Vegetarian Diets
Presented by
Janice Hermann, PhD, RD/LD
OCES Adult and Older Adult Nutrition Specialist
Types of Vegetarian Diets
 Vegetarians:
 exclude meat, poultry, fish, seafood and other animal products
from their diets
 Lacto-ovo-vegetarians:
 include milk, milk products, and eggs, but
 exclude meat, poultry, fish and seafood
 Lactovegetarians:
 include milk and milk products, but
 exclude meat, poultry, fish, seafood, and eggs
 Vegans:
 exclude all animal and animal-derived foods (meat, poultry,
fish, eggs, and dairy products)
 Macrobiotics
 Extremely restrictive diets limited to a grains and vegetables
Vegetarian Diets
 Vegetarian diets are classified based on
what they exclude, but foods excluded not
nearly as important as the foods included.
 Vegetarian diets that include a variety of
whole grains, vegetables, legumes, seeds,
nuts, and fruits offer complex carbohydrate,
fiber, a variety of vitamins and minerals and
low fat – all of which reflect the Dietary
Guidelines.
Health Benefits
 Health impacts of vegetarian diets would be
easy if the only difference was what they ate.
 Many vegetarians also have lifestyles
differences:
 Maintain a healthy weight
 Do not use tobacco
 Use little (if any) alcohol
 Are physically active
 Make it difficult to determine if health
benefits due to diet or other lifestyle factors.
Health Benefits
 Even when dietary effects are correlated with
health benefits, this only means health effects
go with diets, not that health effects are
caused by diet.
 Still, even with cautions, research suggest
well-planned vegetarian diets offer adults
nutrition and health benefits.
Body Weight
 Vegetarians tend to have healthier body
weight than non-vegetarians
 Vegetarians’ lower body weight is correlated
with their higher fiber and lower fat intakes
 Since being overweight can increase many health
risks, this gives vegetarians a health advantage
Blood Pressure
 Vegetarians tend to have lower blood
pressure than non-vegetarian
 A healthy body weight along with a diet low in
total fat and saturated fat and high in fiber, fruits
and vegetables helps maintain a healthy blood
pressure
 Other lifestyle factors, such as not using tobacco,
little (if any) alcohol use, and being physically
active help lower blood pressure
Heart Disease
 Vegetarians tend to have a lower incidence of
heart disease than non-vegetarians
 Dietary factors related to heart disease risk are
high total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol
 Vegetarian diets tend to be lower in total fat,
saturated fat, and cholesterol
 Vegetarian diets tend to supply monounsaturated
fats from olives, seeds, and nuts and
polyunsaturated fats from vegetable oils associated
with decreased heart disease risk
 Vegetarian diets also tend to be higher in dietary
fiber associated with lower heart disease risk
Heart Disease
 Many vegetarian diets include soy products,
which offer additional benefits
 Even when calories, protein, carbohydrate, total
fat, saturated fat, unsaturated fat, alcohol, and
fiber intakes are similar, diets using soy as a
protein result in lower blood cholesterol and
triglyceride levels than those using muscle meats
 Soy products also contain phytochemicals which
may also have a role in lowering blood
cholesterol
Cancer
 Vegetarians tend to have lower rates of
certain types of cancer, most notably colon
cancer, than non-vegetarians
 Lower cancer rates may be due to the higher
fruit and vegetable and lower fat intake
 Fruits and vegetables provide ample amounts of
fiber, antioxidant nutrients and phytochemcials
and low fat
Planning Vegetarian Diets
 Vegetarians and non-vegetarians have the
same meal-planning challenge – utilizing a
variety of foods to provide all the nutrients
needed while staying within a calorie range
that maintains a healthy weight.
Vegetarian Food Guide
 Most vegetarians consume adequate
amounts of nutrients found in abundance in
plant foods including thiamin, folate, and
vitamins B6, C, A, and E
 Vegetarian food patterns help to ensure
adequate intakes of nutrients vegetarian diets
might otherwise lack including iron, zinc,
calcium, vitamin B12, and vitamin D
Planning Vegetarian Diets
 The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010
contains adaptations to the USDA Food
Pattern for lacto-ovo vegetarians and
vegans.
Protein
 Recommended protein intakes for
vegetarians is the same as for nonvegetarians, although some have suggested
that vegetarian protein requirements should
be higher due to the lower digestibility of
plant protein.
 Lacto-ovo-vegetarians who include milk and
eggs receive high-quality proteins and are
likely to meet protein needs.
Protein
 Even vegans, who exclude milk and eggs, able
to meet protein needs if consume adequate
calories and varied sources of protein
 Whole gains, legumes, seeds, nuts, and
vegetables can provide adequate amounts of
protein and all the amino acids.
 Many plant based protein foods tend to be
lower in saturated fat and higher in fiber and
some vitamins and minerals than animal based
protein foods.
Vitamins and Minerals
 Getting enough iron can be a problem for
both vegetarians and non-vegetarians.
 However, vegetarians must pay particular
attention to iron intake.
 Iron is poorly absorbed from plant foods
such as legumes, dark green leafy
vegetables, iron-fortified cereals, and wholegrain breads and cereals.
Vitamins and Minerals
 Because iron is less available from plant
sources, the iron DRI for vegetarians is
higher than non-vegetarians.
 Fortunately, the body is more efficient at
absorbing iron when dietary intake is low.
 In addition, vitamin C increases iron
absorption, and vegetarian diets typically
provide ample fruits and vegetables rich in
vitamin C.
Vitamins and Minerals
 Zinc is similar to iron. Meat is a rich food
source of zinc; and zinc is not well absorbed
from plant sources.
 In addition, soy, which is commonly
consumed as a meat alternate in vegetarian
meals, interferes with zinc absorption.
 However, most adults who follow vegetarian
adults are not deficient in zinc.
Vitamins and Minerals
 The best advice in terms of zinc for
vegetarians is to eat a variety of nutrientdense foods; include whole grains, nuts, and
legumes.
 Oysters, crabmeat, and shrimp are also rich
in zinc for vegetarians who include seafood
in their diets.
Vitamins and Minerals
 Calcium intake of lactovegetarians is similar
to the general population.
 However, vegetarians who do not include
milk and milk products are at risk for
inadequate calcium intake.
Vitamins and Minerals
 If milk is not included in the diet,
recommendations are to choose ample
amounts of calcium-rich foods, such as
calcium-fortified juices, soy milk, and
breakfast cereals.
 Including plenty of these calcium rich foods
is especially important for children and
adolescents.
Vitamins and Minerals
 Some other good food sources of calcium
include figs, some legumes, some green
vegetables such as broccoli and turnip
greens, some nuts such as almonds, certain
seeds such as sesame seeds, and calcium-set
tofu.
 Because plant sources of calcium can be
limited, including a variety of calcium rich
foods is important.
Vitamins and Minerals
 The DRI for vitamin B12 is low, but vitamin
B12 is only found in animal foods.
 Bacteria used to ferment soy products such
as tempeh may provide some vitamin B12,
but much of the vitamin B12 may be an
inactive form.
Vitamins and Minerals
 Seaweeds such as nori and chlorella supply
only a very small amount of vitamin B12,
and excessive intake of these foods can
result in iodine toxicity.
 To protect against vitamin B12 deficiency,
vegans must depend on foods fortified with
vitamin B12 such as soy milk and breakfast
cereals or dietary supplements.
Vitamins and Minerals
 Vitamin D is also a nutrient of concern for
vegetarians to support bone growth and
maintenance.
 Vegetarians who do not consume foods
fortified with vitamin D and do not receive
enough sunlight exposure to synthesize
adequate vitamin D may need
supplementation.
Vitamins and Minerals
 Adequate vitamin D intake is especially
important for infants, children, and older
adults.
 Young children following vegan diets who
live in northern climates during winter
months can easily develop rickets which is a
vitamin D deficiency disease.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
 Vegetarian diets typically provide adequate
levels of omega-6 fatty acids, but provide
inadequate levels of omega-3 fatty acids.
 The imbalance in omega-6 and omega-3
fatty acids can slow the production of EPA
and DHA.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
 If seafood and eggs are not included in the
diet, dietary intake of EPA and DHA is low as
well.
 To make up for this inadequacy, vegetarians
need to include good sources of linolenic
acids in their diet, such as flaxseed, walnuts,
soybeans, and their oils.
Vegetarian Diets Through the Life Span
 Carefully planned vegetarian diets can
provide adequate calories and nutrients to
support good health.
 However, obtaining adequate calories and
nutrients can be difficult for vegans who
excludes all animal products; particularly for
growing children and pregnant and lactating
women.
Vegetarian Diets Through the Life Span
 Plant foods typically provide fewer calories
than animal foods.
 Lower calorie intakes can be helpful for
overweight adults, it can be harmful for
growing infants, children and adolescences.
 Diet during pregnancy, lactation, infancy,
childhood, and adolescence must provide
adequate calories and nutrients for growth
and development.
Healthy Food Choices
 In general, adults who follow vegetarian
diets have lower risks of developing many
chronic diseases, including obesity, high
blood pressure, heart disease, and cancer.
 However, there is nothing magical about
vegetarian diets. Vegetarianism is not a
religion, but rather a pattern of eating that
chooses plant foods to provide necessary
nutrients.
Healthy Food Choices
 Diet quality doesn’t depend on whether
meat is included, but on whether the other
food selected are nutritionally sound.
 A diet that includes plenty of fruits,
vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and
seeds is higher in fiber, antioxidant vitamins
and minerals, and phytochemcials, and
lower in total and saturated fat.
Healthy Food Choices
 The key to nutritional adequacy of
vegetarian diets is including a variety of
foods.
 Restrictive vegetarian eating plans, such as
macrobiotic diets that limit selections to a
few grains and vegetables cannot possibly
deliver a full variety of nutrients.
Healthy Food Choices
 Based on current research of the role of diet
and chronic disease, the USDA Daily Food
Plan also recommends a diet pattern that
includes plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole
grains and legumes.
 Such a diet plan provides the same health
advantages of a vegetarian diet if lean meat
intake is limited to the amounts
recommended by the USDA Daily Food Plan.
Healthy Food Choices
 In general, vegetarian diets can promote
good health.
 However, both vegetarian and nonvegetarian diets can be detrimental to
health if fat intake is high.
 Vegetarians who consume large amounts of
foods high in fat invite the same health
concerns as non-vegetarians who consume
high fat diets.
Healthy Food Choices
 In addition, both vegetarians and non-
vegetarian diets can be low in some
nutrients if poorly planned.
 Poorly planned vegetarian diets are often
low in iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin B12, and
vitamin D
 Poorly planned non-vegetarian diets are
often low in vitamin A, vitamin D, folate, and
fiber.
Healthy Food Choices
 In general, negative health aspects of any
diet, including vegetarian diets, reflect poor
diet planning.
 Careful planning to adequate calories and
problem nutrients can ensure adequacy.
Healthy Food Choices
 It’s important to remember that diet is only
one factor affecting health.
 In addition to diet, not smoking, moderate
alcohol intake (if at all), regular physical
activity, and adequate rest all contribute to
health.
 Healthy lifestyles early in life seem to be the
most important step one can take to reduce
risk of disease later in life.