Eating A Healthful Vegetarian Diet

Many people start vegetarian and vegan diets without devoting an adequate amount of time to nutritional research and meal planning. As a result, many who start vegetarian diets do not last for more than 1-2 months.

Common Issues Among New Vegetarians

Many dieters who fail to carefully research and plan complain that they lack energy and often experience a significant loss in muscle mass. Others observe a number of other more peripheral problems related to a poorly-planned vegetarian diet.

The first group–the one most failed dieters fall into–is often experiencing a form of protein-energy malnutrition (PEM). PEM emerges when a person fails to consume enough protein, leading to muscle loss, subsequently feelings of weakness, and often accompanied by headaches and muscle aches.

Addressing Protein Deficiency

This problem can be circumvented by dietary alterations. A vegetarian experiencing PEM should either:

• Find out what foods contain essential amino acid chains to consume them in combinations that form complete proteins; or
• Start consuming larger amounts and more diversified sources of protein, such as nuts, soy milk, and yogurt.

Iron Deficiency Concerns

The first group is often iron-deficient as well. Since vegetarians can only consume nonheme iron, which is more sensitive to iron inhibitors, they often do not consume enough to maintain healthy blood-iron levels. This can cause pervasive weakness and even anemia.

Most nutritionists suggest that vegetarian and vegan dieters consume roughly twice the recommended amount of iron while greatly reducing their consumption of iron inhibitors.

Other Nutrient Deficiencies

People in the second group–the smaller one–who suffer from a range of other peripheral, diet-related problems are often not consuming enough of the nutrients they would normally take in unknowingly on a diet including meat and dairy products. These nutrients include, for example, zinc, calcium, vitamin B12, and riboflavin.

Some recent studies have suggested that vegetarians also process certain types of foods with less efficiency because they consume different amounts and varieties of absorption inhibitors and enhancers.

Overall Health and Long-Term Benefits

Recent studies also suggest, however, that a vegetarian or vegan diet, when done right, is not only as healthful as a non-vegetarian diet, but also much more heart-healthy, typically containing higher amounts of antioxidants.

Conclusion

What does this all mean for you as a prospective vegetarian? It means that eating a healthful vegetarian diet is not only a good alternative to your current diet, but it can also lower your chances of getting heart disease and cancer.

However, in order to eat a HEALTHFUL vegetarian diet, you must actually put in the time to research and plan; without this effort, you are likely to end up in one of the two groups discussed above.