The ideal vegetarian dish

Where do your proteins come from? What about calcium? And the iron? If I had a penny for every time I hear these questions – especially the first one – I would already have a good reserve of money. I understand that common sense places these doubts before people to question vegetarian/vegan food.

The truth is that, normally, we know very little about what we eat and we tend to maintain poorly disseminated knowledge over time. I, for example, only started to better understand what to eat and how to eat it after I became a vegetarian. Until then I didn’t worry too much and I was a big fan of frozen food (ugh!). It was only after becoming aware of what our food actually is that the search for better information came.

So how about knowing how to put together a perfect vegetarian dish? First, know that meat is not synonymous with protein or iron, nor is milk with calcium. The nutrologist Eric Slywitch, director of the Department of Medicine and Nutrition of the SVB (Brazilian Vegetarian Society) and author of the books “Alimentação sem Carne” and “Virei Vegetariano. And now?”, explains that when deciding to become a vegetarian, the first thing to know is what are the best substitutions to make.

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In the case of meat, the protein comes from the group of legumes (beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas…). In this case, 100 g of meat is equivalent to a ladle of cooked beans. If you decide to cut out dairy as well, kale, arugula, watercress, mustard greens, endive, broccoli, and sesame are excellent sources of calcium. That is, a dish of rice, beans and salad is already full of protein and calcium.

For iron intake, the tip is to use whole grains and legumes, optimizing absorption with a source of vitamin C, which can come from raw vegetables and fruits. “In childhood, we need iron to build blood and muscle. In gestation, it is the demand to form more maternal blood and the developing baby inside the womb. Under these conditions, most of the time, whether you eat meat or not, the demand for iron is so high that supplementation may be necessary.”

For the perfect plate, according to Eric Slywitch, an adult should think about filling half with greens (lettuce, arugula, watercress, endive, mustard and vegetables (tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, peppers), another 1/4 of the plate should have cereals (rice, corn, wheat – bread and pasta -, barley, quinoa) and 1/4 with legumes (beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas or even tofu).

Doctor Eric has a cool video that illustrates exactly this composition:

[youtubehttps://wwwyoutubecom/watch?v=v8xRwaTtU7o%5D[youtubehttps://wwwyoutubecom/watch?v=v8xRwaTtU7o%5D

He says it’s also worth eating fruit for dessert and using a little olive oil in the salad. “I suggest using olive oil and flaxseed. Linseed oil is important not to heat, as it is much more sensitive to heat than olive oil. As a table oil, for salads, I recommend making a mixture containing 100 ml of olive with 4.5 ml of linseed. This blend provides an excellent omega-6 to 3 ratio (3 parts omega-6 to 1 part omega-3).”

B12

What about vitamin B12? Non-existent in the plant kingdom, it should be supplemented by every vegetarian, right? Wrong. Everyone can be deficient in B12, omnivore or vegetarian, and to know if you need more or less, it’s always best to consult a doctor. “Vitamin B12, like iron, depends more on metabolism than diet to maintain good levels in the body. Theoretically, vegetarians who do not also eat eggs and dairy would be at greater risk of B12 deficiency and should always use supplements. But in practice this does not always happen, as people who consume a lot of meat tend to have a B12 deficiency”, explains the doctor.

With the right information, anyone can become a vegetarian, this includes pregnant women, children and athletes. “The main tip is to seek reliable information about the sources of nutrients. Many people who eat meat have nutritional deficiencies. But when they become vegetarians, they become afraid of them and decide to do blood tests, finding old deficiencies that they mistakenly end up attributing to the new diet.” Inform yourself!