What Do Vegetarians Eat?

What do vegetarians eat? Vegetables?

At first look, for someone who had never previously heard the term, it would seem like a vegetarian is someone who only eats vegetables, doesn’t it? In reality, though, a vegetarian merely abstains from animal-based foods, and everything else is fine.

Some common and great misconceptions about vegetarian diets are that they lack variety, are very bland-tasting, and cannot provide for our full nutritional needs. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In terms of variety, vegetarians actually do have a wide spread. They eat vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, grains, legumes, beans and sprouts. These foods can be eaten raw, sprouted, steamed or cooked. They can also be blended or juiced. In addition, foods such as breads, crackers, chips, pasta, biscuits, soups, salads, etc, are made using them.

There is a wide range of different tastes from vegetarian foods to satisfy the taste buds. Further, herbs, spices, condiments and sauces can be used to liven up vegetarian recipes.

In terms of the nutritional value of vegetarian diets, read the page on my thoughts on vegetarian nutrition.

Revisiting the question, so, what do vegetarians eat? I suppose a vegetarian is in fact someone who eats only plant-based foods, the human equivalent of a herbivore, perhaps.

“Plantaranian”, anyone?


Click here to read more about the different types of vegetarians.

Here are some of my thoughts on coming up with a vegetarian diet plan.

See also a discussion on the vegetarian food pyramid.