6 Nutrients Every Vegetarian Needs.

“Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.” ~Albert Einstein

As people strive to improve their health and evolve their food choices to a more plant-based diet, it is easy to get lost along the way. You can happily end up living on chocolate whole-wheat croissants for breakfast, cheese pizza for lunch and a large bowl of Fettuccine Alfredo for dinner; but the pounds will eventually stack up as your energy declines. When you transition to a more vegetarian way of eating it is important to educate yourself about the nutrients your body will need on a daily basis.

Learn how to create a balance of vegetable protein, carbohydrates and quality fats with each meal. You must also replace the six essential nutrients provided by animal proteins with plant-based foods containing the protein, iron, zinc, calcium, B12, and Essential Fatty Acids that are reduced with the elimination of meat, poultry, pork and fish. The fun part is putting them together into delicious recipes and then chewing slowly for the full satisfying experience.

1. PROTEIN
A crucial part of any diet, the average RDA for women is 45 grams and for men 55 grams, which you can easily consume in the form of:

Beans, legumes, lentils and peas
Fermented soy products in the form of tempeh, miso, and natto
Free range eggs
Raw milk, cheese and yogurt.
Nuts and seeds, which benefit from soaking in water or sprouting first
Non-dairy nut and seed milks

NOTE: Pseudo-meats and other pretend protein foods should be avoided if possible, as they are highly processed foods with a list of ingredients as long as my arm. In an article by Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, Ph.D. they write that, “Phytic acid remaining in these soy products greatly inhibits zinc and iron absorption; test animals fed soy protein isolate develop enlarged organs, particularly the pancreas and thyroid gland, and increased deposition of fatty acids in the liver.”

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Dale O.

6:00PM PDT on Apr 3, 2012

To the spammers on the site, please get lost-we like to comment on the subject at hand not read your tripe...dating sites and the like--give it a rest!

April 3
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5:57PM PDT on Apr 3, 2012

I eat meat but always check articles for interesting alternatives so that I don't have to eat meat every day, scarey about the processed stuff sold as meat alternatives and the chemicals involved. If meat is eaten the portion should be the size of a deck of cards, not these humongous portions that Al the steak eater has been conditioned to savour!

Love to try different veggie foods, have a huge veggie cookbook and so many tasty items to try.

Hummus and quinoa along with buckwheat groats (kasha) are mavellous!

Certainly free range eggs are the best, when living on a hobby farm the yolk colour was deep, rich and not the anemic pale yellow egg yolks one gets from the factory farm-plus one almost always had double yolks from one eggs. A running free chicken spending the day outside is a happy chicken-roosting inside the barn at night so weasels and other mammals don't have them as their protein snack!

Love to try foods from world wide to my diet, such as Asian and enjoy many new things.

Laura M.

9:36PM PDT on Apr 2, 2012

Thanks!

April 2
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Sarah M.

8:39AM PST on Mar 3, 2012

Thanks.

March 3
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Pat L.

10:19PM PST on Feb 27, 2012

I've been vegetarian since 1979 and have seen cookbooks and information evolve through the years. But I have a friend, very overweight, who turned vegetarian about 3 years ago, so I'm often looking for articles and information to send to her. I've given her books, cookbooks and even written out a week's worth of easy meals to try to get her to eat more healthily. She's finally getting the hang of it and has started losing weight (her low fat ice cream and cookie habit was killing her). This is the kind of information I know my friend will read and understand. Thanks.

February 27
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Kiana S.

8:25AM PST on Feb 25, 2012

These are important things to know and a good reminder :) Thanks for the article!

February 25
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Beverly G.

12:12PM PST on Feb 24, 2012

Yes i agree with No Emails H. this is a dark time for the planet. I hope it doesnet end and it all gets better. Its a lovely world. People need to realise this. Its too overpopulated and not enuff is being done about that. In all countries it shud be 2 kids only then sterilisation. We wudent be in this mess then.. Me i aint got any kids.

February 24
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Beba H.

2:18AM PST on Feb 24, 2012

I am vegetarian and am very concerned about the milk and eggs I am eating because they are feeding the animals GMO corn and other GMO feed. GMO kills !!! It kills the animals and is killing us. This is a very dark time on the planet.

Ruth R.

2:03AM PST on Feb 24, 2012

Rivka W.

12:29AM PST on Feb 24, 2012

I almost never eat meat replacers, simply because they are really hard to find where I live, and generally don't taste very good. You can get tofu easily enough, so that's what I do. The list of iron and zinc rich foods is really helpful to me. I'm always looking for ways to naturally boost iron to balance anemia.