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The Benefits of Meatless Monday

Meatless Monday is a simple yet effective way to reduce meat consumption and implement more fruits and vegetables into your diet.

As we have all learned in the past year, staying at home can be isolating and emotionally challenging. If you are experiencing heightened levels of anxiety because of COVID-19 stay at home orders and restrictions, you are not alone.

The concept first gained popularity during World War I in an effort to reduce domestic consumption to provide for troops overseas. The campaign was reintroduced back in 2003 as a public health initiative, and has gained a significant following around the United States since. So, what is Meatless Monday? It is a simple and healthy tradition of eating plant based meals every Monday. While Meatless Monday does require you to abstain from eating meat on Mondays, animal products (like eggs and cheese) are still allowed.

Why on Monday?

At the beginning of the week, we are more likely to engage with healthy behaviors, including eating healthy meals. Practicing a healthy habit each Monday also gives us a chance to reset from the weekend and start our week off right. Plus, starting each week with a healthy habit makes us more likely to remain consistent in our long term fitness goals.

Why “Meatless” Monday?

Making the choice to replace eating meat one day a week with plant-based foods such as vegetables, beans, soy and nuts has numerous health benefits:

Eating less meat and more plant-based foods, helps to improve heart health and reduces the risk of heart disease.
Replacing a serving of meat one day a week with a plant protein (like beans or tofu) can decrease your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Plant-based foods are proven to help with weight loss and the maintenance of a healthy weight.
Consuming less red meat / processed meat helps to improve kidney health. There are many types of plant-based proteins including beans, nuts and other vegetables that provide a healthy alternative to meat while still delivering protein.

Reducing meat consumption helps to decrease the production of damaging greenhouse gases that bring about climate change.

In addition to improving your health, Meatless Mondays also help to reduce your carbon footprint! Reducing meat consumption helps to decrease the production of damaging greenhouse gases that bring about climate change. Eating plant based meals also helps to reduce the demand for vital environmental resources such as land, water, and energy.

Here are some more facts that show why Meatless Monday helps the environment:

Livestock production generates more greenhouse gases than the entire transportation sector and uses 75% of the earth’s agricultural land.
In the production of one quarter-pound beef burger, 425 gallons of water and enough energy to power an iPhone (for 6 months) are used!
By going without a serving of beef every Monday for a year, you can personally save the equivalent emissions that are produced in driving 348 miles in a car.

So, are you ready to go meatless?

Join our AstroFlav Facebook community for plant-based recipes to inspire your next Meatless Monday dinner!

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