What is a reducetarian?: It’s a new diet aimed at ingesting less meat

When it comes to diets, “all or nothing” is a hard motto to live by.

For example, think of the person who could be a vegetarian but just can’t give up bacon, or the vegan who occasionally slips up.

A new movement — reducetarianism — aims to be mindful of eating less meat but not cutting it out altogether.

The term “reducetarian” was coined by Brian Kateman, an instructor in the Executive Education Program at the Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability at Columbia University. He also co-founded and is president of the nonprofit Reducetarian Foundation and author of “The Reducetarian Solution.”

“A reducetarian describes a person who is mindfully eating less meat — red meat, poultry and seafood, as well as less dairy and fewer eggs — regardless of the degree of reduction or motivation for cutting back. They play around with Meatless Mondays, veggie-heavy lunches, smaller protein portions, vegetarianism and veganism to see what works best for them,” Kateman said. Good for you, the planet

Reducing the amount of meat you eat is good for your health and for the planet, Kateman said.

A study by Loma Linda University, a Christian health sciences school in California, found that among 73,308 Seventh-Day Adventist men and women, compared to typical omnivores, those who ate less meat had up to a 15 percent lower risk of death.

“In fact, eating less meat and more whole, plant-based foods is one of the lifestyle habits that unites the people living to 100 and beyond in hot spots of longevity ... . Reducetarians enjoy these benefits by setting manageable and therefore actionable goals to gradually eat less meat.

For example, they may forgo eating meat for lunch if they will have it for dinner, skip eating meat on Mondays or eat it only on the weekends,” Kateman said.

From an environmental standpoint, a study conducted by the University of Minnesota calculated that if people ate more plant-based proteins versus meat, it could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 55 percent.

How to start

Registered dietitian nutritionist Sharon Palmer, author of “Plant-Powered for Life” (sharonpalmer.com), says, “I believe that everyone can gain health benefits by cutting back on animal proteins and eating more whole, minimally processed plant foods. The research strongly supports this style of eating for reducing the risk of heart disease, obesity, cancer and type 2 diabetes.”

Cutting back on animal foods can also make a big difference in lowering your carbon footprint.

“By opening up plant-based eating to a broader definition, such as reducetarian, we can be more inclusive of healthy plant-based diets that support eating less animal foods and more plant foods,” Palmer said.

“Not everyone may be ready to eat a 100 percent plant-based diet, but everyone can cut back on animal foods.

“We have a long way to go in the U.S. We are the top consumer per capita of meat in the world, so what if everyone cut their meat intake in half? That would make a huge impact on health, the environment and animal welfare.”

For people interested exploring and succeeding at a new diet, try to make small changes, step by step, Palmer said.