Healthy Tips: Recipes for a Vegetarian Lifestyle

I was watching TV the other day and they had a program where the host and the guest were both vegans.  They were adamant that they were getting all their essential nutrients from this diet and had both been on it for over a decade and felt better then ever.  So I thought I'd write a post about the different types of vegetarian lifestyles. 

First off, there is a difference between vegetarians and vegans.  Vegans choose not to eat any products that come from animals, so they don't consume dairy or eggs and all of their food comes from fruit or vegetable sources. 
Vegetarians on the other hand, may eat dairy, eggs and even fish products, depending on the type of vegetarianism they choose to follow.  Vegetarians each have their differing reasons for choosing this lifestyle, ranging from the love for animals to health reasons, or they just don't like to eat meat.

I personally don't think that I could become a full fledged vegetarian willingly because I love my rare steaks.  However, it's not out of the question, as I've seen many health benefits from switching to this type of eating.  I do caution that before you start down this path, consult a nutritionist so you don't deprive yourself of some essential nutrients accidentally.  In order to get a balanced, healthy vegetarian/vegan diet, you need to know where you can get specific vitamins and minerals from.  For example, protein and iron are harder to come by through vegetables, so you'll have to include things like tofu and spinach to account for these nutrients.

Fruits and vegetables are good for you since they come directly from the earth, you just have to know which ones to eat to ensure good health.  I think that will be my next challenge, to consume a vegetarian dinner every night for a week and guage the results