Most of us have probably heard of vegetarian diets before. A lot of people go on vegetarian diets, not because they have any sort of moral qualms with eating meat, but simply because vegetarian diets are thought of as being healthier and good for losing weight.
While there are health benefits associated with vegetarianism, a lot of people shy away from vegan diets because they cannot stomach never any animal products again. It’s because of this that many people turn to the flexitarian diet.
As the name suggests, the flexitarian diet is about flexibility, it is primarily a vegan diet, but it does allow people to indulge and occasionally eat meat while sticking to the diet. Is this the healthiest kind of diet to follow?
Key Features
- The diet originated in a book written by Dawn Jackson Blatner, a certified dietician.
- Heavy focus on cutting down on meat intake.
- Idea is to encourage people to eat more vegetarian meals, while still allowing them to indulge in the occasional meat or fish meal.
Pros
As we have already explained, the purpose of the diet is to allow people flexibility with the way they eat. Instead of having a rigid rule of never being able to eat meat, it’s more a flexible guideline. This makes it a lot easier for most people to follow. Studies also show that eating meat can have a very bad impact on the environment, so the diet has the added benefit of reducing your carbon footprint!
In terms of the actual diet itself, the food choice is somewhat restricted because of the diet’s commitment to vegetarianism. Obviously, you are allowed to indulge in the occasional meat or fish dish, but the vast majority of the diet itself is largely vegetarian. However, the actual food choice is still pretty varied and you shouldn’t worry that just because the diet happens to be vegetarian, that it is somehow boring.
Cons
The biggest issue with this diet is that there is no real evidence that it helps with weight loss. Even though proponents of the diet claim that it can help you lose weight, there is no evidence that it does. Sure, moving to a more vegetarian style diet will probably help people lose a bit of weight, but the diet does not focus on portion control or counting calories, which means that it is not a good option for those who want to lose weight. There ARE vegetarian junk foods available, so you need to be mindful of this and focus on clean, healthy foods.
