Since the mid-nineties the term flexitarian has been used to describe people who were vegetarians but occasionally would eat meat as well. The name is derived from the words "flexible" and "vegetarian".
The thought of committing to a strict meat-free diet can be very intimidating for many people who are interested in eating a more plant-based diet.
Dietician Dawn Jackson Blathner advocates the flexitarian lifestyle. She says that there are benefits to a plant-based diet that also periodically incorporates meat. She has created a rough guide to clarify what she feels would constitute a beginner flexitarian, advanced flexitarian and an expert flexitarian:
- Beginner: two meatless days a week
- Advanced: three or four meatless days a week
- Expert: five meatless days a week
1. Having a number of meat-free days a week will assist in encouraging a more balanced diet.
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