New food guide pyramid for vegetarians.

The USDA Food Guide Pyramid was developed to help people plan a healthy diet. It can be used to plan vegetarian diets that include dairy products, but cannot accommodate a vegan diet. Because of this problem, and for other reasons, several groups have developed food guide pyramids specifically for vegetarians. Researchers at Arizona State University created one such pyramid. They also checked to see if it was possible to plan a nutritionally adequate diet using this pyramid. They found that their pyramid could be used to plan both vegan and lacto-vegetarian diets at several different calorie levels. Their Vegetarian Food Pyramid calls for 6-10 servings of breads, pasta, and rice; 2-3 servings of green leafy vegetables; 2-4 servings of other vegetables; 1-2 servings of dried fruit; 1-2 servings of other fruits; 3 servings of dairy products or fortified soymilk; 2-3 servings of beans, meat alternatives, tofu, tempeh, eggs, or peanut butter; 1-2 servings of nuts and seeds; and 2-3 teaspoons of olive, flaxseed, canola, or walnut oil.

Examples of other food guides for vegetarians and vegans can be found at <www.llu.edu/llu/nutrition/ vegguide.html>, www.oldwayspt.org/html/p_veg.htm>, <www.nutrispeak.com/foodguides.htm>, and <www.eat right.org/adap1197.html>.

Venti CA, Johnston CS. 2002. Modified food guide pyramid for lactovegetarians and vegans. J Nutr 132:1050-1054.