Therefore, vegetarianism also requires wise choices. The following common nutritional misunderstandings may cause the problem of unbalanced nutrition, greatly reduce the benefits of vegetarianism, and may even harm the body.
Myth 1: There is no limit to the amount of processed food.
Many vegetarians believe that as long as they do not contain animal food raw materials, they are foods with high nutritional value. In fact, many processed foods are made of plant raw materials, but most of them are made of polished white rice and polished white flour, in which dietary fiber is removed and a lot of oil, sugar or salt is added, which cannot replace fresh natural foods. For example, potato chips, French fries, fried dough sticks and so on are vegetarian, but they are unhealthy.
Myth 2: Eating too much fruit does not reduce the staple food.
Many vegetarians love fruits, but they often find that fruits, though claimed to be healthy, have not brought them slim bodies. This is because fruit contains more than 8% sugar, and energy can not be ignored. If you eat more than half a catty of fruit, you should reduce the number of meals or staple foods accordingly to achieve a day's energy balance.
Myth 3: Vegetarianism must be based on raw and cold food.
Some vegetarians think that vegetables have healthy value only when eaten raw, so they seldom eat cooked food and are keen on cold salad and salad. In fact, many nutrients in vegetables need to be absorbed well by adding oil. After heating, the integrity of the cell wall is destroyed and the absorption rate is greatly improved. For example, vitamin K, carotene and lycopene are all nutrients that are easier to absorb after cooking. Among them, vitamin K is beneficial to bone health, carotene is the precursor of vitamin A, and lycopene is an important component of antioxidant and cancer prevention. It should also be noted that raw and cold food often weakens the digestion and absorption function of the human body, which is not suitable for some people who have indigestion. For example, some people are prone to abdominal distension and cold diarrhea, so they should not eat more cold food.
Myth 4: Insufficient milk, beans or bean products.
In a broad sense, vegetarians need not only calcium in milk, but also protein, B vitamins and vitamins A and D. Vegetarians need to supplement calcium from tofu and obtain protein and B vitamins from beans. Many women are keen on fruits and vegetables when they start vegetarianism, but they often ignore the origin of protein and forget that vegetarianism can also ensure adequate nutrition.
Myth 5: think that all vegetables are equally good.
For strict vegetarians, the nutritional significance of vegetables is more important. They should not only shoulder the heavy responsibility of supplementing vitamin C and carotene, but also contribute iron, calcium, folic acid and vitamin B2. Therefore, we should try to choose vegetable varieties rich in these nutrients, and green leafy vegetables are also among them, such as kale, cauliflower, amaranth, spinach, rape, chrysanthemum and so on. In order to increase the supply of protein, mushroom vegetables and fresh bean vegetables are the best choices, such as various mushrooms, edamame and fresh peas. If you only like a few so-called "slimming vegetables" such as cucumber, tomato, wax gourd and bitter gourd, it is difficult to get enough nutrition.
So vegetarianism is not necessarily a healthy diet. Only when the nutrition is balanced and properly matched can we get enough nutrition, thus reducing the occurrence of diseases or bringing slim figure.