Tips for a Healthy Vegetarian Diet

Top tips:

• Minimize intake of nutritionally deficient foods such as sugar, processed, refined and fast foods
• Choose whole or unrefined grain products instead of refined products (white breads, white flour products, white pasta, white rice – except basmati)
• Choose a wide variety of nuts, seeds, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. Eat with the seasons to receive a variety of foods high in nutrients.
• Include a combination of available protein sources daily to attain adequate levels of amino acids.
• Include good sources of vitamin C to improve iron absorption.
• For vegans and ovo-vegetarians, include fortified food sources of vitamin B12 such as fortified soymilks or cereals, or include a daily supplement.
• Include a vitamin d supplement if sunlight exposure is low and a calcium supplement if diet is inadequate or needs are increased.
• Have regular check for iron levels especially if you are a teenager, menstruating female, pregnant or elderly.

Quick reference table of nutrients:

Vitamin B12 – Fatty fish, spirulina, fortified soymilk and cereals, supplements

Vitamin D – Butter, fortified dairy free spreads, sardines, supplements

Calcium – Dairy products, tofu, green vegetable, seeds, nuts, legumes

Iron – Legumes, tofu, green leafy vegetables, dried fruit, whole grains, fortified cereals/breads

Zinc – Red meats, fish and shellfish, whole grains (especially the germ and bran), legumes, nuts, seeds, tofu.

Combinations of plant protein sources:

Vegans, and especially children, must be sure to consume adequate calories and protein. Animal foods, including eggs and dairy, provide all eight of the essential amino acids and constitute a “complete” or “primary” protein. Plant foods are “incomplete” or “secondary” proteins and contain fewer amino acids than animal foods. Plant-based diets can provide adequate amounts of amino acids but only when a varied diet is eaten on a daily basis.

The mixture of proteins form grains, legumes, seeds, nuts and vegetables provide a complement of amino acids so that deficits in one food are made up by another. Not all types of plant foods need to be eaten at the same meal, since the amino acids are combined in the body’s protein pool. To gain the greatest use of all the amino acids, it’s best to consume complementary proteins within three to four hours. The following combinations are strongly advised:

Grains with legumes – Basmati rice with Lentil Dahl

Grains with eggs or diary – Wholemeal toast with poached egg

Legumes with nuts and seeds – Stir fry tofu with sesame seeds and cashews

Legumes with eggs or diary – Chickpea curry with yoghurt

Nuts and seeds with grains – Almond spread on spelt bread

Nuts and seeds with eggs or diary – Roasted seed/nut mix sprinkled onto fruit & yoghurt

Legumes: black-eyed peas, chickpeas, peas, peanuts, lentils, sprouts, and black, broak, kidney, lima, mung, navy, pea, and soy beans etc

Grains: Rice, wheat, corn, rye, bulgur, oats, millet, barley, buckwheat, spelt, kamut and Quinoa (all ava8ilable as a whole grain, flour, bread or pasta/noodles)

Nuts: Cashew, walnut, brazil, pecan, pistachio, almond, hazelnut, macadamia etc

Seeds: Pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, linseeds, etc

***Spirulina is a very high source of protein as well. It can be taken in supplement form.

Vegetarian and vegan diets can meet the current recommendations for all of the above-mentioned nutrients, but in order to be healthful, they require very careful and proper planning and may require supplementation. As with any diets, it’s important for the vegetarian diet to include many different foods, since no one food contains all the nutrients required for good health. The wider the variety, the greater the chance of getting the nutrients you need.