Composition and nutritive value of diets consumed by strict vegetarians

Abstract

The population in technically developed countries generally subsists on a mixed diet. Its pattern of food consumption is varied and almost every meal consists of foods of both animal and vegetable origin. This diversity of food sources is often thought to be a requisite of a 'well-balanced' diet, providing all nutrients in adequate amounts. A satisfactory diet can also be obtained on a strictly vegetarian rCgime, but a careful selection of foods is necessary to furnish all nutrients and particularly the essential amino acids in sufficient amounts and right proportions, and even a well-selected vegetarian diet is likely to be deficient in vitamin B,, (Wokes, Badenoch & Sinclair, 1955; Halsted, Carroll, Dehghani, Loghmani & Prasad, 1960), which is lacking in vegetable foods. In most of the developed countries there are small groups of people who adhere, for reasons of conviction, to a strictly vegetarian diet. Though very conscious of the kinds and origin of the foods they eat, they do not generally select them according to scientific principles. Moreover, food fads, and strange beliefs concerning the value of certain foods, are frequently encountered in these groups. It therefore seemed of interest to study the composition and nutritive value of the diets of strict vegetarians living in a country-Israel-where normally the pattern of food consumption is mixed. The diets of 119 strict vegetarians were studied and the protein value of a composite dietary sample was assessed in experiments with rats. E X P E R I M E N T A L The dietary survey was made from the beginning of July to the end of September 1960. It covered eighty households and included I 19 persons in Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, and some smaller places. The names and addresses of the vegetarian families were supplied by the Israeli Vegetarian Association. Only families and persons who were strict vegetarians and willing to cooperate were selected for the survey. Most belonged to the urban middle class. Thirty-three families lived in a vegetarian village and were engaged in various agricultural occupations. The mean number of persons per household was small (1*5), because in most families only a few persons adhered to a strict vegetarian diet. Only their diets were studied. Of the households fifty-nine contained one person subsisting on a vegetarian diet, fourteen households contained two, and one, three, one and two households included three, four, five and six vegetarians , respectively. The composition of the sample is shown in Table I .