Formulating a Vegetarian Diet Plan

A vegetarian diet plan which is properly put together can be very healthful. Vegetarian diets have been found and proven in numerous studies to satisfy all of human’s nutritional needs. This fact has been clearly backed by the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada. In June 2003, they stated their position that “appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases”.

For more information on the adequacy of vegetarian nutrition, click here.

To read about the health benefits of vegetarian diets, click here.


A vegetarian diet plan which satisfies

Coming up with vegetarian diet plans which fulfils one’s nutritional needs should not be a difficult task.

According to Dr William Harris, MD, director of the Kaiser Permanente Vegetarian Lifestyle Clinic in Hawaii, a simple vegetarian diet of whole grains, fruits, starches and vegetables can actually meet a person’s recommended amounts of essential nutrients, except for vitamin B12.

As written in one of his articles, Dr Harris says that there is no necessity to measure or count out serving amounts of the different types of the above plant foods which one eats. In fact, he encourages the consumption of as much as one wants, as long as the foods consumed are whole foods and vegan.

Won’t we overeat, then? Dr Harris explains that the body has 3 so-called built-in mechanisms which help to take care of that. Firstly, the stomach has stretch receptors which inform the brain when it has had enough.

Secondly, the body tells one to eat until a sufficient amount of food energy has been taken in for metabolic purposes.

Finally, the body has a complicated system of biochemical feedback which detects the presence (or absence) of nutrients such as essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, minerals and vitamins.

This third reason is why trashy fast food, refined foods, sugary and floury snacks, as well as soft drinks, make you fat. One can eat and eat and eat, yet because of the absence of the needed nutrients (as junk food has little or no nutrients in them), one continues to feel hungry all the time, and keeps eating. Result? Obesity!

Overall, I agree with this approach. I don’t think there is the need to count and calculate down to the minute details when coming up with a vegetarian diet plan, or, for that matter, any diet plan. Eating should be a simple affair, and I really don’t think God (or Nature) would have intended for it to be such a complicated process.

In his educational materials which I have come across, Dr Richard Schulze, the famous natural healer and herbalist, also does not seem to specifically indicate special requirements for counting or measuring food portions when formulating a vegetarian diet plan.


Simple tips and thoughts on formulating a free vegetarian diet plan

Although I don’t advocate rigorous counting and measuring when coming up with a vegetarian diet plan, there exist some universal pointers when it comes to designing healthy diets. These apply to vegetarian diet plans as well. The following are some of my tips and thoughts.