Vegetarian Diets And Nutrition: Meals, Recipes And Cookbooks

If science discovered a diet that prevented breast cancer, lowered the risk of heart disease and obesity while also promoting a sustainable system of global agriculture, who would think twice? Well, for some reason, we haven't all decided to adopt vegetarian diets, but a health-conscious vegetarian minority is leading the way.

There are several different popular vegetarian diets. Semi-vegetarians stay on the fence, allowing themselves occasional portions of meat and/or fish. Lacto-ovo vegetarian diets allow dairy products and eggs, while vegans follow the most strict diet and avoid all animal products. According to a report from the American Dietetic Association in 2000, 2.5% of the adult population is committed to practicing vegetarian diets.

Certain vitamins and minerals often evade vegetarian diets, but planning healthy vegetarian meals and taking the necessary vitamin supplements usually does the trick. Vitamin B12 comes in some fortified soy milk and meat substitutes. Riboflavin and calcium are found in dark green leafy vegetables and legumes. Vitamin-D fortified milk and sunlight keep this nutrient on tap. Iron and zinc (often found lacking in vegan diets) are found in whole and enriched grains, legumes and leafy green vegetables. Vegetarian nutrition actually takes the prize for being most calcium rich; foods with calcium include almonds, dairy products, broccoli, kale, and legumes. Vegetarian diets, like any diets, are only as good as the energy, protein, and nutrients they provide.

Since meat is a primary source of protein for most people, vegetarian diets require the intentional inclusion of protein-rich plant foods. Certain foods can be combined to form an effective combination of amino acids, promoting balanced vegetarian diets. Try cereal with milk, pasta with cheese, rice with milk, refried beans with corn tortillas, split pea soup with rye bread and trail mix including soybeans and nuts.

According to North Dakota State University, it's important for vegetarian diets to include a healthy number of daily servings from each of the important food groups. They recommend four servings of milk or soy milk products, two servings of legumes, one serving of nuts, six servings of whole grain, seven or more servings of fruits and vegetables, and one to two tablespoons of fat. Extra servings of proteins like milk and soy milk should be added to vegetarian diets for children, teens, pregnant and lactating women. Pregnant women following vegetarian diets should also be hyper-aware of their B12, iron, calcium, vitamin D, folate, zinc and calorie intake. Healthy child development depends on these nutrients being available to the mother's body.

There's no need to stress out about vegetarian nutrition too much when creative and healthy vegetarian recipes are on hand. Allrecipes is an excellent source for vegetarian recipes, tantalizing users with mouth-watering photographs of creamy soups and colorful stir-fry. VegWeb.com and VegCooking also have a database of free online vegetarian recipes as well as the names of vegetarian cookbooks to check out. Sweet corn casserole and vegetarian tamale pie are a couple of vegetarian recipes to look for on VegWeb.com. "The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook" and "The Compassionate Cook"are among the intriguing titles of VegCooking's recommended vegetarian cookbooks. Being creative and experimenting is the key to maintaining a positive attitude toward vegetarian diets.

Knowing where to eat (and where not to eat) also promotes satisfaction with vegetarian meals. A global vegetarian restaurants guide can be found at Happycow.net, and savvy cities like San Francisco, Calif., have as many as 28 postings or more. Shangri-La, Peace Café and Herbivore are a few titles from this earth-friendly city.

With the rising number of cancer patients and obese children, vegetarian diets offer health benefits Americans can no longer ignore. Whether for animal-cruelty opposition, the global benefits or for religious beliefs, there's t-shirt for to represent every vegetarian's perspective at Cafepress.com. Wear the vegetarian lifestyle with pride.


Sources
Beck, Pat. "Vegetarian Diets." North Dakota State University. Aug. 1994. 12 June 2007. http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/foods/he463w.htm.Happy Cow's Vegetarian Guide to Restaurants and Health Food Stores. 1999-2007. 12 June 2007. http://www.happycow.net/index.html.
Mangels, Reed. "Vegetarian Diets During Pregnancy." Vegetarian Nutrition. 2002 Andrews University Nutrition Department. 12 June 2007. http://www.andrews.edu/NUFS/Vegetarian%20Diets%20D uring%20Pregnancy.html.
Our Favorite Cookbooks. VegCooking. 12 June 2007. http://www.vegcooking.com/cookbooks.asp.
"Vegetarian Diets." American Dietetic Association. 2003. 21 June 2007. http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/ad vocacy_933_ENU_HTML_(Draft).htm.
Recipes for the Vegan/Vegetarian Diet. VegWeb.com. 2007. 12 June 2007. http://vegweb.com/index.php?action=recipes.
Vegetarian Men's Apparel. Cafépress.com. 1999-2007. 12 June 2007. http://www.cafepress.com/buy/vegetarian/-/c_361/fp t_fhba__db_________bsh_p___e.
Vegetarian Recipes. Allrecipes. 2007. 12 June 2007. http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Everyday-Cooking/Veg etarian/Main.aspx.