Not all who adhere to vegetarian, vegan, or other special diets have nutritionally sound eating habits. The clinical consequences of an insufficiently mindful vegetarian or vegan diet include many common symptoms such as anxiety, brain fog, depression, fatigue, insomnia, neuropathies, and other neurologic dysfunction. Patients with such symptoms who report having a vegetarian or vegan diet or a...

Recently, vegetarian diets have experienced an increase in popularity. A vegetarian diet is associated with many health benefits because of its higher content of fiber, folic acid, vitamins C and E, potassium, magnesium, and many phytochemicals and a fat content that is more unsaturated. Compared with other vegetarian diets, vegan diets tend to contain less saturated fat and cholesterol and mor...

This paper derives from research I conducted in the archives of the Vegetarian Society, in Manchester, in October 2011 on the figure of Beatrice Lindsay, a graduate from Girton College, Cambridge, who, in 1885, became the first female editor of the Society’s journal, the Dietetic Reformer and Vegetarian Messenger. In addition to her position as editor, Lindsay contributed a monthly column on “N...

Well planned vegetarian diets can provide adequate amounts of zinc from plant sources. Vegetarians appear to adapt to lower zinc intakes by increased absorption and retention of zinc. Good sources of zinc for vegetarians include whole grains, tofu, tempeh, legumes, nuts and seeds, fortified breakfast cereals and dairy products. The inhibitory effects of phytate on absorption of zinc can be mini...

~////////////////////////////////////////////////////kk Num~r 11, March 14, 1977 Despite the increasing prices, beef consumption in the United States has continued to rise. In 1940 the average beef intake per person was 55 pounds, in 1960 the average was 190 pounds, and in 1970 ir was 236 pounds. 1 For the next quarter of a century, moreover, the meat industry expects this figure to increase, T...

Fecal, urinary, and plasma estrogens and plasma androgens were studied in healthy pre- and postmenopausal vegetarian and omnivorous women. Dietary histories of the subjects revealed that omnivores consumed a higher percentage of total protein and fat from animal sources. The total 72-hr fecal excretion as measured by dry weight was higher for vegetarians. Preliminary results indicate that veget...

An appropriately planned well-balanced vegetarian diet is compatible with an adequate iron status. Although the iron stores of vegetarians may be reduced, the incidence of iron-deficiency anemia in vegetarians is not significantly different from that in omnivores. Restrictive vegetarian diets (eg, macrobiotic) are associated with more widespread iron-deficiency anemia. Western vegetarians who c...

The three most common motives for plant-based diets in western populations are health, the environment, and animal rights. This study compares structure, endorsement rates, personality correlates of these among vegetarian omnivorous (i.e., non-vegetarian) respondents. We found evidence configural, metric, scalar equivalence measurement across vegetarians omnivores, suggesting that diet function...

Iron is transported throughout the body as part of the transferrin protein and is stored as ferritin. The earliest stage of iron deficiency occurs when stores are depleted, characterized by a drop in serum ferritin levels and an increase in total iron binding capacity that refers to incomplete saturation of the transferrin molecule. Serum ferritin levels below 12 μg/l are associated with comple...

Vegetarians who eat a varied and well balanced diet are not at any greater risk of iron deficiency anaemia than non-vegetarians. A diet rich in wholegrains, legumes, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, iron-fortified cereals and green leafy vegetables provides an adequate iron intake. Vitamin C and other organic acids enhance non-haem iron absorption, a process that is carefully regulated by the gut. Pe...