Nutrient and Vegetarian

Challenges for vegetarians

Protein – Vegetarians can get protein from grains, pulse, legume, seeds
and nuts.

Fat – Plant foods like fruits and nuts can be good source of essential
fatty acids. Olives, soy, peanuts, walnuts, avocadoes and sunflower
seeds provide unsaturated fats. Strict vegetarians may lack of
docosahexanoic acid (DHA).

Calcium – Eating broccoli, spinach and tofu can help in calcium
requirement.

Vitamins – the only concerns is Vitamins B-12 deficiency because
vitamin B-12 does not naturally occur in plant food in a
biological active form (usable by the human body).

Iron – Not many plant contain iron. Although vitamin C does help in the
absorption of iron.

Zinc – food like grains, pulses, wheat germ, seeds, soy foods provide zinc
but strict vegetarians are recommended to take fortified food to
meet the requirement.

Why go Vegetarian ?

Why go vegetarian?

Foods of plant origin are naturally low in saturated fats and contain no cholestrol. Plant foods also have more fiber than any animal food. Fiber curbs overeating, helps keep blood-sugar levels onstant, reduces cholestrol, promotes regularity of bowel movement and lessens the risk of cancer. High-fiber food also satisfies the need to chew.

Some studies also show that vegetarians have lower rates of cancer, likely from an abundance of antioxidant and phytonutrients like flavonoids and carotenoids in plant foods. Vegetarians are also less vulnerable to intestinal disorders like constipation and diverticulosis.

Types of Vegetarians

Types of Vegetarians
- Vegans are strict vegetarians
- Lacto-vegetarians eat dairy product like milk, cheese and
butter, but no eggs.
- Lacto-ovo vegetarians include dairy product and eggs.
- Pesco-vegetarians eat dairy, eggs and fish.
- Semi-vegetarians eat almost every food exclude or limit
consumption of red meat.
- Fruitarian eat only raw or dried fruits, seeds and nuts.
- Macrobiotic-diet followers are extreme vegetarians who
progressively eliminate more and more food varieties until they
feed only on brown rice, water and herba tea.

Vitamin B-12 in vegetarians

When you stop eating vitaminB-12 (cobalamins), you will passes through four stages of negative cobalamin balance:

• Stage I-Serum depletion (low vitamin B-12 on transcobalamin II)
• Stage II-Cell depletion (low red cell vitamin B-12 concentrations)
• Stage III-Biochemical deficiency (slowed DNA synthesis)
• Stage IV-Clinical deficiency (anemia)

There are six ways you can get vitamin B-12 deficiency:

-Three inadequacies

• inadequate ingestion
• inadequate absorption
• inadequate utilization (defect in enzymes or other protein)

-Three excesses

• increased requirement (pregnacy)
• increased excreased (alcoholism)
• increased destruction (very high doses of vitamin C)

Dietary deficiency of vitamin B-12 results from strict vegan (all plant food) diet because there is no vitamin B-12 synthesized by any plant. Vegetarins who are not vegans (lactoovovegetarians and lactovegetarians) ingest adequate amounts of vitamin B-12 in animal (egg,milk and other) products.

If daily vitamin B-12 absorption continues to be less than daily vitamin B-12 loss, negative balance will progress to stage II, depletion of stores. Eventually, however, continuing slight negative balance will deplete vitamin B-12 stores, after which stage III negative balance occurs (biochemical deficiency).

Active vitamin B-12 can be destroyed by very high doses of vitamin C. Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant primarily at physiologic doses. At pharmacologic doses, in the presence of iron, it is one of the most potent oxidants known and drives iron-catalyzed free radical generation which can damage vitamin B-12.

Negative vitamin B-12 balance also common in a large group of eldery people.

The use of Fish Oil Supplements

Increasing dietary consumption of fish high in Omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids is well established as a way to improve numerious health outcomes.
-Primary Cardiovaccular Event Prevention
-Secondary Cardiovascular Event Prevention
-Reducing Triglycerides
-Anti-inflammatory-Rheumatic Disease
-Depression
-Cognitive Health

Recommendations to increase fish consumption are not always straightforwards. Some fish have high levels of FPA and DHA; others do not. Preparation also affect the long chain fatty acids. Because no study on fried fish or fish sanwiches.

Commercial fish oil is a by-product of the fish meal industry. It involved many fish species including Salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna, anchovies and others.

The raw oil from fish is then purified and concentrated by hydrolyzing the individual fatty acids from the fish triglycerides so the various fatty acids can be separated and concentrated. This process allows for the separation of contaminant toxins, proteins, and other non n-3 fatty acids.

Common side effect: Burping (fishy aftertaste)