The one cautionary note about vegetarianism is that simply eliminating meat does not automatically produce a healthy diet. You still need to pay attention to the quality and quantity of what you eat. A healthy vegetarian diet focuses on whole foods like fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, and whole unprocessed grains, and limits processed and refined sugars and empty calories. There is no shortage of vegetarian and vegan junk food out there. Remember, the root word of vegetarian is "veg" not "junk." Here are 2 pyramids here from VegSource to help you out.
VEGETARIAN FOOD PYRAMID
VEGAN FOOD PYRAMID
Amanda,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right what you say about junk. The amount of vegetarians I have come across over the years who have simply stopped eating meat, yet blithely carry on eating white bread and refined products.
A dedicated meat eater once assumed I too must eat meat because in his own words "but you are not thin and pasty like a vegetarian".
Only about a year after this, he had a heart attack in his mid 40s.
The same happens to me. I'm always the one who "is the one that didn't get sick" when everyone else does. I also have more energy than most. I always seem to surprise someone that I'm a vegetarian. A healthy glow and happy disposition DOES NOT come from eating meat; it comes from from eating healthy... i.e. plant based foods.
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