THE FITNESS CORNER: Being an occasional vegetarian in Middle Georgia
I challenge you this week -- yes, you -- to consider becoming a vegetarian ... well, an occasional vegetarian at least.
There are several good reasons for doing so. For one, eating less meat helps reduce the massive impact that the mass production of meat has on the environment. Another reason is that you'll save yourself a few dollars. I can't think of many folks who wouldn't want to save some money every now and then.
For this article, however, the main reason I want to discuss is how occasional vegetarianism is a great step for your health.
We all could stand to eat less meat. The average American diet is meat-based, and our meat consumption is steadily increasing. According to a USDA study, in the year 2000, Americans were eating 195 pounds of meat per person, per year, up from an average of 138 pounds in the 1950s.
That's not all. According to National Public Radio, the average per person/per year meat consumption in our country in 2007 was up to a whopping 270 pounds.
To put this in perspective, that number for India in the same year was 7.1 pounds of meat per person. Unbelievable, isn't it?
There's a lot of evidence these days linking high meat consumption to many of the chronic and deadly diseases common in our Western society, including heart disease, obesity and many cancers.
A study called "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell details the results of a decades-long study that he conducted with others on the effects of animal protein consumption on people in China. The links drawn in the study between high meat consumption and disease are quite compelling. Considering our high meat consumption in the U.S., our high rates of these diseases aren't very surprising.
So, hopefully I've convinced you to practice vegetarianism at least sometimes. I do so myself and definitely feel better because of it. Replacing meat with nutritious foods such as vegetables, beans and whole grains is a great practice.
Let's switch gears now and talk about some places here in Middle Georgia where you can get good vegetarian meals. I suspect that many people would be fine with having meatless meals if they knew that they would be tasty and filling.
Just this weekend, my wife and I were at Pho Saigon, the Vietnamese restaurant on Riverside Drive, which has a great vegetarian selection. My wife ordered a vegetarian clay pot dish, and I kept it simple with vegetarian fried rice, which by the way, was some of the best I've had. Saigon Noodle in Bonaire is another wonderful Vietnamese restaurant that we've frequented.
Indian cuisine also has many exciting vegetarian dishes, and the local Indian restaurants that I have come to enjoy include Metropolis, located in Macon and Warner Robins, Bombay City in Macon, and Curry Mantra in the Warner Robins area.
When I visit these restaurants, I usually order either Paneer Jalfrezi, a saucy dish with tomatoes, peppers, onions and paneer cheese with a little spice, or Vegetable Korma, an assortment of carrots, peas, green beans and other vegetables in a creamy sauce. Both are served with fragrant basmati rice -- and you better believe I don't miss meat when I eat these.
So don't be scared to go meatless once in a while. Who knows? You might find yourself not even missing meat.
Warner Robins resident Shawn McClendon is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer and owner of the health/fitness blog www.YourHealthAtTheCrossroads.com. Contact him at shawn@yourhealthatthecrossroads.com.
This story was originally published October 26, 2015 at 10:11 PM with the headline "THE FITNESS CORNER: Being an occasional vegetarian in Middle Georgia ."