
WELLNESS
Professional
Wellness Coach
973-383-0955
Make
sure to follow me on Twitter @lq_wellness
Like
me on Facebook
“The
greatest thing in the world is not so much where we are, but in what
direction we are moving.”
~Oliver
Wendell Holmes~
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