Are vegetarian diets OK?
I can’t believe the number of times I have been asked that question but it has just come up again in the context of recent complaints about the health and environmental hazards of eating meat. So here, once again, is my nutrition academic’s take on the nutritional implications of vegetarian diets.
Full disclosure: I eat meat. Humans are omnivores and I am one nutritionist who fully subscribes to basic, if banal, principles of healthful diets: variety, balance, and moderation. As I explain in my book, What to Eat, if you eat a variety of foods within and among groups – meat, dairy, fruit, vegetables, and grains – you don’t have to worry about nutritional details. As long as calories are adequate and the foods are relatively unprocessed, the different kinds of foods complement each other’s nutrient contents and provide everything that is needed in reasonable amounts and proportions.
With that said, it is not necessary to eat meat. Meat is not an essential nutrient. I can think of plenty of advantages to eating no meat, eating less meat, or eating meat produced in ways that are far better for the health of animals, people, and the planet.
Why anyone would question the benefits of eating vegetarian diets, or diets that are largely vegetarian is beyond me. People who eat vegetarian diets are usually healthier – sometimes a lot healthier – than people who eat meat.
But before getting into all this, there is the pesky problem of definition. What, exactly, is a vegetarian? As it happens, people who call themselves vegetarians eat many kinds of diets. The least restrictive vegetarians do not eat beef but occasionally eat pork or lamb. Next come the groups that eat no red meats, or restrict poultry, dairy, fish, or eggs. The most restrictive are vegans who eat no foods of animal origin at all.
Nutritional implications depend on the degree of restriction. The least restrictive diets, those that exclude meat but include fish, milk, or eggs, raise no nutritional issues whatsoever. People who eat such diets are likely to have a lower risk of heart disease and certain cancers than the average meat-eating American, and a risk of osteoporosis no higher.
Only the most restrictive vegetarian diets raise nutritional concerns. Vegans, who eat no foods of animal origin, need to do three things:
- Find an alternative source for vitamin B12 (supplements or fortified foods).
- Eat enough calories to maintain a good weight.
- Eat a variety of grains and beans to get enough protein.
Vitamin B12 is found only in foods of animal origin – meat, dairy, eggs, or fish. With this one exception, fruits, vegetables, and grains provide plenty of the other vitamins and minerals. Vegans who obtain enough calories from varied plant food sources should be taking care of those nutrients as well as protein.
On the protein question: Foods from animals are higher in protein than those from plants. Their proteins are of somewhat better quality, meaning that they more closely resemble human proteins. If calories are adequate, protein is rarely a problem. Protein is hardly lacking among Americans. The protein requirement is about half a gram for each pound of body weight, which works out to 55 grams for a 120-pound woman and 65 grams or so for a 180-pound man. On surveys, women report eating a daily average of 70 grams of protein, and men 100 grams, and these amounts are likely to be underestimates. Even vegans get more than enough protein from grains, beans, and vegetables as long as they get enough calories.
In relatively unprocessed foods, protein is closely linked to calories. Diets with enough calories usually contain enough protein unless the diet is unusually restrictive or includes a lot of junk food. Think about it: entire civilizations – in ancient Egypt, China, and Mexico, for example – were based on wheat, rice, beans, or corn as sources of protein. We used to think that vegetarians had to be careful to combine plant foods (beans and corn, for example) to get enough protein but we know now that variety and calories take care of it.
Developing countries are another matter. In places where food is scarce, children thrive better when they are fed a little meat (or dairy, fish, or eggs) along with whatever else they are eating, but a richer plant-based diet also works well.
That brings us to children. Is it OK to feed vegetarian diets to kids? This too depends on what is meant by “vegetarian.” If the diet restricts just beef or red meat, it poses no problems. Dairy foods, fish, and eggs are adequate substitutes. And keeping sodas and junk foods to a minimum is always a good idea.
Vegan diets are another matter and I can think of plenty of reasons why they are controversial for children. Supplements can take care of kids’ needs for vitamin B12 and other nutrients, but calories can be a serious problem. Children sometimes have a hard time when they have to get all their food energy from vegetables, grains, or beans. I advise vegan parents to pay close attention to calories, to make liberal use of olive oil and nut butters, to make sure plenty of beans, grains, and potatoes are available, and to monitor their children’s weight in comparison to lines on standard growth charts.
Except for the most restrictive diets, I wouldn’t worry at all about vegetarian diets for adults or for kids. They have plenty of what’s good for health and a lot less of what is not so good. The health advantages can be impressive. So eat your veggies!
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@Becky: Yeast do not not make B12 but nutritional yeast has a bacterial source added, sometimes. Best to check. As for seaweeds: blue-green algae, which are microscopic, yes. Kelp, no.
Marion, I’m a dietitian and a public health nutritionist and am a long-time fan of your work. But I don’t think you are knowledgeable enough about vegan diets to write on this topic. I’ve written a textbook on vegetarian and vegan diets, 2 papers (in JADA) on vegan diets for children and infants and have been a co-author on the ADA’s position paper on vegetarian diets, and I think that the approach you bring to vegan diets for children is overly cautious. There are good sets of guidelines published for parents of vegan children, some excellent books written by dietitians, and solid research showing that vegan children grow and develop well. There are plenty of nutritional pitfalls with any type of diet for children, including omnivore and lacto-ovo vegetarian. It seems unfair and unsubstantiated to single out vegan diets as potentially unsafe.
Marion,
Great post. I had a question regarding the source of this assertion. Are there any specific studies that you can indicate?
“People who eat vegetarian diets are usually healthier – sometimes a lot healthier – than people who eat meat.”
Though it seems counter intuitive, in my experience many vegetarians that I have encountered appear less healthy than those who eat meat. It is important to note that I live in Brazil where vegetarian options are often not present on menus and at family meals, so without a doubt my vision is skewed.
thank you,
[...] weighing the omnivore vs. vegetarian thing, here’s an good discussion of the issues Are vegetarian diets ok? (and by the way, this is an awesome book I read it cover to cover and it changed the way I think [...]
Lately I’ve been hearing the term “pescatarian” applied to (and by) people whose consumption of flesh is limited to fish (and I believe shellfish?) with the term “vegetarian” used specifically for those who consume no animal flesh whatsoever. A number of ovo-lacto-vegetarians or lacto-vegetarians will explicitly add that distinction. Where things start getting a bit difficult to understand is when two different diet types are overlain, and the expectations get confused — for example, rawist and vegan. (While many packaged raw foods seem to be marketed towards a vegan audience, not all rawists are vegetarians of any stripe.)
Your definition of vegetarian is wrong. Vegetarians don’t eat eat or fish of any kind – so saying that people who don’t eat beef but do eat lamb or pork, or who do eat fish but not meat, are types of vegetarian is simply incorrect.
Your definition of vegetarian is wrong. If you eat any meat at all (yes even chicken and fish!) you are still an omnivore.
Vit B12 is in nutritional yeast and yeast products like marmite and Vegemite. Last I checked neither where from “animal origin”.
And as for keeping up calories as a vegan? I wish I had that problem!!
A raw vegan may struggle to consume enough calories but take it from this overweight vegan..its not hard to rack them up!
Loosely self identifying as a vegetarian may artificialy inflate the ranks. We couldn’t have that now could we…?
Ellie
This is a clearly-written, reasonable, non-pedantic discussion on vegetarianism. But, of course, what else could I expect from the same person who wrote “What to Eat” – a marvelous book, indeed.
Cheers!
[...] “How do you get your protein?” “Are you sickly and anemic if you don’t eat beef?” Marion Nestle comes to the rescue with a blog post on why it’s just fine not to eat [...]
[...] November 13, 2009 · Leave a Comment Are vegetarian diets nutritionally OK? Food Politics Marion Nestle says yes. [...]
“People who eat vegetarian diets are usually healthier – sometimes a lot healthier – than people who eat meat.”
That’s a bit easy. You’re comparing vegetarians – most of which are practicising healthy eating and sensible lifestyles anyway – with the average follower of the world-dominating, grain & sugar-fuelled Western diet. Meat is not the issue. Eating meat allowed humans to develop larger brains and intelligence. Eating wild animals, not the grain-filled garbage spewed out by factory farms but pastured animals free of chemical interference, is utterly healthful.
The healthiest people I know eat a lot of grass-fed, chemical/hormone-free meat and fish and eggs, and organic fruit and veggies and nuts. Maybe some raw dairy. That’s it. And their health indicators kick the butt of those of the average vegetarian.
Eliminating processed foods (i.e. foods pumped full of grains, soy, corn, sugar and other sweeteners, and other chemicals) is the path to health, not eliminating meat.
[...] Are vegetarian diets OK? <<Of course they are. Here’s a comprehensive examination on the health value of vegetarian and vegan diets by NYU professor of nutrition, Marion Nestle. Great info. (Food Politics) [...]
As an aside…Something I haven’t seen commented on in depth in the literature that I’m curious about is what sort of genetic heterogeneity exists (across cultures, races, etc.) in how humans deal with food. For example, we know that different populations have underlying genetic differences that manifest themselves in whether they can, for example, process milk efficiently. We know now that these genetic differences match rather well the origins of animal domestication. Thus, we appear to evolve along with the availability of food sources in our environment.
If we accept this, does it really make sense for nutritionists to apply cultural precedents concerning diet from one culture to another. For example, we see here “Think about it: entire civilizations – in ancient Egypt, China, and Mexico, for example – were based on wheat, rice, beans, or corn as sources of protein.” We also see this assumption of a universal, ideal human diet in “The China Study,” the Okinawan longevity diets, the Mediterranean diet, and the short-lived Inuit diet. However, do these diets necessarily have any relevance to European-derived, Caucasians currently residing in the USA whose ancestors may have been eating meats for hundreds of years.
I have been vegan for twenty years.Most of the people I know eat meat and are physical calamities. I also know vegetarians who are fat & out of shape.Health isn’t just about eating or not eating meat.Maybe some people need to eat meat for optimum health,I don’t know.With all the research I’ve done on the subject I still believe that vegetarianism is arguably the healthiest way to go,if done correctly.I eat raw nuts,seeds.beans ,nut butters,tofu,and of course vegetables,fruits and whole grains.I do not consume alcohol,coffee,add salt(not even that new health food-sea salt),no sugar(not even brown !) and no processed junk.This is just part of it. You also have to perform weight bearing exercises,cardio and stretching.Eat right & correct exercise,what a novel idea.This is how you reach your physical,genetic potential.
[...] Food Politics: Are Vegetarian Diets OK? Marion Nestle says: yes, duh. But much nicer and with lots more [...]
[...] Food Politics: Are Vegetarian Diets OK? Marion Nestle says: yes, duh. But much nicer and with lots more [...]
I am firm believer in variety. If you are searching for protein, as a vegetarian, then there are some great alternatives that you can find in the natural food stores, like Quorn. Quorn has a wide variety of products that allows you to follow a lower fat, high protein, fiber rich and meatless diet. It’s non-soy, which most of the other veggie proteins are based on.
Marion:
Thanks a lot. I love the clarity of your book _What to Eat_. I generally do not start my posts with sychophantic statements, but I should thank you for your book. Anyway, I appreciate the bluntness and thoroughness of this post. I have been reading _101 Reasons Why I Am A Vegetarian_ by Pamela Mitchell and I have had some conflicted reactions to some of her reasons. I have been an omnivore who eats very little meat (about once every three days or so) for about the past six months. I am a very ardent lover of all animals (human and non-human animals alike) and I have given myself many a guilt trips over my consumption of meat. I have not shied away from investigating many of the cruel horrors of factory farming (I’ve read Gail Eisnitz’ _Slaughterhouse_, _Fast Food Nation_, etc. and watched scores of renegade videos on youtube taken inside of slaughterhouses and factory farms) and I have continued to eat meat in some degree for quite some time. One snag that I’ve always run into is worrying that I will waste away and die from lack of protein and lack of essential vitamins. I appreciate your candid, concise, and clear post on vegetarianism and what is required to be a healthy vegetarian. I have been taking flax seed supplements and garlic and now I need to find a Vitamin B12 supplement. I think that I am ready to make the jump and become a full vegetarian. Of course, you have pointed out that being a vegetarian is of varying levels (two types of vegetarian as well as being a vegan). I have Buddhist friends who are vegans, but I do not have the discipline to be a full vegan. I am, however, ready to be a vegetarian who eats no meat (including fish) but does consume some dairy products in the form of organic milk, cheese, and some eggs. I would like to be a full vegan because of all the pain that I feel for dairy cows and egg-laying hens trapped in “battery cages.” I’m not ready to make the full jump to vegan yet. Perhaps I will in the future. For now I will try to buy organic and free-range (although I know that free-range doesn’t mean very much). I had already mostly cut out fast food and hamburger (mostly due to _Fast Food Nation_ and _Slaughterhouse_) and I need to be sure to take your adivce (and Michael Pollan’s) and try to eat as many minimally or non-processed foods as possible. My lovely bride and me are eagerly awaiting the birth of our first child (we find out tomorrow if our miracle baby is a daughter or a son) and I would like to set a dietary example for our child. My bride is an omnivore and I will not impose vegetarianism on our child, although I do seek to be a vegetarian example for our child. Last night, my bride asked me in bed: “What if our child grows up to hate animals?” My reply was based on the natural inclination of children, especially teenagers, to rebel and that, if our child grew up to hate animals that hopefully they would mature and age out of that hatred. It would be a blessing if our child(ren) were more mindfull of the origins of their food than the average child of the U.S.A. is in regards to their food. Anyway, this is kind of rambling, but also a fairly important post. I’m now making public my vegetarianism. Again, thanks for this post and thanks for your books and your excellent blog. Keep fighting the good fight, for the health of us all.
Very interesting article and I absolutely agree with majority of your points! I gave up pork and red meat over a year a ago and it has definitely helped my health and encouraged me to discover new ways of eating vegetables and whole grains.
I recently wrote an article on my experience since giving up the meat products and how my life has changed. I thought this might be of interest to you and the commenters on this blog: http://www.shar-on-nutrition.com/?p=450
Feel free to leave a comment or question!
From a purely evolutionary point of view, I cannot understand why drinking the milk of another species is seen as a nutritional bonus. The biological purpose of milk is to feed it to your young. Not to fully grown adults. And certainly not fully grown adults of another species!
Our species survived millions of years before we domesticated the cow. Moreover, most people in the world do not drink milk. It is not a necessity, and it is not a nutritional hazard to omit it.
you need to re-educate yourself about the benefits of veg diets. While veggies are a good thing. Whole grains, corn and Wheat are not. They aren’t even vegs- they are grains. And Soy is the worst- with the poisons soy uses to produce a product to eat, why would anyone swallow that crap? My health and diabetes improved since going grain-less and eating more animal protein and animal lipids. Read The Vegetarian Myth by L Keith. Vegetarians is a farce produced by the big Ag Industry since the early 70’s
[...] Food Politics: Are Vegetarian Diets OK? Marion Nestle says: yes, duh. But much nicer and with lots more [...]
Thanks for an interesting article. The main beef I have with it tough is the use of the term restrictive vegetarian for strict vegetarians. From Kafka to Gandhi to Tolstoy – most vegans have called themselves strict and not restricted. Words matter – especially when there is different meaning behind them.
PS: Regarding the consumption of soy (safely practiced by millions of Asians for thousands of years). Most soy on the planet is eaten by livestock animals. Hence, nobody consumes more soy than meat eaters.
Interesting that the comments are so divided.
In the one hand, it’s a clear explanation of vegan and vegetarian preferences and patterns.
On the other hand, it’s a very cautious view of well-established eating patterns that have consistently been shown to help people develop fewer chronic diseases and maintain a healthier weight than our present Western pattern.
Today’s comments in the SF Chronicle are much more critical.
What I like about what you’re doing is hosting kitchen nutrition discussions. Getting people to ask the right questions is the surest way to one or many good answers.
JL
In reply to Laurent, yes, there is a significant body of long term scientific study by Dr. Dean Ornish that details the benefits of a low fat, vegetarian diet.
I realize this post stated that “people who call themselves vegetarians” have a wide variety of diets, but would appreciate it if any attempt to actually define vegetarianism didn’t confuse the issue. The definition is clear: no meat or fish. That some long to call themselves vegetarian because they have restricted their animal-eating in some other way doesn’t change the definition. I don’t criticize their choices; I very occasionally (a few times a year) eat meat, and therefore don’t claim the word, though I’ll explain my choices if someone asks. I don’t see it as a badge of honor, so it doesn’t matter. It would be helpful if food writers, especially the meat eaters, would hew to the simple and accepted definition.