Overview The aim:
Depends, but may include weight loss, heart health, and diabetes prevention or control.
Balanced Diet: These diets fall within accepted ranges for the amount of protein, carbs, fat and other nutrients they provide. Learn More
Going vegetarian could help shed pounds and fend off chronic diseases.
You can cook up a perfectly healthy, meat-free menu that supports weight loss and reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
Well, which kind of vegetarian do you want to be? Most choose a lacto-ovo approach, turning their backs on meat, fish, and poultry but still eating dairy products and eggs. (Lacto-vegetarians, meanwhile, also nix eggs, whereas ovo-vegetarians also nix dairy; vegans exclude all animal products.) For the lacto-ovo camp, the governments 2010 Dietary Guidelines can help you develop a healthy plan. You can skip over the first 80 pages and just figure out how many meatless calories you should eat (Appendix 6, page 78) and where they ought to come from (Appendix 8, page 81) to get all the nutrients you need.
A daily 2,000-calorie diet, for example, should include 2 cups of fruit; 2 cups of vegetables; 3 cups of dairy, 6 ounce-equivalents of grains, and 5 ounce-equivalents of protein. The fine print will tell you how much actual food is in an ounce-equivalent. For grains, one ounce-equivalent is a slice of bread or a 6-inch tortilla; for protein, its an egg or quarter-cup of cooked beans. As with any diet, boredom is avoided through variationlike incorporating different-colored veggies and sources of protein to get the nutrients you need.
If that sounds tedious, countless books offer structure with vegetarian meal plans and recipes. The Internet is also full of good information. On its website, Oldways, a nonprofit food think tank, simplifies with its vegetarian food pyramid, which it codeveloped with the Harvard School of Public Health. The Mayo Clinic also offers tips to get started.
You dont have to go cold turkey. You could start by preparing a couple meat-free dishes each week, and gradually make more substitutionstofu in stir fry instead of chicken, say, or grilled veggie burgers instead of beef. If your aim is also weight loss, amp up your exercise routine and eat fewer calories than your daily recommended max.
Do: Try tofu.
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Vegetarian Diet -- What You Need to Know -- US News Best Diets
