ABSTRACT
I. Introduction ...................................................................................... 372 II. Dietary Guidelines ........................................................................... 373
A. Overview.................................................................................... 373 1. U.S. Guidelines ................................................................... 373 2. International Guidelines ..................................................... 375
B. Is the Vegetarian Diet Consistent with the Dietary Guidelines?............................................................. 375 1. What Do Vegetarians Eat? .................................................. 375
2. Vegetarian Diets, Plant Foods, and the Guidelines ......... 378 3. The Year 2000 Guidelines.................................................. 379
a. Aim for Fitness ............................................................. 379 b. Build a Healthy Base................................................... 379 c. Choose Sensibly ........................................................... 380
III. Disease Specific Guidelines ............................................................ 381 A. Heart Disease Guidelines ......................................................... 382
1. Risk Reduction Strategies ................................................... 382 2. Low-Fat and Very-Low-Fat Diets ....................................... 383 3. Monounsaturated Fat (Mediterranean) Diet...................... 383 4. Vegetarian Diets .................................................................. 384
a. Vegetarian Diets and Heart Disease ........................... 384 b. The Vegetarian Diet as Intervention........................... 387
B. Obesity Guidelines .................................................................... 387 1. Risk Reduction Strategies ................................................... 388 2. Vegetarian Diets .................................................................. 388
C. Hypertension Guidelines .......................................................... 389 1. Risk Reduction Strategies ................................................... 389 2. The DASH Diet ................................................................... 391 3. Vegetarian Diets .................................................................. 391
D. Diabetes Guidelines .................................................................. 391 1. Insulin Resistance ............................................................... 392 2. Risk Reduction Strategies ................................................... 392 3. Vegetarian and Plant Rich Diets ........................................ 393
E. Cancer Guidelines ..................................................................... 393 1. Risk Reduction Strategies ................................................... 395
a. Carcinogens in Food.................................................... 395 b. Meat and Heterocyclic Amines ................................... 395 c. Dietary Modulators....................................................... 396 d. Protective Substances................................................... 396
2. Vegetarian Diets .................................................................. 398 a. Vegetarian Diets and the Cancer Guidelines ............. 398
IV. Conclusion........................................................................................ 398 References .................................................................................................. 402
It is generally recognized that habitual dietary patterns have profound effects on nutritional status, health, and longevity. Although the exact composition of the ideal diet is not fully known, increasing awareness of the role of diet in health and advances in scientific knowledge have prompted nutrition professionals and policymakers to periodically issue dietary advice and recommendations for the public. Concern about diet initially focused on the problems of hunger and inadequate nutrient intake,
and dietary recommendations emphasized animal food sources such as meat and milk products for improving nutritional status. As patterns of disease shifted away from infectious and nutrient-deficiency diseases toward higher rates of chronic disease, dietary advice also changed. Dietary recommendations throughout the world currently promote a more simple vegetarian-like diet derived largely from plant food sources as being conducive to health.
