Nutritional Status and Alternative Life-Style Diets, with Special Reference to Vegetarianism in the U.S.

This review summarizes the major work until 1977 on the nutritional status of vegetarians living in the U.S. The older literature on the subject has been dealt with in a series of excellent reviews. ^{1 - 19} The larger, somewhat more urgent problem of populations in developing countries that by dint of economic and ecological necessity, eat essentially vegetarian diets will be dealt with only peripherally. Environmental and social conditions are very different for vegetarians living in such settings. However, a number of authoritative reviews are available that admirably summarize the nutritional status of such populations. ^{20 - 27}