ABSTRACT
The most recent edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans promotes the use of a vegetarian diet and identifies this diet as one of three healthy eating patterns that Americans can choose and adapt. There has been a significant shift in the perception of vegetarian diets by the scientific community and by the public. Vegetarian, vegan, and plant-based diets are increasingly being recommended as a part of the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases in the United States and globally. Research continues to accumulate, demonstrating the health-related and environmental benefits of these diets. The 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans endorses a “Healthy Vegetarian Eating Pattern” as one of three “healthy eating patterns that can be adapted based on cultural and personal preferences” (HHS and USDA, 2015). This support for a vegetarian diet as a desirable way to eat is indicative of the changes in the perception of vegetarian diets and of plant-based diets that have occurred over the past 10–20 years. These changes have occurred in many areas, including scientific research, the health professions, the general public, and government agencies in the United States, as well as in other countries.
