vegetarian diet Today It has become a popular way of eating, some for health, some for weight loss, and some for faith
There are many kinds of vegetarianism, including vegetarianism / vegetarianism (only plant food), egg milk (only plant food and eggs, milk), egg (only plant food and eggs), milk (only plant food and milk).
Some scientific studies have confirmed that: compared with non vegetarian diet, vegetarianism can reduce all-cause mortality, ischemic heart disease mortality, reduce the incidence of cancer, prolong life expectancy, and also has certain benefits for weight loss.
But from the point of view of nutrition, vegetarianism also has its disadvantages, especially the strict vegetarianism. After all, the lack of a large class of food intake will lead to the lack of many nutrients.
Vegetarianism should be matched properly
In order to avoid the deficiency of protein, vitamin B12, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, iron, vitamin D and other nutrients due to the lack of animal food, vegetarians need to match their daily meals reasonably.
About protein
Vegetarians’ high-quality protein comes from plants. Compared with animal protein, other plant proteins, except soybean protein, lack 1-2 essential amino acids, belonging to incomplete protein. Therefore, vegetarians should fully eat all kinds of bean products, such as soybean milk, tofu, dried bean curd, and soybean skin, A large piece of tofu (about one jin) per day is equivalent to 100 grams of soybean. A cup of soybean milk for breakfast, soybean sprouts for lunch, stewed tofu or fried dried bean curd for dinner can be easily eaten. Steaming rice or stir fried dishes with a handful of soaked soybeans, or fried soybeans as snacks, are all ways for vegetarians to increase their soybean intake.
In addition, the proportion of whole grain intake should be increased. At least one of the three meals should have whole grain or miscellaneous beans, such as oats, corn, millet and mung bean porridge, and steamed pasta with whole wheat flour. Soybean protein contains a lot of lysine, but the content of lysine in the composition of cereal protein is very low. If soybean and cereal food are used together, it can play a complementary role in protein and improve the nutritional value. For example, the mixed noodle Wotou made with corn, millet and soybean flour is a good food.
On polyunsaturated fatty acids
Vegetarians are prone to lack of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which are beneficial to human body, including plant derived linolenic acid and animal derived EPA and DHA. However, linolenic acid can produce EPA and DHA in the body. It is recommended that the vegetarians use soybean oil and / or rapeseed oil for cooking, and linseed oil and / or perilla oil for cold dishes. Cooking oil consumption should also be controlled in 25-30 grams, not too much. In addition, bacteria and algae vegetables contain more 20 carbon and 22 carbon n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, so vegetarians should also eat more fungi and algae vegetables. At the same time, eat a little nuts every day (about 10 grams), nuts are rich in protein, unsaturated fatty acids, vitamin E, B vitamins, calcium, iron and other nutrients.
About vitamin B 12
Vitamin B12 is the most easily deficient nutrient for vegetarians. It mainly comes from meat, animal viscera, fish, poultry, eggs and fermented bean products, which are not contained in other plant foods. Long term deficiency can lead to numbness of hands and feet, fatigue and even anemia, which can be supplemented by additional nutritional supplements. Fermented soybean products are made from soybean by microbial fermentation. During the production process, due to the growth and reproduction of microorganisms, a small amount of vitamin B12 can be synthesized. The common ones are sufu, Douchi, stinky tofu, sour soymilk, Douban sauce, etc., but most of these foods contain high salt content, and it is OK to eat 5-10g each time. If you can accept the taste of sufu, it is a good way to replace edible salt for seasoning.
About iron
Many plant foods are rich in iron, so the average vegetarian diet intake of iron is not much, but these iron are non heme iron, which can be absorbed by the human body after reduction by cytochrome b, and the absorption process is greatly affected by dietary factors, so the absorption rate is low. However, vitamin C and citric acid provided by plant-based foods can promote iron absorption. Therefore, if vegetarians have persistent fatigue, dizziness and anemia, it is better to conduct blood biochemical tests to determine whether they are iron deficient, and take nutritional supplements or change their dietary patterns when necessary.
About vitamin D
It is difficult for vegetarians to get enough vitamin D from food, because its food sources are mainly egg yolk, deep sea fish, animal liver, milk added with vitamin D, etc. Therefore, vegetarians should ensure 20-30 minutes of sunshine every day and increase outdoor activities to promote the synthesis of vitamin D in the body. Vegetarians may also need to supplement vitamin D through nutritional supplements.
Vegetarianism is also very particular. It’s not that eating meat is equivalent to being vegetarian. Therefore, when choosing vegetarian food, we must pay attention to distinguish healthy and unhealthy vegetarianism. When purchasing processed food, we should pay attention to the nutrition label, choose the food with low oil, low salt and low sugar, balanced and healthy vegetarianism and reasonable food collocation, which may be beneficial to our health.