In a new study, scientists analysed dozens of papers to define a flexitarian diet and found that its alignment with national dietary guidelines differs greatly.
‘Flexitarian’ is among the more loosely characterised dietary terms – until now.
Researchers from the US synthesised 62 studies to come up with a definition for flexitarianism, which involves eating meat, dairy, eggs or seafood at least once a month, but less than once every week.
The study, published in the Nutrients journal, describes how flexitarianism emerged in the early 2000s, before entering the mainstream with Dawn Jackson Blatner’s 2010 book, The Flexitarian Diet (which termed it as a “mostly vegetarian” eating pattern).
“Despite the interest in plant-based eating that still includes some animal-source foods, relatively little research has been dedicated to defining flexitarian dietary patterns, especially patterns that include lower amounts of animal-sourced foods but still meet nutrient needs for average consumers,” the researchers argue.
Meatless Mondays don’t fit flexitarian definition
The review outlines how flexitarian diets have been seen as a potential strategy to help consumers reduce their consumption of animal products, without eliminating them entirely. That being said, this eating pattern can apply to a variety of intakes, and so is primarily self-defined.
This is why, in nutrition science studies, there are several other terms used to define flexitarianism, including ‘semi-vegetarian’, ‘flexible vegetarian’, ‘meat reducers’, and ‘reducetarian’.
Blatner described it as a “casual vegetarian” diet with mostly plant-based food and the flexibility to add meat occasionally. She identified three levels of adherence: beginner flexitarians have two meatless days a week, advanced followers limit meat intake to three or four days, and experts avoid it on five out of seven days.
Under the ‘more than once a month, less than once a week’ definition set by this study, choosing to reduce meat on one day of the week – as is the case with Meatless Mondays – doesn’t fit the flexitarian bill. Still, at least for Americans, it could help decrease the amount of meat they eat.
The researchers assessed national dietary recommendations from 42 countries and found that none explicitly name a flexitarian diet. However, many guidelines support such a pattern, particularly by advising people to cut back on red meat.
This is also a suggestion in the guidelines drafted by scientists in the US, which are now being reviewed by the Department of Agriculture ahead of publication at the end of the year. Notably, the lead author of this study, Julie Hess, works as a research nutritionist at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service.
Do flexitarian diets meet national guidelines?
The closest reference to a flexitarian diet in national guidelines comes from Sri Lanka, which mentions a ‘semi-vegetarian’ diet that involves mainly plant-based eating with occasional consumption of animal products in small amounts. This indicates that “there may be broader acceptance of that term in the scientific literature than ‘flexitarian’”, the authors write.
Several other dietary recommendations mention vegetarianism or meat reduction. Spain suggests limiting meat to three servings a week, while Germany emphasises eating 75% plant-based. Sri Lanka itself advises that two-thirds of protein consumption should come from plants.
Other countries have indicated the possibility of following flexitarian diets, including Australia, the Netherlands, the UK, Japan, and India. Saudi Arabia’s guidelines recommend daily dairy consumption though no specific intake for eggs, noting that meat and substitutes (including beans and peanut butter) should be eaten daily – this makes flexitarianism feasible, even if it isn’t explicitly recommended.
On the flip side, cutting back on animal products doesn’t align with other national guidelines. Albania advises daily consumption of meat or fish, eggs or cheese, and three portions of other dairy, and Bangladesh and Ethiopia recommend eating dairy, meat, seafood and eggs every day.
In fact, few countries have guidelines that would enable flexitarian diets with limited dairy intake. However, the definition of dairy groups does include plant-based alternatives in some nations. Australia and Oman recommend fortified non-dairy milks, while New Zealand and the Nordic countries list these as nutritional equivalents to dairy. The UK lists unsweetened and fortified soy milk as an option, and the US has both fortified soy milk and soy yoghurt in its dairy group.
“Limiting intake of red meat, poultry, and sometimes eggs to a certain number of servings per week was a much more frequent recommendation in the sets of dietary guidance analysed,” the researchers found. “Reducing intake of one or both foods may be a more acceptable entry to flexitarian dietary patterns than reducing dairy foods.”
The study comes as more and more countries recommend limiting meat and dairy in favour of plant-based food, including Switzerland, Finland, Portugal, Austria, Norway, and the US.
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