Vegetarian diet question.

Question
Hi!

I'm a 21 year old student who lives on a vegetarian diet with a low dairy intake due to allergies. I'm 5 foot 11 and weigh in at 61.5kgs. My asthma has been a massive issue for me over the past couple of years so I have started to increase my activity level slowly over time to help with this. My current activity is cardio-based that includes a 45 min steady run 5 times a week and a walk up 26 flights of stairs twice daily over a 5 day period. I'm not quite sure what foods I should be eating, considering my vegetarian diet, as I want to be sure I'm getting the nutrition I need.

I have also began looking into increasing my mass at a gym, and again, I am not completely sure what foods would help me out with this task.

Regards,
Josh.

Answer
Hi Josh,

It sounds like you are in great shape. Your BMI is 18.9 which is on the light/normal side for your age, height, and weight. If you eat a variety of healthy foods, even without meat, and you are following a weight program- you will gain muscle mass. At your current BMI you need about 2500 calories with moderate exercise to maintain your weight; make sure you are eating enough to keep your energy and feed your metabolism. Also ask your gym if they do body composition analyses; tracking lean mass/body fat is better than watching weight alone.

As a vegetarian you need to make sure you are getting protein in your diet. Normally this is not a problem as long as you are eating a variety of healthy foods. I have seen vegetarians that abstain from meat for many reasons who have a horrible diet.

Hopefully you are focusing on eating vegetables of all kinds, at least 5-9 servings each day. You should try to eat about half of them cooked and the rest raw. Include them in all meals. 1-2 fruits a day. For protein (1-2 servings), eat a variety of foods including tofu, edamame, Quorn brand foods (mycoprotein- mushroom based), non-dairy yogurt, some soy based products, and grain/legume combinations.

If you are concerned about protein intake use a non-dairy powder such as hemp or soy. You need not get complete protein food sources to get enough as many will say. If you eat a variety of foods containing proteins your body will use the amino-acids to get what it needs.

Avoid the common pitfall foods such as soft drinks, sugary beverages, white flour products and baked goods, high fructose corn syrup products and hydrogenated oils. Keep alcohol intake low.

You can try different types of grains such as quinoa (a complete protein), millet, amaranth, brown rice, wild rice, and kashi.  Mix them with red beans, pinto beans, black beans... I recommend buying a good vegetarian cookbook such as a Moosewood book or any by Deborah Madison. Learn how to use variety.

To replace dairy try almond, oat, rice, hazelnut, hemp, or soy milk. Again, variety is important!

Thank you,
Dan Haley, CNC

www.marketamerica.com/alkalinenutrition

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