Eating healthy can equal vegetarianism

[Guest guest]

By Janine Jones

The Daily Cardinal

U. Wisconsin

 

 

(U-WIRE) MADISON, Wis. -- Over the past five years, vegetarianism has gained

more followers than ever before. Vegetarianism lies at the opposite end of the

eating habit spectrum from the traditional high-fat, low-fiber, meat-filled

diets many doctors advocate abandoning. A move toward vegetarian eating seems to

be a simple solution to the healthy-eating problem.

 

One of the easiest ways to reduce fat and cholesterol is to reduce the amount of

meat in one's diet, approaching vegetarianism. But eliminating meat is not

always the fast track to health many think it is.

 

Eating healthy as a vegetarian is just as difficult as eating healthfully as an

omnivore, someone who eats both animal and plant products, said Julie Thurlow,

lecturer in University of Wisconsin-Madison's nutritional sciences program and a

registered dietician.

 

She said students who realize what it means nutritionally to be a vegetarian get

all the nutrients they need. Those who get into trouble are the ones who think

being a vegetarian means just eliminating meat from the diet.

 

" Vegetarianism is a perfectly acceptable pattern of eating. You can get

everything you need with few exceptions, " Thurlow said.

 

Without a good balance of the fruits and vegetables that contain the vitamins

and minerals essential to the body's functioning, it makes it harder, if not

impossible, for the body's regulatory systems to work.

 

Eating provides the raw materials necessary for every cell in the body to do its

job. Complex carbohydrates and other sugars get broken down into glucose, the

simplest sugar molecule, and are used by muscles and the brain to carry out

their motions and neuron firings that allow the body to move and think.

 

Vitamins and minerals are just as essential to everyday activities as sugars

are. Without them the body's parts cannot function properly. One early sign of

vitamin and mineral deficiency is cracking of the skin in the corners of the

mouth and on the tongue, Thurlow said.

 

The Recommended Daily Allowances of vitamins and minerals printed helpfully on

the containers of every food sold in the grocery store address the necessity of

keeping vitamins and trace minerals in the diet.

 

Eating a good balance of fruits and vegetables ensures that almost all of the

dietary requirements will be met. Zinc, calcium, iron and vitamin B-12 are four

nutrients that vegetarians have to be especially aware of, though.

 

" Vegetarian students and omnivores don't get their nutritional needs met. You're

not automatically eating right in either category, " said Susan Nitzke,

UW-Madison nutritional sciences professor.

 

Nitzke said female students need to be especially aware of the calcium and iron

content in their diets. A lack of iron can lead to anemia, while a lack of

calcium can contribute to more serious health problems later in life.

 

Calcium, found in dark green vegetables like kale and in dairy products, is an

important nutrient for adolescents and young adults, Nitzke said. Without enough

calcium during the years when bones are still being formed, the risk of

osteoporosis increases.

 

" Calcium is very insidious. The process doesn't hurt, and you can't see what's

going on in your bones. The important time to build up bone strength is when you

are a teen-ager or young adult, " Nitzke said.

 

If eating enough of the vegetables and fruits which naturally contain the

vitamins and minerals is a problem, it is important to remember that breakfast

cereals and many soy products are fortified with the nutrients, Thurlow said.

 

Fortified foods have vitamins and minerals added to them during processing to

make it easier for people to get the nutrients they need.

 

People who do not or cannot eat dairy products are at risk for getting too

little vitamin B-12, a vitamin only found in animal products.

 

Thurlow said the vitamin is found in most fortified breakfast cereals and soy

products.

 

" Your typical Captain Crunch breakfast cereal has enough B-12 in it, " she said.

 

Vegetarianism and veganism can be healthy diets, but students need to be aware

of the trouble spots inherent in them to ensure their good health, Thurlow said.

 

" Done carefully and correctly and without just eliminating foods [they are]

perfectly healthy ways of eating, " she said.

 

© 2000 The Daily Cardinal via U-WIRE

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