Happy Healthy Vegetarian

I am happy to announce that my lacto-ovo vegetarian diet has been going great! I feel really good, and the food I have been eating has been just as satisfying as meat. In this post, I want to explore the ins and outs of how to be a happy, and most of all, healthy vegetarian.

Maybe this post will assist you in finding more vegetarian options to incorporate into your week, or maybe you too are a vegetarian. Either way, there is some exciting vegetarian exploring to be done!

Lets start with the basics, shall we?

As I discussed in a previous post, there are 4 main types of vegetarians. (Some can count 5 or 6, but I am drawing attention to the 4 most popular.) I began my transition from omnivore to vegetarian COLD TUKEY. In fact I took on the vegan diet for a few days!

This proved to be too difficult for me to stick with at school (with the limited selection of food I have on campus) and was getting slightly discouraged. I took on the lacto-ovo vegetarian diet soon after in the hopes that I would be able to get most of the nutrients I needed in a much more convenient manner.

This is the food pyramid that I follow as a lacto-ovo:

I use this pyramid as a reference point, but if you are a vegan or you are not sure about how to go about fitting your veg. diet into your lifestyle, consult a nutritionist.

Nutrients you may be missing

The very first thing I did upon becoming a vegetarian, was research. (Find some great links at the end of this post.) It is important to figure out (for the sake of your health), what food you need to include in your diet so that you get all of the proper nutrients. In my case, it wasn't good enough for me to drop meat out of my diet but not add anything new.

Vegetarian diets are typically low in protein, iron, zinc, vitamin D, calcium, and vitamin B12, however you can subsitute these nutrients quite easily if you know how.

Protein is abundant in eggs and milk, but there is also a significant amount in beans, soy products, nuts, seeds, whole grains, soy foods, and legumes. (Did you know that most North Americans actually consume too much protein!? People always worry, oh your a vegetarian so you must not get enough protein! Actually, I get plenty! And my body is probably happy that I'm not overloading it anymore.)

Iron* is found in dark green leafy vegetables and animal products (like eggs), but I still try to take an iron supplement each day. You can get one over the counter at the pharmacy, but make sure you talk to the pharmacist first. You will want to let him/her know about things like a family history in iron deficiency, and potentially a little something about your diet. Vitamin C helps in the absorption of iron, so with your salad, maybe have some orange segments too!

Zinc* is important for growth and your immune system. Zinc is found in whole grains, fortified breakfast cereals, dairy products, soy foods, and legumes. It is also richly supplied in animal foods (which may be tricky if you are a vegetarian...)

Calcium* is found in dairy products such as milk, yogurt and cheese. Some foods are not naturally high in calcium but have calcium added to them; these foods are called calcium-fortified. Look at the Nutrition Facts Label to find out which brands are highest in calcium

*These 3 nutrients are all richly supplied in animal foods, and while they are

found in plant foods too, their absorption is reduced by phytic acid in whole grains and legumes and oxalic acid in green vegetables and soybeans.

Vitamin B12 does not exist in non-animal foods, but certain soy milks and cereals are B12 fortified. A vegetarian should definitely eat fortified foods. (And minera

l supplements as mentioned earlier.) Examples include nutritional yeast flakes, fortified soy milk, and fortified cereals.

My Diet

I know we all love examples! We love to be told what to eat rather than how to eat, so here is the food I eat (more specifically).

I replace the missing nutrients with:

• Supplements of Iron and Vit D every day
• Soy Milk (I love the PC Blue Menu Chocolate Soy Milk)
• Beans (chickpeas, black, kidney, edamame [soy], etc.)
• Whole grains more often (brown rice, w/w pasta, bread, etc.)
• Eggs more often
• Cheese (Lots of cheese)
• Brightly coloured veggies (esp. red, orange, green)
• Vegi burgers
• Nuts (and nut butters- try almond butter!)
• Lots of veggies (esp. dark green, bright red, and orange fruit)
• I don't like tofu that much, but I will eat it if it was prepared well

Some of my favorite meals and snacks:

• Hummus and pita for a snack at work OR as a sandwich topped with veggies and tzatziki sauce
• Vegetarian chili with loads of vegetables (like zucchini, red peppers, tomatoes, onions corn, etc.) and lots of kidney beans
• Brown rice with edamame, avocado and homemade cranberry sauce
• Stir fry
• Hot grains cereal with banana and apples
• Hummus with carrots or celery for dipping
• Fresh berries are amazing when in season
• Apples tossed in cinnamon and sugar
• Breakfast for dinner (eggs, hash browns, toast, juice, etc.)
• A smoothie with fruit, milk, flax seed, almond butter, and fruit juice
• Cheese sandwiches
• Pasta Ponza (with chickpeas added)
• Chickpea burger patties
• Yogurt with homemade cranberry sauce or fresh fruit
• Squash or sweet potatoes cooked and mashed with cinnamon, brown sugar, and butter
• Breakfast wraps
• Salsa and chips
• Homemade soups (You can control the salt if you make it yourself)

More Resources

• 101 Cookbooks (See the vegetarian section for really creative recipes)
• Go Veg (You can order a free vegetarian starter kit, and this website has endless amounts of information)
• VegCooking (Lots of great recipes)
• Eating for Health (Learn more about how to be a happy healthy vegetarian)
• Factory Farming (Learn more about where most eggs come from)
• Meet your Meat video (This video features the worst of the worst, but is still worth checking out)