Vegetarians - You Are What You Eat
Although I don't agree with the sentiment behind this advertisement from the International Vegetarian Union (click for a larger image) -- that vegetables are all your body needs -- I still think it's a kick-ass, creative picture.
Because when you're considering bang-for-caloric-buck, you just can't improve on a vegetable. Take that leek -- in a half cup there's cancer-fighting kaempferol and manganese to help stabilize blood sugar, all for just 16 calories. And according to World's Healthiest Foods, those cauliflower lungs support the liver in detoxifying the body.
So yes, veggies do a body good (we're ignoring the fact that half the "veggies" in that picture are actually fruit). But are they, as the ad claims, the only food your body needs? Not according to Mayo Clinic:
The more restrictive a diet is, the more difficult it is to get all the nutrients your body needs. A vegan diet, for example, eliminates food sources of vitamin B-12, as well as milk products, which are a good source of calcium. Other nutrients, such as iron and zinc, are available in a meatless diet, but you need to make an extra effort to ensure they're in yours.
Instead, healthy vegetarians need to combine fruits and vegetables with foods like dairy, legumes, lentils, beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds to ensure they're getting enough protein, B-12, calcium, and iron.
Still, a powerful image that gets its point across: You really are what you eat.
12 Comments
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Created / Updated: November 18, 2009
I agree. We try to limit our meat, poultry and even fish to no more than three to four times a week when you include all meals. I have had bariatric surgery and do need to include protein in my meals. In fact, protein has to be the first thing I eat.
ReplyUmm those of us who aren't morbidly obese like you don't need to restrict our protein intake. It's your fault for being like you are. Don't project it onto the rest of us.
ReplyNow now, Arrow, that's no way to speak to a lady.
ReplyI'm sure many of our readers have undergone bariatric surgery and are equally conscious about meeting new nutritional needs. Thanks for your comment, Larraine. That might be a good topic for a new post.
ReplyOkay, I thought that picture was disturbing and kinda gross.
ReplyI loved the picture! It was celverly put together. I was amazed how the cauliflower looked like lungs.
ReplyLove it! What an awesome picture!!
I eat a mostly vegetarian diet - but I do eat meat when I am at a friends house, christmas, if I am out somewhere. I get plenty of nutrients and more than enough protein from eggs, nuts, beans, dairy... I lived with a vegan years ago and man THAT is a tough diet, you have to keep track of protein and b12 in particular - it's not impossible but it's very difficult.
I grew up on a farm - so I have seen the 'circle of life' up close. Hens went off the lay, they became sunday dinner. Ours were all free range animals, but most of those who are slaughtered for commercial use are raised in crowded pens and cages - it's an awful existence and I'd rather not have anything to do with the industry that produces them. When i do eat meat I try to make sure it is organic & free range.
ReplyYes, veggies aren't the only food your body needs (honestly, anyone knows that, and the ad was clearly intended as hyperbole in that sense), but the ADA supports vegetarian and vegan diets as healthy for all stages of life. The ad really means plant-based foods are all your body needs, which is true.
ReplyThe ADA says a vegetarian diet can meet nutritional requirements and be healthy; they do not endorse or support vegan diets, especially in pregnant women, women wishing to become pregnant, lactating women, infants or children. Basically their position is that if you want to eat vegan, go ahead, but don't punish kids with such a nutritionally deficient diet!
ReplyThat's a really awesome picture! But yeah, even though you can subsist on MOSTLY veggies, you also need protein and nutrients in other foods. Nuts, legumes, soy, etc., are great sources of protein for those who choose to avoid animal products.
ReplyI believe in that - We are what we eat. I feel so much better now that I make conscious effort to work out very regularly and eat nutritious food. It's just easy to avoid processed food items and concentrate on nutrition-dense food.
I just avoid the confectionery and the junk food aisle in supermarkets.. some of them can look pretty tempting. And then I read their labels and get turned off by their high fats and sugar content. :D
ReplyCool picture, I didn't realise cauliflower could make such good lungs.
Fortified soy milk and orange juice gets you the all the nutrients you mentioned though, including protein and b12.
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