We asked nutritionist, Vicky Turrell, to share her expertise on what you should be getting enough of as a vegetarian:
Vegetarian diets can be incredibly healthy as well as being good for the planet. More of the good stuff likefibre, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and less of the bad things that are sadly part of the over-farmed animal food chain. Without doubt, a plant based diet is good for us and the healthiest societies across the planet are those that have a significant vegetarian element in their diets. As food writer Michael Pollan summed up in The New York Times: ‘Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.’ As a general rule, you can’t go wrong with that!
But for some, going ‘veggie’ just means giving up meat and fish, and that’s where things can go seriously wrong. Getting a balance of all the food groups is essential for good health and a healthy vegetarian diet is as much about what we put in, as what we are taking out. In my early teens, I decided to become vegetarian and spent many a tedious, not to mention nutritionally deficient, mealtime eating some boiled veg and the odd potato. Occasionally, this was brightened up by a cheese and tomato pizza or a pile of pasta and a jar of sauce. It didn’t take long before I was finding my diet very limited and my energy levels were dropping. Fast forward (many) years and now, as a practising nutritionist, I still favour a largely vegetarian diet but my eyes have been opened not only to the enormous variety of food on offer, but also to the need to include adequate sources of key nutrients.
When I see vegetarian clients in my clinic I look at 3 key areas: firstly protein. Protein is made up of 20 amino acids, 9 of which the body cannot produce and therefore these are known as ‘essential’. We need to take in these essential building blocks of protein through our diet. When we eat meat and fish, nature gives us a ready-made package of what we call ‘complete’ proteins which contain all 9 of the essential amino acids in roughly equal amounts. Vegetarian based proteins, with the exception of eggs, dairy, soy beans and quinoa, are incomplete protein sources. This simply means that we need to eat a range of plant based proteins (e.g. lentils, nuts, seeds, beans, peas) in order to get all of the amino acids that we need.
Variety is not only the spice of life, but the key Many traditional diets actually reflect this by combining things like rice and beans, hummus and flatbread and lentils with rice. These combinations all create complete proteins on our plates but even if we don’t eat these foods in combination, our bodies are clever enough to be able to hold onto them in what is called the ‘amino acid pool’ and combine them together later on, provided we include a mixture on a regular enough basis.
The second key area is iron. Again, when we eat animal sources we are getting an easily absorbable form of iron. Although plant sources of iron are abundant - dark leafy greens, dried fruits, whole grains, to name a few, the type of iron they contain is not quite as easy to absorb as animal sources. Again, this means that we need to eat plenty of these vegetarian sources on a regular basis to ensure that our iron stores are properly replenished.
Linked to iron is the third key nutrient — B12. Often forgotten, B12 is not only needed in order to absorb iron but is vitally important in a huge range of other physical and mental processes. B12 deficiencies can lead to depression, fatigue, visual disturbances and memory loss, amongst a host of other things. Vegetarian sources of B12 are dairy products and eggs, so it is crucial to either include these in a balanced diet or take a good supplement.
In the end, the easiest way to ensure a healthy vegetarian diet is to remember that variety is crucial. The more we mix up our plant protein sources, our rainbow of colours and textures and tastes, the more certain we can be that we are getting everything we need.
Variety is not only the spice of life, but the key to a long, healthy life!
For more information, see: www.vtnutrition.com
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