Sample Online Lesson:
WHAT IS A VEGETARIAN DIET?

What's a Healthy Diet?

Think about what you already know about healthy eating and quickly make a list of all the basic characteristics of a healthy diet.

Then compare your list to the one below compiled by other nutrition students in an introductory nutrition class.

Characteristics of a Healthy Diet

• low in fat

• very low in saturated fat

• low or no cholesterol

• high in fiber

• built from carbohydrate-rich foods

• adequate in protein (but not too much)

• rich in vitamins and minerals (including antioxidant vitamins, calcium, iron, etc.)

• low in salt

• low in sugar

• low or no alcohol

• lots of fruits and vegetables

• adequate essential fatty acids

• right amount of calories

• based on whole foods and limited in processed foods

So, then, what exactly is the healthiest diet?  Or, put another way, what kind of diet easily and naturally meets all these criteria? 

Interestingly, these questions are hotly debated within the health community.  It may be surprising to you that the answers remain controversial.   Although scientists and health professionals generally agree on the characteristics of a healthy diet listed above, the debate becomes louder when making recommendations on how to put these guidelines into practice.  Fortunately, with all the recent findings regarding the relationship between diet and disease, the picture of what makes up a healthy diet is becoming a little clearer. 

Certainly, a healthy diet is low in fat, high in fiber, and rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.  However, just telling someone to eat lots of fruits and vegetables doesn't really cover all we know about what makes a diet healthy.   Eating for health and wellness is not just about what we include in the diet, it's also about what we exclude. 

Some dietitians and other health professionals tend to tell people it is okay to eat whatever they want as long as it is in moderation.  That message is not having a positive effect on our overall health.  Instead, people in the United States are the heaviest we have ever been.  Rates for diabetes are on the rise, and heart disease and cancer remain astronomically high.  To curb these problems, many physicians, dietitians, and other health professionals are now recommending that people switch to a vegetarian diet.

Vegetarian diets—eating patterns based on the plant sources fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes—naturally and simply have all of the characteristics of a healthy diet.  One study even demonstrated that a low-fat, high-fiber, vegetarian diet combined with stress reduction techniques, smoking cessation, and exercise could actually reverse atherosclerosis, the hardening of the arteries.   Vegetarians also generally are slimmer than the general public and have lower rates of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.  Overall, vegetarian diets are very healthy and eliminate many of the detrimental components present in most people's diets (meats and, with vegans—those who consume no animal products at all—eggs, dairy, and cheese).

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