Less meat, more enjoyment: With these 5 ideas, it will definitely work
Eating less or no meat at all is good for ourselves, the animals, and the climate. However, it is not so easy to implement this, and many find it difficult to still cook delicious meals. Here you will learn some simple tips on how to eat less meat in the future and the benefits it brings.
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Table of contents
Meat: Why should we eat less?
Meat has been controversial not only since the recent scandals. The globally increasing demand for meat is an ecological problem, mass animal farming is an ethical one. And excessive consumption also poses health risks. Researchers especially consider processed meat such as sausages to be problematic. We have looked at the facts and show you why a diet with little, but good quality meat is a wise decision for a healthy future.
Eating less meat has a positive effect on all diseases in which inflammatory processes play a role. These include, for example, cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, rheumatism, arthritis, and according to newer research, possibly also depression. The reason is the arachidonic acid contained in the meat. If we eat too much of it, this promotes inflammation. It has long been known that meat can trigger flare-ups in arthritis patients. Meat also contains purines, which can increase the uric acid levels in the blood and promote gout.
On average, we eat 60 kg of meat and sausage per year, which is around 160 grams per day. However, the German Nutrition Society recommends a maximum of only 85 grams per day. So, we eat twice as much meat as recommended by the DGE. And even this amount is still considered too high by many researchers. The further processing also plays a big role. A piece of pure steak from the pan is healthier than if it has been cured, smoked, or preserved with additives.
Because processed meat such as sausages contains not only Not only a lot of fat and salt, but also sugar and artificial additives. To preserve processed meat products, nitrate and nitrite are often added. In our bodies, these salts are converted into nitrosamines. This substance increases our risk of developing colon cancer and also promotes cardiovascular diseases. Scientists from Harvard University found out: Consuming just 50g of processed meat such as sausage, salami, hot dogs, or ham daily increases our risk of cardiovascular diseases by 42 percent and our risk of diabetes by 20 percent. The high salt content is also said to be partly responsible for this. 50 grams of sausage products is not much: This amount is equivalent to about a small Viennese sausage or a few slices of salami.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is part of the WHO, even classified the consumption of processed meat as "carcinogenic" (cancer-causing). The group of 22 experts from ten countries highlighted connections with colorectal, pancreatic, and prostate cancer. The research results published in the prestigious journal Lancet are alarming: Consuming 50 grams of processed meat or sausage daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18 percent. The research group classified red meat as "probably carcinogenic". Researchers suspect that the high protein content in meat may play a role in this. Excessive consumption of proteins through messenger substances can stimulate cell growth, which could promote cancer.
What to look out for when buying meat
The impact of meat on our health also depends on how the animals lived and what they were allowed to eat. Grass is the natural food for cattle and sheep, not soy or corn. When animals are allowed to graze in the pasture, they eat natural, fresh grass and move a lot. Even on organic farms, more space is guaranteed. This has implications for animal welfare and meat quality: Good meat contains more unsaturated omega-3 fats and is therefore of higher quality and less inflammatory.
Worldwide, twice as many antibiotics are administered to animals as to humans. This causes the animals to gain weight faster. However, it also promotes multi-resistant germs. In more than two-thirds of all conventional pig farms, such dangerous germs have been found. These can transfer to the meat. One more reason to choose organic, as antibiotics are only allowed in exceptional cases here.
Eat less meat - 5 tips to help you succeed
Gradually change habits: It is better to make small changes that are sustainable in the long term than to make drastic changes that you cannot maintain. A good starting point is dinner or breakfast: because often we lack creativity when it comes to bread toppings and opt for sausage and cold cuts. Why not try a vegetable or lentil spread, which is available in various flavors at the drugstore or organic store. There are so many options that there is something for every taste.
Starting with the right veggie dishes: Replacing a steak with a vegan alternative made from, for example, wheat or soy protein can be difficult for true meat lovers. It's not that it wouldn't taste good, but especially when it comes to the pure taste of meat, completely replacing it can be challenging at first. It's better to start where different flavors come together and the taste of meat doesn't dominate much anyway, such as in pasta Bolognese, casseroles, or sliced meat with sauce. Try out different alternatives here, and you will hardly notice the difference, if at all.
Opting for "meat flavor": Do you know "Umami"? This is a flavor, just like sour, salty, sweet, or bitter. Umami is savory and full-bodied, as is typical for meat. When cooking with foods that have this umami flavor, you don't have to miss out on the taste of meat even with vegetarian food. Umami can be found in foods such as soy sauce, tamari, miso, dried tomatoes and mushrooms, roasted nuts, and nutritional yeast flakes.
Look for alternatives that you like: Do you automatically think of rubbery tofu when you hear "Veggie"? The range of Veggie alternatives is growing and there are hundreds of options available in organic and regular supermarkets. Often, many stores have a clear vegetarian or vegan section with products made from various plant-based ingredients and spices, each with a different taste, and a veggie schnitzel cannot be compared to another veggie schnitzel. Also, check out the frozen food section. Here you can find, for example, "minced meat" made from peas or vegan meatballs - perfect for stocking up and quick meals.
Discover new diversity: Do not focus on what you are omitting, but on what you are adding. Discover new recipes with lentils, beans, or different types of vegetables that you have not paid attention to before. On average, we tend to choose the same foods in about 95 percent of our average supermarket shopping. Nature has so much more to offer! Look for recipe inspirations in your magazines, cookbooks, or on the internet.
Vegetarians should pay attention to these nutrients
Do you still remember the advertising slogan "Meat is a piece of life force"? Today we know better. Even without meat, we can still grow "big and strong" and are even capable of top performance, as more and more professional athletes prove. It is true that meat provides important nutrients, especially high-quality protein, iron, zinc, and various B vitamins. In addition, our body can absorb the protein and iron from meat particularly easily. For seniors who can only consume little food due to age-related reasons, this can be an advantage. However, all the nutrients found in meat can also be found in other foods. Oat flakes, legumes, nuts, and oilseeds provide us with these nutrients in a much healthier form. Because with plant-based foods, we also consume important fibers and, in addition to other vitamins, numerous secondary plant substances. Vitamin B12 (which is almost exclusively found in animal products) can also be obtained through dairy products. So, we definitely do not need meat for a healthy diet.
Conclusion: Enjoy meat consciously again
If you want to eat less meat, you don't have to completely give it up or become vegan right away. However, steaks and sausages from the discount store have nothing to do with enjoyment and health. We should (re)enjoy meat more consciously and pay attention to its proper origin. This comes at a price. But if we revive the good old Sunday roast and treat ourselves to a piece of good meat only occasionally, we can already achieve a lot with that.
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