As we flip our calendars to March, we welcome the 40th annual National Nutrition Month sponsored by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics! The National Nutrition Month 2013 theme is, “Eat right, your way. Every day.” The idea is to acknowledge that food preferences, cultural traditions, ethnic traditions and health concerns can all affect the food choices that we make, but we can always find a personalized nutrition plan that works for our lifestyle as well as our body.
Though the exact numbers are uncertain, it is estimated that, about 3% of Americans follow a vegetarian diet. There are often concerns about whether or not vegetarians are getting the necessary nutrients from their diets. It is true that many American get some of their necessary micro and macronutrients from the meat in their diets, but with a bit of planning, a vegetarian can quickly make up for the following common items that omnivores might typically get from their meat.
- Protein. A lack of protein is always a big topic that non-vegetarians tend to bring up with vegetarians. The truth is that the typical American gets more protein than he or she needs, thus with a variety of foods being good sources of protein, a vegetarian need not be too concerned. By the way, did you know that plants (i.e. spinach or broccoli) often contain more protein per calorie than meat? The problem is that it takes quite a bit of spinach to reach a significant caloric total.
- Iron. Cereals, eggs, nuts, seeds, and legumes are all excellent sources of iron. Because plant, dairy, and eggs contain a type of iron that is less efficiently absorbed than that in meat, the recommended iron intake for vegetarians is just shy of two times that of non-vegetarians.
- B12. B12 can be found readily in dairy products and eggs. For those that do not consume either, it is recommended that special care be taken to choose products, such as cereal or soy milk, that have been fortified with B12 derived from a vegan source, or to take a supplement.
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids. This one’s tricky for those (vegetarian or not) that don’t eat fish. Other sources of this nutrient, which is important for memory, mental function, and a number of other health aspects, include flaxseeds, olive oil, avocado, algae, hempseeds, and chia seeds.
It has generally been concluded that vegetarians can indeed quite easily get all of the nutrients that they need from an otherwise balanced diet; however, vegetarians do need to take extra care to make sure that they are in fact eating a full and balanced diet, or it can also be easy to miss out on some important micro and macronutrients.
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