Four substitutes for meat I used when I went pescetarian

There seems to be hype with different food crazes in this era. Gluten-free, vegan, pescetarian, dairy-free, vegetarian — the options are endless. I follow a gluten-free diet since the beginning of high school purely because I am allergic. I like to say that I jumped on the bandwagon before it was chic.

This past summer though I began a new journey with food and decided to cut out meat, excluding sushi, because I am too much of a raw fish lover! The decision to become pescetarian started because of a class I took during my Maymester program — Gero498: Nutrition, Genes, Longevity and Disease, which absolutely changed my life and my perception of food. My professor, the great Valter Longo, who I am convinced will cure cancer one day, preached the benefits of a Vegan Pescetarian diet. He believes that all age-related diseases — cardiovascular malfunction, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, cancers — can be slowed depending on the food that we consume. I believe that aging is not only what you eat, but also a combination of your genetics, exercise, lifestyle as well as your environment.

The vegan diet is one that I find very difficult to maintain, so I adopted the pescetarian part of his recommendation. I have been meat-free for about nine months now, starting from when this class ended and I must say I don’t feel intensely different, but I do feel a sense of cleanliness throughout my body that is much more evident to me. So many of the meat products we consume are heavily processed and half of the time we barely know what we even are eating. Cutting out meat allows you to take in more beneficial nutrients and fewer harmful components, but it’s only healthy if you are eating a balanced diet with plenty of other nutrient-dense foods. I find that it isn’t quite hard to find substitutes of protein; you just have to dig a bit. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Beans. The magical fruit, as some say. Loaded with protein, beans come in From chickpeas to edamame to soybeans to pinto beans to kidney beans to black beans-there are so many options. Beans are particularly low in fat, but high in fiber, which is beneficial to your digestive tract. One cup of soybeans has 34 grams of protein! Research being conducted at Harvard suggests that eating beans, as well as fish, chicken or nuts in place of red meat can lower the risk lower the risk of several diseases and premature death.
2. Nuts. My favorites are almonds and pistachios, but peanuts and hazelnuts are loaded with health benefits as well. Nuts contain both protein and healthy monosaturated fat. They are surprisingly filling, which is why many turn to nuts when trying to drop a few pounds. They also are a great on-the-go snack and work as salad toppings wonderfully!
3. Dairy. Nothing goes better with a chocolate chip cookie than a huge class of milk. Dairy, which can be incorporated into your diet in milk, cheese and yogurt, is a high-quality protein food, and a little goes a long way toward meeting your amino acid and protein requirements. Greek yogurt contains even more protein than regular yogurt as well.
4. Eggs. Since cutting out meat, eggs have really become a staple for me. One egg has 6 grams of protein and great for people who do strenuous exercise because they contain Vitamin B­₁₂, which is involved in processes that include muscle contraction and multiple metabolic processes. The greatest source of protein in the egg is found in the white, but eating the yolk is completely okay because it is loaded with vitamins!

Finding new ways to change up your diet keeps things fresh. You should enjoy what you eat and feel good because of it. Food is our fuel, so might as well put healthy, organic and clean things into our engine. Now if you start this meatless lifestyle, make sure you eat eating a mix of colors to get different types of heath-promoting, free-radical-fighting antioxidants.

Brittany Fleck is a sophomore majoring in human development and aging. Her column, “B-Flecksible,” runs Fridays.