Health Benefits of Vegetarian Diets

Vegetarianism and adopting a vegetarian, pescatarian, or vegan diet, has increased in popularity for various reasons. Many people are now choosing to cut meat and fish out of their diets for animal welfare, health and environmental reasons. This is not surprising, with the destruction of natural habitats for meat production and factory farming, being just a few of the environmental issues that are associated with meat production.

For a long time, it has been assumed a healthy diet should include meat or fish. Thankfully, it is now widely accepted that a well-balanced vegetarian diet is a very healthy option. Numerous studies also support the potential health benefits of a vegetarian diet. Findings from various studies have associated a reduction in heart disease and a reduced cancer risk, for people who follow a vegetarian diet. Interestingly other studies have also demonstrated that vegetarian diets may help reduce the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The Vegetarian Society has a fantastic range of recipe ideas. I especially recommend the Sweet Potato Burger Recipe which is great for children and adults alike. For vegans this recipe for Spicy Vegan Hot Cross Buns is super easy and they taste amazing.

Vegetarian Diets and Pregnancy

Pregnant women need to carefully follow a balanced vegetarian diet to provide all the nutrients required for themselves and their growing baby. There is a wide range of resources on the NHS website for reliablevegetarian dietary advice.

Foods Pregnant Women Should Avoid

• All non-pasteurized milk
• Soft cheese, blue cheese, and cheese made from unpasteurized milk (including goats milk)
• Raw or partially cooked eggs
• Raw seafood

Foods Pregnant Women Should Limit

• Caffeine - maximum 200mg a day (this is the average amount found in 2 cups of coffee or tea)
• Herbal tea - max 4 cups a day
• Licorice root
• Vitamin A - and high-dose multivitamin supplements
• Alcohol

Vegetarian Baby Formula

Most baby formulas are not vegetarian and contain fish oil derivatives. When checking if a baby formula is vegetarian in the UK, you can check if the formula is certified vegetarian by the Vegetarian Society.

Vegetarian Foods For Dogs and Cats

When you're a vegetarian feeding your dog or cat, a meat-based diet can feel wrong. Obviously, you want to do the best thing for your pets and ensure they get all the essential nutrients they need to thrive. The Vegetarian Society has some helpful advice if you're considering changing your pet to a vegetarian diet.

Vegetarian Cat Food

In the wild, all cats are carnivores, and they have to catch prey to get all of the nutrients they need. The good news is, there are modern cat foods that do not contain meat and still provide all of the essential nutrients your cat requires to be healthy and live a long life.

Meat is the only food that cats have access to in the wild that contains taurine and arachidonic acid, which cats need to be healthy. However, taurine and arachidonic acid can be added to vegetarian cat food in a synthetic non meat-based form.

Vegetarian Dog Food

Dogs are naturally omnivores, and a good quality vegetarian dog food will provide all of the nutrients they require.

You can find dog and cat food that the Vegetarian Society accredits HERE.

Business Resources

If you produce products that are vegetarian or vegan, then you can have them accredited by The Vegetarian Society.

Vegan Business Media: offers free resources to help entrepreneurs get started.

Plant-Based Entrepreneurs membership is an excellent way to network and learn more about the vegan business market.

The VEGPRENEUR’s blog provides insightful interviews to inspire and educate about how to start and grow a vegetarian/vegan based business.

VegFund provide finances for vegan based business ideas.

The Vegan Society have a list of vegan business and innovation stats are essential for anyone considering stareting a business.