The vegetarian diet is quite diverse. Vegetarians consume vegetables and greens,
fruits and dried fruits, grains and legumes, nuts, mushrooms, vegetable oils and
honey, vegetable seafood, salt, and spices. Some of them allow themselves dairy
products and eggs. Read our vegetable recipes and other in salad cookbook.
Vegetables and greens:
The diet of vegetarians, basically, consists of
vegetables and greens. Everyone knows these products have benefits. They are
one of the main sources of vitamins, carbohydrates, organic substances,
polysaccharides, organic acids, mineral elements, and fiber.
Vegetables contain almost no fats, and their protein content is much lower than
meats’. These products have a beneficial effect on the digestive process.
However, they can harm the body because of individual intolerance to each
vegetables.
Fruits and dried fruits:
Fruits have a huge number of vitamins and minerals,
carbohydrates and fiber. Fruits increase immunity and serve as good
antidepressants. But the abuse of these sweet products can cause allergies and,
indigestion. In some cases, for example, a huge amount of citrus fruits can lead
to the destruction of tooth enamel and damage to the stomach and intestines.
Dried fruits should be considered separately and, also have useful and nutritious
substances, while being delicious treats.
Grains and legumes:
Grains are rich in the right carbohydrates and fiber,
which helps remove toxins from the walls of the intestines. Additionally, grains
and legumes contain a lot of vegetable proteins, vitamins A, B and E, calcium,
zinc, iron, manganese, and magnesium. But it should be remembered that grains
and legumes are heavy foods, the abuse of which can complicate digestion.
Nuts:
First for vegetarians, nuts are a source of fat. In this case, in contrast to
animal fats, nut fats mostly lack cholesterol but contain protein and many
nutrients. These products are important for their energy-value, so there are many
snacks and salads with all sorts of nuts in vegetarian cuisine: almonds,
pistachios, peanuts, cashews, pine nut, and coke nuts. However, it is worth
remembering that nutrients in nuts are twice, or even three times, as high as in
other products. Don’t abuse them.
Mushrooms:
Vegetarians replenish protein stores in the body using
mushrooms. You find interesting recipe in our salad cookbook. These products
are called “forest meat” because of their huge amount of nutrients. Mushrooms
are very nutritious and can satisfy the feeling of hunger for a long time.
However, mushrooms are very heavy, so abuse of these products so be avoided.
Vegetable oils and honey:
Vegetable oils are also sources of fats, as well as
unsaturated fatty acids, phosphatides, fat-soluble and other vitamins. Olive oil
has vitamins A and, E, and linoleic acid and corn has contains vitamins A, B, C,
K, E and, F, lecithin, phytosterols, minerals, linoleic and oleic acids. These
substances are necessary for the human body.
Honey is a source of glucose, fructose, and sucrose, as well as vitamins B1, B2,
B6, E, K, and C, provitamin A-carotene and, folic acid. In most cases,
vegetarians eat honey, but there are vegans who do not use this product.
Vegetable seafood:
Often, vegetarians do not exclude algae from their diet.
Algae contain a large number of vitamins, minerals, and easily digestible
proteins. Brown, red and green algae are rich in iodine, phosphorus, iron,
magnesium, potassium, bromine and, sodium. Wakame, lima, laminaria,
rhodium, and Ulva make the diet of vegetarians more diverse and act as a
balanced source of mineral substances and microelements.
Salt and spices:
One benefit of vegetarianism is to reduce the amount of salt in
the diet. Vegetarians use spices to improve the taste of foods. These are pepper,
ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, fennel, coriander, cardamom, zira, vanilla, anise,
oregano, basil, marjoram, barberry, mustard, nutmeg, curry, and cloves. All these
spices have curative substances, and some of them, for example, ginger are
considered medicines for all ailments.
Dairy products and eggs:
Some vegetarians allow themselves to eat the food
of animal origin. This helps to expand their diet, using milk, cheeses, sour
cream, kefir, yogurt, cream, ice cream and eggs (chicken, duck, goose, quail,
turkey, and ostrich). Dairy products have a lot of proteins, fats and
carbohydrates, mineral salts, calcium, phosphorus and, vitamins A and B. By
eating eggs, people can obtain protein, amino acid leucine, folic acid, biotin,
choline, vitamins A, E, D, B12 and B3, selenium, magnesium, potassium and
iron.