After a trip home for the holidays, I’ve decided I’m officially crunchy…. as in a granola-munching, tree-hugging, Prius-driving Californian (okay, I don’t have a Prius but it sounded good). 

Even though I’ve only lived in SoCal for a little more than a year, I’m losing my Midwestern cheese-loving, carnivorous ways; and am eating more of a California-inspired diet that includes more produce and pistachios, and a lot less meat.  I think I’m healthier for it and am reducing my carbon footprint at the same time. 

While I have no plans to become a strict vegetarian, I consider myself a flexitarian or part-time vegetarian.  If we all could eat less meat and animal products we would be healthier.  And, research shows that our diets can play a bigger role in global warming than the type of car we drive (LINK TO KATE GEAGANS PH BLOG).  The typical American diet—rich in meat and dairy products—is essentially like owning a Humvee, while eating a plant-based diet is akin to driving a hybrid.

Recently, I heard about Meatless Mondays, a campaign initiated by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health designed to inspire Americans to go meat-free one day a week.  Here’s some of the health benefits the public health experts contend will result from giving your belly a break from meat just one day week.

• Give your heart a break.  Plant-based proteins like beans, nuts including pistachios, and seeds are low in saturated fat so they can help keep your cholesterol low and reduce your risk of heart disease.

• Help shed unwanted l-b-s.  A plant-based diet is a great source of fiber, which is absent in animal products.  This may be why numerous studies show that individuals who enjoy nuts—including pistachios—are less likely to be overweight compared to those who eschew nuts.

• Get better shut-eye. Incorporate healthy fats and proteins like nuts, yogurt and milk to carb-based meals and snacks (think oatmeal, apples, crackers) to help slow digestion and level-out spikes in blood sugar after eating.  Your energy follows your blood sugar levels so you want to avoid spikes and crashes. 

• Become more nutritionally sound.  Eating more plant foods means higher amounts of vitamins, minerals, fiber and antioxidants with lower intakes of saturated and total fat.

So think about it, give it some thought and maybe a try.  Adding Meatless Mondays to your calendar in 2010 may be the best health step you take all year.

Kelly Plowe, MS, RD

Although she still remains a Boston sports fan, Kelly has changed her east-coast ways, adapting to the California lifestyle.