Women and Vegetarian Diets: care needed - Nutritional trends have dictated
especially to women
to eat less meat and more vegetables
and fruits. While only
about one percent of North
American men are vegetarians,
it is estimated that four times
this number of women do not
eat meat. In addition, it is evident
that even more women
try to avoid dairy products
(though in what proportion
is not clear). While at first
glance, this may seem
good, nutrition surveys of
vegetarian women have
shown that they are deficient
in some very essential
nutrients. In fact, vegetarian
women tend to have lower
levels of calcium, iron, zinc,
and vitamins D and B12. For
women who eat some animal
products, the levels of each of
these nutrients increases. Of
course, the highest levels of
these nutrients are seen in
women who do not restrict
their diets to nonanimal foods.
Calcium and iron are two of
the nutrients most lacking in
diets of both vegetarians and
omnivores.
These results do not mean a
vegetarian diet is unhealthy
but that it needs better planning
than most people give it.
It also indicates that women at
risk for deficiencies of the
nutrients listed above are not
getting them from diet or supplements.
In fact, most women
(and men, for that matter)
have individual dietary needs
that can only be determined by
that individual.
If you follow a special diet,
keeping a diet diary for a week
and then analyzing it for the
nutrients listed above will give
an indication about its nutritional
adequacy. (But only an
indication since all nutrients
should be supplied by the
diet.) This type of service is
usually available from a
Registered Dietitian, but
you can do it yourself with a
good reference book that
contains tables of nutrient
content of foods. Once excellent
source is an upcoming title
by Dr. Allan Spreen, to be published
in May. The name of the
book is Nutritionally Incorrect:
Why the American Diet is
Dangerous and How to Defend
Yourself From It. TH
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