 |
| Courtesy of The Witty Hippie |
What is Vegetarianism?
“The theory or practice of living on a diet made up of vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and sometimes eggs or dairy products”.
- True vegetarian: a person who does not eat meat, fish, fowl or products containing these foods. The eating patterns of vegetarians may vary considerably.
- Vegan or total vegetarian: only foods of plant origin: fruits, vegetables, pulses (dried legume grain), cereals, seeds and nuts.
- Lacto-vegetarian: plant foods plus milk or milk products.
- Ovo-lacto-vegetarian (or lacto-ovo-vegetarian): This diet also includes eggs.
Appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful and nutritionally adequate and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. As the popularity of vegetarian diets increase, it is important to be aware about the proper planning of the diet to minimise the nutrient deficiencies.
Daily Plan for Healthy Eating
Food Group | Minimum daily servings | Type of food equal to one serving |
Grains | 6 - 11 | ½ cup of rice or pulses (cowpea, green gram), Bread 1 slice, |
Pulses, nuts, milk and milk products | 5 - 7 | Dhal 3 tablespoon, Cowpea ½ cup, nuts 1 tablespoon (peanut, cashew, pumpkin seed, cotton, sesame), egg 1, Soya 2 tablespoon, 1 cup of yogurt, ½ cup of milk |
Vegetables | 4 - 5 | Cooked vegetables 3 tablespoon, green leaves and salads 1 cup |
Fruits | 2 | Medium fruit 1, small banana 1 |
Fat | 2 – 6 | Oil, butter, matgarine 1 teaspoon, Coconut gravy 2 tablespoon, coconut sambol 1 tablespoon |
Calcium rich food | 4-8* | Milk ½ cup, Yougurt 1 cup, Kathrumurunga 3 tablespoon, Cooked soya beans 3 tablespoon, Woodapple 1 medium |
Vitamin B12 rich foods | 3 | Yeast extracts 1 tablespoon, ½ cup of milk, 1 cup of yogurt, 1 egg, fortified food |
Omega-3-fatty acids rich foods | 2 | Canola, olive, soybean oil or nuts 1 tablespoon, |
Iron rich foods | 2 | |
Vitamin C rich foods | 2 | |
Sweets | Moderations | Biscuits, Icecreams, sugar |
Number of servings of grains varied from sedentary to active and female to male. Active men need the highest. Calcium 8 servings are needed for adolescents to meet the daily requirements.
Nutritional Considerations
· Energy: Children with adequate energy intakes will grow at a predictable rate. Infants between 6-12 months of age should be fed frequently to accommodate the required energy content from vegetarian diet due to small gastric capacity.
· Protein: Animal products are not a must to have enough protein in the diet. Plant proteins alone can provide enough of the essential and non-essential amino acids, as long as sources of dietary protein are varied and the energy intake is high enough to meet energy needs. Cereals, pulses, vegetables, seeds and nuts all contain both essential and non-essential amino acids. It is necessary to consciously combine these foods ("complementary proteins") during the day. Vegetarian children should be able to receive an adequate amount of protein to grow and thrive.
· Iron: Although the availability of iron from plant food is low vegetarians are not necessarily at a greater risk of iron deficiency than non-vegetarians. Pulses, green leafy vegetables, dried fruits and nuts in quantities are all good plant sources of iron. If fresh fruits in the meal (vitamin C) or processing pulse (germination, fermentation) will enhance the iron absorption of plant foods.
· Vitamin B-12: It is synthesised by bacteria and comes naturally from animal sources only. Total vegetarians or vegans need a reliable source of vitamin B-12.
· Calcium: Studies have shown that vegetarians absorb and retain greater percentage of the calcium from foods than non-vegetarians. Vegetable greens such as spinach, mukunuwanna and some pulses and soybean products are good plant sources of calcium.
· Zinc: Zinc is needed for growth and development. Good plant sources include grains and nuts.
It is important for vegetarian women to check their hemoglobin level prior to become pregnant . Elderly vegetarians should check their hemoglobin levels annually.
Though the person is vegetarian, active life style is a must to minimise chronic diseases like diabetes, heart diseases and high blood pressure. Exercise of at least 30 minutes per day by engaging in brisk walks, gardening, sweeping the garden, etc should be done.
Written by-
Dr. Renuka Jayatissa
