7 Healthy Eating Principles for a Vegetarian Diet
Vegetarian diets can certainly meet all your nutritional needs—the key is to eat a variety of foods so all your nutrient bases are covered. Here we share our healthy eating principles for a well-rounded vegetarian diet.
Think About Protein
You can easily meet your daily protein needs by eating an array of plant-based foods. Fill out your meals with beans, lentils, nuts, rice, and soy products like tofu and tempeh. Don’t rely on a hefty portion of cheese to fill the protein gap since cheeses often add saturated fat.
Consider Calcium
The mineral calcium plays a vital role in overall health, including achieving and maintaining healthy teeth and bones. Vegetarians can meet their calcium requirements by including calcium-rich dairy products (milk, cheese, and yogurt) in meals and snacks. (One 8-ounce glass of milk provides 256 milligrams of calcium, which is about one-fourth of the recommended daily intake of 1,000 milligrams per day for adults age 50 and under and 1,200 milligrams for age 51 and older recommended by the Institute of Medicine.)
If you’re lactose intolerant, a vegan, or simply want to incorporate other nondairy sources of calcium into your diet, you have options. Some of those other sources include fortified breakfast cereals, soy products such as tofu made with calcium sulfate and soy milk, soybeans, soynuts, calcium-fortified fruit juices, and some dark-green leafy vegetables including collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, bok choy, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, kale, and okra. When you are shopping for tofu, be sure to look carefully at the nutrition label to verify that the tofu you are buying is made with calcium sulfate; nigari (magnesium chloride) is another common coagulating agent used to make tofu, but it has a lower calcium content.
Keep in mind that calcium can be finicky. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the calcium absorption from most foods, including dairy products and grains, is about the same, but calcium can be poorly absorbed from foods high in oxalic acid (found in spinach, sweet potatoes, and beans) or phytic acid (found in unleavened bread, raw beans, seeds, and nuts). These acids bind with the calcium in these foods and prevent its absorption, but they don’t prevent the absorption of calcium from other foods eaten at the same time. It’s best to eat a variety of calcium-rich foods over the course of the day to make sure you are meeting your needs.
When it Comes to Fruits and Vegetables, More Matters (and Color Counts)
Whole fruits and vegetables are some of the best foods you can eat. They are low in calories, high in fiber, and brimming with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They play an important role in staving off heart disease and stroke, managing blood pressure and cholesterol, helping prevent certain types of cancer, protecting vision, and maintaining a healthy digestive system.
And color is certainly key—the vitamins and phytochemicals that give plants their brilliant colors work as antioxidants, immune boosters, and anti-inflammatories in humans.
The best way to benefit from these healthy compounds is to eat a variety of fresh produce based on color; you can use the tools at MyPyramid.gov to figure out how many fruits and vegetables you need to eat each day.
Eat Seasonally
Since fruits and vegetables are an important part of a vegetarian diet, flavor and freshness are vital, and the best way to achieve both is to buy fruits and vegetables in season. This practice offers a variety of benefits.
When you buy fresh produce in season, you don’t have to do much to them to make them taste extraordinary. From the arrival of summer’s squashes, peaches, and tomatoes to the cranberries, oranges, and brussels sprouts you’ll find in winter, each season offers some-thing unique and delicious to keep your palate happy.
Eating fruits and vegetables at the peak of freshness is also a boon to your health as well as your wallet. You’ll benefit from all the vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants these colorful plants have to offer, and since there’s often an abundance of fruits and vegetables during the harvest season, you’re more apt to find bargains at the grocery store.
Go for Whole Grains
All grains start out as whole grains, which means that they still contain the germ, endosperm, and bran. The bran is full of filling fiber, which keeps you full, while the germ and endosperm contain beneficial antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and other healthful compounds. Processing, however, can remove one or more of these components, making refined grains less healthful. Research has shown that eating whole grains helps lower your risk for heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
Also Remember Iron, Zinc, and B12
In addition to protein and calcium, vegetarians need to get adequate amounts of iron, zinc, and vitamin B12.
Iron carries oxygen in the blood, and iron deficiency can leave you feeling tired. Vegetarian sources of iron include iron-fortified cereals as well as spinach, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, lentils, turnip greens, whole-wheat breads, peas, dried apricots, prunes, and raisins.
Zinc is necessary for a variety of functions including helping maintain the immune system and keeping it functioning properly. Zinc sources include a variety of beans (white beans, kidney beans, and chickpeas), cereals fortified with zinc, wheat germ, milk and milk products, and pumpkin seeds.
Vitamin B12 is found primarily in animal products and some fortified foods. Vegetarians can get it from milk products, eggs, and B12-fortified products including some breakfast cereals, soy-based beverages, and vegetable burgers.
And Don’t Forget Fiber
Not only are high-fiber foods tasty (think hearty stews with beans and desserts with fresh apples and pears), but they also help control hunger, lower cholesterol, and maintain digestive health. Fiber is the part of plant foods that our body can’t digest or absorb into the bloodstream, which means it doesn’t provide us with any calories, but it does flush the digestive system as it moves through our bodies.
The American Dietetic Association (ADA) recommends eating 20 to 35 grams of fiber daily, but estimates show that most of us fall short of that, consuming only about 14 grams daily. Boosting your fiber intake is easier than you might think. It helps to think in groups of 10—getting 10 grams in the morning, 10 at lunch, and 10 at dinner. Swap your standard breads and pastas for 100-percent whole-wheat varieties. Trade out your breakfast cereals for bran or oatmeal, and whole-wheat couscous for white rice—little changes like these add up to big benefits. Here are some other simple substitutions and tips:
- Eat the skin. Whether it’s an apple, pear, or potato, most of the fiber is in the skin.
- Read the Nutrition Facts labels for cereals. While 5 grams of fiber is good, 8 grams or more is better.
- Choose breads and crackers that have at least 2 grams of fiber per slice or serving.
- Cook vegetables briefly. The longer vegetables cook, the more fiber they lose. Try steaming them until they’re crisp-tender to retain most of the fiber content. Also, snack on raw vegetables. Salads, with their vegetables and seeds or nuts toppings, make a good high-fiber option.
Your thoughts...
Do you eat a vegetarian diet on a daily basis? If so, how are do you ensure your nutritional needs are met?
Comments
I tend to lean more to the vegetarian diet even though I still eat meat. I have a hard time getting enough protein even though I'm eating fiber rich fruits and vegetables as well as beans, nuts, natural peanut butter, and lean meats.
I also have a hard time getting Calcium Iron and Potassium. The Calcium is a problem because I don't like Dairy (and have a little issue with lactose intolerance) and I don't drink dairy-free milks either because I don't like milk.
It's hard to get the amount of protein and calcium I need without going over my 1500-1600 calorie limit.
I have recently converted to eating no meat but I do still have fish once or twice a week. I too worry about calcium as a recent blood test flagged up that this was low and I am on hrt following a hysterectomy at 33. My analysis has consistently shown up low iron, potassium and calcium but fibre seems to be OK. I will try to incorporate some changes in the next week and hopefully this article will put me on the right track. It really isn't as simple as just watching the calories!!
I am a vegan and I don't have any problems getting protein, iron or calcium. Leafy green vegetables are really the key to staying healthy. A serving of collard greens has more calcium then milk and also vitamin K which is important to bone health:
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/calcium-collard-greens-have -more-than-milk.html
The recommendations for protein in this country are not in line with the rest of the world. The World Health Organization suggests humans only need 5% protein in their diet. It's simply a myth that getting enough protein is difficult on a plant based diet. All vegetables, fruits and legumes contain the essential amino acids which are building blocks for proteins our bodies manufacture.
This is a very good article on protein sources:
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm
Everyone should read this article from the Harvard School of Public Health on milk and calcium
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you- eat/calcium-full-story/index.html
I take a multi-vitamin, b-12 and some iron and vitamin c. I feel our food sources have been depleted of the naturally occuring minerals in the earth's soil. Unless you can afford to buy organic produce it's difficult to really know the nutritional value of food these days.
Agreed, Ninav, I've been healthy vegan for sometime now and am constantly battling with people who are uneducated about the health benefits of a vegan diet.
Dr. Furhman has some great information about a plant strong diet. Here is some information about calcium.
The Best Food for Bones: Fruits and Vegetables
Millions of women have been falsely led to believe that there is a correlation between osteoporosis and the inadequate intake of dairy foods. Bone health is much more than just calcium. Vegetables, beans, fruits, and nuts are rich sources of calcium, potassium, vitamin K, magnesium, and vegetable protein, as well as the phytochemicals and micronutrients that are gaining recognition to be important for bone strength. Calcium is an important component, but like protein, we don’t need as much of it as most people think. The current U.S. daily calcium recommendation of 1200 to 1500 milligrams for postmenopausal women is an attempt to offset the ill-effects of the Standard American Diet which creates excessive calcium loss in the urine because most people consume so much sodium, caffeine and animal protein.
Contrary to popular belief, you do not need dairy products to get sufficient calcium. Every natural food contains calcium. When you eat a healthy diet, rich in natural foods such as vegetables, beans, nuts, and seeds, it is impossible not to obtain sufficient calcium. In fact, the addition of more natural plant foods to the diet has been shown to have a powerful effect on increasing bone density and bone health. Fruits and vegetables strengthen bones. Researchers found that those who eat the most fruits and vegetables have denser bones.4 These researchers concluded that fruits and vegetables are not only rich in potassium, magnesium, calcium and other nutrients essential for bone health, but, because they are alkaline, not acid-producing, they do not induce urinary calcium loss. Green vegetables, in particular have a powerful effect on reducing hip fractures, for they are not only rich in calcium, but other nutrients as well, such a vitamin K, which is crucial for bone health.5
So most unprocessed, natural foods contain calcium and green vegetables have particularly high levels. In fact, one four-ounce serving of steamed collards or kale has about the same amount of calcium as one cup of milk.
What I would really like to see is an example daily vegetarian menu that hits all the necessary vitamins, minerals and nutrients.
It's so hard to get an A or an A- from the CC Nutrition Analysis, so a sample menu would be really helpful to understand how to put these foods together and get an optimal result.
As a non-vegetarian, I've always been curious about what a truly healthy and balanced vegetarian meal plan would look like, that doesn't require any nutritional supplementation and meets the standard protein requirements.
The nutritional analysis in CC is flawed. Google vegetarian websites and you'll get loads of information regarding healthy menus. Here are a couple starters:
and probably the best one is
advice american appetizers asian beans bmi breakfast calcium calories chicken children chocolate confidence cooking craving dessert diabetes diet dieting dietsinreview emotionaleating exercise faddiet family fat fiber fish fitness friends fruit goals healthysnacks holidays hunger inspiration italian lowcalorie mediterranean mindset motivation nuts obesity party plateau portioncontrol portions protein recipe recipes restaurants salad self-esteem shaysorrell sleep snack snacks sodium soup stress success successstory sugar summer support tbl thebiggestloser tips travel tv vegetables vegetarian vitamind weightloss workout yogurt
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Thank you for printing this article! My husband is a strict vegetarian but I eat chicken. In the brief period of logging our food intake I have observed that we've been consistently falling short of meeting the daily requirements for Iron, Potassium and fiber intake. This article really helps us!