Is eating meat (and fish) also a topic of discussion in your home?
Does the younger generation make you aware that in this day and age it is almost irresponsible to still eat killed animals? Or is it the complete opposite? Had you just resolved to cut down and become a flexitarian, but are you now getting complaints from your children that they find it ridiculous that meat can hardly be eaten at home anymore?
I believe this is becoming increasingly common.
In fact, it is still a growing trend that more and more people are choosing to eat less, or no meat at all. Often for environmental-, animal suffering-, or health reasons. And that can sometimes lead to the necessary discussions within families. Such is the case at our house.
Our youngest son, who now is almost 19 years old, chose to become a vegetarian about six years ago. He has not eaten meat or fish since that day. Nor does he take any products that contain gelatine. So as a 13-year-old, he deliberately let specific types of sweets pass him by. Now, our children have never eaten a lot of sweets, but as a teenager, it is fairly unusual not to join the group for environmental and animal suffering reasons. Our son did not seem to mind and stood firm.
For me, the person who is predominantly responsible for what is eaten at home, it was a new challenge at the time to ensure that a tasty, healthy but also balanced meal was still put on the table without meat and fish. After all, it is easy to just leave out the piece of meat or fish, but how do you make sure that everyone gets enough of the right nutrients and that pasta is not eaten every day?
Exactly that is one of the biggest pitfalls for many vegetarians and vegans. Thinking they are doing something right, they often don't know exactly how to get the right balance in their diet. As a result, they sometimes lack essential nutrients and may develop health problems over time. Common complaints include gut problems, eczema, extremely dry skin, underweight, lack of protein, essential Omega-3 fatty acids, vitamins and minerals and many more.
So it cannot have been a coincidence that it was exactly during that period, due to my own health problems, that I decided to delve into nutrition. I changed course and started looking at nutrition differently, bit by bit. The more I learned and implemented it, the better I felt. I eventually decided to stop eating meat myself. Not because I am against eating meat, but because I know what certain meat can do to your health. Processed meat in particular can increase the risk of colon cancer, type 2 diabetes and stroke.
Nevertheless, I still like to eat fish. So I am a pescotarian.
But as with meat, the same applies to fish. It all depends on the quality you buy.
Where exactly did it come from? What did the animal itself eat/get to eat before it landed on our plate? Something that, in my opinion, everyone should think about. Especially with our groceries getting more and more expensive, you might wonder if you should still eat meat every day, particularly if the quality is moderate to poor. For me at least, I would rather eat no meat or fish at all, than something of poor quality.
The important thing is that you take in enough of the right nutrients.
But how do you know if your body is in balance? And how your Omega 6:3 ratio is?
Most people have too high a ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3.
Too much Omega-6 takes the body out of balance and can lead to inflammation, pain and disease. Even if you take supplements of a good quality, it doesn't mean they will arrive in your cells where they can do their work. Therefore, do an independent test in a reputable laboratory. How and where exactly?
I will gladly advise you in more detail.
For a free consultation, follow this link: https://www.femkelifeinbalance.com/contact
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