Vegetarian nutrition

Appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful and nutritionally adequate for all stages of the human life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence.

[3] Qatar's public health ministry states, "One cannot be a healthy vegetarian by going to a fast food restaurant and ordering french fries and soda!".

Despite the long-standing, widespread belief that vegetarians must consume grains and beans within a short time to make a complete protein that contains all 9 essential amino acids that must be supplied through diet, this has never been substantiated by research.

The protein-combining theory was brought to popular attention after being promoted in Frances Moore Lappé's 1971 bestselling book Diet for a Small Planet.

[6] Vitamin B12 deficiency can be extremely serious and lead to megaloblastic anemia, nerve degeneration and irreversible neurological damage.

[14] Vegetarians can obtain calcium from dairy products, calcium-fortified plant milks, almonds, figs, oranges, calcium-set tofu as well as low-oxalate vegetables such as bok choy, kale and turnip greens.

[13] Compared with omnivores, vegetarians tend to have a lower bone mineral density (BMD) but not a higher fracture rate.

[17][18][19] Lacto-ovo-vegetarians that overly rely on dairy consumption may lead to an elevated calcium intake which can affect iron absorption.

Vegetarians may need more than the US Recommended Daily Allowance of 15 mg of zinc each day to compensate if their diet is high in phytates.

[1] Major plant sources of zinc include cooked dried beans, edible seaweed, fortified breakfast cereals, soy products, nuts, peas, and seeds.