Balance, food choice key to vegetarian lifestyle

By AMY ROTH
healthy living

Being vegetarian suits Harrison, 5, and Madeline, 8, DuBois just fine.
"I don't like meat. I've never tried it; I just know it's yucky," said Harrison, a resident of Poolville in the town of Hamilton. Madeline, who has tried meat, agreed for the most part, although she admitted to a taste for grilled salmon and her grandfather's rib sauce, just not the meat it goes on.

The kids' pediatrician is perfectly happy with their no-meat diet, and their steady growth indicates their good health, said their mother, Beth, 36, the family's original vegetarian.

Influenced by a health-conscious high school teacher, DuBois began cutting out meat slowly and gave it up completely when she was 18, although she still eats eggs and dairy products.

"To me, that was the route to go. I started on the route to health and just ended up a vegetarian," she said.

DuBois tries to eat "foods that are whole and as close to their natural state as possible," she said. It's all part of an environmentally conscious lifestyle that includes buying local products; organic gardening; keeping much-loved, free-range chickens; and using recycled dish towels instead of paper towels.

Professionals back up the healthiness of the DuBois' diet. According to the American Dietetic Association, vegetarian diets can be perfectly healthy for people of all ages and may actually help to treat or prevent certain diseases.
As with any other diet, the key is choosing foods wisely, said clinical dietitian Kate Waltz of Bassett Healthcare in Cooperstown.

"Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian diets can provide all the nutrients that you need, can promote health, can help to prevent health problems," she said. "But the bottom line is the foods that you actually choose within the diet."

In general, rates of heart disease, type-2 diabetes, hypertension and some cancers tend to be lower among vegetarians, Waltz said. Vegetarians also tend to have lower body-mass indexes, she said. It's hard to say whether the health benefits of vegetarianism come from the diet, the lower BMI or other lifestyle choices, she said.

Getting enough nutrients

It is clear, though, she said, that vegetarians have to be particularly careful to get enough of certain nutrients because they have fewer choices for meeting their needs. Here they are:

• B12: Getting enough of this vitamin is the biggest challenge for vegans - vegetarians who don't eat any animal products -- because it isn't found in plant products. Vegans generally can get enough by eating fortified foods, such as cereal, soy milk and vegetable patties, or by taking a supplement, Waltz said.

• Iron: Iron in plant foods is not as well absorbed as the iron in animal products, so vegetarians have to be a bit more careful, Waltz said. She recommends eating iron with vitamin C to increase absorption, a practice that is also wise for non-vegetarians, she pointed out.

• Calcium: Vegetarians should be able to get enough calcium from greens, tofu processed with calcium, fortified juices and, for non-vegans, dairy products, Waltz said.

• Vitamin D: Egg yolks are a great source of this vitamin, which is necessary for calcium absorption, Waltz said. Vegans can get enough through sunshine, fortified products and/or supplements.

• Zinc: Milk, cheese, yogurt and eggs all contain this mineral. Most vegans get enough zinc by eating legumes, nuts and whole grains, she said.

• Protein: Vegans must eat a variety of grains and vegetables each day to ensure that they get all nine of the amino acids that make up protein.

Of course, you don't have to give up meat to reap many of the health benefits of vegetarianism, Waltz said.

"There are ways to incorporate a lot of benefits of vegetarian diets and still make smart choices about consuming animal products as well," she said.

Just eat lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and nuts, she said.

That's what Peter Corn does. Corn owns Peter's Cornucopia, a gourmet, health-food and natural store in the New Hartford Shopping Center. Corn eats a traditional vegetarian diet, but chooses also to eat fish and chicken. His store, though, caters to vegetarians and vegans, offering products from meatless kielbasa to adzuki beans to help them achieve the balanced, nutritious diet Waltz recommends.

Organic food

Corn, who opened his business in the village of New Hartford 20 years ago, said he's seen a huge increase in the number of people seeking organic foods. People are showing a greater consciousness about what they eat, he said.

Yet, Corn hasn't seen a huge jump in the number of vegetarians.

"You've got your low-carb fad and all your other fads," he said. "I don't think (vegetarianism) is something that's ever going to be pushed as a fad. It's more a way of life."

It's not a way of life that Travis DuBois, 36, ever expected to live until he married his wife, Beth. Now he's "completely vegetarian some of the time." Perhaps once a month, he indulges his cravings for the salty taste of meats, such as sausage and wings, while eating out.

Despite those cravings, DuBois is sold on vegetarianism. "One of the reasons (I'm a vegetarian) is very practical. I work all day. I eat what's served. Secondly, I think it's healthier the way we eat," he said.

When DuBois does give in to the siren song of barbecue his stomach punishes him. "My stomach is usually upset for a couple hours," he said. "I pay for it because my system isn't used to it."

Travis and Beth DuBois admit they can't point to any evidence that their diet has made them healthier.

"My philosophy is: I think if I feel good about what I'm doing and what I'm putting into my body, I'll be healthy," Beth DuBois said.