What is a Vegetarian?
Vegetarians are people who, for religious or health reasons, do not eat meat and its derivatives, only consuming vegetables and plant-based foods. However, a new term has emerged, which is vegan. So what is the difference between vegetarian and vegan? Some argue that the difference is that vegetarians still consume dairy products and eggs, while vegans do not consume any animal-derived products at all, including milk and eggs.
So what types of vegetarian food are there if they do not consume meat and its derivatives?
Types of Vegetarian Food
Since vegetarians do not eat meat, what types of food do they eat?
1. Legumes
Legumes are used by vegetarians to meet their protein needs. Of course, since they are anti-meat, the protein they obtain comes only from plant-based sources.
The types of legumes they usually consume include red beans, peanuts, green beans, almonds, and other types of beans. In addition to protein, some legumes also contain omega-3 fatty acids.
2. Grains and Cereals
Grains are also one type of food consumed by vegetarians. Grains include rice, corn, oats, wheat, and similar types. In addition to grains, vegetarians usually consume cereals that contain iron and zinc. Bread is also a fairly common alternative chosen to support carbohydrate needs.
3. Fruits and Vegetables
For vitamin needs, fruits are sufficient to meet the vitamin requirements of vegetarians. In addition to fruits, vegetables can also add fiber and other nutrients. Drinking fruit juice can also help fill the stomach without fatty foods. Very suitable for those who are on a diet.
4. Soy
Soy products are also often a meal for vegetarians. There are even some unique restaurants that provide vegetarian food made from soy that resembles meat, such as soy steak, soy satay shaped like meat satay, and fish dishes that of course come from soy. This restaurant seems to see the opportunity that many vegetarians want to eat meat but not real meat.
For friends who want to enjoy soy products at an affordable price, tofu and tempeh are the options. It can be quite delicious if you can process it into various interesting food menus. You just need to Google recipes based on tofu or tempeh.
5. Honey, Milk, and Eggs
Some vegetarians are not too extreme; some are flexible by still consuming honey, milk, and eggs. They just do not eat meat directly. If they are still willing to consume products from animal bodies.
If you are a flexible vegetarian; honey, milk, and eggs are good choices to supply nutrients to the body. Honey contains many sugar derivatives and can boost the immune system. Milk contains fats and calcium. Eggs contain protein and fats.
Vegetarian Eating Patterns
Vegetarians are actually divided into several types. This division is certainly due to different eating patterns.
1. Ovo-vegetarian
The first vegetarian eating pattern is ovo-vegetarian. Ovo-vegetarians still eat eggs. They do not consume meat, fish, poultry, or milk.
2. Lacto-vegetarian
Unlike ovo-vegetarians, lacto-vegetarians consume milk and avoid eggs. Not only milk, but lacto-vegetarians also consume dairy products such as cheese, yogurt, and butter.
3. Lacto-ovo-vegetarian
The combination of ovo-vegetarians and lacto-vegetarians is lacto-ovo vegetarians. They consume both eggs and milk. However, this group does not consume dairy products such as cheese, yogurt, and butter.
4. Semivegetarian (Flexitarian)
For this type, they generally eat more foods other than animal products in their daily lives. However, on some occasions, they still consume meat, fish, poultry, milk, and eggs in small amounts.
5. Vegan (Pure Vegetarian)
For those who are anti-meat, poultry, fish, milk, and eggs; they call themselves vegans. The types of food they choose are also more strict and difficult for most people because they must eliminate animal-based foods.
Vegetarian from a Medical Perspective and Required Nutrition
If you decide to become a vegetarian, you need to gather a lot of information about vegetarianism. You cannot just change your eating pattern from what you have been doing to a vegetarian diet. A drastic change will shock your body and cause you to get sick instead of becoming healthier.
From a medical perspective, being a vegetarian also has positive sides if carried out while paying attention to the nutritional needs of the body. Unfortunately, some people are sometimes just swept away by trends and do not understand. As a result, instead of being healthy, they become sick. So what nutrients should be fulfilled if you want to become a vegetarian?
1. Calcium
Calcium is usually found in dairy products and their derivatives. Because some vegetarians are anti-milk, to replace this calcium requirement, you can use tofu, tempeh, bok choy, sesame, legumes, raisins, and fortified rice or oats.
2. Protein
Protein is actually very easy to find in eggs and meat. However, for vegetarians, they avoid eggs and meat. This protein requirement can be obtained from tofu, tempeh, mushrooms, and legumes.
3. Zinc
Zinc is usually found in meat, milk, and dairy products. If you are a vegetarian, you can get zinc from legumes, grains, tofu, and tempeh.
4. Vitamin D
Vitamin D can be obtained from consuming cereals and soy drinks that contain vitamin D. You can also take vitamin D supplements, of course, those without animal content.
5. Iodine
Broccoli, cabbage, bok choy, and cauliflower can supply the need for iodine. In addition, you can also use iodized salt for this iodine requirement.
6. Vitamin B12
Vegetarians often lack vitamin B12. In fact, if not vegetarian, vitamin B12 is very easy to find in almost all animal foods, such as meat, fish, milk, and the like.
To address the deficiency of vitamin B12, you need to consume cereals or soy milk that has been fortified with vitamin B12. The easiest way is to take vitamin B12 supplements.
7. Iron
For iron, you can find it in spinach, legumes, grains, and cereals that have been fortified with iron.
8. Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids are very rich in eggs and fish. However, for vegetarians, to meet the need for omega-3 fatty acids, they must use supplements.
By paying attention to what nutrients are needed, it indeed seems very difficult if you are truly a pure vegetarian and still want to stay healthy. After all, the body needs nutritional intake and animal foods. Finding substitutes for animal nutrients is not easy and also not cheap.
Examples of Dangerous Cases and Negative Effects of Being Vegetarian
Because the nutrients obtained by vegetarians come only from plant sources without animal sources, of course, the nutrients obtained are not as complete as non-vegetarians. This often leads to many problems in the future.
There are several sad cases and negative effects of this vegetarian diet, including:
- A baby suffers from extreme malnutrition because their parents follow a vegetarian diet. This happened in Italy
