Following a vegetarian diet shouldn't require brain surgery. But, with the abundance of food-related information that many of us attempt to constantly filter, it's easy to get up caught up in the over-analysis of healthy eating and good nutrition when you're attempting to make a change in your life or in your diet. Whether you're already an ardent vegetarian, a newcomer to the plant-based dietary practice, or a dabbler in shying away from meat, poultry, fish and seafood, you've likely contemplated how to get all your daily essential nutrients and what exactly those fundamental nutrients are. Jonathan Safran Foer's new book, Eating Animals, has caused quite a stir around vegetarianism, so it might be useful to take a moment to outline the most basic of take-home messages for optimal eating and nutrition when following a vegetarian diet.
Disclaimer: The following points address a vegetarian diet, a plant-based diet that may also include diary products, eggs and some fish if you're a pescetarian. If you're seeking out guidelines for a vegan diet (strictly zero animal products), much of the below still applies.
1. Protein. Surprisingly, vegetarians have a range of protein options. Aside from fish, eggs and dairy products like milk, yogurt and cheese, don't forget about beans and legumes, quinoa, nuts and nut butters, tofu, edamame, soy milk, soy yogurt and cheese, and tempeh (fermented soybeans) and seitan (protein from wheat gluten). Yes, it's true that animal-sources of protein are 'complete' proteins and contain all the essential amino acids our bodies need. You can do just fine however, with a varied vegetarian diet that incorporates protein, complex carbs and healthy fats. And keep in mind that soybeans (tofu, soy milk etc.) and quinoa are actually two plant-sources of complete protein. I'd recommend being cautious around more processed forms of vegetarian or soy protein. Your body tends to do best with foods that are fewest in ingredients and that are as close to the original source as possible. So if a veggie burger has more than 3 to 5 ingredients you can't pronounce or don't recognize, leave it on the grocery shelf.
2. Carbohydrates. Carbs play an important part of any diet, but their quality makes a difference when it comes to nutrient value. To ensure you're getting a good variety of vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, fiber and a steady source of slow-burning energy, reach for complex carbohydrates and whole grains. Vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike have a lengthy list to choose from. Here's a few good picks among others: brown and wild rice, barley, quinoa, millet, wheatberries, bulgur, whole wheat couscous, whole grain breads and cereals, oats, beans and legumes (lentils, chickpeas, kidney, black and white beans), starchier vegetables like sweet potatoes and regular potatoes, winter squashes (butternut and acorn squash, pumpkin) and of course whole wheat pasta, though I will say that I'm personally a sucker for really fantastic regular semolina pasta on occasion. Whole grain and complex carbs help prevent cardiovascular disease, lower cholesterol, improve digestion, and are excellent sources of energy.
3. Healthy fats. Another dietary staple, healthy fats help boost heart health and brain function, help lower cholesterol and blood pressure, slow down the aging-process, and fill us up fast to improve satiety. Reach for mono- and poly-unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids such as: avocado, heart-healthy oils (like olive, sunflower, grapeseed and canola), walnuts and other nuts, seeds, flaxseed and fatty fish (if you're a pescetarian) like salmon, mackerel, albacore tuna and sardines.
4. Think "balance" at meals. If you're looking for the greatest satisfaction and longer-lasting satiety, look no further than a well-balanced plate at mealtimes. Eating and providing our bodies with good quality nourishment should be easy, not mind-boggling. Think back to your childhood (or the idyllic baby-boomer dinner plate). You've got some vegetables going on, ideally about half of your plate, some sort of healthful carbohydrate, and a serving of a lean--vegetarian--protein source. Those three items form a triumvirate at the table to quell hunger and provide all your staple nutrients in one fell swoop.
5. Quality, fresh food is king. Vegetarian or not, you'll get the biggest bang for your nutritional buck with fresh, whole foods. As Michael Pollan states, "Don't eat anything your great-great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food" - even if it is "vegetarian." Would she eat mashed potatoes that are made from flakes out of a box? Probably not.
6. If weight loss is a goal, then why aren't you losing? This may sound harsh, but if you're seeking to shed a few extra pounds while following a vegetarian diet, but the scale's not budging, you're likely just eating too much. A mountainous plate of pasta with plain marinara sauce does not a well-balanced vegetarian diet make. Just because you've cut meat out of your diet, doesn't necessarily mean weight will fall off. Go back to point 4 - balance and the triumvirate on your plate - and then aim to skim back on portion sizes by at least 15 to 25 percent.
7. Nutrients you might be missing: iron, calcium and vitamin B12.
Here's the one potential, but easily avoidable, trouble spot with vegetarian diets: ensuring you're consuming sufficient iron, calcium and vitamin B12. Iron is best absorbed from animal sources, but there are plenty of good plant-based sources including soybeans, lentils, spinach, quinoa, tofu and Swiss chard to choose from. You get an additional boost in iron absorption when also consuming good amounts of vitamin C, which is usually fairly prevalent in a vegetarian diet thanks to fruits and vegetables. A low-intake of iron-rich foods can lead to anemia.
As for calcium, you'll find it in soy, rice and almond milk, soy yogurt and cheese, tofu, edamame, black beans, dark leafy greens, calcium-fortified OJ and even almonds. These items should appear frequently in your diet to ensure you're hitting calcium targets. Lastly, you've got vitamin B12, which is a little tricky because it's primarily found in meat, dairy products and eggs. B12 is important to prevent anemia and is required to form red blood cells and maintain a healthy nervous system. If you're a dairy and egg-eating vegetarian, you don't have too much to worry about. Many vegetarian and vegan products are now fortified with B12 including soy milk, vegetable stocks and breakfast cereals. Consult your doctor or a registered dietitian if you feel like you're falling short on any one of the above and may require a dietary supplement.
Follow Marissa Lippert on Twitter: www.twitter.com/nourishnyc
This Huffpost comment-system posted the following out-of-sequence (after, not before, PART 2)
PART 1
Your web-reference proves nothing.
(1) It cites no studies. It is pop pseudoscience.
(2) It addresses only diseases that correlate positively with meat-eating—none of the ills that correlate positively with veganism.
(3) Its term "vegetarian" is sorely ambiguous. To many people's perception, one is a "vegetarian" if one eats no meat/fowl but eats dairy, eggs, fish/shellfish.
------------
Fish/shellfish eating "vegetarians" constitute far the healthiest, longest-lived group:
http://okinawa-diet.com/pdf/okinawa_diet_food_pyramid.pdf
http://news.cornell.edu/chronicle/96/1.18.96/AsianDiet.html
http://okicent.org/
http://associatedcontent.com/article/3541/the_okinawa_diet_the_key_to_longevity.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinawa_diet
PURE VEGETARIANISM IS DANGEROUS. Just 1 trouble is B12 deficiency.
B12 deficiency is a HUGE health-threat.
Symptoms:
* Anemia & bone-marrow promegaloblastosis (megaloblastic anemia)
* Neurological ills
* Gastrointestinal ills
Neurological ills (myelosis funicularis):
* Impaired sense of deep touch/pressure/vibration; loss of sense of touch; bad, persistent paresthesias
* Ataxia, dorsal cord
* Ebbing or utter loss of deep muscle/tendon reflex
* Pathological reflexes (Babinski, Rossolimo...)
* Severe paresis
* irritability, concentration-loss, depression, suicide-tendency
* paraphrenia
CONTINUED
03:51 PM on 11/14/2009
Part 1 of 2
Your reference's pro-canola text is false—a corrupt, canola-industry text. It recognizes GMO's have tainted near-all rapeseed agriculture, but does not acknowledge the grave health-threats of GMOs. Rather it cites the captured, corrupt FDA & the captured, corrupt ADA. To support its corrupting industrial contributors, the ADA utters false assertions like organic produce is not better than commercial, or Aspartame is not toxic, or GMO's are safe:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/letter/?letter_KEY=1152
http://gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977707994#
http://nutritionhorizon.com/home/viewarticle.rails?type=&allarticles=&source=&articleId=52485&index=9&typeid=0&s.pageNo=2&s.SubType=&i.selectedItems=&s.SubTypeIdList%5B0%5D=5&s.SubTypeIdList%5B1%5D=7&s.SubTypeIdList%5B2%5D=8&s.SubTypeIdList%5B3%5D=9&s.SubTypeIdList%5B4%5D=10&s.SubTypeIdList%5B5%5D=19&s.SubTypeIdList%5B6%5D=21&s.SortBy=&s.SortDirection=True&go_SortBy=&go_SortDirection=True
http://eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/advocacy_abiotechnology_ENU_HTML.htm
Aspartame & other GMOs threaten human health gravely. See the following sources AND sources they cite.
http://responsibletechnology.org/GMFree/HealthRisks/index.cfm
http://responsibletechnology.org/Public/GeneticRoulette/HealthRisksofGMFoodsSummaryDebate/index.cfm
http://responsibletechnology.org/GMFree/HealthRisks/RecentGovernmentStudies/index.cfm
http://responsibletechnology.org/GMFree/HealthRisks/HigherRisksforChildren/index.cfm
http://responsibletechnology.org/GMFree/HealthRisks/ArtificialSweeteners/index.cfm
CONTINUED
03:51 PM on 11/14/2009
Part 2 of 2
Your source IS a text of a canola oil industry stooge. Compare it with this canola oil industry text http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/canola.asp, which tries, with falsehoods, half-truths, omissions, and innuendos, to trash another text that showed rapeseed oil toxic:
Your source tries to hide canola's health-threat by saying the health-threat was solely a hoax spread by a widely circulating email. NOt so. Rapeseed oil's ACTUAL health-threats (and they are REAL threats) are shown by legitimate sources that note and decry that email. http://dldewey.com/columns/canola.htm
For a few decades, non-smoker Chinese women have been developing lung-cancer because they do much wok-cooking with canola oil.
Canola oil contains MUCH erucic acid, which is very toxic to humans. Yet the FDA has said canola oil is contains little erucic acid—just as the FDA says GMOs are good, just as it approved DDT, carcinogenic artificial food-colors, and Thalidomide, Paxil, antidepressants, & thousands of other harmful drugs. And, being economically very interested, the Canadian government has issued false assurances that canola oil is safe.
In WWII, rape was the main source of the chemical warfare agent mustard gas.
Rapesee (canola) oil is toxic, even if (as is near-impossible now) it is non-GMO. See, E.G., these sources and those they cite:
http://dldewey.com/columns/canola.htm
http://shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/canola.htm
A vegetarian diet can be a healthy one, but be sure the fats you are eating are the ones that your body needs.
One of the best sources of information on fats in the diet I have found is Susan Allport's book "The Queen of Fats." She has a web site (http://susanallport.com/) with links to free articles that she has published that lay out the gist of what is in her book, so you don't need to buy it to learn what you need to know. I'm not associated with Ms. Allport, but I am a fan of her work.
Canola is one of two cultivars of rapeseed or Brassica campestris (Brassica napus L. and B. campestris L.). Their seeds are used to produce edible oil that is fit for human consumption because it has lower levels of erucic acid than traditional rapeseed oils and to produce livestock feed because it has reduced levels of the toxin glucosinolates. Canola was originally naturally bred from rapeseed in Canada by Keith Downey and Baldur R. Stefansson in the early 1970s, but it has a very different nutritional profile in addition to much less erucic acid. The name "canola" was derived from "Canadian oil, low acid" in 1978.
You can read the complete, fully-annotated article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canola
Being vegetarian isn't right for everyone. I lost weight and felt much better when I gave up the grains and went back to meat. On the other hand, I do know several skinny vegetarians. I was never one of them.
Listen to your body. And don't feel bad if your body isn't suited to relying on grains and beans instead of meat.
And I have a copy of the Goldbeck's book that I'm not using. I was more of a Laurel's Kitchen and Moosewood fan.
Thank you.
of everything you need to know about healthy food, and in particular vegetarian meals. It's a cook book for recipes, and also includes a break down of nutrients in everything from nuts to grains. You can't go wrong with this book, but I don't always see it in bookstores. You may have to ask to order it. . . well worth it. It's one of those inspirational tomes.
I'd go to the library and check out a dummies book (you're not a dummie) i.e. Vitamins for dummies, Nutrition for dummies, Vegan/Vegetarianism etc. Most dummies books are trustworthy, simple, and they are not gimmicky.
The human digestive system cannot break down raw foods adequately. So, it cannot derive adequate nutrition from a raw food diet.
Also, in many humans, raw food fibre inflames the intestinal tract.
Also, raw food produces a biochemical/physiological/bioenergetic effect that is too cool or cold.
A pure vegetarian diet is dangerous for reasons I put in my earlier comments.
Vegetarianism and Life Insurance Rates -
http://www.lifeinsurancerates.com/vegetarianism-and-rates.html
B12-deficiency ills are known universally in the Medical world. NO references needed.
NO non-animal source can supply enough EFFECTIVE vitamin B12—B12 that will reduce systemic methylmalonic acid & surely prevent ill-effects of B12 deficiency. B12 supplements & food-fortifiers are unreliable, sometimes CUT the effect of effective natural B12, & cause many serious ills, some fatal.
See, E.G., the following & ALSO the sources they cite:
http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200417/000020041704A0374902.php
http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/reprint/125/10/2511.pdf
http://veganhealth.org/b12/meas
http://veganhealth.org/b12/meas#MMARED
http://scienzavegetariana.it/nutrizione/alga_klamath_en.html
http://healthscience.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=508:seaweed-and-b12&catid=102:jeff-novicks-blog&Itemid=267 "
http://donmatesz.blogspot.com/2009/05/dr-mcdougall-on-b-12-study-in-vegan.html
http://veganhealth.org/b12/
http://drugs.com/sfx/vitamin-b12-side-effects.html
http://drugs.com/sfx/cyanocobalamin-b12-side-effects.html
http://bodybuildingforyou.com/vitamins-minerals/vitamin-b12-cobalamin-benefit.html
http://medisave.ca/DrugMoreInfo5586.aspx
http://ehow.com/about_5285618_side-effects-supplements.html
http://veganhealth.org/b12/nocyano#CMD
http://veganhealth.org/b12/vegansources#CYANIDE
http://thehealthguide.org/vitamins/some-surprising-information-on-vitamin-b12-side-effects/
http://women.emedtv.com/vitamin-b12/vitamin-b12-side-effects.html
PART 1
Your web-reference proves nothing.
(1) It cites no studies. It is pop pseudoscience.
(2) It addresses only diseases that correlate positively with meat-eating—none of the ills that correlate positively with veganism.
(3) Its term "vegetarian" is sorely ambiguous. To many people's perception, one is a "vegetarian" if one eats no meat/fowl but eats dairy, eggs, fish/shellfish.
------------
Fish/shellfish eating "vegetarians" constitute far the healthiest, longest-lived group:
http://okinawa-diet.com/pdf/okinawa_diet_food_pyramid.pdf
http://news.cornell.edu/chronicle/96/1.18.96/AsianDiet.html
http://okicent.org/
http://associatedcontent.com/article/3541/the_okinawa_diet_the_key_to_longevity.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinawa_diet
PURE VEGETARIANISM IS DANGEROUS. Just 1 trouble is B12 deficiency.
B12 deficiency is a HUGE health-threat.
Symptoms:
* Anemia & bone-marrow promegaloblastosis (megaloblastic anemia)
* Neurological ills
* Gastrointestinal ills
Neurological ills (myelosis funicularis):
* Impaired sense of deep touch/pressure/vibration; loss of sense of touch; bad, persistent paresthesias
* Ataxia, dorsal cord
* Ebbing or utter loss of deep muscle/tendon reflex
* Pathological reflexes (Babinski, Rossolimo...)
* Severe paresis
* irritability, concentration-loss, depression, suicide-tendency
* paraphrenia
CONTINUED
A lot of what we have been taught about food and nutrition is propaganda. The food pyramid is basically a marketing tool for food companies. Food Lobbyist (many from junk food companies) fight to get their products in the schools. (American News Project has done a mini-documentary on the food lobby.)
Dairy companies and meat companies want you to believe that these products are essential for good health so that they could keep making money. The corn manufacturing industry is very powerful. Look at your labels virtually everything has high fructose CORN syrup or some other type of processed corn. Interesting note: Farmers feed cows corn to make them fatter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxWOCIapC0Y
Some Food for Thought:
Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsH7cO2eHaw
Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5egg0StHw7o
HOW TO START THE RAW FOOD DIET (or how to incorporate more raw foods into our diet)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUUn0odd_cA
So, do not eat spinach. Eat chards & collard greens & kale & endives & watercress instead. They are strong iron & calcium sources. If calcium is a vital concern, then eat seaweeds and sesame seeds, which are the very best calcium sources, much, much better than dairy.
PS> Your name means wolf-goat.