June Blog Summary

I chose this article because when my parents decided to become vegetarians, a lot of our family members had the misconception that it was “unhealthy” to do so because they could not get enough protein in their diet without eating meat. On the other hand, my father truly believed that this was the only way for him to reduce his cholesterol, which was the motivating factor behind the diet change. I think both of these are a common misconception in the public today, and unfortunately the general public does not seem to completely grasp the idea that B vitamins, iron, and protein can be consumed in other ways. I chose the article for the blog because as nutrition educators and future dietitians it is important that we understand what the general public believes, why they believe it, and how we can explain things to them so that they do not have any misconceptions on the subject.

Question 1

There was a general consensus across the board that a lack of education is what brings about the misconception that vegetarian diets are deficient in certain nutrients. Many people pointed out that balance in an individual’s diet is key for vegetarians to avoid deficiencies. Kevin pointed out that anyone on any diet could have a deficiency “its not the diet but the eater”, or in other words, diet has nothing to do with deficiency, but the education of the person eating the food determines risk. Jordan points out that she thinks the general public believes that we need meat to survive and they don’t believe plant sources are acceptable sources of protein. It appears that education on food groups, sources of protein, B vitamins and iron are a suggestion for vegetarians through this blog.

Question 2

As a whole, everyone agreed that they would not suggest a vegetarian diet as a weight loss tool. Stephanie believed it would be more beneficial to educate the person on the pros and cons of meats, and which meat choices are better in terms of fat content for a dieter. Jamie suggested discussing proper serving sizes and increasing fruit and vegetable intake. Many people believed that putting someone on a vegetarian diet for weight loss when they didn’t have an interest in being a vegetarian would result in the person not being able to maintain the lifestyle. Brooke said that anyone can overeat, whether they are vegetarian or not and therefore weight loss education would be needed regardless of the persons eating lifestyle. Ali said she would focus more on reducing caloric intake and increasing physical activity for a weight loss client and Kathy believed that promoting vegetarianism as a weight loss tool would put it in the category of other fad diets. She thinks that restrictions, regardless of what they are, are very hard to stick with and would not be recommended for weight loss. Brooke looked up the definition of “diet” to see if the word restriction was used. She found that in two definitions, one of them used the word “limitation” and she discussed that it is important that clients understand that a lifestyle change needs to be made, not a temporary extremely restricted diet.

Question 3

There was less of a general consensus on this question compared to the others. Stephanie did not agree that people who are vegetarian have an increased awareness of health and therefore a lower BMI. She points out that many people become vegetarian, cut out meat, and call it good without doing any research on nutritional needs for vegetarians. Brooke believes it depends on why the person chose to be a vegetarian to begin with. But she does agree, along with Jamie and Kathy that vegetarians may be more health aware then the general public. Kevin suggests that perhaps it isn’t the meat itself that causes an increase in BMI but hormones in the meat that cause a weight gain. Amanda pointed out that vegetarian diets can be high in cheese, processed foods and calories and therefore would not be considered a health aware diet.

In conclusion, it seems like most of us agree that a vegetarian diet can be a healthy lifestyle as long as the individual receives education on how to balance their diet to avoid deficiencies. Everyone agreed that they would not suggest a vegetarian diet as a weight loss tool, but would encourage eating more fruits and vegetables, and decrease portion sizes. Some people agreed that vegetarians are a more health aware population as a whole, and therefore this may be why the study found that they have a lower BMI than non vegetarians. However, everyone also discussed that a vegetarian diet can be high in fat, and can become an unhealthy diet lifestyle.