Vegetarian Diets

1
Vegetarian Diets

• Unit 16

2
Perspectives on Vegetarianism

• Many people are skeptical about vegetarian diets
  without knowing much about them
• Diet is usually one of several healthful
  characteristics of a vegetarian lifestyle

3
Reasons for Vegetarianism

• Worldwide, hundreds of millions of people are
  vegetarians

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Wide Selection of Vegetarian Products
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Types of Vegetarian Diets
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Macrobiotic Diets

• Macrobiotic diets can range from quasi-vegetarian
  to vegan
• No specific foods are prohibited
• Philosophy emphasizes organic and yin-yang food
  combinations

7
Raw Food Diets

• Basically an uncooked, vegan diet with focus on
  benefits of plant enzymes
• Actually, enzymes are inactivated by digestion
• Associated with impaired growth in children,
  lower HDL cholesterol, vitamin B12 deficiency,
  loss of bone minerals
• Low body weight for height healthy blood levels
  of triglycerides and total cholesterol

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Other Vegetarian Diets

• Some vegetarians adopt diets that dont sustain
  health for spiritual/emotional reasons
• Living foods diet
• Fruitarians
• Fruitarian
• Diet in which fruits are the main ingredient
• Deficient in a variety of nutrients

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Vegetarian Diets and Health

• Vegetarian diets can be healthier than those of
  nonvegetarians, as long as they provide adequate
  nutrients
• Main concerns
• Iron and vitamin B12 deficiency
• Quality and quantity of protein
• Calcium intake in vegans

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Health Benefits

• Lower risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke,
  hypertension, type 2 diabetes, chronic
  bronchitis, gallstones, and kidney stones
• Reduces blood cholesterol levels

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Dietary Recommendations

• Foods selected must provide sufficient calories
  and the assortment and quantity of nutrients
  needed for health
• Guidelines vary for each type of vegetarian diet
  and generally require a variety of foods

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Dietary Recommendations
13
Dietary Recommendations

• Vegan Diets
• Grains
• Legumes and nuts
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Fats and oils
• Sweets

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Dietary Recommendations

• Vegetarians who eat fish, dairy, or eggs get
  important nutrients and complete proteins
• Complete proteins
• Proteins that contain all nine essential amino
  acids in the amounts needed to support protein
  tissue construction

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Sample Diet
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Dietary Recommendations

• Vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium, EPA and DHA are
  the nutrients most likely to be lacking in
  vegetarian diets
• Supplied by fortified foods and supplements
• Dietary assessment is advised Key Nutrients
  Required

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Essential Amino Acids

• If any essential amino acids are missing in the
  diet, protein tissue construction stops
• Essential amino acids
• Amino acids that cannot be synthesized in
  adequate amounts by the human body and must be
  obtained from the diet

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Complementary Protein Foods

• Vegetarians can meet needs for essential amino
  acids by combining plant foods to yield complete
  proteins
• Complementary protein sources
• Plant sources of protein that together provide
  sufficient quantities of the nine essential amino
  acids

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Complementary Protein Foods
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Information on Vegetarian Diets

• Some good cookbooks and websites are available
• Watch out for wrong or misrepresented information
  and exaggerated claims