Why All The Recipes In Mary McCartney Serves It Up Are Vegetarian

Living a vegetarian lifestyle is nothing new. A History report cites how everyone's favorite math whiz kid and Greek philosopher, Pythagoras, was celebrated as the "father of vegetarianism." For centuries, his primarily vegetable and meatless diet was called the Pythagorean diet until about the mid-1800s when modern-day vegetarianism began. History notes that the famed philosopher believed that everything had a soul, and for ethical reasons, he felt he shouldn't eat meat. This seems to be something that he and Mary McCartney have in common. 

The cookbook author and animal activist believes that eating a meat-free lifestyle not only protects animals, but is also good for the environment, Yahoo! reports. For this reason, her show Mary McCartney Serves It Up, streaming on Discovery+, features vegetarian dishes. She notes that growing up, she and her family lived a vegetarian lifestyle as both her parents began eating meat-free in the 1970s. In an interview with CBS, McCartney reveals that her cooking show is looking to make eating more plant-based meals easy, simple, and non-judgmental.

Something that the famed photographer also mentions is implementing practices like "meat-free Mondays" in an effort to help reduce everyone's overall carbon footprint in the world, per Billboard. In addition to all the environmental benefits that eating a vegetarian lifestyle possesses, Medical News Today adds that there are a slew of overall health benefits that can be gained as well because plant-based diets are higher in antioxidants and fiber intake. According to the publication, vegetarian diets have also shown to reduce the risk of people developing things like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and keep them from becoming obese. 

However, if you are not careful to get all the daily recommended nutrients needed for a strong and healthy body, you could be in trouble. A Harvard Medical School paper explains that eating a vegetarian diet that isn't filling your body with the necessary amount of calcium could make it vulnerable to bone fractures. But, the report adds that it is possible to level out this concern by eating more calcium-rich vegetables like bok choy, broccoli, collards, and kale.