Fresh vegetables Linda goes line dancing three times a week for six hours each time and so is quite fit. She's also an ideal weight at 5 ft 4 ins and 9 stone. But Linda would like her diet to go under the Diet Detective microscope as she suffers regularly from flatulence and burping, and a fat stomach."I would also like to know whether I'm getting all the correct nutrients for health with my vegetarian diet," she says.
The evidence
Day 1 (week day)
Breakfast:
Piece of fresh fruit
Boiled egg
2 slices bread with butter and jam
4 cups coffee with milk and sweetener
Lunch:
Homemade vegetable soup
Evening:
Pasta with home made vegetable-based sauce
Green salad with no dressing
Stewed apple and yogurt
3 glasses wine
Snacks during day:
Cereal bar or dried fruits, nuts and seeds
Day Two (weekend)
Breakfast:
Muesli with orange juice
Yogurt
Piece fruit
4 cups coffee
Lunch:
Vegetable soup plus one slice bread
Fruit
Evening:
Roast parsnips, steamed cabbage and Quorn escalope
Fruit and yogurt
3 glasses wine
The Diet Detective reports
A vegetarian diet can be very healthy - research studies have found that compared to meat-eaters, vegetarians have up to 30% less heart disease, 40% less cancer, lower rates of obesity, lower blood pressure and they live longer.
The reasons for this difference are, however, not altogether clear as it has also been shown that many vegetarians eat a diet as high in saturated fats, salt and sugar as a typical meat-eater's diet, while others live on a very restricted or 'junk' diet which may be short on various vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. So Linda is wise to ask me to look at her own diet and the nutrients it contains.
Linda is a lacto-ovo-vegetarian, meaning that she eats dairy produce and eggs, but avoids all meat, poultry and fish.
Overall she is eating really well and getting a wide variety of foods. She takes care to eat plenty of different fruits and vegetables - around six portions a day - and, unlike some 'veggies', doesn't rely on highly processed or junk foods, or too many 'carbs' to get her calories. She obviously enjoys healthy home cooking.
Her diet diary also shows that, unlike many vegetarians, she doesn't rely too heavily on high-saturated fat cheese, and eggs, for her protein intake - having items such as Quorn (a low-fat man-made protein similar to the protein found in mushrooms), yogurt, nuts and seeds as protein-rich snacks instead. This ensures that she is getting the healthier, unsaturated fats into her diet and getting the variety of nutrients that many veggies may lack as well as plenty of dietary fibre.
I estimate that Linda will not be short of any of the important minerals - including calcium, iron, selenium and zinc, vitamins - including C, B group, E and D as she enjoys all the vegetarian foods that contain these nutrients in good amounts.
However there is still small room for improvement - see my tips to Linda below.
Regarding Linda's flatulence 'both ends' and fat stomach (probably swollen with gas, rather than surplus fat) - this is most likely to be connected to a few of the foods in her diet. It is well known that some foods are more likely to produce 'wind' and/or indigestion than others. Some of the most common culprits are parsnips, cabbage and onions, prunes, under-ripe fruits, raw vegetables and pulses such as baked beans and kidney beans. Below are my tips for getting around this 'wind connection' while still eating the way she wants.
Overall, I rate Linda's diet 9 out of 10. So well done!
Here are my recommendations for Linda:
- To help avoid flatulence and a swollen stomach: eat 'little and often' rather than having big meals - for example you could have your second slice of breakfast bread mid-morning instead. Also chew thoroughly and don't rush your meals, relax and enjoy them.
- Pureeing or mashing some of the culprit fruits and veggies will help your digestive system cope with them more easily - for example, you could serve pureed parsnips and always blend your vegetable soups to smooth.
- Items such as cabbage and onions are often more easily digested if they have been very well cooked within a casserole or stew, rather than simply steamed or stir-fried.
You eat few pulses, according to your two-day diet, which is one of the few 'faults' I can find. Lentils, chick peas, kidney beans and so on are almost all great sources of protein, fibre, iron, magnesium and folate (and more). They will also keep you going for a long time and thus would be ideal food before, say, a long line-dancing session. While you may find they do produce 'wind', you can use the tips above to minimise the chance of this, and make sure all pulses you eat are very thoroughly cooked. If you've been unused to eating them, you should also start off slowly - just adding small amounts to soups, stews, etc and gradually increasing the amount.
Try to eat wholegrain bread rather than white at least half the time, and choose whole grain rice and pasta. Wholegrains are a reasonable source of iron, which is only just adequate in your diet (most people get a lot of their iron from meat). Other good sources of iron are eggs, nuts and seeds, soya mince, dried fruits, dark green leafy vegetables and, as I've said, pulses. Eat something rich in vitamin C at every iron-containing meal to help absorption (you already do this to a certain extent - e.g. fruit with egg, muesli with orange juice).
Lastly, many veggies lack the minerals selenium and calcium so keep an eye on these. Find selenium in nuts, lentils, wholemeal bread and sunflower seeds, and find calcium in cheese, nuts, yogurt, milk, white bread, soya beans, figs, haricot beans, chickpeas, and dark leafy greens.
Conclusion
You're doing well, Linda - your diet is within the guidelines for fat, salt, sugar, carbs, fibre, protein and the major vits and mins.