A well-planned vegetarian diet is a healthy way to meet your nutritional needs. Find out what you need to know about a plant-based diet.
Vegetarian diets are popular. Reasons for following a vegetarian diet are varied but include health benefits, such as reducing your risk of heart disease, diabetes and some cancers.
Yet some vegetarians rely too heavily on processed foods, which can be high in calories, sugar, fat and sodium. And they may not eat enough fruits, vegetables, whole grains and calcium-rich foods, thus missing out on the nutrients they provide.
However, with a little planning a vegetarian diet can meet the needs of people of all ages, including children, teenagers, and pregnant or breast-feeding women. The key is to be aware of your nutritional needs so that you plan a diet that meets them.
When people think about a vegetarian diet, they typically think about a diet that doesn't include meat, poultry or fish. But vegetarian diets vary in what foods they include and exclude:
- Lacto-vegetarian diets exclude meat, fish, poultry and eggs, as well as foods that contain them. Dairy products, such as milk, cheese, yogurt and butter, are included.
- Ovo-vegetarian diets exclude meat, poultry, seafood and dairy products, but allow eggs.
- Lacto-ovo vegetarian diets exclude meat, fish and poultry, but allow dairy products and eggs.
- Pescatarian diets exclude meat and poultry, dairy, and eggs, but allow fish.
- Pollotarian diets exclude meat, dairy and fish, but allow poultry.
- Vegan diets exclude meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy products — and foods that contain these products.
Some people follow a semi-vegetarian diet — also called a flexitarian diet — which is primarily a plant-based diet but includes meat, dairy, eggs, poultry and fish on occasion or in small quantities.
The key to a healthy vegetarian diet — like any diet — is to include a variety of foods. No single food can provide all the nutrients your body needs.
Some (Adult) recommendations
Vegetables: 2 ½ cups per day
Dark green 1 ½ cups per week
Red and Orange 5 ½ cups per week
Beans and Peas 3 cups per week
Starchy foods 5 cups per week
Fruits 2 cups per day
Grains 170gm per day
Whole grains 100gm per day
Processed (refined) grains LESS THAN 80gm per day
Dairy 3 cups per day
Protein foods 100gm per day (meat substitutes, legumes, lentils, nuts, seeds, soy products)
Oils 27gm per day
Keep added sugars, solid fats, refined sugars to a minimum
Some other essentials
Calcium: found in milk and dairy products, but also in dark green vegetables such as Kale, Broccoli, Turnips, Cabbage, Bok Choi.
Vitamin B12: mostly found in animal proteins, vegetarian or vegan sources include fortified soy products and vitamin enriched cereals.
Iron: Dried beans and peas, lentils, enriched cereals, whole-grain products, dark leafy green vegetables, and dried fruit are good sources of iron. Because iron isn't as easily absorbed from plant sources, the recommended intake of iron for vegetarians is almost double that recommended for nonvegetarians. To help your body absorb iron, eat foods rich in vitamin C, such as strawberries, citrus fruits, tomatoes, cabbage and broccoli, at the same time as you're eating iron-containing foods.
Iodine: Vegetarian diets are very low in iodine. Fortunately a small daily intake of Iodised table salt with meals will take care of this.
Omega-3 fatty acids: Diets that do not include fish and eggs are generally low in active forms of omega-3 fatty acids. Canola oil, soy oil, walnuts, ground flaxseed and soybeans are good sources of essential fatty acids. However, because conversion of plant-based omega-3 to the types used by humans is inefficient, you may want to consider fortified products or supplements or both.
