The Flexitarian Diet was created by dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner to help individuals reap the health benefits of vegetarianism while still allowing themselves to periodically splurge on foods like dairy, pork, and fish. Consuming mostly plant-based foods and consuming meat and other animal products in moderation is the goal of the flexitarian diet.
It is more flexible than rigid vegetarian or vegan diets. If you would like to increase the number of plant-based foods in your diet without completely giving up meat, you can consider being a flexitarian. As we go over the various advantages of a flexitarian diet, please continue reading.
10 Advantages of a Flexitarian Diet for Your Health:
1. A Higher Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables
Plant-based meals are prioritized heavily in flexitarian diets, which increases the consumption of important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
2. Better Ability to Digest
Foods derived from plants are high in fiber, which can assist to enhance digestive health and encourage regular bowel movements.
3. Reduced Chance of Long-term Illnesses
A diet rich in fruits and vegetables has been linked to a decreased risk of heart disease, diabetes, and several types of cancer, according to studies.
4. Control of Weight
Because a flexitarian diet emphasizes entire, nutrient-dense foods, it can aid in both weight loss and maintenance.
5. Lessening of inflammation
Anti-inflammatory qualities included in plant-based diets can aid in lowering bodily inflammation, which is connected to a number of chronic illnesses.
6. Enhanced vitality
Consuming a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can give you a consistent energy supply all day long.
7. Better skin care
Plant-based diets are rich in antioxidants, which can help prevent wrinkles and promote healthy skin.
8. Enhanced immunological response
An abundant intake of fruits and vegetables helps strengthen the immune system and enhance general well-being.
9. Diminished influence on the environment
Given that producing plant-based foods uses less resources than producing animal products, a flexitarian diet is more environmentally friendly and sustainable than an animal-based one.
10. Enhanced general wellbeing
The flexitarian diet emphasizes a wide variety of plant-based meals and is rich in variety, which can improve general health and wellbeing.
All things considered, a flexitarian diet can improve our health by supplying vital nutrients, encouraging weight control, lowering inflammation, enhancing digestion, and bolstering general wellbeing. Increasing the amount of plant-based foods in our diet can have a number of positive health effects as well as lower our chance of developing chronic illnesses.
Eating flexibly may provide several health benefits. However, because the Flexitarian Diet is so vague, it is difficult to know whether and to what extent the advantages of other plant-based diets that have been examined also apply to this particular diet.
Studies on vegan and vegetarian diets, however, are nevertheless helpful in highlighting the possible health advantages of semi-vegetarian diets. It appears that eating a diet high in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, and other minimally processed whole foods is essential to reaping the health benefits of a plant-based diet. Cutting back on meat won’t have the same impact as consuming fewer processed meals that are heavily salted and sugared.