Green is the New Black

news.health.com

I'd like to introduce our guest blogger for this week, Kelli Wood.  Kelli is a Dietetic Intern from Meredith College and has been working with Carolina Dining Services for the past four weeks to complete her food service rotation.


My name is Kelli Wood and I attended NC State for my undergrad. After graduating in 2010 I worked full time at a nutrition education program called EFNEP before going to grad school at Meredith College for nutrition. While in grad school I married my husband, Michael. I completed my master's in May 2013 and am currently in my dietetic internship at Meredith to earn my RD credential so that I can become licensed to counsel and treat others with dietary needs.

Happy October everyone! We all know this is the month of fall break, football, and Halloween, but did you know that October is also Vegetarian Awareness Month? Vegetarians are sprouting up all over the place, and here are some reasons to celebrate.

In addition to the many nutrients they have to offer, a diet that is high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is high in fiber also. This improves the health of the digestive tract and reduces the risk of gastrointestinal diseases. A proper vegetarian diet is high in healthy fats like monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. These fats increase your good cholesterol and decrease the bad, reducing the risk of heart disease, obesity, and diabetes later in life. Healthy fats also help with absorption of vitamins A, D, E, and K.

What about protein? Many people believe that vegetarians are protein deficient. True, animal sources offer complete proteins that vegetarian sources do not. The difference between complete and incomplete proteins is that complete proteins contain all nine essential amino acids while incomplete proteins are missing one or more amino acids. However, amino acids that are not found in one vegetarian source can be found in another. Eaten together, they can join to form a complete protein. That is why variety is so important. Vegetarian protein sources include soy, beans, nuts, seeds, quinoa, legumes, lentils, and vegetables.

Going vegetarian means going green too! Cutting back on meat and other animal products reduces emission of greenhouse gases. Producing a single pound of animal protein takes 12 times as much land, 13 times as much fossil fuel, and 15 times as much water versus producing one pound of soy protein.

 

Check out the vegan and vegetarian options that CDS has to offer. Be on the lookout for these symbols on the CDS website that will let you know what foods are vegan or vegetarian.

 

Vegan

Vegetarian

Participate in Meat “Less” Mondays! Every Monday, in both residential dining halls, strictly vegan options are offered at the Vegetarian stations and vegetarian options are offered at the World's Fare, Wrap and Sushi, Pizza and Grill stations.  Click here to learn more about the "Meatless Monday" Campaign.

 

If you’re thinking about going vegetarian, check out this blog post for planning a healthy diet.