Showing posts with label vegetarian cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vegetarian cooking. Show all posts

Thursday, 13 August 2009

Vegetarian Cooking For Kids – How To Ensure Your Vegetarian Child Gets All Nutrients She Needs

In this article:

Children, because they are still growing, have different nutritional needs than us adults. For example, they need more fat. They need foods which are packed with nutrients to ensure a healthy development of their bodies. Since vegetarian cooking excludes a whole food group (all meat and meat products) which does provide important nutrients, you need to choose your child’s food very carefully to avoid a lack of certain nutrients which might negatively affect his development.

Food groups
Choose a diet that is well balanced between the following food groups:
  • grains (wheat, rye, buckwheat, barley) and grain products (pasta, bread, muesli)
  • vegetables and fruit
  • legumes (beans, peas, lentils, peanuts, soybeans)
  • nuts and seeds
  • eggs and dairy products (milk, cheese, yoghurt)
The first three groups (foods that are very difficult to overeat because they are rather low in calories) should make out the bigger portion of your child’s meals whilst the remaining two need to be kept in moderation because they also contain fairly much fat.


Vitamins and minerals – Important components for your child’s health and development
  • Make sure your child eats plenty of fruit and vegetables every day, preferably fresh ones as they got the highest vitamin content. Whole fruits contain more nutrients than fruit juice.
  • Legumes are also rich in vitamins and minerals and should be eaten often.
  • Another source of vitamins and minerals are animal products like eggs and dairy products which should also form part of your child’s daily diet.

Fiber – Keeping your child’s digestive system healthy
  • Most fruit and vegetables contain fairly much fiber, and so do starchy foods.
  • Give your child whole grain products instead of refined ones like white bread or rice, since they contain more fiber and complex carbohydrates. And the less refined a food is, the more nutrients it contains.

Carbohydrates – Giving your child energy for life
  • Rather give your child foods containing much complex carbohydrates (for example grains and whole grain products, rice, lentils, bananas). These are released into the blood stream slower and will give your child lasting energy. Since this kind of foods is also more filling, it prevents your child from overeating.
  • Keep food with “empty carbohydrates” to a minimum. Sweets, cookies and cakes only give energy for a moment and barely contain nutrients but lots of calories. These foods should be kept for occasional treats but not be part of your child’s main diet.

Proteins – Essential components for your child’s growth
  • Animal products contain all essential amino acids (the components of proteins) whilst grains, legumes and nuts only contain some of them. Since your child doesn’t eat meat, it’s important that she has milk, cheese and yoghurt on a daily basis. Eggs also provide protein.
  • Combine legumes, grains and nuts with each other. They contain different amino acids, so when you combine them your child will get all she needs. It’s also a good idea to serve these foods with dairy products or eggs.

Fat – Another energy provider and crucial nutrient for your child’s brain development
  • Make sure that your child meets his needs of fat by consuming healthy fats, for example milk, cheese, yoghurt, avocados and peanut butter. Avoid fatty foods that barely contain nutrients (cakes, cookies, chocolate bars, fried foods etc.). If your child eats plenty of fruit, vegetables and grains as well, he should not develop weight problems.
  • Never put your child on a low-fat diet without consulting your GP or a dietician first, even if your child seems to be overweight. If you cut down on fat too much or cut out the wrong type of foods, your child might develop a shortage which could possibly have a negative effect on his brain development.

General tips to create a healthy vegetarian diet for your child
  • Make your child getting used to healthy foods as early as possible. If children grow up eating healthy, they are likely to continue eating healthy. Most kids anyways enjoy it.
  • In every meal you serve your child, combine at least two of the food groups listed above to ensure a maximum of nutrients.
  • Serve a variety of fruit, vegetables and legumes over the course of the week. The more variety is in your child’s diet, the more likely she will get all her body needs for a healthy development, and the less likely she would develop a lack of something.

Menu tips for your vegetarian child
  • Give your child whole grain bread with peanut butter or self-made muesli with fruit and milk for breakfast. Don’t buy cereal mixtures or muesli mix since they are often rather high in calories.
  • For a healthy main meal providing a maximum of nutrients, you could choose a combination of vegetables, legumes and whole grain products, maybe including a smaller portion of dairy products or eggs (e.g. a risotto with peas and carrots and some grated cheese mixed in, or a chili of baked beans, tomatoes and green pepper with whole grain rolls).
  • To create a nutrient dense snack, serve fresh fruit with yoghurt, or whole wheat toast with peanut butter.

Conclusion: A healthy vegetarian diet for your child
As with any other diet, in vegetarian cooking too it is important to ensure that your child gets all nutrients she needs for a healthy growth and development: enough of all kind of vitamins and minerals, sufficient fiber, carbohydrates, proteins and fats. To ensure this, serve a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and legumes and also make sure your child eats grains or grain products, eggs and dairy products on a daily basis. Combine at least two of the food groups listed above and create meals that are high in nutrients to meet your child’s increased need for these. Foods that barely contain nutrients should be kept to a minimum, for example as a treat every now and then.

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Tuesday, 4 August 2009

Vegetarian Cooking - Which Foods To Choose To Ensure A Healthy And Balanced Vegetarian Diet

No matter which dietary style you follow, it’s always important to stick to certain rules to get its maximum health benefits. The most crucial thing is to keep your diet balanced to ensure that your body really gets all nutrients it needs, but without eating excess calories or unhealthy food additives.

Vegetarian cooking is no exception of this rule. It’s in general a very healthy way of eating, and vegetarians rarely suffer from overweight, but still there are “fat traps” even in the vegetarian diet, and you need to choose your foods wisely to prevent a lack of the nutrients you would normally get from your meat.

Read on about the importance of the different nutrients for your body and the most important sources for these in vegetarian cooking:

1. Vitamins and minerals
They keep your body healthy and functioning the way it should. These are the nutrients you need to worry about the least when you are a vegetarian. In fact, with a balanced vegetarian diet it’s very difficult to suffer from a lack of any vitamin.

Fruit, vegetables and legumes contain plenty of vitamins and minerals. Another important source is eggs and dairy products. These contain especially high amounts of vitamin B12 and iron which are the nutrients that vegetarians have the highest risk of developing a lack of.

To make sure you get sufficient amounts of the various vitamins and minerals, include a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and legumes in your diet over the course of the week, combined with dairies and eggs. Preferably buy fruits and vegetables fresh as these contain most nutrients, and avoid storing them long.


2. Fiber
This is important for stimulating your digestive system. A balanced vegetarian diet will certainly provide you with sufficient fiber since fruit, vegetables and starchy foods contain a high amount of fiber.

Unrefined or little refined products (e.g. whole grain products, brown rice) contain more fiber than the refined ones like white bread or rice.

High fiber foods are:
  • beans and peas (fresh or dried)
  • cabbage
  • un-pealed potatoes
  • carrots
  • corn
  • spinach
  • dried and fresh fruit (always eat the whole fruit!)
  • whole grains and whole grain products

3. Carbohydrates
That’s one of our energy providers found mainly in starchy foods but also in some fruit or vegetables. Prefer foods containing many complex carbohydrates to those with mainly simple ones. The glucose in complex carb foods is released into the blood stream much slower, thus giving you energy for longer.

Foods high in complex carbohydrates are:
  • whole grain products (e.g. whole grain bread, whole grain pasta)
  • grains (wheat, barley, buckwheat, rye)
  • potatoes
  • rice
  • corn
  • dried beans
  • lentils
  • bananas

4. Proteins
Proteins are important for cell growth and regeneration and the immune system. Yet we only need a relatively small amount of them. It’s important to consume foods that contain the so-called essential amino acids (protein components) which our body cannot produce itself.

Protein rich foods are:
  • dairy products (milk, cheese, yoghurt)
  • eggs
  • nuts and seeds
  • legumes (fresh or dried peas, beans and lentils, peanuts, soybeans)
  • grains and grain products
Animal proteins contain all essential amino acids, whilst grains, legumes and nuts only contain some of them. You should include eggs and dairy products (milk cheese, yoghurt) into your diet, but because of these foods also containing quite some fat, you should only have a moderate amount of them. The best thing to do is to combine at least two of the food groups listed above, then your body will still get what it needs. Some examples:
  • grains and legumes: baked bean chili (a vegetarian version of chili con carne) with whole grain rolls, whole grain sandwich with peanut butter, rice with lentils grains and dairy: muesli with milk, pasta with cheese
  • legumes and dairy: an oven-baked dish of beans, chickpeas and other vegetables, covered with a moderate amount of cheese
  • eggs and grains: pasta with baked eggs
  • grains and nuts: muesli with nuts

5. Fat
Fat is our body’s second energy provider. Vegetarians usually consume less fat and healthier fats than meat eaters since vegetables mainly contain unsaturated fats, but even in vegetarian cooking you still need to pay attention to “fat traps”:
  • avoid adding too much fat to your food, no matter which kind of fat
  • avoid frying foods
  • keep animal fats like butter to a minimum
  • use coconut oil, milk and cream rather sparingly since they contain saturated fats
  • keep dairy products (milk, cheese, yoghurt, cream, sour cream) in moderation or choose fat-reduced versions
Healthy sources of fat are (still consume in moderation!):
  • vegetable oils (especially olive oil) and products made from these
  • nuts and seeds
  • grains and grain products
  • avocadoes
Conclusion
To ensure that you follow a balanced vegetarian diet you should base your meals on a larger portion each of fruit, vegetables or legumes and grains or grain products on the one hand and a smaller portion of foods mainly high in protein and fat (dairy products, eggs, nuts and seeds) on the other hand. Prefer healthier fats and add as little fat as possible to your meals (even then you won’t run into a lack of fat). Also make sure you choose a wide variety within the different food groups over the course of the week. This way, your body will certainly get all the nutrients it needs and draw the maximum health benefits out of your vegetarian cooking.

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Tuesday, 28 July 2009

Vegetarian Cooking – How The Cherished Diet Without Meat Can Make You Healthier

In this article:
Why vegetarian cooking?
The basics of vegetarian cooking
Tips for healthy vegetarian cooking

Our overindulgence in meat has lead to numerous health problems like high cholesterol and overweight because it made us consume way too much fat, especially the unhealthy saturated fat. An increased risk of diseases like strokes and heart attacks was the result of this unbalanced way of eating. Now, after people started to understand the importance of healthy and balanced nutrition, vegetarian cooking has become increasingly popular.

Why vegetarian cooking?

  • There is in general nothing wrong with eating meat. The secret of eating healthy is in fact to consume all food groups, but the right amount of everything to keep a balance of nutrients. However, vegetarian cooking is certainly a very healthy option of eating, provided that certain rules are followed to ensure your body gets all nutrients it needs. One good example is that vegetarians rarely suffer from overweight since their fat intake is usually much lower than the one of a person eating meat (and thus less vegetables and fiber) every day.
  • Especially if you have weight problems or high cholesterol, which are to a large extend caused by an excess of unhealthy fats mainly found in meat animal products, vegetarian cooking can make a huge impact on your health. But there are also other reasons why people follow a vegetarian diet: be it religious reasons or simply the fact that they are against the way the animals we eat are treated.

The basics of vegetarian cooking
  • The main difference between “normal” and vegetarian cooking is that the vegetarian diet does not include meat. Vegetarians do, however, eat animal products like dairies and eggs, which vegans ( a very strict kind of vegetarians) do not.
  • The main foods of vegetarian cooking are fruit and vegetables, grains, legumes, eggs and dairy products (milk, cheese, yoghurt). Fat should come from healthy foods like avocadoes, cheese, yoghurt and nuts, and a combination of legumes with grains, nuts or seeds will easily provide you with sufficient proteins without overloading your system with fat.
  • Most important for a healthy and balanced vegetarian diet is great variety in your meals. Try to consume as many different foods as possible over the course of the week to ensure you are getting enough of all nutrients.

Tips for healthy vegetarian cooking
  • Choose natural foods, like brown rice, whole grain products and fresh fruit and vegetables rather than processed or refined foods. They still contain more important nutrients, and studies have shown that a diet based on these foods reduces your risk of high blood pressure and heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
  • Buy your foods as fresh as possible and avoid storing them too long. Many vegetables lose a lot of nutrients within days already. If you can, buy only what you need for a day or two, otherwise buy frozen or canned foods (not processed!).
  • Fruit and vegetables that are “in season” will be cheaper and fresher. If you have a large freezer, you can buy bulks of them. Then blanch and freeze them (blanching contains nutrients and prevents bacterial contamination), or make sauces or purees that you can freeze.
  • Be aware of the fats in your food! Don’t assume you are eating healthy simply because you don’t eat meat. Cheese, cream and sour cream, butter and oil also contain fat, and if you consume a lot of these, you will still eat too much fat, even if you are vegetarian. Keep these foods in moderation, or make use of their low-fat versions, especially if you are experiencing weight problems. And rather bake or grill instead of frying. Many fried dishes can also be made in a pan or the oven.
  • The same rule as for fat applies for sugar: Keep it as low as possible. If you overeat, your vegetarian diet won’t safe you. Vegetarian cooking is healthy, but only if you do it right.

Conclusion
For vegetarian cooking, as for any other diet, applies: If you are healthy, there is no need to scientifically work out a plan how much of which food you need to eat. If you stick to a balanced diet with a great variety of foods, if you keep sugar and fat intake low and rather choose healthy fats (vegetable fats, e.g. olive, canola and rapeseed oil, and products made from these), you will be fine, getting all nutrients you need. After all, if you really listen, your body will tell you what kind of food it needs.

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This website is for informational purposes and support only. It can never replace professional advice about nutritional issues. If you suffer, or suspect you might suffer from any medical condition and might require a special diet, I strongly recommend that you consult a health care professional or dietician.

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