Are you thinking about adding a meatless dinner to your family menu?  Or, are you considering making the change for an entire day instead of just a single meal?  There are actually quite a few benefits to making this dietary change for your family.  

It doesn’t have to be an all or nothing decision either (I know all of you meat and potato people are starting to panic), you can simply do a meatless day once a week or once a month even and it can have benefits.  If you are still aren’t convinced, here are 5 reasons to have meatless Mondays:

1. To cut your grocery budget.  Let’s face it, you come to our site to help you save money, not for tips on your health, right?  I mean those are always great, but MONEY SAVING IS KEY! Changing your family’s monthly food menu to include meatless Monday can easily add an extra $500 per year to your food budget!  This is a very conservative estimate, most families end up saving even more.
2. Reduced risk of diabetes.  Research has shown that plant based diets can help you to reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.  This is because when you cut meat out of your diet you are also cutting down on calories which leads to weight loss or better ability to maintain your current healthy weight, which helps reduce your risk of diabetes.
3. Reduced risk of obesity.  Similar to the notes listed above, cutting back on your meat consumption helps to reduce your chances of obesity.  
4. Lowered cancer risk.  Studies have shown that your risk of cancer decreases when you decrease the amount of red and processed red meat you consume.
5. Better for the environment.  From killing fewer cows to reducing greenhouses gases and saving water, eating less meat really does benefit the environment.  For example, did you know that 1850 gallons of water are needed throughout the production of one pound of beef?  That can be compared to the less than 40 gallons it takes throughout the production of a single pound of vegetables.  That is over 1500 gallons difference for the same amount of food.