Yun Wang

For many people, vegetarianism is an inner pursuit of nature, or out of love for animals or longing for a simple life. Years of research show that although vegetarian habits are beneficial to resist cardiovascular diseases and prevent obesity, because people live in a high-speed modern social environment, everyone consumes a lot of physical energy every day, so the nutritional collocation of vegetarians can not be ignored.

First of all, protein's supplement should not be underestimated. For protein, one of the three major nutrients needed by human body, the source of protein for vegetarians is plant protein, which often lacks one or two essential amino acids, thus limiting the nutritional value combination of protein. As we know, the human body needs more than 20 kinds of protein, some of which can be made by the body itself, while others must be supplied by food. Animal protein contains a variety of essential amino acids and has high nutritional value. However, protein in plant foods often lacks one or two essential amino acids, which limits its binding function and greatly reduces its nutritional value. However, in all natural foods, there is an objective phenomenon that protein can complement each other. That is to say, if one kind of food lacks an amino acid, and in another kind of food, the content of this amino acid is extremely rich, then we might as well combine the two to eat, so as to play the role of "learning from each other's strengths".

Take protein in the grain as an example. The content of lysine in cereals is low, while protein in beans contains more lysine, but lacks another methionine. When they are eaten together, lysine in cereals can be supplemented by beans, and methionine lacking in beans can be supplemented by cereals. For example, people often eat red bean rice, mung bean rice and eight-treasure porridge, which not only taste good, but also have high nutritional value. That's the reason.

Generally, between animal food and plant food, protein has the strongest complementary effect. However, in the vegetarian diet lacking animal food, we should make full use of the complementary effects of various plant foods to obtain various essential amino acids. Generally speaking, beans and cereals, beans and nuts, seeds (such as sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, etc. ), vegetables and beans and nuts, grains and nuts and seeds are quite complementary. Therefore, the more kinds of food you choose, the more comprehensive and balanced nutrition you need. Therefore, always change the menu on the vegetarian table and try to choose fresh food when eating.

Secondly, we should pay attention to the intake of calcium, iron and zinc. Because vegetarians can't get calcium supplements from meat, nutritionists believe that vegetarians should not exclude dairy products such as milk. In addition, they should often drink soybean milk, calcium-fortified juice, eat soybeans, broccoli, grains and so on. Because these foods can play an important role in supplementing calcium.

It should be noted that although green vegetables such as Chinese cabbage and mustard are regarded as foods with high calcium content, not all calcium in dark green vegetables can be absorbed by the human body. For example, spinach and beet have high oxalic acid content, which will hinder the body from absorbing calcium. Nutritionists point out that although vegetables can also be a channel for calcium supplementation, the effect is far less than that of dairy products. In addition, vegetarians also have the hidden worry of iron deficiency anemia. Therefore, moderate consumption of millet, oats, beans, egg yolk, black sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, spinach, red amaranth, black beet, laver, grapes, black dates and other foods can increase iron intake and help strengthen physical fitness.

The function of zinc is to make human cells, and it also has the functions of promoting growth, healing wounds and repairing skin, hair, nails and digestive tract. In vegetarian diet, foods with more zinc content include malt, red beans and nuts.

Third, vegetarians need proper vitamin supplements every day. Nutritionists have found that although the eating habits of vegetarians tend to be healthy, they also belong to "partial eclipse", so there is often a big "gap" in the supply of vitamin B 12 in this group of people. Experts suggest that vegetarians who generally do not eat dairy products, eggs, fortified soybean milk and other foods should take vitamin B 12 every day. In addition, vegetarians should also promote the absorption of calcium by taking vitamin D.

Fourth, you can't say "no" to fat. Although vegetarians hate greasy food, scientists still point out that moderate intake of beneficial fatty foods is not only beneficial to health, but also plays a role in preventing cancer. Because vegetarians don't eat fish, eggs and seafood, they can eat more nuts, such as peanuts, cashews and walnuts, to supplement essential fatty acids that the human body can't synthesize by itself.

Generally speaking, a healthy diet should contain all kinds of nutrients needed by the human body, so when we emphasize eating more vegetables and fruits, we should not exclude all non-vegetable foods that can provide important nutrients needed by the human body. For those vegans who find it difficult to accept meat and fishy food, it is necessary to make up for their intake of some nutrients by analyzing their current eating habits, strengthening food and taking nutritional preparations, so that they can maintain their original eating habits and structure without affecting their health.