VEGETARIAN AND VEGAN DIETS
A vegetarian menu is a powerful and pleasurable way to
achieve good health. The vegetarian eating pattern is based on a wide
variety of foods that are satisfying, delicious, and healthful.
Vegetarians avoid meat, fish, and
poultry. Those who include dairy products and eggs in their diets are
called lacto-ovo vegetarians.
Vegans eat no meat, fish, poultry,
eggs, or dairy products. While there is a considerable advantage to a
lacto-ovo vegetarian pattern, vegan diets are the most healthful of
all, reducing risk of a broad range of health concerns.
If you are making the switch to a vegetarian diet for
its health benefits, you’ll be pleased to find that there is a
wonderful additional benefit to vegetarian eating:
It’s a delicious and fun way to explore new
foods.
A vegetarian meal can be as familiar as spaghetti
with marinara sauce,
as comforting as a bowl of rich, potato soup,
or as exotic as grilled polenta with Portobello
mushrooms.
The switch to a vegetarian diet is easier than you
might think. Most people, whether vegetarians or meat eaters,
typically use a limited variety of recipes; the average family eats
only eight or nine different dinners repeatedly.
You can use a simple, three-step method to come up
with nine vegetarian dinner menus that you enjoy and can prepare
easily.
After that, coming up with vegetarian options for
breakfast and lunch is easy. Try muffins with fruit spread,
cholesterol free French toast, or cereal for breakfasts.
Sandwiches, with spreads like hummus or
white bean pate with lemon and garlic, or dinner leftovers all make
great lunches. First, think of three vegetarian meals that you
already enjoy.
Common ones
are tofu and vegetable stir-fries,
vegetable stew, or pasta primavera. Second, think of three recipes you
prepare regularly that can easily be adapted to a vegetarian menu. For
example, a favorite chili recipe can be made with all of the same
ingredients; just replace the meat with beans or texturized vegetable
protein.
Enjoy bean burritos
(using canned vegetarian refried beans) instead of beef burritos,
veggie burgers instead of hamburgers, and
from the bones.
Replacing
animal products with plant foods reduces the amount of calcium lost.
This may help to explain why people who live in countries where the
typical diet is plant based have little osteoporosis, even when
calcium intake is lower than that in dairy-consuming countries.
It’s easy to plan vegetarian diets that meet all your
nutrient needs. Grains, beans, and vegetables are rich in protein and
iron. Green leafy vegetables, beans, lentils, tofu, corn tortillas,
and nuts are excellent sources of calcium, as are enriched soymilk and
fortified juices.
Vitamin D is normally made in the body when sun shines
on the skin. People who are dark-skinned or live at northern
latitudes have some difficulty producing vitamin D year-round.
Vitamin D can easily be obtained from fortified foods.
Some sources are commercial breakfast cereals, soymilk, other
supplemental products, and multivitamins.
Regular intake of vitamin B
Third, check out some vegetarian cookbooks from the
library and experiment with the recipes for a week or so until you
find three new recipes that are delicious and easy to make. Just like
that, with minimal changes to your menus, you will have nine
vegetarian dinners.
