Nutrition Highlights

Could You Eat Without Meat?

Approximately 20 million people in the United States call themselves vegetarians.

For reasons ranging from health and economics to religion and ethics, many people have adopted one form or another of vegetarian diet. The most strict vegetarian is called a "vegan" (VE gan). People who adhere to this diet eat only plant foods. This means excluding not only animal flesh, but also products of animal origin such as milk and cheese. Here are the other major categories of vegetarians:

• Partial vegetarians limit the amount of animal flesh (meat, poultry, fish) that they eat. This group is comprised largely of people who want to reap the health benefits of lowering cholesterol and increasing fiber.

• Pesce vegetarians shun meat and poultry, but eat fish and seafood.

• Lacto-ovo vegetarians don't eat meat, poultry and fish, but do consume milk, milk products and eggs.

• Lacto vegetarians drop the "ovo" from their diets, meaning they follow the diet described above, but skip the eggs.

• Ovo vegetarians reverse the eating plan of lacto vegetarians—they keep the eggs, but avoid milk and milk products.

Some Fear Veggies
Many people are afraid that a vegetarian diet will put them at risk of not getting all the vitamins, minerals and protein that a meat-based diet provides. While it's a justifiable concern, the American Dietetic Association's 1992 position paper on vegetarianism stated that vegetarian diets are healthful and nutritionally adequate when properly planned. This means that when your pre-teen daughter suddenly decides she doesn't want to eat animals anymore, you're going to have to help her understand what she'll need to do to stay healthy under the restrictions of her new diet.

The Vegetarian Pyramid developed by New York Medical College helps vegetarians plan healthful meals and get all the nutrients they need. It looks like other vegetarian pyramids except for the top tier. Where other veggie pyramids mimic the standard Food Guide Pyramid's top-tier advice to eat "fats, sweets and salts" sparingly, the pyramid from the New York Medical College includes in its top tier a seemingly odd mix of ingredients and recommends that they be consumed on a daily basis. The mix includes 3 to 5 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon of Blackstrap molasses and 1 tablespoon of Brewer's yeast.

Creators of this pyramid determined that vegans who don't regularly eat vitamin-fortified food products miss some essential elements in their diets. The vegetable oil provides calories and fatty acid, the molasses holds iron and calcium, and the yeast has B-vitamins, including riboflavin.

How restrictive an individual's diet is will determine how much natural or manufactured supplementation will be needed to meet recommended requirements. Vegetarians who regularly consume milk and milk products won't have to down Blackstrap molasses to get the calcium they need.

If you're not sure whether you're getting the right mix of foods in your diet—no matter what diet you follow—ask your doctor to recommend a dietitian to help you track what you eat and determine where you may be coming up short.

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