Vegetarian diet and the adivise on various key helathy ingredients

Health Benefits of Vegetarianism

Compared with non-vegetarians, Western vegetarians have:

• A lower average Body Mass Index (BMI) (by about 1 kg/m2).
• A lower mean plasma total cholesterol concentration (by about 0.5 mmol/l).
• A lower mortality from IHD (by about 25 percent).
• They may also have a lower risk for some other diseases such as constipation, diverticular disease, gallstones and appendicitis.
• The evidence available suggests that widespread adoption of a vegetarian diet could prevent approximately 40,000 deaths from IHD in Britain each year.

The Seventh-Day Adventist Church Health Study

This is the only major ongoing study on the general health and mortality of vegetarians in the U.S. Data was collected from 1976-1988. Of the 34,192 participants, all members of the Seventh-day Adventist church: 29 percent were vegetarian, while 7-10 percent of the vegetarians were vegan.

Compared to non-vegetarians the above vegetarians had about:

• 1/2 the high blood pressure and diabetes
• 1/2 the colon cancer
• 2/3 the rheumatoid arthritis and prostate cancer
• Breast, lung, & uterine cancers tended to be lower in vegetarians but could have been due to random chance.

Vegetarian Life Expectancy

Life expectancies in the Adventist Health Study have recently been published. They show that this group of Seventh-day Adventists appears to be the longest-lived, formally studied population in the world (with an average life span of 78.5 years for men, 82.3 for women).

Vegetarian Pyramid Offers Best Vegetarian Nutrition

For optimum nutrition as a vegetarian, follow the Vegetarian Food Pyramid.

Table 1. Vegetarian Food Pyramid

Eggs, Sweets			Eat occasionally or in small quantities
Nuts & Seeds	Egg Whites, Soy Milks Dairy	Plant Oils	Eat daily
Fruits & Vegetables	Whole Grains	Soy, Beans, Peanuts & Other Legumes	Eat at every meal

Source: US Dept of Agriculture

Balanced Vegetarian Diet - Eat from All Food Groups

Use the Vegetarian Food Pyramid to maintain a healthy balanced diet by eating foods from all the food groups. Each of these vegetarian food groups provides some, but not all, of the nutrients you need. Foods in one group can't replace those in another. No one food group is more important than another - for good health, you need them all. Vegans should pay special attention to their vitamin B12 and vitamin D intake by eating fortified foods or taking vitamin B12/ vitamin D supplements.

Vegetarian Diet Nutrition Guidelines

Vegetarian Diet Nutrition - Protein

Plant sources of protein alone can provide all the protein required by vegetarians and vegans provided a variety of plant foods are consumed. Complementary proteins do not need to be consumed at the same time if they regularly appear in the diet.

Vegetarian Diet Nutrition - Iron

Although vegetarian diets are higher in total iron content than nonvegetarian diets, iron reserves are lower in vegetarians because the iron from plant foods is less well absorbed. That said, iron deficiency anemia rates are similar in vegetarians and nonvegetarians. Remember that it's easier to absorb iron from food if we eat it with foods that contain Vitamin C, so have some fruit or veg containing vitamin C, or some fruit juice with your meal.

Vegetarian Diet Nutrition - Vitamin B12

Plant foods are not a reliable source of B-12 for vegetarians. Vitamin B-12 in spirulina, sea vegetables, tempeh, and miso has been shown to be inactive B-12 analog rather than the active vitamin. Although dairy products and eggs contain vitamin B-12, research indicates that lacto-ovo-vegetarians have low blood levels of vitamin B-12. Thus use of fortified foods or supplements are advised for vegans or vegetarians who limit animal foods.

Vegetarian Diet Nutrition - Vitamin D

Vitamin D is poorly supplied in all vegetarian diets unless vitamin D-fortified foods are eaten. However, vegan vitamin D-fortified foods - such as soy milk and cereals, are becoming more widely available. Exposure to direct sunlight exposure is a major source of vitamin D, so dietary intake is not important if sun exposure (to hands, arms, and face for 5 to 15 minutes per day) is adequate.

Vegetarian Diet Nutrition - Calcium

Ovo-lacto vegetarians have calcium intakes that are comparable to those of nonvegetarians. Calcium is well absorbed from many plant foods, and vegan diets can provide adequate calcium PROVIDED the diet regularly includes foods rich in calcium.

Vegetarian Diet Nutrition - Zinc

Because of the lower uptake of zinc from plant foods, vegetarians should attempt to meet or exceed the zinc RDA.

Vegetarian Diet Nutrition - Pregnancy

Lacto-ovo-vegetarian and vegan diets can meet the nutrient and calorie needs of pregnant women. Birth weights of infants born to well nourished vegetarian women have been shown to be similar to birth-weight norms and to birth weights of infants of nonvegetarians. Diets of pregnant and lactating vegans should be supplemented with 2.0 micrograms and 2.6 micrograms, respectively, of vitamin B-12 daily and, where sun exposure is limited, with 10 micrograms vitamin D daily. Supplements of folate are advised for all pregnant women, although vegetarian women typically have higher intakes than nonvegetarians.

Vegetarian Diet Nutrition - Notes on Optimum Vegetarian Health

Standard adult vegetarian diets (which are low in fat and high in fibre) can fill up infants (under 5 years) before they have ingested sufficient energy and nutrients. So vegetarian diet plans for infants should include fewer high-fiber foods and more energy and nutrient-dense foods.

A vegetarian diet is fine for children and provides all the nutrients required for normal growth and development. Vegetarian kids are similar in height and weight to non-vegetarian kids and are less likely to be overweight.

For optimum diet and nutrition, the American Dietetic Association advises all vegetarians/vegans to consult a registered dietitian or other qualified nutrition professional, especially during periods of growth, breast-feeding, pregnancy, or recovery from illness.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that those who choose foods of only plant origin must supplement the diet with vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium, iron, and zinc. Adequate intake of these nutrients are even more important for growing children and pregnant and lactating women.

Sources include:
US Department of Agriculture.
American Dietetic Association.
UK Food Standards Agency.

Easy Vegetarian Diet (Includes milk & eggs)

21 reasons to be vegeterian

21 REASONS for being VEGETERIAN
Vegetarianism is the fastest growing trend in the developed world. Here are 21 reasons why you should think about turning green too.

Avoiding meat is one of the best and simplest ways to cut down your fat consumption. Modern farm animals are deliberately fattened up to increase profits. Eating fatty meat increases your chances of having a heart attack or developing cancer.

Every minute of every working day, thousands of animals are killed in slaughter-houses. Pain and misery are common. In the US alone, 500,000 animals are killed for meat every hour.
There are millions of cases of food poisoning recorded every year. The vast majority are caused by eating meat.

Meat contains absolutely nothing - no proteins, vitamins or minerals - that the human body cannot obtain perfectly happily from a vegetarian diet.

African countries - where millions are starving to death - export grain to the developed world so that animals can be fattened for our dining tables.

'Meat' can include the tail, head, feet, rectum and spinal cord of an animal.

A sausage can contain ground up intestines. How can anyone be sure that the intestines are empty when they are ground up? Do you really want to eat the content of a pig's intestines?
If we eat the plants we grow instead of feeding them to animals, the world's food shortage will disappear virtually overnight. Remember that 100 acres of land will produce enough beef for 20 people but enough wheat to feed 240 people.

Every day, tens of millions of one-day-old male chicks are killed because they will not be able to lay eggs. There are no rules about how this mass slaughter takes place. Some are crushed or suffocated to death. Many are used for fertiliser or fed to other animals.

Animals who die for your dinner table die alone, in terror, in sadness and in pain. The killing is merciless and inhumane.

It's must easier to become (and stay) slim if you are a vegetarian. (By 'slim', I do not mean 'abnormally slender' or 'underweight' but rather, an absense of excess weight!)

Half the rainforests in the world have been destroyed to clear ground to graze cattle to make beefburgers. The burning of the forests contributes 20% of all green-house gases. Roughtly

1,000 species a year become extinct because of the destruction of the rainforests.

Approximately 60 million people a year die of starvation. All those lives could be saved because those people could eat grain used to fatten cattle and other farm animals - if Americans ate 10% less meat.

The world's fresh water shortage is being made worse by animal farming. And meat producers are the biggest polluters of water. It takes 2,500 gallons of water to produce one pound of meat. If the US meat industry wasn't supported by the taxpayer paying a large proportion of its water costs, then hamburger meat would cost $35 a pound.

If you eat meat, you are consuming hormones that were fed to the animals. No one knows what effect those hormones will have on your health. In some parts of the world, as many as one on four hamburgers contain growth hormones that were originally given to cattle.

The following diseases are commoner among meat eaters: anaemia, appendicitis, arthritis, breast cancer, cancer of the colon, cancer of the prostrate, constipation, diabetes, gallstones, gout, high blood pressure, indigestion, obesity, piles, strokes and varicose veins. Lifelong vegetarians visit hospital 22% less often than meat eaters and for shorter stays. Vegetarians have a 20% lower blood cholestrol level than meat eaters and this reduces heart attack and cancer risks considerably.

Some farmers use tranquillisers to keep animals calm. Other routinely use antibiotics to starve off infection. When you eat meat you are eating those drugs. In America, 55% of all antibiotics are fed to animals and the percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin went up from 14% in 1960 to 91% in 1988.

In a lifetime, the average meat eater will consumer 36 pigs, 36 sheep and 750 chickens and turkeys. Do you want that much carnage on your conscience?

Animals suffer from pain and fear just as much as you do. How would you like to spend your last hours locked in a truck, packed into a cage with hundreds of other terrified animal and then cruelly pushed into a blood soaked death chamber. Anyone who eats meat condones and supports the way animals are treated.

Animals which are a year old are often far more rational - and capable of logical thought - than six week old babies. Pigs and sheep are far more intelligent than small children. Eating dead animals is barbaric.

Vegetarians are fitter than meat eaters. many of the world's most successful athletes are vegetarian.

Source of Information: Food for Thought by Dr Vernon Coleman. It is available in libraries, or from bookshops, or post free from European Medical Journal, P O Box 30, Barnstable, Devon EX32 9YU

The food that boosts brain power.

HOW DOES THE BRAIN WORK?
Being 80 per cent water and weighing in at around 1.3kg, your brain consists of billions of cells.
Most of these are simple "glial" cells - the "glue" that holds the brain together. These glial cells are also responsible for supporting and nourishing the neurons.
Neurons are nerve cells which receive and send messages to and from different parts of the brain. Each neuron is connected to up to 10,000 neighbouring neurons.
The connections between them are made via axons and dendrites: axons carry signals away from the neurons while dendrites carry messages to them.
Between each axon and dendrite is a tiny gap, the synapse. Signals are passed across the synapse by the release of highly specialised brain chemicals - the neurotransmitters.
Certain foods can stimulate or inhibit neurotransmitter release, which can have a dramatic effect on how well your brain functions, energy levels and mood.
FEEDING YOUR MIND
So what does your brain need to flourish? In short, an old-fashioned balanced diet containing all three of the major nutrient groups.
FATS
Doctors now believe some fat is essential for regulating mood. But too much saturated fat can lead to the same sort of artery clogging (atherosclerosis) that results in heart disease.
If an artery in the brain is clogged, the result can be stroke or vascular dementia - the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's.
Current government guidelines recommend fats should make up no more than 35 per cent of our daily calorie intake, but we can do a lot to improve brain function by eating healthy fats rather than unhealthy ones.
The healthy fats are the omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish such as salmon, sardines and mackerel and the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats found in olive oil and other healthy oils such as hemp and rapeseed; plus nuts, seeds and avocados.
The fats to limit are the saturated ones such as those found in meat and dairy products - and trans fats, usually found in hydrogenated fats and oils, which turn up in deep-fried foods and some heavily processed products such as biscuits, cakes, margarine, pastries and meat pies.
Why we need the healthy fats:
? To help form the brain's cells' (neuronal) membranes.
? To help form the protective myelin sheath that allows faster communication (it is 70 per cent fat).
? To protect us from depression. Deficiency in certain fats makes us more vulnerable to depression, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
? To boost IQ. Fat builds brainpower. The reason breast-fed infants score higher in IQ tests is thought to be that their mothers' milk transfers exactly the right ratio of the right fats.
PROTEIN
If fat makes up the brain's cells, it's proteins that allow messages to be sent between the neurons. Most neuro-transmitters are made up of amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. We need to eat protein in order to ensure a steady supply of neurotransmitters.
This is one reason why what we eat can have such a profound effect on how we think and feel.
If you eat protein - say, a piece of fish for lunch, you are going to feel far more alert in the afternoon than if you had eaten a bowl of carbohydrate-rich pasta - that's partly because the fish will break down to the amino acid tyrosine, which promotes the release of noradrenaline and dopamine.
These neurotransmitters will keep you motivated and focused right through the so-called mid-afternoon slump.
Carbohydrates on the other hand, can tend to make you sleepy.
You need only a couple of servings of protein a day to keep your brain working actively - and it's best to get them during the day, at breakfast and lunch.
WHICH PROTEINS TO EAT
There are eight amino acids, and dietary proteins are classified depending on how many they supply.
COMPLETE PROTEINS: These supply all eight of the amino acids and include fish, meat, eggs, cheese, milk and yoghurt.
INCOMPLETE PROTEINS: Foods such as grains, legumes, seeds and nuts provide some amino acids, but not all of them. They need to be eaten in combination with other foods to form complete proteins.
CARBOHYDRATES
Fats make up brain cells and protein 'fires' them off, but it's carbohydrate which fuels them. Your brain runs on the carbohydrate glucose, and neurons need a constant supply.
Carbohydrates also supply the amino acid tryptophan, necessary for production of serotonin, the neurotransmitter essential for maintaining an even mood.
The best possible fuel is the type of carbohydrate foods - grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables - known as unrefined (or complex) carbohydrates - those that haven't been processed. Unrefined carbohydrates are broken down relatively slowly by your body, ensuring a steady supply of energy to your brain.
On the other hand, refined (highly processed) carbohydrates such as those found in processed foods tend to be broken down rapidly, providing your body with a rapid "sugar rush," which is just as quickly followed by a "sugar crash."
When it comes to helping us choose the healthiest carbohydrates, the GI (glycaemic index) is invaluable. Each foodstuff has a GI value dependent on the speed with which it is broken down to glucose and hits the blood stream.
Glucose has a value of 100 and water is 0.
Unrefined carbohydrate foods usually have a fairly low GI - and any food with a GI below 50 (which means its glucose will be released slowly into the bloodstream) is generally a good choice if you want high levels of concentration, focus and alertness.
GI RATINGS OF COMMON FOODS
CHOOSE THESE ...
Apple 38
Basmati rice 58
Carrot 39
Spaghetti 40
All Bran 44
Yoghurt 36
INSTEAD OF THESE ...
Chocolate bar 68
White rice 87
Potato (mashed) 73
Jacket potato 85
Cornflakes 83
Ice cream 61
To see what a dramatic difference eating the right foods can make to your memory, mental agility, energy levels and mood, try my simple eating programme.
Within four weeks, you should not only be feeling brighter and sharper, but may well have lost excess pounds.
For details of Carol's programme, log on to www.dailymail.co.uk/eatingplan