What is a vegetarian diet? A vegetarian diet, also known as the vegan diet, is one that consists of no animal meats as a source of protein. All vegetarians must look to other sources of protein in their diet, which primary consists of fruits and vegetables. The reason behind someone taking upon themselves to participate in a vegetarian diet may be a personal belief in animal rights, due to religious reasons, or that someone needs to watch their animal protein intake due to other health concerns.

Some people choose a vegetarian diet as a short term solution. Some people have major health issues which actually put them on a zero cholesterol diet. They have to start eating fruits and vegetables that will give them the good cholesterol that they need to help them to reverse the damage that they have done to their cholesterol levels.

Some people choose a vegetarian diet due to their beliefs. With these individuals, a vegetarian diet is a way of life and not a fad, or a means to a fitness end. Most of which will tell you that they believe in animal rights and refuse to eat the meat of an animal. Some people are actually repulsed by the slaughtering methods that are used on the animals used for meat supply. A very small portion of these individuals simply are repulsed by meat period.

How do vegetarians get their proteins? Believe it or not, with a small amount of research on the web, you can find dozens of resources in regards to vegetarian diets, menu items, and their protein content per serving. A brief summary of these items would be tofu, beans, nuts, soy, and lentils. These are the items that you will find which contain the most amount of protein per serving. However, there are many other items that you can eat which will provide small amounts of protein to the vegetarian diet. The good thing is that a lot of these items also contain the good fats that are essential towards cholesterol reduction.

I can never eat out if I switch to a vegetarian diet! Thinking this could not be farther from the truth. There are so many restaurants and food products available now for vegans today. While there may not be as many options available to you on the menu, unless the restaurant specifically caters to vegans, there will at least be a few options. The vegetarian diet is becoming more and more popular amongst Americans and this is affecting how eating establishments tailor their menus.

How full will I be able to get from a vegetarian diet? There is a common misunderstanding that people that are on vegetarian diets are always hungry. This is from a common misnomer that vegetarian meals digest faster, leaving you hungry sooner. This couldn?t be further from the truth. Actually, digesting the fiber found in fruits and vegetables actually slows down the digestion process and causes the absorption of carbohydrates to be more gradual. This is good for the fat burning process.

Build the menu that is right for you! As I mentioned before, you can find a ton of information online that will help you to identify foods that you would like to try. In fact, there are even sites which plan out meals for an entire day, or even week! You can pick and choose the items which sound appealing to you, and then decide for yourself. It won?t take you long to truly find the foods and flavors that you like. You will also open up a new world and surprise yourself at the availability of vegan products at your local supermarket that you hadn?t noticed before. Have fun with it and enjoy the experience of your new vegetarian diet.