How Healthy Is Vegetarian Diet

Turning vegetarian was “trendy” in the 1980s and has since become more commonplace. But be it for health, religious, moral or taste reasons, the extent to which individuals truly go vegetarian is highly variable.

Research from the US shows that less than one percent of Americans are true vegetarians, that is, who never eat meat, fish or poultry although they may eat foods derived from animals such as dairy products and eggs. The number of vegans -people who avoid all animal-derived foods, including honey -is even smaller.

Different types of vegetarian diets are characterised by the degree to which they exclude animal foods. Below are some diets most commonly thought of as vegetarian yet some people today call themselves vegetarian if they eat meat just occasionally.

The healthiness of a vegetarian diet largely depends on the variety of foods consumed. Because vegetarian diets feature primarily plant foods, they tend to be richer in dietary fibre, carbohydrates and many vitamins and minerals.

Protein is a nutrient that many vegetarians worry about, but quite unnecessarily. While vegetarians typically eat less protein than non-vegetarians, their diets tend to meet or even exceed the recommended daily allowance for protein. And if they eat a variety of different plant foods -grains, nuts, seeds, legumes, vegetables and fruits -the quality of the protein is fine.

“In the past, we used to tell vegetarians to mix their plant foods at each meal”, said Julie Howden, a nutritionist and executive director of the Singapore-based Asian Food Information Centre (AFIC). “This is because plant foods supply different types and amounts of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. It was thought that you had to eat all of the amino acids at one meal to provide good quality protein. People were therefore taught to have rice with beans or cheese with bread.”

“However, this approach is not necessary. Nutritionists now believe that eating a variety of plant foods every day is sufficient to meet one’s protein requirements.”

Compared to the general population, vegetarians appear to be at lower risk for heart disease, colon cancer, diabetes, obesity and high blood pressure. Not everyone however, believes it is necessary to eliminate meat for successful disease prevention.

Even proponents of vegetarianism agree that it is hard to determine the extent that lifestyle impacts on the health statistics of vegetarians. Vegetarians are more likely to be health conscious -they tend to abstain from alcohol and smoking and to exercise regularly. It is these factors that experts agree exert a powerful health impact.

The bottom line is for those who have adopted vegetarian diets or are making gradual changes in that direction remains the same as with conventional diets: eat a wide variety of foods including plenty of whole grain products, vegetables, legumes and fruits and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Vegetarian diets are healthful and nutritionally adequate when carefully planned. Consuming adequate amounts of iron and calcium is especially important.

Why People Need to be Vegetarian

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