Reducing the amount of meat you eat can provide health and weight-loss benefits.

Most Americans like to eat meat. However, with an average consumption of about 200 pounds per year, many of us simply eat too much of it for our own good.

Fortunately, there’s a middle ground between giving it up completely and overloading on it that can yield improvements in health and longevity.

“Eating less meat is a win-win situation for most people,” says Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D., a dietitian in private practice in Chicago and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. “Cutting back lets you enjoy meat’s flavors while reducing the risk for heart disease, cancer, and obesity that eating too much high-fat, high-cholesterol red meat can contribute to.”

These strategies can help you enjoy meat—just not as much of it.

• Reduce your meat intake gradually. Like any lifestyle change, eating less meat is more likely to become a lifelong habit if you ease into it.

  To do so, Blatner suggests reducing your intake in stages.

  For example: For the first few weeks, try to cut your intake by 25 percent per week. After that feels comfortable, make another 25 percent reduction, and after a few weeks at that level, cut another 25 percent.

• Swap beans for some of the meat in casseroles, chilies, stews, burritos, tacos, and wraps to reduce your meat consumption and increase your intake of plant foods—which is just as important.

  “That’s because this dietary change isn’t just about eating less meat; it’s also about improving your diet by substituting fiber and potassium-rich beans and other plant foods for meat,” Blatner says.

  Note: Kidney, pinto, and black beans have a “meaty” texture and rich flavor that make them a great meat substitute.

• Increase the number of meatless meals you eat each week. To do so, search online for meatless recipes or borrow a vegetarian cookbook from the library or a friend.

  Chances are, you already enjoy more meatless meals than you think, including spaghetti with marinara sauce, red bean chili, or vegetarian burritos.

• Be creative when eating out. Most ethnic restaurants offer meatless meals. If you’re stuck at a steak house, check out the soups, salads, and appetizers and order two or three small meatless plates for your entrée.
• Buy less meat. You can’t cook what you don’t have in your kitchen. Hence, simply buying less meat at the grocery store—and filling your cart with dried and canned beans, whole-grain pasta, brown rice, and plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables instead—will change the way you eat.

  You also can buy thinner steaks for those times when meat is the main course.

• Use meat as flavoring when preparing fried rice, pilaf, lo mein, and dozens of other dishes.
• Change how you think about meat. You may have grown up thinking that a large cut of beef, pork, or lamb should be the centerpiece of your meal. Even so, thinking about meat as an add-on or accompaniment can help you begin to accept its smaller presence on your plate as a good thing.

“Unlike Americans, many Asians consider protein sources like meat, fish, or poultry as just one of many ingredients that make up a healthy meal,” Blatner explains. “That’s why when you order a stir-fry or curry dish in a Chinese, Thai, or Indian restaurant, you choose which protein you want mixed in with the base recipe that includes a variety of vegetables plus rice or noodles.”

Barbara Floria spoke with Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D., a dietitian in private practice in Chicago and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. For more information, visit www.eatright.org.

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