flexitarians | Health Topics | NutritionFacts.org

20 videos

Topic summary contributed by volunteer(s): Paul

A “flexitarian” is a “flexible vegetarian,” meaning someone who eats meat sparingly. Various studies tells us that this strategy for health is better than the standard American diet, but may not be as optimal as an even more whole-food, plant-based diet. This is partially due to higher cholesterol, saturated fat, and trans fat intake compared to vegans. Switching from eating beef to consuming chicken or fish does not lower cholesterol. The largest study ever indicated that meat intake may increase total mortality, the risk of developing diabetes and prediabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis, heart disease, cataracts, fibromyalgia, lymphoma, metabolic syndrome, and many other common diseases. Although flexitarians do live longer than those eating the standard American diet, vegetarians live longer than flexitarians, as long as they get enough B12. Plant-based diets contain more than enough protein and often provide more nutrients than omnivorous diets.

Those eating whole-food, plant-based diets have significantly lower levels of IGF-1, steroid sex hormones, and industrial pollutants than those just eating vegetarian. Cutting down on meat may also be better for the environment.

The information on this page has been compiled from the research presented in the videos listed. Sources for each video can be found by going to the video’s page and clicking on the Sources Cited tab.

All Videos for Flexitarians

How Not To Die from – High Blood Pressure

How Not to Die from High Blood Pressure

How might we prevent and reverse hypertension, the number-one risk factor for death in the world?

The Palatability of Cancer Prevention

The Palatability of Cancer Prevention

Dietary guidelines often patronizingly recommend what is considered acceptable or achievable, rather than what the best available balance of evidence suggests is best.

Diet and Climate Change: Cooking Up a Storm

While epidemics of chronic disease are currently by far our leading causes of death, global warming is considered a looming public health threat. How can we eat to combat dietary diseases and greenhouse gas emissions at the same time?

Switching from Beef to Chicken & Fish May Not Lower Cholesterol

Switching from Beef to Chicken & Fish May Not Lower Cholesterol

The negative impact of red meat on our cholesterol profile may be similar to that of white meat.

Do Flexitarians Live Longer?

Do Flexitarians Live Longer?

Does just reducing one’s intake of meat, dairy, and eggs significantly reduce mortality?

Plant-Based Diets and Diabetes

Plant-Based Diets and Diabetes

We’ve known for a half century that plant-based diets are associated with lower diabetes risk, but how low does one have to optimally go on animal product and junk food consumption?

Do Vegetarians Get Enough Protein?

Do Vegetarians Get Enough Protein?

Nutritional quality indices show plant-based diets are the healthiest, but do vegetarians and vegans reach the recommended daily intake of protein?

Tell Your Doctor If You Eat Grapefruit

Tell Your Doctor if You Eat Grapefruit

The role white and pink (red) grapefruit may play in weight loss and cholesterol control, as well as the suppression of drug-clearance enzymes within the body.

Heart Disease Starts in Childhood

By age 10, nearly all kids have fatty streaks in their arteries. This is the first sign of atherosclerosis, the leading cause of death in the United States. So the question for most of us is not whether we should eat healthy to prevent heart disease, but whether we want to reverse the heart disease we may already have.

person eating salad

Methionine Restriction as a Life-Extension Strategy

Plant-based diets may prove to be a useful nutrition strategy in both cancer growth control as well as lifespan extension, because these diets are naturally lower in methionine.

More than an Apple a Day: Preventing the Most Common Diseases

Dr. Greger has scoured the world’s scholarly literature on clinical nutrition, and developed this brand-new live presentation on the latest in cutting-edge research on how a healthy diet can affect some of our most common medical conditions.

Fibromyalgia vs. Mostly Raw & Mostly Vegetarian Diets

How plant-based does one’s diet need to be in order to effectively treat fibromyalgia?

Fibromyalgia vs. Vegetarian and Raw Vegan Diets

Plant-based diets may be effective for the treatment of fibromyalgia, a painful condition suffered by millions.

Metabolic Syndrome and Plant-Based Diets

Plant-based diets appear to protect against metabolic syndrome, also known as syndrome X, which is characterized by the so-called “deadly quartet”—abdominal obesity, high fasting sugars, high triglycerides, and high blood pressure.

variety of fruits and vegetables

How Plant-Based to Lower IGF-1?

Those eating vegan had significantly lower IGF-1 levels and higher IGF-binding proteins than those just eating vegetarian, suggesting that the more plant-based one’s diet becomes, the lower one’s risk of fueling growth hormone-dependent cancer growth.

Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death

Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death

Death in America is largely a foodborne illness. Focusing on studies published just over the last year in peer-reviewed scientific medical journals, Dr. Greger offers practical advice on how best to feed ourselves and our families to prevent, treat, and even reverse many of the top 15 killers in the United States.

Dietary Treatment of Crohn's Disease

Dietary Treatment of Crohn’s Disease

Meat (including fish), cheese, and animal protein intake in general have been associated with an increased risk of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In the meantime, plant-based diets may not only help prevent such conditions, but treat them as well, resulting in the longest recorded remission rates for Crohn’s disease.

Preventing Cataracts with Diet

Preventing Cataracts with Diet

Risk of developing cataracts was compared in meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians, and vegans.

woman's hands holding package of chicken

EPIC Findings on Lymphoma

In a study of a half million people, which was most associated with the risk of developing lymphoma? Red meat, processed meat, poultry, offal, eggs, or milk?

Daily source of vitamin B12

Daily Source of Vitamin B12

Fortified foods, such as some breakfast cereals and types of nutritional yeast, can provide another cholesterol-free source of vitamin B12.

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