Judith E. Brown
www.cengage.com/nutrition/brown
Vegetarian Diets
Unit 16
Prof. Albia Dugger • Miami-Dade College
Perspectives on Vegetarianism
• Many people are skeptical about vegetarian
diets without knowing much about them
• Diet is usually one of several healthful
characteristics of a vegetarian lifestyle
Reasons for Vegetarianism
• Worldwide, hundreds of
millions of people are
vegetarians
Wide Selection of Vegetarian Products
Types of Vegetarian Diets
Macrobiotic Diets
• Macrobiotic diets can range from quasivegetarian to vegan
• No specific foods are prohibited
• Philosophy emphasizes organic and “yin-yang”
food combinations
Raw Food Diets
• Basically an uncooked, vegan diet with focus
on benefits of plant enzymes
• Actually, enzymes are inactivated by digestion
• Associated with impaired growth in children, lower
HDL cholesterol, vitamin B12 deficiency, loss of
bone minerals
• Low body weight for height; healthy blood levels
of triglycerides and total cholesterol
Other Vegetarian Diets
• Some vegetarians adopt diets that don’t
sustain health for spiritual/emotional reasons
• “Living foods diet”
• Fruitarians
• Fruitarian
• Diet in which fruits are the main ingredient
• Deficient in a variety of nutrients
Vegetarian Diets and Health
• Vegetarian diets can be healthier than those
of nonvegetarians, as long as they provide
adequate nutrients
• Main concerns:
• Iron and vitamin B12 deficiency
• Quality and quantity of protein
• Calcium intake in vegans
Health Benefits
• Lower risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke,
hypertension, type 2 diabetes, chronic
bronchitis, gallstones, and kidney stones
• Reduces blood cholesterol levels
Dietary Recommendations
• Foods selected must provide sufficient
calories and the assortment and quantity of
nutrients needed for health
• Guidelines vary for each type of vegetarian
diet and generally require a variety of foods
Dietary Recommendations
Dietary Recommendations
• Vegan Diets
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Grains
Legumes and nuts
Vegetables
Fruits
Fats and oils
Sweets
Dietary Recommendations
• Vegetarians who eat fish, dairy, or eggs get
important nutrients and complete proteins
• Complete proteins
• Proteins that contain all nine essential amino
acids in the amounts needed to support protein
tissue construction
Sample Diet
Dietary Recommendations
• Vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium, EPA and DHA
are the nutrients most likely to be lacking in
vegetarian diets
• Supplied by fortified foods and supplements
• Dietary assessment is advised Key Nutrients
Required
Essential Amino Acids
• If any essential amino acids are missing in the
diet, protein tissue construction stops
• Essential amino acids
• Amino acids that cannot be synthesized in
adequate amounts by the human body and must
be obtained from the diet
Complementary Protein Foods
• Vegetarians can meet needs for essential
amino acids by combining plant foods to yield
complete proteins
• Complementary protein sources
• Plant sources of protein that together provide
sufficient quantities of the nine essential amino
acids
Complementary Protein Foods
Information on Vegetarian Diets
• Some good cookbooks
and websites are
available
• Watch out for wrong or
misrepresented
information and
exaggerated claims