Many people, including growing numbers of teens and young children, become vegetarians by simply pushing their steak or satay aside and eating the remaining garnishes-perhaps potato salad, a roll or three, and a bowl of lettuce doing the backstroke in dressing. Great news if you have stock in starch and fat; bad news if you eat like this.
"Good intentions gone awry," says Ann Grandjean, executive director of the nonprofit Centre for Human Nutrition in Omaha, Nebraska. "Plenty of vegetarians eat a healthy, well-planned diet. But plenty of others don't do their homework. And that get you into trouble."
THE POWER OF PLANTS.
There is good reason to move towards a plant-centred diet. Science has found a simple cause-and-effect relationship: Reduce the amount of animal fat you eat, and you'll reduce the fat clinging to your arteries. You'll also enjoy a decreased risk of heart disease and possibly lower your odds of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and certain cancers. Some doctors are recommending that people already fighting these illness take up a vegetarian lifestyle to combat their symptoms.
FOUR WAYS TO GO.
Experts classify vegetarians into various categories. The semivegetarians dump red meat but still eat chicken, fish and dairy products. Lacto-ovo-vegetarians eschew meat, fish and poultry, but consume dairy products and eggs. Lacto-vegetarians go a step further and eliminate eggs. At the end of the line, vegans-the pure vegetarians-stick to all-vegetable diets bereft of animal foods, dairy products and eggs.
But as you move from the semivegetarian to the vegan, foods fall away. And as tehy do, you must be increasingly vigilant.
When you drop red meat from your diet, you lose a reliable source of vitamin B-12, iron, protein and zinc. Drop dairy products, and there go your most common calcium sources.
Vegetarian substitutes for these nutrients exist. For example, 250 millilitres of cooked soybeans contain the protein equivalent of 110 gram hamburger or half a litre of milk. For many people, however, the vegetable world is uncharted territory. To get calcium, most people would drink a glass of milk; they wouldn't think to eat calcium-rich bok choy or collard greens.
"It's simple," says Grandjean. "Good nutrition is about variety-any time you start leaving out entire groups of foods, you lose that variety. The more restrictive the diet, the more you need to think about your food choices."
CAUTIONARY TALES.
Being misinformed can lead to deficiencies and serious problems. Subsist on bread and salad alone, as some weight-watching teens are known to do, and you deny your bones the calcium they need to stay strong, gradually increasing your risk of fracture.
How to prevent such deficiencies? Aspiring vegetarians should make sure their daily consumption includes six to 11 servings of bread and cereals; three to five servings of fruit; up to three servings of milk, yogurt, cheese or other calcium-rich foods; two to three servings of beans, nuts, seeds, eggs, tofu or peanut butter; and sparing use of fats, oils and sweets.
"Make sure you're eating foods from all of these groups every day," says Grandjean. "If you are, you're fine. If you're not, you're at risk." While the above guidelines include eggs and dairy products, vegans can still get all their nutrients with wise substitutions.
Another concern: Young vegetarian athletes who train three hours or more, six or seven days a week-college swimmers or marathon runners, for example-need to eat more to replace the calories they burn. If they don't, the body starts cannibalizing itself, using protein in muscles for fuel instead of for growth and rebuilding tissue.
But getting enough calories from plant-based foods can be a problem. A baked potato, 250 millilitres of brown rice and lentils, 125 millilitres of carrots and of peas, an lettuce and tomato salad, a banana, an apple, an orange, and six walnuts total only 890 calories. A college swimmer can burn 6000 calories a day. The solution? Frequent snacking on healtful foods.
The bottom line, say the experts, is that you can stay in tip-top shape on a vegetarian diet as long as you consume enough calories, minerals, proteins and vitamins. Bon appetit!
NO MEAT? NO PROBLEMO!
When you give up meat, you lose a good source of some key nutrients. A vegetarian diet can provide them, you just need to know where to look. See a dietitian to make sure you're getting enough of these nutrients.
Calcium: Men and women ages 25 to 50 need 1000 milligrams a day. One serving of almonds (50 ml) has 378 mg; frozen collard greens (250 ml), 357 mg; soybeans (250 ml), 175 mg, broccoli (125 ml), 42 mg.
Iron: Men 25 to 50 need 8 mg a day; women, 18 mg. One serving of dry roasted cashews (18 nuts) has 8 mg, kidney beans (125 ml), 8 mg, lentils (50 ml), 7 mg.
Protein: Strict vegetarian men may need as much as 0,6 grams per pound of body weight; women 0,5 grams. One serving of soybeans (250 ml) has 29 grams; one meatless burger, 15 grams; chickpeas (125 ml), 15 grams; yogurt (250 ml), 14 grams; peanut butter (30 ml), 8 grams; sunflower seeds (50 ml), 6 grams.
Zinc: Men 25 to 50 need 15 mg a day; women,12 mg. One serving of toasted wheat germ (50 ml) has 19 mg, bran flakes (300 ml), 5 mg; tofu (125 ml), 2 mg.
Vitamin B-12: Significant amounts of B-12 are found only in animal products. Strict vegetarians can get this vitamin from fortified nutritional yeast, B-12-fortified soy milk or B-12 tablets.
"Good intentions gone awry," says Ann Grandjean, executive director of the nonprofit Centre for Human Nutrition in Omaha, Nebraska. "Plenty of vegetarians eat a healthy, well-planned diet. But plenty of others don't do their homework. And that get you into trouble."
THE POWER OF PLANTS.
There is good reason to move towards a plant-centred diet. Science has found a simple cause-and-effect relationship: Reduce the amount of animal fat you eat, and you'll reduce the fat clinging to your arteries. You'll also enjoy a decreased risk of heart disease and possibly lower your odds of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and certain cancers. Some doctors are recommending that people already fighting these illness take up a vegetarian lifestyle to combat their symptoms.
FOUR WAYS TO GO.
Experts classify vegetarians into various categories. The semivegetarians dump red meat but still eat chicken, fish and dairy products. Lacto-ovo-vegetarians eschew meat, fish and poultry, but consume dairy products and eggs. Lacto-vegetarians go a step further and eliminate eggs. At the end of the line, vegans-the pure vegetarians-stick to all-vegetable diets bereft of animal foods, dairy products and eggs.
But as you move from the semivegetarian to the vegan, foods fall away. And as tehy do, you must be increasingly vigilant.
When you drop red meat from your diet, you lose a reliable source of vitamin B-12, iron, protein and zinc. Drop dairy products, and there go your most common calcium sources.
Vegetarian substitutes for these nutrients exist. For example, 250 millilitres of cooked soybeans contain the protein equivalent of 110 gram hamburger or half a litre of milk. For many people, however, the vegetable world is uncharted territory. To get calcium, most people would drink a glass of milk; they wouldn't think to eat calcium-rich bok choy or collard greens.
"It's simple," says Grandjean. "Good nutrition is about variety-any time you start leaving out entire groups of foods, you lose that variety. The more restrictive the diet, the more you need to think about your food choices."
CAUTIONARY TALES.
Being misinformed can lead to deficiencies and serious problems. Subsist on bread and salad alone, as some weight-watching teens are known to do, and you deny your bones the calcium they need to stay strong, gradually increasing your risk of fracture.
How to prevent such deficiencies? Aspiring vegetarians should make sure their daily consumption includes six to 11 servings of bread and cereals; three to five servings of fruit; up to three servings of milk, yogurt, cheese or other calcium-rich foods; two to three servings of beans, nuts, seeds, eggs, tofu or peanut butter; and sparing use of fats, oils and sweets.
"Make sure you're eating foods from all of these groups every day," says Grandjean. "If you are, you're fine. If you're not, you're at risk." While the above guidelines include eggs and dairy products, vegans can still get all their nutrients with wise substitutions.
Another concern: Young vegetarian athletes who train three hours or more, six or seven days a week-college swimmers or marathon runners, for example-need to eat more to replace the calories they burn. If they don't, the body starts cannibalizing itself, using protein in muscles for fuel instead of for growth and rebuilding tissue.
But getting enough calories from plant-based foods can be a problem. A baked potato, 250 millilitres of brown rice and lentils, 125 millilitres of carrots and of peas, an lettuce and tomato salad, a banana, an apple, an orange, and six walnuts total only 890 calories. A college swimmer can burn 6000 calories a day. The solution? Frequent snacking on healtful foods.
The bottom line, say the experts, is that you can stay in tip-top shape on a vegetarian diet as long as you consume enough calories, minerals, proteins and vitamins. Bon appetit!
NO MEAT? NO PROBLEMO!
When you give up meat, you lose a good source of some key nutrients. A vegetarian diet can provide them, you just need to know where to look. See a dietitian to make sure you're getting enough of these nutrients.
Calcium: Men and women ages 25 to 50 need 1000 milligrams a day. One serving of almonds (50 ml) has 378 mg; frozen collard greens (250 ml), 357 mg; soybeans (250 ml), 175 mg, broccoli (125 ml), 42 mg.
Iron: Men 25 to 50 need 8 mg a day; women, 18 mg. One serving of dry roasted cashews (18 nuts) has 8 mg, kidney beans (125 ml), 8 mg, lentils (50 ml), 7 mg.
Protein: Strict vegetarian men may need as much as 0,6 grams per pound of body weight; women 0,5 grams. One serving of soybeans (250 ml) has 29 grams; one meatless burger, 15 grams; chickpeas (125 ml), 15 grams; yogurt (250 ml), 14 grams; peanut butter (30 ml), 8 grams; sunflower seeds (50 ml), 6 grams.
Zinc: Men 25 to 50 need 15 mg a day; women,12 mg. One serving of toasted wheat germ (50 ml) has 19 mg, bran flakes (300 ml), 5 mg; tofu (125 ml), 2 mg.
Vitamin B-12: Significant amounts of B-12 are found only in animal products. Strict vegetarians can get this vitamin from fortified nutritional yeast, B-12-fortified soy milk or B-12 tablets.
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