A MENU OF OPTIONS

The Flexitarian Diet gives you some more choices when it comes to healthier eating

Eating a whole-bood, plantbased diet, one that includes minimally processed, natural foods with no animal products — is good for you.

Really good for you, according to a number of studies that indicate lower levels of obesity, heart disease, some cancers and type 2 diabetes among vegetarians and vegans.

It’s also better for the environment, as raising animals for food results in large amounts of carbon emissions and requires extensive use of water.

For many people, however, a diet that excludes meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, honey or any other animal ingredient is simply too constricting. It may be an eating plan they can stay on for a few weeks or months, but eventually becomes unsustainable.

For that demographic, there’s the Flexitarian Diet.

The Flexitarian Diet is the brainchild of a well-known dietitian named Dawn Jackson Blatner. It’s largely vegetarian but allows flexibility for animal products in moderation, such as in a salad with Romaine lettuce, corn, black beans, shrimp and avocado.

The goal of the eating plan, according to Blatner, is to eat more nutritional plant-based foods and consume fewer animal products.

HERE ARE THE PRINCIPLES OF THE FLEXITARIAN DIET»

• Eat mostly vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains

• Eat less animal-based protein and more plant-based protein, such as tofu, lentils, almonds, quinoa, peanuts and chickpeas

• Remain flexible about periodically incorporating meat and animal products in your diet

• East the least processed, most natural form of foods • Limit sweets and added sugar In her book, “The Flexitarian Diet,” Blatner recommends that you begin the eating plan by cutting out meat two days a week and eating no more than a total of 26 ounces of meat on the other five days. That phase is called Beginner Flexitarian.

The next step, Advanced Flexitarian, is to go meatless three or four days a week, with a total of 18 ounces of meat or another animal protein on the non-vegetarian days.

The final step, called Expert Flexitarian, is to eat only plant-based foods on five out of every seven days, with meat on the two flexible days not exceeding a total of 9 ounces.

Meat-eating days do not need to be consecutive.

Foods to focus on are plantbased proteins, fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, plant-based milk alternatives and herbs and spices.

Ideally, only use animal products that are sustainably raised or caught, pasture-raised and organic.

Adhering to the Flexitarian Diet will make you more mindful about what you eat, increase the amount of plant-based foods you consume and decrease your meat consumption.

That’s good for you, and the environment.

SUSAN SHELLY — SPECIAL TO THE READING EAGLE Southwest Shrimp Salad