As most experts agree, including the American Dietetic Association, a balanced vegetarian diet does provide all a person’s recommended daily nutrients. But there’s a catch: not all vegetarians practice the same form of vegetarianism, so no one diet fits all. A new vegetarian’s best bet is to become familiar with the key nutrients and where to find them.

It may also be worth consulting a registered dietitian or a nutritionist to get the pertinent nutritional information. If you make that choice, be sure to select someone who is well trained and who has had experience in counseling vegetarians and in planning a vegetarian menu.

With knowledge of body chemistry and an understanding of food science, that person can take a medical history, and then question you about what you have been eating, why you are making the dietary change, and what your food likes and dislikes are. He’ll know your age and probably also ask about your activity level—if you exercise regularly and are fairly active, your nutritional needs will be higher. Then you two can plan out what your meals should include. That way you can buy, cook, and eat the most wholesome foods.

Whether you consult a dietitian or just map out your own vegetarian plan, you need to know some basics: key nutrients include protein; vitamins D, B12, and A; iron; calcium; and zinc. You will also need a source of omega-3 fatty acids, important for preventing heart disease. Their most abundant natural source comes from fish and fish oils. Unless you are an lacto-ovó vegetarian who uses eggs from hens fed on a diet with omega-3 fatty acids or a pescatarian-vegetarian who eats fish, you need to find another source. Other good sources include flaxseed oil and such vegetable oils as olive oil and canola.

When you are all set, study the Oldways Preservation Trust vegetarian food pyramid and write out your shopping list accordingly. You will see that the majority of your food choices and the basics for a sound vegetarian diet will come from the largest food groups: fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes.

If you are a lacto-ovó vegetarian, you should include moderate amounts of dairy products and egg whites, and for added calcium and protein, add in such soy foods as soymilk and soy “meat,” analogs, plus be sure to incorporate vegetable oils. The meatlike soy products, such as sausages, bacon, ground beef, and ham, are readily available and add variety to a greens-and-grains-based diet. Best of all, these are lower in fat and calories than their meat counterparts, an important consideration if you have just made the vegetarian switch and are concerned about weight and heart health. At the top of your pyramid are the foods you’ll eat the least: whole eggs and sweets.

Since vegans eat no dairy products or eggs, their diets are deficient in and even lack some basics, such as calcium from milk and vitamin B12, a nutrient found exclusively in animal proteins. Vegans may need to add dietary supplements to meet all their nutrient needs and should add fortified foods such as soymilk with added nutrients and fortified breakfast cereals to their daily menu plans.

As you see, you can eat well and live a healthy vegetarian life—but you must learn about what your body needs to stay healthy. Remember: Becoming a vegetarian is not just a matter of abstaining from meat. It requires that vegetarians think about what they are going to eat for the best health, and then to plan accordingly.

A Vegetarian’s Food Plan

As most experts agree, eating the vegetarian way provides you all the necessary nutrients. But as you have learned, there’s no single diet and no single source for every nutrient. The key to your success is combining foods from different groups and then getting enough calories to meet your activity and age levels.

To get it right, say the experts at the Oldways Preservation Trust, you’ll need several daily servings from the food groups—fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes—at the base of their pyramid. But you should be sure to get moderate servings from all the food levels, and drink enough water each day to stay healthy. Make sure your diet contains the appropriate balance of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.

The Oldways Preservation Trust staff also stresses that you should avoid processed foods and select, instead, the whole foods that are complete as nature intends them. Processed foods such as grains, sugars, and flours are often stripped of their natural nutrients. Even when vitamins and minerals are added back in later—a process called “enriching,” which means that the nutrients lost during refining are added back in to enrich the product—the total effect is never the same.

Take the example of rice: white rice may cook faster and have a more adaptable taste, but by stripping away the outer bran layer, the rice grains loose much of their beneficial fiber and minerals. As proof, one cup of brown rice contains three and a half grams of fiber. One cup of white rice contains less than one gram. Even enriching white rice doesn’t make up the difference in the loss of fiber and minerals.

Another confusing term for consumers is fortifying, and many of today’s foods are fortified with added vitamins and minerals. Fortifying milk with vitamin D is one example; adding folic acid to specific foods is another. Enriching, then, means putting back into a refined food nutrients lost during processing; fortifying means perhaps adding back lost nutrients, but also adding in others that may not occur naturally in a particular food.

But processing or refining plant foods can also destroy the complex plant chemicals known as phytonutrients, or phytochemicals. Many of these naturally occurring chemicals have health-supporting benefits and have been used for centuries for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic properties. Considering that salicin extracted from the white willow tree has been a long-term painkiller and the basis for today’s aspirin, it’s easy to understand why unprocessed fruits and vegetables can be your body’s best friends.

Daily Needs and Food Sources

According to Katherine Tallmadge, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and a practicing nutritionist, the daily diet program following on the next page, based on the ADA guidelines, should guide vegetarians to eat right.

Milk and Milk Alternatives Group: Six to Eight Servings Daily

• ½ cup milk, yogurt, or fortified soymilk

• ¾ ounce natural cheese

• ½ to 1 cup cottage cheese

• ¼ cup calcium-set tofu

• 1 cup cooked dry beans, such as soy, cannellini, pinto, navy, great

• northern, kidney, and black beans

• ¼ cup shelled almonds

• 3 tablespoons sesame tahini or almond butter

• 1 cup cooked or 2 cups raw bok choy, Chinese cabbage, broccoli,

• collards, kale, or okra

• 1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses

• 5 figs

Dry Beans, Nuts, Seeds, Eggs, and Meat Substitutes Group: Two to Three Servings Daily

• 1 cup cooked dry beans, lentils, or peas

• 2 cups soymilk

• ½ cup tofu or tempeh

• 2 ounces vegetarian “meats” or soy cheese

• 2 eggs or 4 egg whites

• ¼ cup nuts or seeds

• 3 tablespoons nut or seed butters

Fruit Group: Two to Four Servings Daily

• ¾ cup juice

• ¼ cup dried fruit

• ½ cup chopped raw fruit

• ½ cup canned fruit

• 1 medium-size piece of fruit such as banana, apple, or orange

Vegetable Group: Three to Five Servings Daily

• ½ cup cooked or chopped raw vegetables

• 1 cup raw, leafy vegetables

• ¾ cup vegetable juice

Bread, Cereal, Rice, and Pasta Group: Six to Eleven Servings Daily

• 1 slice (1 ounce) bread

• ½ small bagel, bun or English muffin (or 1 ounce)

• 1 ounce ready-to-eat cereal

• 2 tablespoons wheat germ

• ½ cup cooked (1 ounce dry) grains, cereal, rice, or pasta

Fats, Oils, Sweets: Use Sparingly

• Candy, butter, dairy fats, solid margarine (high in trans fats)

Do Raw Foods Count?

Some vegetarians follow a raw-foods diet, but they should take special care with the fruits and vegetables they eat. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), raw animal foods—even eggs and raw milk—may contain pathogens. But CDC scientists point out that any raw food exposed to a contaminated food source can contain pathogens.

Likewise, pathogens can readily contaminate raw fruits and vegetables, particularly if these were processed in unsanitary conditions, were fertilized with contaminated manure, or were washed for packing in unclean water. Even unpasteurized fruit juices may be unsafe if made from contaminated fresh fruits. Washing whole fresh produce at home may diminish but not totally eliminate any pathogens. See how to keep your foods safe.

Going Organic?

Going green and eating sustainable foods are buzzwords for the twenty-first century. But these terms underscore what consumers need to know about their food supply. The underlying message is that consumers should buy as much locally grown food as available; by doing that you support local agriculture, cut down on transportation costs and fuel bills, and eat produce that is both seasonal and fresh.

As for eating organic foods, it’s an industry hot-button subject, because not everyone agrees that foods grown without pesticides and synthetic fertilizers are any healthier than those grown according to more conventional methods. But at least some food and plant scientists are making the case that organic, or natural, farming gives foods some disease-fighting abilities.

For example, plants contain a micronutrient known as flavonoids that, according to the scientists at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, may benefit people by protecting against heart disease and certain cancers. Flavonoids may also help boost the immune system and work as an antioxidant. Some sources claim that organically raised plant foods are better able to produce flavonoids; when sprayed with chemicals, plants lose some of that ability. In addition, plants not sprayed with pesticides don’t carry any harmful residue that humans may consume.