9 Tips To Stop Eating Meat Without Nutritional Deficiencies
People who decide to stop eating meat, for whatever reason, can feel at a loss when it comes to changing their diet.
If the transition is not done correctly, the consequences for health can be significant, as there can be nutritional deficiencies or even weight gain in a short period of time.
In this article, we will give you some tips to stop eating meat with a conscience, in order to achieve a balanced and healthy diet.
Stop eating meat without health risks
There is no point in stopping eating meat if, by that measure, we are going to deteriorate our health.
This decision, which we may make out of conviction or some illness, should lead us to a greater awareness of the foods we eat and the nutrients we need.
Stopping meat is not the same as having a 100% vegan diet.
If we just leave meat but consume eggs, fish or dairy products, we can take this step without any health risk.
However, we always recommend monitoring by a nutritionist.
1. The magnificent virtues of the egg
Egg is a very complete superfood that can perfectly replace any other animal protein.
Although a few years ago it was recommended not to abuse the egg, nowadays it can be consumed even daily if we don’t have high cholesterol, especially people who don’t eat meat.
They are an excellent source of protein and healthy fats.
We recommend consuming organic eggs. Just open a commercial egg and an organic one to see the difference between them.
2. Beware of dairy products
Many people who stop eating meat may overindulge in dairy products such as milk and cheese.
However, these foods can be more harmful than we believe by raising our cholesterol levels, as well as causing digestive problems.
We can take the opportunity to enter the incredible world of vegetable milks and combine them with dairy products that are easier to digest, such as yogurt and ghee .
3. The danger of flour
Another mistake made by people who start this meatless diet is abusing flour, as pizzas, pastas and sweets can be an easy and quick alternative.
However, they are not a good option, as they can make us fat in a short time and, in addition, they contain few nutrients.
What we should increase is the consumption of vegetables, salads and green juices to get high doses of vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber, which will make us feel full.
4. Choose fish well
If we don’t eat meat but eat fish, we only recommend avoiding or not abusing large size blue fish (salmon, tuna, swordfish), as they can contain high amounts of heavy metals such as mercury.
They are potentially toxic to health, especially for children and pregnant women. But we can, yes, consume small blue fish (sardines, mackerel etc.) and white fish.
5. Other sources of calcium
Milk isn’t the only source of calcium, and it’s not clear whether it’s the healthiest. On the other hand, we can find good amounts of calcium in the following foods:
- Sesame
- Algae
- Broccoli
- Almonds
6. Vitamin B12
Vitamin B12 deficiency is only a problem if we don’t consume any food of animal origin, in which case we can take it as a supplement.
This vitamin is also present in:
- Eggs
- dairy products
- Crustaceans
7. Iron
Iron should only be taken as a supplement on prescription.
In order not to suffer from iron deficiency anemia, we can obtain the necessary amount of this mineral in the following foods:
- creaky
- Dried fruits such as pistachios
- Parsley
- Beetroot
- Lentil
- brewer’s yeast
- Whole grains such as oats
- Broccoli
8. The excellent vegetable protein
We can find vegetables very rich in protein in the following foods:
- Dried fruits and seeds
- Vegetables
- Whole grains such as oats and quinoa
- Hemp
- brewer’s yeast
- Spirulina
- beans
9. Whole grains, dried fruits and seeds
In our balanced meat-free diet, whole grains, which contain more nutrients and fiber, cannot speak.
We should also not forget dry, raw or roasted fruits and seeds, which we can also germinate to enhance their nutritional virtues.
