Vegetarianism Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 10-26-2022

Switching to a vegetarian lifestyle offers benefits to your health, animals, and the environment. Ensure success by easing into a meat-free way of life, planning your vegetarian diet, and making tasty meatless meals at home.

Article / Updated 07-25-2019

There are different kinds of vegetarians, depending on what they eat. The definition of a vegetarian that’s most widely accepted by fellow vegetarians is a person who eats no meat, fish, or poultry. A vegetarian consistently avoids all flesh foods, as well as byproducts of meat, fish, and poultry. Of course, vegetarian diets vary in the extent to which they exclude animal products: Semi-vegetarian: Someone who’s cutting back on his or her intake of meat, in general. A pollo vegetarian avoids red meat and fish but eats chicken. A pesco pollo vegetarian avoids red meat but eats chicken and fish. These terms stretch the true definition of a vegetarian, and only the term semi-vegetarian is actually used with much frequency. Lacto ovo vegetarian: A lacto ovo vegetarian diet excludes meat, fish, and poultry but includes dairy products and eggs. Most vegetarians in the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe fall into this category. Lacto ovo vegetarians eat such foods as cheese, ice cream, yogurt, milk, and eggs, as well as foods made with these ingredients. Lacto vegetarian: A lacto vegetarian diet excludes meat, fish, and poultry, as well as eggs and any foods containing eggs. A lacto vegetarian would, however, eat dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and cheese. Vegan: Technically, the term vegan refers to more than just the diet alone. A vegan is a vegetarian who avoids eating or using all animal products, including meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, any foods containing by-products of these ingredients, wool, silk, leather, and any nonfood items made with animal byproducts. Living a vegan lifestyle, may involve avoiding honey. One adaptation of a vegetarian diet is a raw foods diet, in which adherents eat a diet that consists primarily of uncooked foods. The fruitarian diet consists only of fruits; vegetables botanically classified as fruits, such as tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and avocados; and seeds and nuts.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Although nutritionists once counseled vegetarians to eat complementary proteins to make sure you get proper nutrition, you don’t have to combine foods to get enough protein in a vegetarian diet. The idea was that since plant foods are limited in one or more of the essential amino acids, you should combine a food that is limited in a particular amino acid with a food that has an abundance of that same amino acid. The concept was to complement one plant food’s amino acid profile with another’s, fitting two foods together like puzzle pieces. That way, you’d have a “complete protein,” with adequate amounts of all the essential amino acids present and available to the body at the same time. The idea that proteins had to be complemented was also supported by some very early lab data from studies of protein-deprived rats. The rats were fed diets that were deficient in individual essential amino acids. Without these essential amino acids, the rats couldn’t build complete proteins and became protein deficient. Of course, those were laboratory conditions. In real life, you eat whole foods that contain an array of amino acids, including all the essential amino acids. You don’t eat specially developed, amino-acid-deficient laboratory rat chow. So these studies had little relevance for free-living human beings. Experts even went so far as to create complex protein charts that detailed the manner in which foods should be combined, and conscientious vegetarians were careful to eat their beans with rice or corn and to add milk or cheese to their grains (macaroni and cheese was a big favorite). They ruefully acknowledged that they should have taken better notes in organic chemistry class. In recent years, however, nutrition scientists have given the issue of protein a little more thought, and the verdict is that the practice of combining foods is unnecessary. Your body can complement its proteins without much help from you. Your job is to do two things: Make sure you get enough calories to meet your energy needs. Eat a reasonable variety of foods over the course of the day. That’s really all there is to it.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Switching to a meatless diet can be difficult if you’ve been raised with typical Western eating habits. Becoming a vegetarian is rewarding, so hang in there! As you strive for the vegetarian ideal, gradually cut meat out of your life, and use these tips to ease the transition: Get educated. Read books, attend lectures and cooking demonstrations, and talk with experienced vegetarians for tips on making the switch. Set realistic expectations. Mastering new skills and changing long-standing habits take time. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you experience setbacks now and then. Keep meals simple. The best recipes use short lists of familiar, easy-to-find ingredients and require no more than basic cooking skills. Be low-key about your choice to go vegetarian. Explain your rationale to adults and older children who ask, but let others decide for themselves what they will and won’t eat.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

Great-tasting, health-supporting vegetarian meals can be simple to make. Some favorite dishes have always been meatless, but you can omit the meat from even the most carnivore-friendly meals to come up with new vegetarian classics. Try some of these: Bean burrito with steamed broccoli and fresh fruit salad Black bean soup topped with minced onions, French bread rounds with pesto, chopped green salad, and a slice of cantaloupe Cheese quesadilla, steamed mixed vegetables, brown rice, and apple slices Cooked oatmeal with almonds and cinnamon, orange wedges, and black coffee Hummus with toasted pita points, tomato and basil salad, and rice pudding topped with chopped walnuts Lentil soup, carrot sticks, and a small green salad Roasted vegetable pizza, home fries, and vinaigrette slaw Vegetarian chili, cornbread, spinach salad, and a baked apple Whole-wheat rotini pasta with marinara sauce, sautéed spinach, and a garlic roll

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

If you’re a vegetarian, you probably know exactly how to eliminate meat from your diet. But if you want to cut back on other animal products — like eggs and dairy — you may be at a loss when it comes to appropriate recipe substitutions. Try these clever tricks for replacing animal products in your favorite recipes: Use half of a mashed, ripe banana to replace one whole egg in recipes for pancakes, muffins, and quick breads. Replace cow’s milk with equal amounts of soymilk or rice milk in puddings, smoothies, and cream soups. Instead of beef broth or chicken broth, use vegetable broth in soups, casseroles, and pilafs. Use soy burger crumbles in place of ground beef in taco and burrito fillings and spaghetti sauce. Mash a block of tofu and mix it with a few teaspoons of lemon juice. Use this mixture in place of ricotta cheese or cottage cheese in lasagna, stuffed shells, and manicotti. Replace hard-boiled eggs with diced tofu when you make your favorite egg salad sandwich filling.

Article / Updated 03-26-2016

If you’re considering a vegetarian lifestyle, get individualized advice from a registered dietitian who’s knowledgeable about vegetarian diets. And whether vegetarianism is new to you or you’ve been meat-free for years, keep these general guidelines in mind: Eat a variety of foods, including fruits, vegetables, legumes, seeds, and nuts, and get enough calories to meet your energy needs. Eat plenty of calcium-rich foods, such as broccoli, collards, kale, fortified orange juice, nonfat cow’s milk or fortified soy or rice milk, almond butter, or sesame tahini. Include daily servings of n-3 fats, such as flaxseed, soybean or canola oils, walnuts, or ground flaxseeds. Get enough vitamin D through sun exposure, eating fortified foods, or taking a supplement. Include daily servings of vitamin B12 from such sources as Red Star Vegetarian Support Formula nutritional yeast, fortified soy or rice milk, nonfat cow’s milk or yogurt, fortified breakfast cereals, or a B12 supplement. Limit sweets and alcohol to ensure that you have enough room in your diet for foods containing essential nutrients.