To reduce meat to twice per week and stay healthy?

@StarlingSpark , there is no minimum amount of meat you need.
If you are having vegan days eat a balanced vegan diet on those days.
If you are having vegetarian days eat a balanced vegetarian diet on those days.
If you add a little bit of meat or fish that's ok.

Cook things where you can add pulses or something to use less meat.

Take an A-Z multivitamin if you like.

Personally I find the balance is to combine meat and pulses eg lamb and chickpeas in a curry, beef and lentils or whatever, it’s not always either or. I personally know I feel more tired if I don’t eat red meat and I have read it’s harder to metabolise iron from plant sources

You're overthinking this. It's hardly a new concept to be vegetarian. You clearly eat a varied, healthy diet. Just eat as little meat as you want to eat, you'll be fine.

@ScrambledEggs12 , légumes is the French for veg, but pulses are légumineuses.

@Aintgointogoa huh? I meant problematic for the OPs health and nutrition which is what she was asking about. Not sure what point you think I was trying to make.

Sigh....there is so much information out there. Be informed. Listen to BBC R4 The Food Progamme - esp today's episode.
@SilenceInside that is not 'logic' 🫣
I haven't eaten meat in over 40 years and I do not think I have a ring fenced area of the Amazon with a plaque on it. The more you eat meat, the more you destroy the environment. Simples.

I've had to Google as I thought legumes was just the French word for vegetables.

Look for a guide for which foods are rich in each vitamin and mineral, @StarlingSpark .

vitamins-and-minerals-in-our-food-pdf.pdf

The NHS won't tell you this because meat is not necessary for a healthy diet.

If you want to see what the nhs says

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/how-to-eat-a-balanced-diet/the-vegetarian-diet/

as you can see a whole veggie diet if it’s diverse is totally healthy and I don’t think adding some meat willmake it worse

I find one meat dinner a week and a couple of portions of fish and I feel fine

meat only monthly and I struggle / get cravings

so somewhere in between is my tipping point

So are you interested in NHS advice, or the personal experiences of omnivores? I'm confused.

I eat a mostly pescatarian diet - vegetables/dairy/legumes/seafood are my main sources of protein. I don't eat much other meat at all, maybe once every couple of weeks while out and even then it won't be a steak or chicken breast or anything 'meaty' I have to cut through as I dislike it.

I'm lean, active, lift weights, super healthy really. 54yo on no medication with no health concerns. If that helps at all?

I eat like this, some chicken, some fish, very occasional meat which I don’t really like. I personally think it’s better for the planet, my wallet and my health. I prefer a mainly vegetarian diet but am not veggie.

I bet chat gpt would answer that. And give you a meal plan to boot!

I wouldn't have thought you'd even need to think terribly hard about it, so long as you already eat fairly healthily. I eat red meat once in a while and probably eat vegetarian about 4/5 days a week; it wasn't a conscious choice, I just realised at some point that was what I was doing. Combination of prices going up and just gravitating more towards those things. I can always tell when I need a protein hit or I'm low iron, but it's not different from when I used to eat more meat, really.

I eat meat and fish about once a week but no more. I think it has improved my health. I do have plenty of eggs and cheese.

as long as your diet is varied you will be fine.

Logically if vegetarians are healthy eating no meat at all, then you eating it a couple of times a week will not be an issue or problematic in any way. There won’t be an NHS advised minimum amount of meat in a healthy diet as it isn’t necessary to eat meat in order to have a healthy diet.

Well, given vegetarians have a 12% reduced risk of premature death, the logical guideline for how little meat is advisable is none 🤷‍♀️ If you have a healthy diet otherwise, you can’t underconsume meat (said as an omnivore with a fondness for rare venison.)

Of course it is. It’s how many healthy diets in the world are composed. You’ll be absolutely fine. Loads off plants, a bit of animal protein, not much processed crap.

Our family eats red meat once a week and chicken once or twice a week, fish once a week. We have a varied, home cooked diet with loads of fruit and veg, whole grains, pulses and protein from a range of sources (although it’s pretty rare not to eat enough protein in developed countries, whatever they say on instagram). This keeps four very active teens pretty energetic and strapping and as far as I know no one has ever been remotely malnourished.

You’re not finding results on Google because “meat” means red meat and game. Poultry and fish aren’t “meat”, even if they are the flesh of living creatures.

They again just inputting legumes and dairy and vegetables and fruit and carbs and chicken and fish - there’s soooooo much information available. (You will be fine, ask the hundreds of millions, if not billions of vegetarians and vegans all over the world)

We don't eat a lot of meat in the family as partner is vegetarian. We have started buying a bit more because in anaemic. I don't enjoy it really but I'm eating mince again. We eat a lot of iron rich veggie foods but its obvs not enough for me.(I have horrendous periods). I also recently read that the older you get a meat eating diet is actually preferable to stay healthy and prevent bone breakages and loss of muscle mass etc. I'm going for a bit more balance with my diet as my body is obviously telling me it needs it.

You will be fine if you are eating lots of legumes instead. They are a great source of protein. Keep the eggs in the diet too. Also nuts will be good for healthy fats.

I have no interest in being a vegetarian, and I'm also trying to cut out red meat (can't quite give up 'nduja though!), and since starting to eat legumes a lot more, I find I don't want meat or fish every day. I am also trying to eliminate as many UPFs as possible. I know I won't be able to 100%, but pretty confident I can be mostly free of it.