The litany of diets, exercise regimens and nutrition supplements that pervade American culture never seems to end.
However, a growing trend in the health world could help people easily maintain a healthy lifestyle while eating a variety of nutritious options.
Dubbed “flexitarianism,” it has other names, too: half-vegetarianism, semi-vegetarianism and pseudo-vegetarianism. It can be broken down further into subsections like pescetarianism, in which followers eat only fish for their main source of protein and pollotarianism, in which followers eat only chicken for their main protein.
Regardless, flexitarians combine fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean meats to create healthy meals.
“It’s the idea that people are frequently choosing vegetarian options for meals,” said Shannon Kirkpatrick, a health promotion specialist at GatorWell.
In doing so, they eliminate red meats and processed meats, which tend to be higher in unhealthy, saturated fatty acids, and instead opt for leaner proteins like fish and poultry.
Americans on average eat 8 ounces of meat per day, which is 45 percent more than recommended, Kirkpatrick said.
“We choose that over the other food groups and fall short of nutrient-rich groups,” she said.
She said people shouldn’t look at flexitarianism as something that limits meat intake. Rather, it boosts nutrition by forcing followers to choose from a wider selection of food groups.
In the 2010 Healthy Gators Survey, only 4 percent of UF students reported consuming the recommended five or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
Kirkpatrick said a diet rich in plant food is linked with prevention of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and with lowering blood pressure.
In fact, a 2009 study in the British Journal of Cancer found that vegetarians are 12 percent less likely to develop cancers than meat eaters. That number jumps to 45 percent regarding blood cancers, such as leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Kirkpatrick recommended planning meals in advance to figure out what places around campus work best with your schedule. She said foods with tofu, nuts and beans are rich in protein and fiber without saturated fat, making them better options than meat.
She did issue a warning, though: Even a vegetarian diet can be unhealthy if you’re not choosing the right foods. In other words, if you’re eating sweets, cake and fries from McDonald’s, you’re probably doing it wrong.
