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The food pyramid is of great aid when planning meals. The base and
the middle section form the main framework of a vegetarian diet and
the top section serves as a significant complement.
Lactovegetarian diet
The base provide us with 2/3 of our daily need of energy and nutritive
substances. It covers our daily requirements of calcium, protein, and
iron (50% of it). Those who are into sports, have a physical demanding
job, or are in the teens should increase the amount of food from the
base section- particularly potatoes, grain and corn. Those who eat
less from the base should eat more from the middle and top section,
and for those who consume very little or nothing at all of the dairy
products should be especially careful to eat more from the other
sections in the pyramid (i.e. pod plants).
The middle section include vegetables, root crops, pod plants, berries
and fruit, and it supplements the base section. To stimulate the intake
of iron, it's imortant to eat vegetable and fruit with high contents of
vitamin C at every meal. Citrous fruit, strawberries, paprika,
blackcurrents, cloudberries, rosehips, cabbage, parsley and many green
leaves are all rich in vitamin C.
The top section gives a secure safety margin, which can be needed at
times during temporary strain or stress. Here are food with extra high
nutritinal value such as wild plants, dried fruit, millet, nuts, seeds,
tofu or other tofu products, fruitjuices and vegetablejuices.
Vegan diet
Those who do not eat any dairy products need to have more knowledge in
nutrition than the laktovegetarian. A vegan must know how to combine
different protein sources and how to get enough calcium, vitamin D,
iodine, selenium and vitamin B12. Here follows a short summary on what
a vegan needs to think of.
A meal with a full protein count can be possible by combining at least
one of the following products from each columns listed below:
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Soybeans, tofu and other tofu products give a fine addition of protein
and iron.
Food that are rich in calcium: tofu and other soybean products, cabbage,
green leaves, pod plants, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds,
blackcurrents, rosehips and figs.
Vitamin D is important for the intake of calcium from the food we eat.
A vegan who spends most of the year indoors should eat food with added
vitamin D.
Most vegetables have very little, if none at all, of vitamin B12. The
few that does have a small amount of it (i.e. algae, sprouts, soysauce)
has to be eaten at a regular basis or a B12 supplement may be necessary.
Iodine and selenium can be found in algae.
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