Starting a Vegetarian Diet

If you are reading this article then you are most likely considering starting a vegetarian diet, or perhaps just looking for some useful advice on how to improve your own vegetarian diet. If not then you may begin to wonder, why anyone would want to start a vegetarian diet anyway? The answer is usually pretty straightforward. A well planned Vegetarian Diet can provide many health benefits such as lower risk of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and many more conditions. But other's make the choice to become vegetarian for ethical reasons concerning the lives of animals because of how poorly they are treated and the limited rights they are given.

So considering the above points it is easy to see the benefits of becoming vegetarian, but what is the negative side to it? It is common for people following vegetarian diets that are not well planned to have low amounts of certain essential vitamins and nutrients such as Vitamin D, Protein, Iron, Vitamin B12 and Calcium. However a well planned diet can avoid many of these deficiencies.

Planning a well balanced vegetarian diet may involve replacing meat in your meals with other substitutes such as tofu, lentil burgers or other vegetarian made products. In doing this you are making up for your protein needs that would usually be acquired from things like lean meat as well as other minerals such as zinc and calcium.

To make up for your iron requirements you should eat green leafy vegetables, peas, whole grains, enriched cereals and legumes. Drinking things like orange juice or eating citrus will help your body to absorb the iron from these foods more effectively.

Vitamin B12 is more difficult to substitute as it cannot be found within any plant products, it can however be found in certain kinds of fortified cereals but is more prominently found in eggs and dairy products. By consuming dairy products like milk or things such as almonds you can keep your calcium levels normal.

Vitamin D is mostly attained from sunlight and isn't really too much of a concern when deciding to become a vegetarian unless you already suffer from a deficiency of it. If you suffer a deficiency you could try to boost your vitamin D levels by going outside more often or getting it from certain fortified foods.

I myself am a vegetarian and have been for 6 months, My vitamin and mineral levels are all healthy and I haven't missed meat since becoming vegetarian at all. Tofu cooked in a frying pan is my favorite substitute for meat, it comes in a variety of different flavors and makes a great meal when served with plenty of salad. There is an endless variety of vegetarian meals that can be cooked which also meet your nutritional requirements.