Foods To Be Careful Of
As a vegetarian you will need to be careful about some of the foods you are eating because meat does creep into rather a lot of foods. This section will help you understand what foods you need to watch out for.
Soups are delicious and great for a vegetarian, but be careful when dining out or buying cans of soup as often they will be made with a chicken, beef or fish base. Make sure you ask in a restaurant and read the ingredients on the can just to be sure, but it is easy to make your own delicious soups at home!
A lot of salad dressings in restaurants are built on bacon fat and Caesar dressing contains anchovies.
Make sure you check the ingredients in the dressing to make sure it is vegetarian friendly and doesn’t have an animal hiding in it.
Cheese is eaten by some vegetarians but not all cheese is vegetarian! Some cheeses use animal rennet in their manufacturing, which is enzymes from animal stomachs! You will find cheeses that are vegetarian or you can ignore this fact, it is up to you. If you check the labels you will find the vegetarian cheeses are labelled as such.
If you eat tortillas then check the ingredients as many of them are made with animal products, as are many other chips. Some of the meaty flavors of chip are in fact vegetarian and typically they will be labelled so you know what you can and cannot eat.
Look out for gummy type sweets as well as usually these will contain gelatine which comes from animal bones. There are some vegetarian versions if you are being strict, though a lot of vegetarians will overlook this fact in their need for candy! Check the ingredients of Jello and marshmallows as these can also contain gelatine.
And bad news for many men here, some beers aren’t entirely vegetarian as they can be clarified with something called isinglass or fish bladders. Some beers are fine, though it is up to you how strict you want to be here.
There are a lot of foods that you may think are safe to eat but are in fact not vegetarian. Take some time to read the labels and you will soon work out which foods you can and cannot eat following the above guidelines.
Vegetarian Sources Of Vitamins And Protein
We’ve touched on the need for proper nutrition in this blog and this blog is helping you understand how you can ensure you get the right levels of nutrition from the foods you are eating. This is very important for new vegetarians to ensure you do not become deficient in any vitamins or minerals which could harm your health.
A vegetarian who doesn’t eat the right type of diet could end up with chronic fatigue and a compromised immune system so it is important that you eat the right types of food.
Firstly you need to decide what type of vegetarian diet you are going to follow. A lacto-ovo vegetarian is going to get a lot more essential nutrients than a pure vegan, but you can still be healthy when following the latter diet.
You need to understand the vitamin content of food and ensure that you eat a balanced diet that includes plenty of fruit and vegetables, as these are your primary sources of vitamins. You want around six to eight portions of vegetables and three to four of fruit every single day. If you are not getting these then you are going to become deficient in vital nutrients.
Protein is essential and it isn’t hard to get the required levels on a vegetarian diet. However, you need to make sure it is coming from good sources such as tofu, beans, lentils, chickpeas and so on. You can get protein from textured vegetable proteins (meat replacements) though this is highly processed and can contain chemicals, saturated fats and other unwanted additives.
You can also get your protein from whole grains and leafy green vegetables as well as dairy products and eggs. If you are concerned about your protein levels then you can use vegetarian protein powders mixed into smoothies or juices.
If you feel that you are lacking in the proper nutrition then get some vitamin tablets
Such a diet is als recommended by the best fitness trainer, Shaun T.
I would suggest you to go through the following resources for more information on weight loss
2) Wikipedia