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.

A simple strategy would be to kick out the bad stuffs, or at least reduce their amounts greatly, put in or increase the amount of good stuffs, and then consume a wide variety of these good stuffs. That should do the trick.

The importance of variety is that it helps ensure balance. Vegetarian diet plans would comprise of the following types of plant foods: Vegetables, fruits, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, sprouts and grains. They can be eaten raw, sprouted, steamed or cooked.

These foods can also be blended to create soups, smoothies, etc, or juiced for a refreshing nutritional blast.

Foods made from the abovementioned, for example pastas, soups, breads, crackers, chips, etc, can also be included in vegetarian diet plans.

Eat as colorful a vegetarian diet as you can. This gives you the chance to experience different tastes, and also helps you to obtain a wide spectrum of nutrients, especially phytochemicals (plant chemicals) and enzymes.

Eat as much raw foods as possible; eat as natural, as whole, as organic, and as unprocessed as possible. They are more nutritious, and also more easily digested and assimilated by the body. Processed foods, on the other hand, lack nutrients; they also release sugar into the bloodstream quickly, thereby raising insulin levels. Foods which are not natural and organic also contain harmful chemicals.

Together with the above tips, what you then have to do is to eat to fulfill your caloric needs. When you a varied vegan diet and then meet your energy needs, you will almost certainly also be meeting your requirements for all the essential nutrients.

Remember to listen to your body. It will react and give your signals accordingly, as described above.

Again, I wish to reiterate that vegetarian diets are nutritionally sufficient. If you still have concerns, you may also want to read the discussion on the possible nutritional deficiencies in vegetarian diets.

In general, vegetarian diet plans are usually much easier and quicker to formulate and prepare than recipes which contain meat. If you want, there are also many raw vegetarian recipes which require little or no cooking at all.

At this moment, I have not included vegetarian recipes on this website. If you wish, you may search the internet, or refer to the vegetarian websites, books, videos and other resources I have mentioned.

You may also want to check out the page discussing a typical vegetarian food pyramid.

Some related pages include thoughts on what a healthy vegetarian is, some ideas for daily vegetarian diets, thoughts on having a balanced vegetarian diet, as well as some tips on becoming a vegetarian.