Reduce or avoid meat in the diet: how to balance the need for proteins

If you want to reduce or eliminate meat from your diet, the same question always arises: how to replace meat?

Whether you choose to opt for a low-meat consumption diet, or if you opt for the choice of completely eliminating it from your diet (see vegetarian or vegan diets), the doubt is always the case. same: how to replace meat?

We know that proteins (in which meat is abundant) are important for our health, and become even more so in some specific conditions. For example, in pregnancy, the need for protein increases, as well as in the case of a lot of physical activity. So let’s see what are the meat substitute foods that can be used while respecting the right diet.

How to replace animal proteins

Animal proteins have always been considered better than those contained in vegetables, but in reality this is not the case. The truth is that animal and vegetable proteins differ in the amino acids contained in them.

However, we know that using legumes instead of meat in a balanced diet can make up for the lack of animal proteins.

However, the proteins contained in vegetables are absorbed by our body to a lesser extent, when compared to animal proteins. For this reason, it is necessary to balance the diet in order to introduce a greater intake of vegetable proteins to reach the same level as those obtained with a meat-based meal.

How to replace meat if you play sports

Even for athletes it is possible to follow a meat-free diet, however, especially in this case, it is important to be followed in the diet by a professional and not to improvise. It is possible to use cereals, legumes and related foods as a substitute for meat, but it is important that the doses of the individual foods are balanced.

As we mentioned before, in fact, every food contains different proteins by their amino acid content. For this reason, each food will guarantee the right amount of some amino acids and not others. In the case of vegetables, for example, cereals contain little tryptophan and lysine , of which, on the other hand, legumes are rich.

The right diet that guarantees the correct protein intake and also the right amount of the various amino acids necessary for the body, must therefore be set in order to take these values ​​into account.