Lately there is a vegetarian nutritionist trend that prevails especially in developed countries, it is becoming increasingly popular, mainly due to the ethical, philosophical, environmental and health reasons surrounding this practice.
The most dangerous case, is for people who are strictly vegetarian, to have this type of diet can produce several nutritional problems that can lead to many nutritional deficiencies of vitamin B12 and vitamin D, iron, zinc, calcium, and certain essential amino acids for our body. Therefore many experts advice that instead of bringing a vegan diet is prefer to have an ovolactovegetarian diet where they can consume products such as milk, eggs or honey.
In these diets there is a better variety of foods, able to meet the nutritional needs of all ages and stages of human beings. Although it would be much more viable to health if you try more balanced vegetarian diets, semi-vegetarians or pseudo vegetarians, where meat consumption is allowed although there is limited amount or just fish as an option.
On the other hand there are options such as vegetarian frugivorous diet that are not highly recommended. This diet is based only on taking fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts. And it should be noted that there are serious studies that warns people that eats only raw foods are more exposed to diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular deficiency and cancers.
You cannot forget that the lack of meat and lactose may produce deficiencies of many important nutrients such as protein, calcium, iron, vitamin b12 among others. In the case of vitamin B12, this is exclusively located in animal sources and its deficiency can cause anemia, neuropathy, and infertility, bearing in mind that plant proteins are far less digestible and its amino acid content will be lower.
If you decide to follow an ovolacto-vegetarian diet or semi-vegetarian it is important that you follow these tips:
Include soy in your diet.
Soy is the perfect food for this type of diet as it is rich in amino acids.
Include foods rich in calcium.
As we know vegetarian diets tend to be low in calcium so it is recommended to eat plant foods such as legumes, seeds and nuts that are rich in calcium. In that sense, we highlight green leafy vegetables like spinach that are also rich in calcium and other nutrients.
Citrus Juices and Salads.
Having in mind that vitamin C promote good absorption of iron in plant foods we provide to our body.
They are ideal as a complement to vegetarian diets because they provide rich nutrients like iron.
Especially those who begin a vegetarian diet, it will be important in the first months of transition to take supplements.