Health & Life Magazine April 2017

DISEASE
PREVENTION
THE CHALLENGES
AND
TRIUMPHS OF
EATING
LESS MEAT
(AND 4 TIPS TO GO PLANT-BASED)
BY WAJEEHA MALIK
In March 2015, I traveled to Indonesia. It was my
sophomore year at university, which meant that I was a
student living on a student budget, and eating the kind
of food most students eat (fast food, a lot of fast food).
In Indonesia, I was fortunate enough to be surrounded
by a variety of delicious traditional dishes, like rice
cakes, grilled fish, tofu-based dishes, and a wide range
of fried rice. Although there were a lot of chicken and
meat dishes, I was more intrigued by the vegetarian and
pescatarian options.
H
aving lived in Pakistan
and Qatar, I had not
often been exposed
to vegetarian food as
the main entrée. Sure,
vegetables and fish were
a part of my diet, but they
were by no means the
major staple. In my experience, both Pakistani
and Qatari cuisines are predominantly meat
based, unless someone actively chooses to
incorporate a wider variety of food in their
diet. During the week I was in Indonesia, I
decided to follow in the footsteps of some
of my fellow travelers and embrace the
vegetarian lifestyle. Well, mostly vegetarian.
I didn’t want to cut meat out from my diet all
of a sudden, so I decided to continue eating
seafood, while avoiding chicken, beef, mutton
and other kinds of meats.
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HEALTH AND LIFE