Flexitarian Diet Cookbook: Discover Delicious Plant-Based Recipes for a Balanced Lifestyle

Flexitarian is a portmanteau of "flexible" and "vegetarian," referring to an individual who follows a primarily but not strictly vegetarian diet, occasionally eating meat or fish (1). Despite the global demands for meat, it appears that there are now a growing number of flexitarian consumers who abstain from eating meat regularly (2). Most consumers can be grouped into meat consumers, meat avoiders, or meat reducers (3). The trend toward flexitarian diets (FDs) appears to reflect consumers who are "meat-reducers," eating meat within meals on some but not every day of the week (3), as with typical "meat-eaters". This definition is most closely in line with that of semi- or demi-vegetarianism. Subsequently, the terms are often used inter-changeably in the literature. For example, in one publication semi-vegetarian diets (SVDs) are defined as those significantly reducing meat intake on at least 3days of the week (4). The FD seems to recognize the fact that meat is an important source of protein, fat, and micronutrients (5, 6), yet also considers the ethical sides, such as the need to avoid intensification and improve animal welfare (7). It also considers evidence that long-term consumption of increasing amounts of red meat and particularly processed meat may increase the risk of mortality, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain forms of cancer such as colon cancer (6). Recently, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified red meat as probably carcinogenic and processed meat carcinogenic to humans (8). Research from NatCen's British Social Attitudes survey found that 29% of people in Britain have reduced the amount of meat that they ate in the past 12months (9). The definition of meat reducers included reductions in all meats except fish. In particular, women (34%) were most likely to reduce their meat intake. Similarly, 39% of 65- to 79-year olds had reduced their red meat intake compared with 19% of 18- to 24-year olds. The report also showed that men (23%) were shifting and reducing their meat intake. Over half (58%) cited health reasons along with saving money, concerns over animal welfare, and food safety (9). The aim of the present paper was to review the evidence looking at the FD/SVDs and health, using defined inclusion criteria. While some discussion papers have been published about vegetarianism (10) and low-meat diets and health (11), no publications have focused on the current trend of flexitarianism or SVDs. The present paper set out to evaluate the evidence-based looking as FD/SVDs from a public health perspective.