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Meatless meals: The benefits of eating less meat

You can eat healthfully without spending a lot. One way to achieve healthy savings is to serve meat less often.

By Mayo Clinic staff

It can be challenging to serve healthy meals on a budget, but with planning you can eat better for less. Many people save money by adding meatless meals to their weekly menus. Meatless meals are built around vegetables, beans and grains — instead of meat, which tends to be more expensive. Meatless meals also offer health benefits.

The health factor

A plant-based diet, which emphasizes fruits and vegetables, grains, beans and legumes, and nuts, is rich in fiber, vitamins and other nutrients. And people who eat only plant-based foods — aka, vegetarians — generally eat fewer calories and less fat, weigh less, and have lower cholesterol levels than do nonvegetarians.

Just eating less meat has a protective effect. A National Cancer Institute study of 500,000 people found that those who ate 4 ounces (114 grams) of red meat or more daily were 30 percent more likely to die of any cause over 10 years than were those who consumed less. Sausage, luncheon meats and other processed meats also increased the risk. Those who ate mostly poultry or fish had a lower risk of death.

How much protein do you need?

The fact is that most Americans get enough protein in their diets. Adults generally need 10 to 35 percent of their total daily calories to come from protein. Based on a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, this amounts to about 50 to 175 grams a day. Of course, you can get protein from sources other than meat — sources that are often less expensive. Take a look at these examples:

  • Eggs. A large egg has 6 grams of protein. At $2.16 for a dozen, a gram of protein from eggs costs 3 cents.
  • Milk. A glass of milk has about 8 grams of protein. At $2.60 a half-gallon, that's a little more than 4 cents per gram of protein.
  • Cottage cheese. Many cheeses are high in fat, and high priced, but cottage cheese provides a healthier alternative. And at $2.50 a pound (0.5 kg), a gram of protein from cottage cheese costs a little less than 5 cents a gram.
  • Tofu. At $2.00 a pound (0.5 g), you pay just 6 cents for a gram of protein.
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References
  1. Sinha R, et al. Meat intake and mortality: A prospective study of over half a million people. Archives of Internal Medicine. 2009;169:562.
  2. Key TJ, et al. Health effects of vegetarian and vegan diets. The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 2006;65:35.
  3. Sofi F, et al. Adherence to Mediterranean diet and health status: Meta-analysis. British Medical Journal. 2008;337:a1344.
  4. Nelson JK (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. July 1, 2009.
  5. Zeratsky KA (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. July 1, 2009.
  6. Making and maintaining muscle: How much protein do you need? NIH News in Health. http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2008/March/docs/01features_01.htm. Accessed Aug. 26, 2009.
  7. Dietary guidance: Macronutrients. U.S. Department of Agriculture. http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=4&tax_level=4&tax_subject=256&topic_id=1342&level3_id=5141&level4_id=10588. Accessed Aug. 31, 2009.

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Sept. 16, 2009

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