Here is a decent article by Dr Axe, whose book on Aromatherapy I highly recommend, btw.
Best and Worst Meat Substitutes for Your Health
It's quite long, but worth reading. I should add that personally I can't eat soy products whether fermented or not without it wreaking havoc on my system and my husband dislikes them so we never eat them, but beans, lentils and nuts are OK.
Considering his worst substitutes, I tried to make seitan at home several times, and it was just not eatable, but I somewhat disagree about cheese. I think It's OK if you don't go overboard on it. but it's probably the best to combine several different protein sources in one dish, like some cheese and nuts.
He also doesn't mention eggs by some reason, but the Dutch Veg society suggests that you could substitute 3 oz meat with 2 eggs, which is more or less adequate, in my experience.
There is a discussion going on about health benefits of eggs, but the general consensus seems to be that 6 or 7 eggs a week is fine, especially if you go easy on red meat.
(The Dutch Vegetarian society, btw, also recommends about 0.5 lt dairy a day for your b12 and calcium).
Anyway, meals should be built around a protein source, so broccoli and carrots aren't a good meat substitute, they are a side dish:)
Hi Sanne! I'm doing okay; hope you are, too! :)
ReplyDeleteThe best substitute for meat, is other meat. ;)
I don't mind the occasional vegetarian meal; eggs, legumes / chick peas, beans, etc. can all be tasty.
But I could never give up meat, and never will. :)
Hi Will!
ReplyDeleteI'm soo glad you are back, was wondering how you were doing considering all the craziness we have to experience:)
About the food you eat, it's up to you, of course! Personally I feel better after switching to a largely pescatarian diet, but it could be just me...
I've never heard of natto, so I guess I learned something today.
ReplyDeleteI don't really buy in to the eggs and cheese are bad. I do think organic eggs are better in nutrients than purely industrial grain fed eggs. Years ago, a neighbor would give us some of his fresh chicken and guinea eggs. I still remember the deep orange yolks of these eggs.
I would still like to know why Lewis and Clark did not die of ketosis on their journey there and back across the continent.
On the other hand, it is the shame the way animals are treated in industrial farming at times. I don't know of any farmers or ranchers that don't have empathy for animals. My grandparents had a large chicken coup because they liked the fresh eggs.
Natto isn't sold around here, either. I think Dr. Axe is more of a paleo persuasion and these guys find dairy suspicious, but then you need to eat quite a bit of cheese to substitute for meat, and cheese is rather fat, so eating it every day in these amounts is probably not a good idea. (I love cheese, btw).
ReplyDeleteHumans are omnivores so could survive on most anything, I guess!
Farm animals are treated more or less decent out here, especially cows since by law they have to spend at least 6 hours a day 6 months of a year outside, eating grass. Non-organic pigs are treated the worst, and chicken raised specially for meat. The standard for eggs is higher, as cage eggs were forbidden long ago.
I try to buy everything biological anyway, but it's oh-so-expensive, especially chicken, so I'm going for the discount quite often.
As for eggs, I've noticed that biological eggs of free range hens taste much better. I don't think eggs are really unhealthy, it's more how many of them you eat and your general diet.