Health Research About Meatless Monday

Most Americans eat one and a half times more protein than the recommended dietary allowance each day.¹ Excessive consumption of red and processed meat has been linked with a variety of chronic diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and cancer. One study showed that the consumption of processed meats is associated with 42 percent higher incidence of coronary heart disease and 19 percent higher risk of diabetes.²

There are health benefits of adding more plant-based foods, and reducing meat consumption. Substituting more plant-based foods for meat is more likely to result in a healthier body weight.^3,4 Cutting down on at least one half serving of red meat every day can decrease the risk of developing diabetes by nearly 15 percent.⁵ Eating more plant-based foods and cutting back on red and processed meats can also protect kidneys.^6,7

Meals rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes contain natural antioxidants that benefit cardio-health.^8,9 Those who regularly consume chickpeas and/or hummus may help prevent or offset their development and progression of several chronic diseases (cardiovascular disease, type-2 diabetes) and promote healthier, functional outcomes (e.g. weight management).¹⁰ Eating legumes 3-4 times/week could lower the risk of heart disease by 10 percent.^11,12 Nuts are a rich source of protein and may help improve concentration.^13,14

For more tips and resources to join the Meatless Monday movement, visit the Meatless Monday Resources page.

For more information about how a Monday cue can support behavior change, visit The Monday Campaigns Research page.

[1] What We Eat in America, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2009-2010.

https://www.ars.usda.gov/ARSUserFiles/80400530/pdf/0910/Table_5_EIN_GEN_09.pdf

[2] Micha R, Wallace SK, Mozaffarian D. Red and Processed Meat Consumption and Risk of Incident Coronary Heart Disease, Stroke, and Diabetes Mellitus. Circulation 2010;121(21):2271–83.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20479151

[3] Ledoux TA, Hingle MD, Baranowski T. Relationship of fruit and vegetable intake with adiposity: a systematic review. Obesity Reviews. 2011; 12(5):e143-50. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-789X.2010.00786.x

[4] Romaguera et al. Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet is Associated with Lower Abdominal Adiposity in European Men and Women. Journal of Nutrition. 2009;139(9):1728-1737. https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/139/9/1728/4670537

[5] Schwingshackl, L., Hoffmann, G., Lampousi, AM. et al. Eur J Epidemiol (2017). doi:10.1007/s10654-017-0246-y

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-017-0246-y

[6] Kalantar-Sadeh K, Fouque D. Nutritional management of chronic kidney disease. New Eng J Med. 2017;377:1765-1776. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1700312

[7] Rebholz CM, Crews DC, Grams ME, et al. DASH (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) diet and risk of subsequent kidney disease. Am J Kidney Dis. 2016;68(6):853-861. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5123940/

[8] Wang S, Melnyk JP, Tsao R, Marcone MF. How natural dietary antioxidants in fruits, vegetables and legumes promote vascular health. Food Res Int 2011;44(1):14–22. http://www.agr.gc.ca/eng/abstract/?id=21168000000102

[9] Crowe, F. L., Appleby, P. N., Travis, R. C., & Key, T. J. (2013). Risk of hospitalization or death from ischemic heart disease among British vegetarians and nonvegetarians: results from the EPIC-Oxford cohort study. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 97(3), 597-603.

[10] Wallace TC, Murray R, Zelman KM. The Nutritional Value and Health Benefits of Chickpeas and Hummus. Nutrients. 2016;8(12):766. doi:10.3390/nu8120766

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5188421/

[11] Marventano, S., Izquierdo Pulido, M., Sánchez-González, C., Godos, J., Speciani, A., Galvano, F., & Grosso, G. (2017). Legume consumption and CVD risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Public Health Nutrition, 20(2), 245-254.

[12] Bechthold, A., Boeing, H., Schwedhelm, C., Hoffmann, G., Knüppel, S., Iqbal, K., . . . Schwingshackl, L. (2017). Food groups and risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and heart failure: A systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 1-20.

[13] Arab, L. & Ang, A. A cross sectional study of the association between walnut consumption and cognitive function among adult us populations represented in NHANES. J Nutr Health Aging (2015) 19: 284. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-014-0569-2

[14] Afshin, et al. (2014). Consumption of nuts and legumes and risk of incident ischemic heart disease, stroke, and diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 100, Issue 1, 1 July 2014, Pages 278–288. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.113.076901