Vegetarian food

There are countless amounts of vegetarian food that are specifically created to suit the diets of vegetarians. Vegetarian food are food that does not consist of or made of meat, poultry, beef, fish and sometimes eggs. Vegetarian food such as fresh fruit and vegetables offers numerous health benefits, including a significantly lower risk of heart diseases, cancer, renal failure and stroke.

The more popular type of vegetarian food range all the way from breakfast to after dinner deserts. For breakfast, there are pancakes,  waffles, cereals and oatmeals, French toast, granola bars, donuts and muffins. There are also many sandwiches such as mushrooms, bell peppers, cheeses, avocado  and many other type of vegetarian ingredients. Vegetarian salads, pizzas, noodles, vermicelli are also well loved by vegetarians.

Healthy & Unhealthy Vegetarian Diets

There are some vegetarian food which are, contrary to belief, are not particularly healthy to consume. These include deep fried mock meats, deep fried tofu & fried rice. As deep fried food are high in fat and most of the vitamin and phytonutrients are destroyed by high temperature during deep frying. Other items to avoid are items flavoured by Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein (HVP) such as mock Char Siew & other mock meat items. Colouring are sometimes also used in mock Char Siew to give its red colour. We advise against food which are coloured by artificial colours. The best vegetarian food is consumed raw such as salad as the valuable enzymes and phytonutrients are preserved in its original form. Fruits and vegetables are best consumed raw. Next to this, consider steaming and boiling which are preferred to deep frying.

Acrylamide is produced when carbohydrate-rich foods are heated to high temperatures. In 2002, Swedish researchers discovered acrylamide has potential to cause cancer. Also, The Center for Science in Public Interest found "disturbingly high levels of acrylamide" in snack chips and french fries. The World Health Organization deems acrylamide a major concern to health.

In 1961, the Journal of  the American Medical Association stated that about 90 to 97% of heart disease, the cause of more than half the deaths in the U.S., could be prevented by a vegetarian diet.

The American Heart Association states, "In well-documented population studies using standard methods of diet and coronary disease assessment...evidence suggests that a high-saturated fat diet is an essential factor for a high incidence of coronary heart disease."

In 1990, Dr Walter Willet, who conducted a study of diet and colon cancer, said, "If you step back and look at the data, the optimum amount of red meat you eat should be zero."