So What Do Vegetarians Eat?
There’s no big mystery to answering what do vegetarians eat. By definition, a vegetarian is someone who does not eat meat, poultry or fish. More precisely, this describes the diet of a lacto ovo vegetarian – the most common type of vegetarian – but there are many different types of vegetarians, principally lacto vegetarians and vegans. Just click on the links for more detailed definitions of what each type of vegetarian eats.
For health, if you are going to become vegetarian, it’s important to know what you should eat to ensure that you are achieving a balanced vegetarian diet. With a little understanding of vegetarian nutrition, you can ensure you are enjoying all the significant health benefits of being a vegetarian.
Of course, many vegetarians choose not to eat meat for health or ethical reasons, but there is another significant deterrent to eating meat - the environmental cost. Look at growingraw.com if you'd like to read more about the positive environmental impact of vegetarianism.
Protein
The good news is that a healthy vegetarian diet is easy to achieve, a lot easier than many people imagine. I have found that the biggest nutritional concern people have when becoming vegetarian is whether they will get enough protein in a vegetarian diet. In fact there are many excellent sources of protein for vegetarians. These include nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, grains, cheese, eggs and soy products like tofu. Don’t worry! I have lots of additional information on vegetarian protein sources if this is something you want to know more about.
Iron
Something else people tend to wonder about when asking what do vegetarians eat is how to find good vegetarian iron sources. In fact, it isn’t difficult to ensure you are getting enough iron. Leafy green vegetables, lentils, pulses, dried fruit, eggs and wholegrain bread are all excellent vegetarian sources of iron. Just remember, vitamin C really helps the body to absorb iron too so make sure you include plenty in your diet in the form of green vegetables, peppers and fruit like strawberries, kiwis and oranges. If you want to know a little bit more about getting enough iron, take a look here.
Mmm... all this talk of a vegetarian healthy diet is making me hungry.
Vitamin B12
If you still have more questions about a balanced vegetarian diet, you can also check out my vegetarian meal plans (coming soon), read about vegetarian vitamin b12 and take a look at my vegetarian nutrition chart (coming soon). And if after all that, you are still wondering what do vegetarians eat , just check out the recipes and you’ll realise that the answer can be – great food, everyday.
