Eating Healthy For Vegetarians

The vegetarian way of eating can be a very healthy style of eating.  The rules still apply with healthy eating,
although you should add variety, balance, and moderation.

A vegetarian is someone who avoids all types of meat, whether it be hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken, or even fish.Vegetarians are also sometimes classified by the type of food they are or aren't willing to eat.  For example,Lacto-ovo vegetarians will avoid animal flesh yet they will eat eggs and most dairy products.  A Vegan on the other hand, will avoid all food that has any trace of animal origin.

Because they don't eat meet, vegetarians will often wonder how they'll get enough protein.  Although you may not realize it, the average American actually consumes more protein than he actually needs.  For the lacto-ovo vegetarian, dairy products are an excellent source of protein.  Vegans on the other hand, get their protein from nuts, seeds, and soy products.

Along the lines of beans, there are several to choose from, including green or red lentils, peanuts, split
peas, pinto, soy, kidney, and many more.  Some of them you are already familiar, such as kidney beans in
chili, fried beans in Mexican dishes, red beans and rice, and pinto beans.  Although some beans taste good
as they are, others are available with different flavors to help enhance their taste.

  Nuts are high in protein, although they deliver a lot more fat than beans, which means you should enjoy them in moderation.  By having  one cup of cooked beans, you'll get the same amount of protein as eating two ounces of meat!

The nutrients of concern for vegans, who avoid all types of animal food, are vitamin B12, calcium, and vitamin D. In the average North American diet, the primary source for B12 is animals.  To have an adequate intake of B12,  vegans should regularly consume vitamin B12 supplements or foods, which contain vitamin B12, such as soy products or milk. 

For calcium, vegans can rely on orange juice or soy milk, as they are fortified with calcium.  Beans and
leafy green vegetables will also contain some calcium as well.

Although all types of vegetarians rely on simple food groups, controlling your vitamins and calcium intake is
something you should always do.  This is very important for eating healthy, as well as staying healthy.  If you
control what you eat, you'll have many years of healthy eating ahead of you.

Fight Stress With Healthy Eating

Whenever we get too busy or stressed, we all tend to make poor food choices that will actually increase stress and cause other problems.  To get the most of your healthy eating and avoid stress, follow these simple tips.

Always eat breakfast

Even though you may think you aren't hungry,you need to eat something.  Skipping breakfast makes it harder to maintain the proper blood and sugar levels during the day, so you should always eat something.

Carry a snack

Keeping some protein rich snacks in your car, office, or pocket book will help you avoid blood sugar level dips, the accompanying mood swings, and the fatigue. Trail mix, granola bars, and energy bars all have the nutrients you need.

Healthy munchies

If you like to munch when you're stressed out, you can replace chips or other non healthy foods
with carrot sticks, celery sticks, or even sunflower seeds.

Bring your lunch

Although a lot of people prefer to eat fast food for lunch, you can save a lot of money and actually
eat healthier if you take a few minutes and pack a lunch at home.  Even if you only do this a few
times a week, you'll see a much better improvement over eating out.

Stock your home

As important as it is to get the bad food out of your house, it's even more important to get the good
food in!  The best way to do this is to plan a menu of healthy meals at snacks at the beginning of the
week, list the ingredients you need, then go shop for it.

This way, you'll know what you want when you need it and you won't have to stress over what to eat.

Simple Facts About Nutrition Labels

The nutrition label located on each and every food item, will tell you all the information about that food.  For
some however, this information isn't exactly that reader friendly.  Fear not, as it's actually easier than you think.

Serving Size

This size is based on the amount people eat. Similar food items will have similar serving sizes, thus making
it easier to compare 2 foods of the same category.

% Daily Value

This indicates how food will fit in a 2,000 calorie diet.  This will help you to understand if the food has a lot, or just a little of the important nutrients.

The middle section

The nutrients you'll find listed in the middle section are the ones that are most important to your health. 
This information can help you to calculate your daily limit of fat, fiber, sodium, and other nutrients.

Vitamins & minerals

The percent daily value found here is the exact same as the Recommended Daily Allowance for vitamins  and minerals. 

Now that you know what the nutrition label actually means, it'll be a lot easy to eat healthy.  Eating healthy is a great thing - especially when you use the nutrition label to assist you with your food choices.