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Food for Health
A typical vegetarian diet
closely matches expert dietary recommendations for healthy eating, being low
in saturated fat and high in fibre, complex carbohydrates, and fresh fruit
and vegetables.
The 1983 NACNE Report
(National Advisory Committee on Nutrition Education) in the UK recommended a
reduction in fat intake, particularly saturated fat, and an increased
dietary proportion of polyunsaturated fats to saturated fats. An increased
intake of complex carbohydrates and fibre and a decreased intake of sugar
and salt were also recommended.
The World Health Organisation
(1990) has similarly recommended a reduced intake of fat and increased
consumption of complex carbohydrates. Increased consumption of fruit,
vegetables, cereals and pulses is also recommended.
The nutritional guidelines
from the World Health Organisation, the NACNE Report and other expert bodies
form the basis of advice given on healthy eating by health professionals
today.
Vegetarian diets tend to be
lower in total fat. Taber & Cook (1980) found lacto-ovo vegetarians to
consume an average of 35% of energy as fat, compared to omnivores consuming
over 40% of energy as fat. A study of the diets of a group of French
vegetarians found they had a daily intake of 25% less fat than
non-vegetarians (Millet, 1989). Vegetarians also tend to eat proportionally
more polyunsaturated fat to saturated fat compared with non-vegetarians.
Animal products are the major sources of dietary saturated fat.
The best dietary sources of
complex carbohydrates and fibre (also called non-starch polysaccharides or
NSP's) include wholegrain cereals, vegetables and pulses and so vegetarian
diets tend to be high in these nutrients. Animal products contain no fibre
or complex carbohydrate.
Recent research has
demonstrated the importance of protective antioxidant nutrients in the diet
found in fresh fruit and vegetables. These antioxidant nutrients include the
beta-carotene form of vitamin A, vitamin C and E. Many researchers now
believe that these nutrients play a major role in reducing the risk of
chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. A high consumption of
fresh fruit and vegetables is a benefit of vegetarian diets.
All these factors contribute
to the proven health of vegetarians although it is difficult to account for
the exact contribution of each nutrient. All vegetarian diets are not
necessarily healthy, for example if too high a proportion of high fat dairy
products are consumed
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