From: Vegetarian Resource Group
Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, and poultry. Vegans are vegetarians who
abstain from eating or using all animal products, including milk, cheese, other dairy items,
eggs, wool, silk, and leather. Among the many reasons for being a vegetarian are health, ecological,
and religious concerns, dislike of meat, compassion for animals, belief in non-violence, and economics.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine affirms that a vegetarian diet can meet all known nutrient needs.
The key to a healthy vegetarian diet, as with any other diet, is to eat a wide variety of foods, including fruits,
vegetables, plenty of leafy greens, whole grain products, nuts, seeds, and legumes. Limit your intake of sweets and fatty foods.
There are many possibilities besides the obvious fruit and vegetable salads. Soups of various kinds; spaghetti and other pasta dishes; vegetable stews; casseroles; whole grains breads, rolls, bagels, and muffins; and Oriental dishes are just some of the choices. There are soy, sesame, and other vegetable-based burgers, and soy-based hot dogs as well. For convenience, excellent frozen dinners are also available.
Check out these sites to see all of the amazing meals that can be made vegan and vegetarian:
Veg Cooking: www.vegcooking.com
Compassion Over Killing: www.cok.net/lit/recipes
Post-Punk Kitchen: www.theppk.com
From: Vegetarian Society of El Paso
On the contrary. Any poorly planned diet can be deficient, but, in general, the risk of deficiency is lower with a
vegetarian diet. True, vegetarians should supplement with vitamin B-12. True, less iron and zinc is absorbed from the
average vegetarian diet as compared with the usual Western diet, although a well balanced vegetarian diet should supply
adequate amounts of both. And although it is true that there is little vitamin D in unfortified vegetarian foods other
than mushrooms, vitamin D is really a hormone best obtained by exposure of the skin to sunlight. On the other hand,
vegetarian diets are much richer in vitamins C and E, both important antioxidants. They are also much richer in important
minerals like magnesium and manganese, which are often lacking in Western diets. Sufficient magnesium may help prevent a
whole range of illnesses, including osteoporosis, high blood pressure, adult-onset diabetes, kidney stones, and heart
disease. Vegetarian diets are much higher in fiber, which is completely absent in animal products. Finally, vegetarian
diets are much richer in phytochemicals, plant nutrient-chemicals that may help prevent cancer, heart disease, and many
other problems. The deficiency in phytochemicals is probably the biggest drawback of meat-based diets.
From: Physicians Committe for Responsible Medicine
Protein is an important nutrient required for the building, maintenance, and repair of tissues in the body.
Amino acids, the building blocks of protein, can be synthesized by the body or ingested from food. There are 20 different
amino acids in the food we eat, but our body can only make 11 of them. The 9 essential amino acids, which cannot be produced
by the body, must be obtained from the diet. A variety of grains, legumes, and vegetables can also provide all of the
essential amino acids our bodies require. It was once thought that various plant foods had to be eaten together to get their
full protein value, otherwise known as protein combining or protein complementing. We now know that intentional combining is
not necessary to obtain all of the essential amino acids.1 As long as the diet contains a variety of grains, legumes, and
vegetables, protein needs are easily met.
With the traditional Western diet, the average American consumes about double the protein her or his body needs. Additionally, the main sources of protein consumed tend to be animal products, which are also high in fat and saturated fat. Most individuals are surprised to learn that protein needs are actually much less than what they have been consuming. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein for the average, sedentary adult is only 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight.2
To find out your average individual need, simply perform the following calculation:However, even this value has a large margin of safety, and the body’s true need is even lower for most people. Protein needs are increased for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. In addition, needs are also higher for very active persons. As these groups require additional calories, increased protein needs can easily be met through larger intake of food consumed daily. Extra serving of legumes, tofu, meat substitutes, or other high protein sources can help meet needs that go beyond the current RDA.
High-protein diets for weight loss, disease prevention, and enhanced athletic performance have been greatly publicized over recent years. However, these diets are supported by little scientific research. Studies show that the healthiest diet is one that is high in carbohydrate, low in fat, and moderate in protein. Increased intake of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables are recommended for weight control and preventing diseases such as cancer 3 and heart disease.4 High-carbohydrate, low-fat, moderate-protein diets are also recommended for optimal athletic performance.5 Contrary to the information on fad diets currently promoted by some popular books, a diet that is high in protein can actually contribute to disease and other health problems.
Osteoporosis: High protein intake is known to encourage urinary calcium losses and has been shown to increase risk of fracture in research studies.6,7 Plant-based diets, which provide adequate protein, can help protect against osteoporosis. Calcium-rich plant foods include leafy green vegetables, beans, and some nuts and seeds as well as fortified fruit juices, cereals, and non-dairy milks.
Cancer: Although fat is the dietary substance most often singled out for increasing one’s risk for cancer, animal protein also plays a role. Specifically, certain proteins present in meat, fish, and poultry, cooked at high temperatures, especially grilling and frying, have been found to produce compounds called heterocyclic amines. These substances have been linked to various cancers including those of the colon and breast.8-10
Long-term high intake of meat, particularly red meat, is associated with significantly increased risk of colorectal cancer. The 1997 report of the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research, Food, Nutrition, and the Prevention of Cancer, reported that, based on available evidence, diets high in red meat were considered probable contributors to colorectal cancer risk. In addition, high-protein diets are typically low in dietary fiber. Fiber appears to be protective against cancer.3 A diet rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables is important in decreasing cancer risk,3 not to mention adding more healthful sources of protein in the diet.
Impaired Kidney Function: When people eat too much protein, it releases nitrogen into the blood or is digested and metabolized. This places a strain on the kidneys, which must expel the waste through the urine. High-protein diets are associated with reduced kidney function. Over time, individuals who consume very large amounts of protein, particularly animal protein, risk permanent loss of kidney function. Harvard researchers reported recently that high-protein diets were associated with a significant decline in kidney function, based on observations in 1,624 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study. The good news is that the damage was found only in those who already had reduced kidney function at the study’s outset. The bad news is that as many as one in four adults in the United States may already have reduced kidney function, suggesting that most people who have renal problems are unaware of that fact and do not realize that high-protein diets may put them at risk for further deterioration. The kidney-damaging effect was seen only with animal protein. Plant protein had no harmful effect.11
The American Academy of Family Physicians notes that high animal protein intake is largely responsible for the high prevalence of kidney stones in the United States and other developed countries and recommends protein restriction for the prevention of recurrent kidney stones.12
Heart Disease: Typical high-protein diets are extremely high in dietary cholesterol and saturated fat. The effect of such diets on blood cholesterol levels is a matter of ongoing research. However, such diets pose additional risks to the heart, including increased risk for heart problems immediately following a meal. Evidence indicates that meals high in saturated fat adversely affect the compliance of arteries, increasing the risk of heart attacks.13 Adequate protein can be consumed through a variety of plant products that are cholesterol-free and contain only small amounts of fat.
Weight Loss Sabotage: Many individuals see almost immediate weight loss as a result of following a high-protein diet. In fact, the weight loss is not a result of consuming more protein, but by simply consuming fewer calories. Over the long run, consumption of this type of diet is not practical as it can result in the aforementioned health problems. As with any temporary diet, weight gain is often seen when previous eating habits are resumed. To achieve permanent weight loss while promoting optimal health, the best strategy involves lifestyle changes including a low-fat diet of grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables combined with regular physical activity.
High protein diets are unhealthy. However, adequate but not excess amounts of protein to maintain body tissues, including muscle, are still important and can be easily achieved on a vegetarian diet. If you are uncertain about the adequacy of protein in your diet, take inventory. Although all protein needs are individual, the following guidelines can help you to meet, but not exceed, your needs.
| Healthy Protein Sources (in grams) | |
|---|---|
| Black beans, boiled (1 cup) | 15.2 |
| Broccoli (1 cup) | 4.6 |
| Bulgur, cooked (1 cup) | 5.6 |
| Chickpeas, boiled (1 cup) | 14.5 |
| Lentils, boiled (1 cup) | 17.9 |
| Peanut butter (2 tbsp) | 8.0 |
| Quinoa, cooked (1 cup) | 11.0 |
| Seitan* (4 oz) | 24.0 |
| Spinach, boiled (1 cup) | 5.4 |
| Tempeh (1/2 cup) | 15.7 |
| Tofu, firm (1/2 cup) | 19.9 |
| Whole wheat bread (1 slice) | 2.7 |
*A vegetarian product made from wheat gluten; protein value from manufacturer’s information.
Source: J.A.T. Pennington, Bowes and Church’s Food Values of Portions Commonly Used, 17th ed. (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1998).
Split Pea Barley Soup
Black Bean Burritos
Peanut Butter Spaghetti
Chocolate Tofu Pudding
From:Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
The vegan diet, rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, provides an abundance of vitamins and minerals to meet one’s nutritional needs. However, there is one vitamin, called vitamin B12, which does present a genuine nutritional issue, although one that is easily solved.
When vitamin B12, which is produced by bacteria and other one-celled organisms in the small intestines of animals, is made by humans, it is not well absorbed and retained. Found mainly in animal products, small amounts may be found in plant products due to bacterial contamination.1,2 However these plant and fermented foods, such as spirulina, sea vegetables, tempeh, and miso, do not provide an active and reliable source3, so vitamin B12 must be obtained elsewhere in the diet.
For individuals following a diet free of all animal products, vitamin B12 needs can easily be met by consuming a variety of vegan foods. Fortified breakfast cereals, fortified soymilk, and fortified meat analogues contain a reliable source of the vitamin.4 Nutritional yeast, such as Red Star Vegetarian Support Formula, is also a reliable source. Be sure to check the Nutrition Facts Label or the ingredient list to ensure you are receiving the active form of vitamin B12, called cobalamin or cyanocobalamin. Most common multivitamins, from Flintstones to One-A-Day to Stress Tabs, also contain B12.
Regular intake of vitamin B12 is important to meet one’s nutritional needs. The recommended dietary allowance in adults is 2.4 micrograms per day, with increased requirements for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.5 Ensuring that vitamin B12 needs are met as one ages becomes even more critical as deficiencies are common among the elderly.6,7 Symptoms of deficiency may include fatigue, weakness, tingling in the arms and legs, digestive disturbances, and a sore tongue, and may lead to anemia and more serious disorders of the blood and nervous system.5
Listed below are common sources of vitamin B12 in the vegan diet. Be sure to check nutrition labels as products may vary.
| Common Sources of B12 in a Vegan Diet | ||
|---|---|---|
| Source | Serving | Amount B12 |
| Total cereal | 3/4 cup | 6.0 mcg |
| Product 19 cereal | 1 cup | 6.0 mcg |
| Kellogg’s Corn Flakes | 3/4 cup | 1.5 mcg |
| Grape-Nuts cereal | 1/2 cup | 1.5 mcg |
| Edensoy Extra Soymilk | 1 cup | 3.0 mcg |
| Meat analogues | varies | 2-7 mcg |
| Nutritional yeast (Red Star Vegetarian Support Formula, formerly T-6635+) | 1 Tbl | 4.0 mcg |
| Sources: Pennington JAT. Bowes and Church’s Food Values of Portions Commonly Used. Lippincott, New York, 1998. VMessina V and Messina M. The Vegetarian Way. Crown Trade Paperbacks, New York, 1996. | ||
From:Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Many Americans, including some vegetarians, still consume large amounts of dairy products. Here are nine great reasons to eliminate dairy products from your diet.
Milk is touted for preventing osteoporosis, yet clinical research shows otherwise. The Harvard Nurses’ Health Study,1 which followed more than 75,000 women for 12 years, showed no protective effect of increased milk consumption on fracture risk. In fact, increased intake of calcium from dairy products was associated with a higher fracture risk. An Australian study2 showed the same results. Additionally, other studies3,4 have also found no protective effect of dairy calcium on bone. You can decrease your risk of osteoporosis by reducing sodium and animal protein intake in the diet,5-7 increasing intake of fruits and vegetables,8 exercising,9 and ensuring adequate calcium intake from plant foods such as leafy green vegetables and beans, as well as calcium-fortified products such as breakfast cereals and juices.
Dairy products—including cheese, ice cream, milk, butter, and yogurt—contribute significant amounts of cholesterol and fat to the diet.10 Diets high in fat and saturated fat can increase the risk of several chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease. A low-fat vegetarian diet that eliminates dairy products, in combination with exercise, smoking cessation, and stress management, can not only prevent heart disease, but may also reverse it.11 Non-fat dairy products are available; however, they pose other health risks as noted below.
Several cancers, such as ovarian cancer, have been linked to the consumption of dairy products. The milk sugar lactose is broken down in the body into another sugar, galactose. In turn, galactose is broken down further by enzymes. According to a study by Daniel Cramer, M.D., and his colleagues at Harvard,12 when dairy product consumption exceeds the enzymes’ capacity to break down galactose, it can build up in the blood and may affect a woman’s ovaries. Some women have particularly low levels of these enzymes, and when they consume dairy products on a regular basis, their risk of ovarian cancer can be triple that of other women.
Breast and prostate cancers have also been linked to consumption of dairy products, presumably related, at least in part, to increases in a compound called insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I).13-15 IGF-I is found in cow’s milk and has been shown to occur in increased levels in the blood by individuals consuming dairy products on a regular basis.16 Other nutrients that increase IGF-I are also found in cow’s milk. A recent study showed that men who had the highest levels of IGF-I had more than four times the risk of prostate cancer compared with those who had the lowest levels.14
Insulin-dependent diabetes (Type I or childhood-onset) is linked to consumption of dairy products. Epidemiological studies of various countries show a strong correlation between the use of dairy products and the incidence of insulin-dependent diabetes.17,18 Researchers in 199218 found that a specific dairy protein sparks an auto-immune reaction, which is believed to be what destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas.
Lactose intolerance is common among many populations, affecting approximately 95 percent of Asian Americans, 74 percent of Native Americans, 70 percent of African Americans, 53 percent of Mexican Americans, and 15 percent of Caucasians.19 Symptoms, which include gastrointestinal distress, diarrhea, and flatulence, occur because these individuals do not have the enzymes that digest the milk sugar lactose. Additionally, along with unwanted symptoms, milk-drinkers are also putting themselves at risk for development of other chronic diseases and ailments.
Consumption of milk may not provide a consistent and reliable source of vitamin D in the diet. Samplings of milk have found significant variation in vitamin D content, with some samplings having had as much as 500 times the indicated level, while others had little or none at all.20,21 Too much vitamin D can be toxic and may result in excess calcium levels in the blood and urine, increased aluminum absorption in the body, and calcium deposits in soft tissue.
Synthetic hormones such as recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) are commonly used in dairy cows to increase the production of milk.13 Because the cows are producing quantities of milk nature never intended, the end result is mastitis, or inflammation of the mammary glands. The treatment requires the use of antibiotics, and traces of these and hormones have been found in samples of milk and other dairy products. Pesticides and other drugs are also frequent contaminants of dairy products.
Milk proteins, milk sugar, fat, and saturated fat in dairy products may pose health risks for children and lead to the development of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and formation of athersclerotic plaques that can lead to heart disease.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that infants below one year of age not be given whole cow’s milk, as iron deficiency is more likely on a dairy-rich diet. Cow’s milk products are very low in iron. If they become a major part of one’s diet, iron deficiency is more likely.10 Colic is an additional concern with milk consumption. One out of every five babies suffers from colic. Pediatricians learned long ago that cows’ milk was often the reason. We now know that breastfeeding mothers can have colicky babies if the mothers are consuming cow's milk. The cows’ antibodies can pass through the mother's bloodstream into her breast milk and to the baby.22 Additionally, food allergies appear to be common results of milk consumption, particularly in children. A recent study23 also linked cow's milk consumption to chronic constipation in children. Researchers suggest that milk consumption resulted in perianal sores and severe pain on defecation, leading to constipation.
Milk and dairy products are not necessary in the diet and can, in fact, be harmful to your health. Consume a healthful diet of grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and fortified foods including cereals and juices. These nutrient-dense foods can help you meet your calcium, potassium, riboflavin, and vitamin D requirements with ease-and without the health risks.
(from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)
The 9 million cows living on dairy farms in the United States spend most of their lives in large sheds or on feces-caked mud lots, where disease is rampant. Cows raised for their milk are repeatedly impregnated. Their babies are taken away so that humans can drink the milk intended for the calves. When their exhausted bodies can no longer provide enough milk, they are sent to slaughter and ground up for hamburgers.
Cows produce milk for the same reason that humans do: to nourish their babies. In order to force the animals to continue giving milk, factory farmers impregnate them using artificial insemination every year. Calves are generally taken from their mothers within a day of being born-males are destined for veal crates, and females are sentenced to the same fate as their mothers.
Mother cows on dairy farms can often be seen searching and calling for their calves long after they have been separated. Author Oliver Sacks, M.D., wrote of a visit that he and cattle expert Dr. Temple Grandin made to a dairy farm and of the great tumult of bellowing that they heard when they arrived: "'They must have separated the calves from the cows this morning,’ Temple said, and, indeed, this was what had happened. We saw one cow outside the stockade, roaming, looking for her calf, and bellowing. ‘That’s not a happy cow,' Temple said. 'That’s one sad, unhappy, upset cow. She wants her baby. Bellowing for it, hunting for it. She'll forget for a while, then start again. It's like grieving, mourning-not much written about it. People don't like to allow them thoughts or feelings.'"
After their calves are taken from them, mother cows are hooked up, several times a day, to machines that take the milk intended for their babies. Using genetic manipulation, powerful hormones, and intensive milking, factory farmers force cows to produce about 10 times as much milk as they naturally would. Animals are pumped full of bovine growth hormone (BGH), which contributes to painful inflammation of the udder known as "mastitis." (BGH is used throughout the U.S., but has been banned in Europe and Canada because of concerns over human health and animal welfare.) According to the industry’s own figures, between 30 and 50 percent of dairy cows suffer from mastitis, an extremely painful condition.
A cow’s natural lifespan is 25 years, but cows used by the dairy industry are killed after only four or five years. An industry study reports that by the time they are killed, nearly 40 percent of dairy cows are lame because of the filth, intensive confinement, and the strain of constantly being pregnant and giving milk. Dairy cows are turned into soup, companion animal food, or low-grade hamburger meat because their bodies too "spent" to be used for anything else.
© 2008 Asheville Vegetarians