Tips for healthy vegetarian eating

Your choice to follow a vegetarian diet may be for religious, health or moral reasons. Whatever the case may be, care must be taken when eliminating an entire food group from your diet. Following these guidelines will help ensure you get the nutrients you need while enjoying a vegetarian lifestyle.

1. Choose a variety of foods, including whole grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds and, if desired, dairy products and eggs.
2. Choose whole, unrefined foods often and limit highly sweetened, fatty and heavily refined foods.
3. Choose a variety of fruits and vegetables.
4. If dairy products and eggs are included, choose lower-fat dairy products and use both eggs and dairy products in moderation.
5. Use a regular source of vitamin B12 and, if sunlight exposure is limited, vitamin D.

The reasons for being vegetarian are varied, including health concerns, ethics, religion, economics, as well as taste. Here are a few of the varieties:

Semi-vegetarians

Predominantly practice a vegetarian diet, but may include occasional animal foods in their diet.

Lacto-ovo-vegetarians

Include milk and products made from milk, as well as eggs, but avoid meat, fish and poultry.

Lacto-vegetarians

Include milk and products made from milk.

Vegans

Consume no meat, poultry, fish, dairy or eggs and may also exclude honey.

Phytates, compounds found mostly in cereal grains, legumes and nuts, bind with iron and prevent the body from using it. Vegetarians should increase their intake of plant foods that are rich in iron, or should discuss the use of iron supplements with their doctor. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of iron for vegetarians who eat no animal products is 1.8 times greater than the RDA for non-vegetarians.

For example, a 30-year-old vegetarian woman will need 32 micrograms instead of 18 micrograms daily. Vitamin C can help reduce the effects of phytates, and cooking or baking vegetables also releases some of the iron that is bound to phytates.

Although plant foods contain various proteins, they are of an "incomplete" variety. This means they do not contain all the essential amino acids that the body needs.

But combining plant foods to make a complete protein can be as ­simple as eating a legume (peanut butter) with a grain (whole-wheat bread). Alternatively, nuts and seeds can be combined with grains. Examples of complementary plant-protein ­combinations are:

• Rice and beans.
• Bean-vegetable chili served with tortillas.
• Baked beans and corn bread.
• Hummus (made with chickpeas and sesame seeds).
• Breadsticks with sesame seeds.
• Multigrain bread made with sunflower seeds.
• Split-pea soup served with a whole-wheat roll.