to stop eating meat?

[marvelousdcomics]

I read an article today and it said children today may live to see the end of humanity. This is due to climate change which is destroying the planet. One of the main causes of this is cattle farming and meat production. I feel very sad about this, and passionate that I have to do something.

I also have a very high risk of type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart problems and breast cancer and meat consumption contributes towards these things.

Also, I do love animals. I recently watched the Earthlings documentary and it was very eye opening.

Dd(14) is a dairy free pescetarian. Ds(12) only likes chicken and ds(10) has only had meat a few times as a baby and he hated it, so is also a dairy free pescetarian. Dh, however, is a heavy meat eater, eating it about 2-3 times a DAY. He is quite overweight, I am a healthy weight but lean towards upper end (as do the kids). Dh thinks it's ridiculous to stop eating meat, as climate change etc 'wont affect us'. Another thing putting me off is I have hyperglycemia, and to change my diet this way would increase my carb intake which would probably raise my blood sugar level. Is this right?
I also do loads of sports and have a lot of muscle. Would a veggie/pesce diet result in muscle loss?

Would IBU to stop eating meat even if dh is against it? And would it affect my blood sugar negatively? Would my muscle mass be affected?

If you wish to give up Meat then do so.

Your DH doesn't have to give up meat too his an adult and can still have meat if he wishes

I'm afraid I don't know anything about blood sugar, but I would be surprised if not eating meat had an awful effect on blood sugar. I'm sure someone will be along that knows

Before you do speak to Gp/nurse at your doctor surgery to get help to manage your blood sugars.

Other than that I don't see the issue

You would be unreasonable to eat something you don't want to, because someone else says they want you to eat it.

Not eating meat doesn't automatically mean more carbs. You can choose what you eat.

Less protein means less ability to build muscle. There are vegetarian sources of protein but it's harder to meet protein requirements (speaking as a hard-training, flab-fighting vegetarian). Pescetarian might be worth serious consideration although the fishing industry has its flaws.

I don't tell other people what to eat (and wouldn't tolerate them doing it to me). Eat what you want

Give up meat if you wish or eat less meat. Your DH doesn't have to give up meat if you do, he can still eat meat if he wishes.

We only have meat once a week, fish once a week the rest of the time are meals are veggie.

YANBU. Apart from not having children, giving up meat is one of the most significant thing a person can do to lower their carbon footprint.

Thank you for replies

I forgot to mention in OP that like dd and ds2, I am lactose intolerant so already don't eat dairy at all.

Of course your not unreasonable! If you don't want to eat meat or eat less then do that.
Do speak to a health professional about your blood sugar as they will be able to answer your questions, and it's always better to have full knowledge on these matters. I can't see it badly effecting your blood sugar

Your DH doesn't have to give up meat too if he doesn't wish so I don't know why his so against it

There are loads of great reasons to give up eating meat, I don't thing global warming is one of them!

I'm a recent vegan and my DH is a huge meat eater. It's tricky but we're getting there.

Please watch the videos on nutritionfacts.org - animal protein is hugely linked to diseases, particularly the ones you mention in your OP. Also watch Forks Over Knives on Netflix.

A plant-based diet is very healthy. It's a misconception that we need dairy for calcium and meat for protein. Like the misconception that bananas are a great source of potassium - a McDonalds vanilla milkshake contains more potassium!

I don't eat meat (I do occasionally eat fish) my dp eats quite a bit of meat.

The two don't affect each other really.

Our kids (adult now) choose if they do or don't, again no big deal.

You just find meals that either are cooked the same way like both go in the oven or find meals that are basically the same but the main protein is changed like a roast with chicken for who wants it and not for who does or pasta with meat for some but not for others.

If a lot of you don't/can't eat dairy that shouldn't mean it can't be done but have a chat and do erase arch so you don't miss out on things the body needs while not just loading on carbs to feel food.

Good alternative protein sources.

Lentils
Chickpeas
Tofu (I don't like tofu)
Soy based meat substitute
Quorn
Nuts added in to things are good for fat and other things.

Research*

it takes 28,000 litres of water to produce 1 kg of beef - yep def a climate change issue.

Why on earth would it be unreasonable to stop eating meat?

Thank you again everyone so far. I'm fully aware it isn't unreasonable to eat meat - it's just with my blood sugar, and with dh being against it as I cook most of his meals. I will begin to cut down from now on (probably still have occasional fish though).

Can anyone give me any veggie/pesce recipes? DD usually makes hers and ds's, but its usually fish, rice and veg which gets boring for them.

OP, a plant-based diet can be beneficial if you have blood sugar issues. Here's some info/research:

nutritionfacts.org/topics/blood-sugar/

I just made this vegetable lasagne today. It's a labour of love (takes ages!) but it's delicious and full of goodness: engine2diet.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/Sweet-Potato-Lasagna1.pdf

I think when starting out with something like this it's easy to feel overwhelmed, I reckon a meal plan would help. You think this is going to be harder then the status quo but if you move your diet more in line with what your children are eating that becomes the focus of meal times and you can supplement your husband's meal with the addition of meat.

Assuming he's a meat and two veg kinda guy start with meals from that category you can tweak for the family but share the same potatos and veg around you all. So each week pick two from:
Roast dinner - you all have nut roast/stuffing/veggie sausages/whatever, he gets a couple of slices of meat or a piece of chicken on his.
Mushroom wellington - he can have an individual steak pie instead
Spiced butterbean and veg pie - he gets an individual chicken and mushroom pie instead
Bangers and mash - veggie/vegan sausages for you, meat ones for him
Cottage pie- quorn/lentils/veg for you

Then do one pasta dish a week - roast veg pasta, pasta arriabata, lasagna (as per cottage pie), spag bol (as per lasagna), meatballs (use the sausages), smoked salmon pasta, spicy prawn pasta, etc

Then a curry once a week - Indian - daal, brinjal bhaji, vegetable jalfrazi, saag aloo, etc. Thai prawn curries (pick your variant). Again stick some tikka chicken or something on the side for him.

One fish dish a week. Fish and chips, spicy fish cakes and tempura vegetables with dipping sauce, Salmon en cruet, etc.

What are we up to? 5 days covered?

One rice dish a week - seafood paella, mushroom risotto, lemon risotto, vegetable biriyani, veggie/prawn special fried rice, etc. Again add meat to his if you like.

Then one anything goes day. Jacket potato and topping, warm root veg salad, burgers (veggie or meat), individual pizzas, etc.

Once you get into a routine you can try new recipes

If you don't think meat eating has anything to do with climate change, WordGetsAround, have a quick Google. It's an enormous issue. Quite apart from the amount of land, food and water (and tree felling for grazing) livestock needs, the amount of methane cattle produce is simply phenomenal.

www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Enjoy-food/Eating-with-diabetes/vegetarian-diets/

As long as you don't try to get your partner to stop eating meat then YANBU

I don't know the effects on the health conditions you mentioned, but I think if you expect your carbs to go up and this will be negative for you then you need to put some initial effort in to researching how to do it without increasing carbs. Look at the meals you have now and then just try to replace the meat part, so swap a beef burger for a veggie burger or a grilled mushroom or hallumi etc

I think it would be best to try reducing your meat consumption for a few weeks and see how it works, every little helps and you may find that you are happy just reducing it as that would help towards the reasons you are thinking of giving it up

If you don't want to eat meat, don't. It's quite simple. Not sure why you need our opinion.

The paranoid side of me thinks that this is just a post to tell everyone how bad meat eating is.

Yes meat farming has an impact on the planet. But it's also a bit daft to think vegans and vegetarians don't impact the planet.

As a family we eat mainly locally sourced produce. Including meat, although we have cut down how much meat we eat. Me and dd don't eat diary at all.

My vegan and vegetarian friends don't eat locally sourced food. Their food has often travelled thousands of miles and also has a large impact on the planet. Also many of them don't eat healthily at all.

Vegan/ vegetarianism don't automatically go hand in hand with environmentally friendly or with healthy eating.

So just make sure you eat in a healthy way and look at the impact your food has, since they are your concerns.

'If you don't think meat eating has anything to do with climate change, WordGetsAround, have a quick Google. It's an enormous issue. Quite apart from the amount of land, food and water (and tree felling for grazing) livestock needs, the amount of methane cattle produce is simply phenomenal.'

I get all that, Sukey, I just don't believe in global warming as a result of human behaviour (including farming).

Bruce02 is totally correct, couldn't have put it better myself.

Everything we do has an impact on the planet. Meat production does, just as production of other foods does. For example fields of crops to feed the veggies necessitate the removal of hedgerows and trees, use of pesticides and fertilisers etc.
Soy is often grown in the sub tropics in areas where rainforests are common, many farmers cut down and burn rainforest to grow soy because the soil is so good and soy is so nutrient hungry. Often after a couple of crops the soil is exhausted so they just chop a bit more pristine rainforest down and grow another lot leaving a barren patch of earth behind which will take hundreds of year to re grow into rainforest.
Doesn't sound very eco friendly to me!

If you're doing it because you love animals then consider this. Most farms which grow ,crops have to employ pest control measures and they are often lethal methods. For example peas are the favorite food of pigeon, so when the crop is at its most vulnerable when there are pigeon around the farmer will get someone to sit in a hide with a shotgun and kill as many as possible , sometimes a couple of hundred in a day on a single field (a big flock can strip a field in a day or two so it has to be done if you veggies don't want pea prices to treble).

My point is, do some proper research and educate yourself rather than swallowing some article which was probably written by someone with a vegan / veggie agenda hook line and sinker.

Check out "flexitarian" recipes, some of those will simplify your cooking routines.

Definitely do your research as manina says. Because some vegans will give you the hard sell and I'm saying this as a strict vegan myself . My whole family are vegetarian, but dh has only made the change to vegetarian in the last 8wks and he is the most preachy vegetarian I have ever met . I never mention my choice to be vegan or my children being brought up vegetarian unless asked about it, even then I just say I don't feel the need to eat an animal or drink it's milk but have no issue with others doing so. But he throws it in everyone's face. It wasn't myself that converted him to vegetarian though it was purely the smiths song

You don't agree with the 98%? OK then.