All links within content go to MayoClinic.com Vegetarian diet: A
starter's guide to a plant-based diet Special to CNN.com
Adopting a healthy vegetarian diet isn't as simple as scraping
meat off your plate and eating what's left. You need to take
extra steps to ensure you're meeting your daily nutritional
needs. Vegetarian diet planning A healthy vegetarian diet
consists primarily of plant-based foods, such as fruits,
vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seed. Because the
emphasis is on nonmeat food sources, a vegetarian diet generally
contains less fat and cholesterol, and typically includes more
fiber. Vegetarians fall into groups defined by the types of
animal-derived foods they eat: - Vegans eliminate all foods from
animals, including meat, poultry, fish, milk, eggs and cheese.
They eat only plant-based foods. - Lacto-vegetarians consume
milk and milk products along with plant-based foods. They omit
eggs as well as meat, fish and poultry. - Lacto-ovo vegetarians
omit red meat, fish and poultry but e