Going Vegetarian Diet In 2021? Here’s What You Should Consider
We’re living in times when everyone is eager to boost immunity and is becoming more aware of how our food systems impact the environment.
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With the onset of the pandemic, there’s been a spike in immune supporting health practices, including going vegetarian. In America, sales of plant-based foods have risen over 148 percent this year and meat sales are down for the first time in six years, according to industry sources. Whether you who want to lean into plant-based eating to improve your health, protect the environment, prevent animal suffering or a combination of reasons, nutritionist Hessa Al-Saeed helps us understand more and explains how to eat healthily and keep in shape while going meat-free.
Before getting into the finer details of a vegetarian diet, Al-Saeed explained how vegetarians may differ in their eating habits. Total vegetarians only eat foods from plants such as vegetables, legumes, fruits, grains, seeds and nuts. Vegans go as far as excluding animal products like honey and gelatin. Incidentally, many consider taking a pledge to go vegan in January, a big diet trend thanks to Veganuary. The non-profit organisation has been encouraging people worldwide to go vegan for the first month of the year and maybe beyond since 2014. Then come the lacto-vegetarians who eat plant-derived foods plus cheese and other dairy products, while lacto-ovo vegetarians add eggs to this. There are also ovo vegetarians who eat eggs but not dairy products. Semi-vegetarians don’t eat red meat but they include white meats as well as plant foods, dairy products and eggs and pesci-vegetarians eat fish, but not poultry.
