The Great News:
• A Vegetarian diet is naturally high in lots of antioxidants from fruits and vegetables and it helps the environment!
• A Vegetarian diet will be high in fibre, complex carbohydrates and tend to be low in saturated fats and calories. Vegan diets will be cholesterol free. It will be good for low blood pressure, and a reduced risk of developing chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, as well as a chance of a lower risk of degenerative diseases
Apart from vegetables and fruit – here are some basics to cover the essential nutrients that we all need in our diets.
Protein Combining
To help make sure you're getting your protein, try 'protein combining' which gives you a broad spectrum of amino acids that you would normally get from animal products. Examples of protein combined meals are;
• Grain and a legume (eg. Rice with Dahl)
• Legume with a vegetable (eg. Minestrone soup)
• Grain and vegetable (eg. Quinoa Salad with vegetables)
If you're not vegan you can get protein into your diet with yoghurt, eggs, full cream milk, sheep’s milk. Another option is to try tempeh or tofu (non-GMO).
Soybeans are a really good source of protein, and great for vegans. Legumes include chickpeas, lentils, nuts, seeds.
Iron:
Iron - needed for energy production is normally found in red meat. Vegetarian options include molasses - a brown sticky syrup which is a by product of the sugar refining process, you can have on toast or off the spoon; plus try organically dried apricots or prunes.
Lola's Power Prune Choc Balls:
Ingredients
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup Australian prunes, pitted and chopped
1 cup desiccated coconut
1/4 cup cacao powder
Method
Mix all ingredients and form small balls. Sprinkle with additional raw cacao powder or desiccated coconut. The prunes are a big antioxidant hit and have high levels of iron great for giving you energy.
B12:
Vegan diets have low levels of B12 as B Vitamins aren't found in many plant foods. This is important for brain health and can lead to depression, mood disturbances and anermia. To counteract this you need to take a B12 supplement. Alternatively Vegetarians can eat B12 containing foods such as dairy products and eggs.
Meat-Free Mondays: Headed by Paul McCartney and supported by Gwenyth Paltrow, Sir Richard Branson, Moby and more... Give up meat on Mondays and help reduce C02 emissions with a decrease in meat consumption. More at: http://www.meatfreemondays.com/
