A Healthy Vegetarian Diet Overview

Vegetarians form a small percentage of the general population and are likely to go un-noticed. Just like meat eaters, a vegetarian needs to balance his or her diet in order to meet the needs of a healthy vegetarian diet. All human beings need the three main food groups namely proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins to stay healthy. It is therefore obvious that a healthy vegetarian diet should not fall short of these three components.

Some people have wondered whether it is possible to maintain a healthy vegetarian diet. The facts regarding this mater are that vegetarians can achieve the calorie demands of their bodies as long as they eat right. This is because the only difference between ordinary people and vegetarians is the consumption or non-consumption of meat and its derivatives. While a meat eater may have a very wide range of protein sources at his disposal, a healthy vegetarian diet may be limited to non-meat products. However, one thing remains constant and that is the intake of the other two food groups’ i.e. vitamins and carbohydrates. 

With various sources for all the three food groups, vegetarians only need to know about the alternative protein sources. Once they do this, nothing can prevent them from meeting their calorie needs. The sources of a healthy vegetarian diet are mainly from seeds, nuts and legumes. This list may include eggs and dairy products depending on the individual’s vegetarian class since some vegetarians accommodate dairy products and even eggs. After considering this main fact, the rest of the food compliments may remain relatively the same for meat eaters and vegetarians alike. 

Let us have a brief look at the ingredients of a healthy vegetarian diet starting with the protein. The body needs proteins to help in the growth of muscles and other body tissues. It is therefore very important that a healthy vegetarian diet includes protein rich foods like nuts, peanut butter, soy foods as well as legumes such as beans, lentils and peas to compensate for the lack of meat in their diets. Eggs and dairy products like milk, yogurt and cheese could also extend the list in the case of lacto-ovo vegetarians. 

Carbohydrates form a major part of a healthy vegetarian diet and cannot do without the same. Since carbohydrates give the much-needed energy on a daily basis, we need to maintain a regular intake of the same as it acts like the regular fuel to our body’s ability to remain active. Nutritionists recommend that we take carbohydrates in large quantities to remain strong.

The good news is that carbohydrates are among the cheaper of the food categories and are available in a very wide range. These include grain products especially whole grain and are obtainable from a wide range of cereals like rice, corn, and wheat among others. These groups of cereals also contain a variety of fibers that add up to make a healthy vegetarian diet, which help in the development of the brain. Carbohydrates are the easiest food to consume as its digestion starts at the mouth. This property makes it among the first foods to introduce when weaning an infant. 

The other main food category in a healthy vegetarian diet is vitamins, which come from vegetables, and fruits. This foods help in the formation of bones and other tissues. They also help in the digestion as well as building of the body’s defense system against diseases. It is however, in this category that strict vegans may be underprivileged when searching for a healthy vegetarian diet since some of the vitamins are only available from animal foods. An obvious example is vitamin B12 and D.

This may force vegans to eat vitamin B12 fortified foods like nutritional yeast flakes, fortified soymilk and fortified cereals in order to meet the needs of a healthy vegetarian diet. Vitamin D can however be available from the sun for those in the tropics. Those in the Polar Regions may have to rely on fortified foods during winter to get vitamin D, which is an essential vitamin in born formation.

Away from the three main food groups discussed above, a healthy vegetarian diet must also include foods rich in zinc, iron, fats and calcium. These four play a very important complementary role to the main three. Therefore, one cannot overlook them under any circumstance when making a healthy vegetarian diet.

Zinc helps in strengthening one’s immune system and is present in whole grains, fortified breakfast cereals, soy foods and legumes. Irons help in blood formation and are easily available from green leafy vegetables like spinach.

A healthy vegetarian diet cannot be wanting in calcium content since calcium is the major ingredient in the formation of strong bones and will guarantee your bone strength even in old age. Calcium is available from some soy products, orange juices, cereals. A proper balance of these products plus fat should guarantee a healthy vegetarian diet. It is therefore evident that one can maintain a healthy vegetarian diet without having to go an extra mile since there is always an alternative to the meats.