Health gem

If you do one thing this week . . . go veggie on Mondays

For some people, being a full-blown vegetarian is hard to swallow. If you love bacon and sausages, the smell of them cooking could put a rapid end to your veggie aspirations.

But perhaps you could take a few pointers from the “meat-free Monday” movement, which encourages people to go vegetarian for that day every week.

It’s one way to help cut back on the consumption of fatty red and processed meats, which have been associated with increased risk of certain cancers.

And if you embrace the concept with a bit of gusto, you could use it as an opportunity to get creative in the kitchen each Monday and develop a whole new repertoire of healthy vegetarian meals.

The idea has the stamp of approval from celebrities such as Paul McCartney, whose late wife Linda wrote a number of cookbooks that show simply how to make vegetarian meals for the family.

See meatfreemondays.com and meatlessmonday.com for ways to become veggie for a day.