4 Steps to Enjoy Food More & Eat Less!

Feed Your Mind
Use your good mind every time you eat or drink anything.  Think of what you're doing and enjoy it to the fullest.  Avoid watching TV, reading the paper or doing other things which distract you, and concentrate on the joys of eating.  Feed your mind as well as your body.  As you thus nourish your brain properly, it will grow stronger.  Each and every day you will develop more will-power, more self-control, more self-respect and a greater sense of self-worth.

Feast Your Eyes
Use your eyes every time you eat or drink anything.  Look at your food and beverage and enjoy the beauty of it!  FEAST your eyes on this!  Appreciate the time and talent required to make it attractive and appealing.  Think of how much more rewarding and fulfilling it is when it looks good!  Use your eyes to guide you to correct foods and help you to avoid the greasy, starchy stuff which is hazardous to your health!

Eat Sensuously
In addition to your sense of taste and smell, use all your other senses in the eating and drinking experience.  Enjoy and appreciate the texture of your food.  Is it crisp and crunchy or is it soft and limber?  Is it tender and succulent or is it old and stale?  Is it the right temperature?  If you like some things hot, it's not as satisfying to you if it's luke-warm.  If you like it cold, it's not as fulfilling to you if it's at room temperature.  Even your ears help you appreciate the character of your food and using all your senses helps you enjoy it more and be more pleased with it!

Take Your Time
Take your food and beverage into your mouth in small portions and chew it well.  Only in this way can you really enjoy every particle and every satisfying morsel of food you ingest.  If you take great big bites and gulps and swallow it quickly, you rob yourself of the pleasure and joy of eating.  Remember that after you've swallowed something, the digestive process is automatic, so the only conscious control you have over your eating and drinking experience is while the food and beverage is in your mouth!  Keep it there a little longer and give your mind and body more time to enjoy it, appreciate it, and be more fulfilled and satisfied by it!!

Principles of Nutrition in the Vegetarian Diet

A total vegetarian diet* must be carefully planned to insure adequacy of protein and certain other nutrients.  An all-vegetarian diet does not provide sufficient Vitamin B12 (milk and eggs are satisfactory sources) and may be low in iron.  It also tends to be deficient in calcium and riboflavin, so dark green leafy vegetables (good sources of these nutrients) should be used liberally by total vegetarians.  Fortified soybean milk can replace cow's milk in total vegetarian diets - especially important for children.

Basic considerations in planning an adequate vegetarian diet are:

• Select from a wide variety of plant foods.

• Minimize the use of "empty calorie" or "junk foods."

• Maintain calorie intake at appropriate levels.

• Use the Four Food pattern in planning menus (see table below).

• Replace meat with an increased intake of legumes, nuts, soy vegetable proteins, and nonfat and lowfat milk products.

• Total vegetarians, in addition, must satisfactorily replace the nutrients in the milk group. Vitamin B12 supplementation may be required.

Vegetarian Four Food Group

FOOD GROUP	SERVINGS	GRAMS PROTEIN	CALORIES
Fruits and Vegetables	4 or more	8	275
Bread and Cereals	4 or more	10	280
Milk or Soy Milk	2 cups	17	330
Legumes, nuts, meat analogs	2 cups	22	275
Total		57	1,160

*A "total" or "all" vegetarian diet does not include eggs or milk. A "lactovegetarian" diet includes milk, and a "lacto-ovovegetarian" diet includes milk and eggs.

To provide "complete proteins" combine the following foods:

• Rice - combine with beans, nuts, dairy foods, eggs, wheat germ

• Beans - combine with corn, rice, dairy foods, eggs, grains, nuts

• Noodles and Spaghetti - combine with nuts, dairy products, eggs, spinach, wheat germ

• Most Vegetables - combine with nuts, dairy products, eggs, rice, sunflower seeds, spinach, wheat germ

Protein
Plant proteins have a lower biologic value than proteins of animal origin.  The biologic value of a protein is its ability to support growth and maintain the body structure.  This ability depends on the number and proportion of the amino acids it contains.  The proteins of legumes, whole grains, nuts, and vegetables contain all of the essential acids but yield them at generally lower levels than do proteins of animal origin.  When a correct mixture of plant proteins is consumed, supplementation occurs and results in a mixture of all essential amino acids in proportions similar to animal proteins. Selecting a variety of plant proteins and mixing them properly are key ideas to remember when planning menus.

Riboflavin, Calcium, and Iron
If milk and milk products are not included in the diet, other sources of calcium (some dark green leafy vegetables and nuts) and riboflavin (mostly in whole grain, enriched grain, and cereal products) can be included.  Iron intake can be increased by using enriched grain and cereal products.  The proportion of iron that is available for absorption can be increased by including a source of ascorbic acid in the meal.  Since vegetarians are more likely to have lower intakes of dietary iron, serum iron levels should be checked periodically.  If anemia exists, supplemental iron (ferrous sulfate) may be indicated.

Vitamin B12
The lacto-ovovegetarian and lactovegetarians, in general, have adequate intake of Vitamin B12.  Vitamin B12 is not present in plant foods in enough amounts to be considered a dietary source.  Supplementary Vitamin B12 for the "pure" vegetarian can be obtained from soybean milk (fortified with Vitamin B12) or commercial meat analogs (fortified with B12).

Benefits
A diet low in meat and high in fruits, vegetables and grains may play a role in reducing the risk of coronary vascular disease and possibly some forms of cancer.  Seventh Day Adventists, a religious society that practices vegetarianism, has a much lower incidence of coronary vascular disease than the average meat-eating American.