5 Diets for Green Senior Living
Most people cringe at the word diet, but no matter if you’re a mom-on-the-go or a senior trying to make the world a little better for your grandkids, these five (and a half) eco-friendly diets will help not only your waistline go down, but your carbon footprint as well.
These diets are simple, easy to manage, and cost effective.
- Real Food Diet – If grandma wouldn’t call it food, neither should you! The Real Food Diet consists of eating foods with little to no unpronounceable ingredients. Many food products in your local grocery store are packed with unnatural and processed ingredients which can retain fats in your body.
- Locavore Diet – Stimulate your body and the local economy by buying foods produced within 100 miles of where you live. Farmer’s Markets are a great source of local fruits and vegetables, as are local bakeries and food co-ops for baked goods and other products. Local foods tend to be less processed, giving your body natural vitamins and proteins it needs to stay healthy and trim fat.
- Eco Atkins Diet - The traditional Atkins Diet is packed with animal fats, far from green and only questionably healthy. But this eco twist follows the same carb-to-protein ratio using plant-based proteins like soy, beans and no-starch gluten instead. Researchers found dieters lost weight and reduced their bad (LDL) cholesterol levels at the same time.
- Vegetarian Diet – Did you know that eating a veggie diet can reduce your carbon footprint by a ton? Your water footprint (as well as water weight) will significantly decrease as well. Keep in mind you can still have eggs and dairy. You also want to make sure to fill up on healthy produce and legumes so you don’t fill up on carbs.
- Vegan Diet – This diet is not for the faint of heart. You need to be dedicated and strong-willed, willing to take the extra step from vegetarian to vegan. Vegan diets are like vegetarian, although they also take out any animal-based products like dairy and eggs.
If the vegetarian and vegan diets are too much for you to handle, try a flex diet. Flex diets designate certain times when you are allowed to eat meat, like the weekends, every other day, etc. It weans meat off your diet slowly but still allows you to indulge those burger cravings that everyone seems to have!
