Lifestyle, vegetarian

No one will roll their eyes at you in Decatur if you tell them you re a vegetarian. The middle-class residents of Decatur pride themselves on their tolerance toward alternative lifestyles. You ll find several New American restaurants here worthy of attention. Crescent Moon (254 W. Ponce de Leon Ave., rr 404-377-5623) serves huge... 

At the gathering, as her curious guests looked on, Quimby began by saying she knew they had differences She d never persuade them to adopt her vegetarian lifestyle, and they d never convince her that it was OK to shoot animals. Fine. Now let s talk about what we do agree on. And she started a list. 

The term vegetarian diet does not fully describe the variety in nutrient intakes and health status of those who follow such eating patterns. There are many different types of vegetarian eating patterns (see Table 1). The impact of these patterns on nutritional status and health requires more complete characterization of diet and other aspects of lifestyle than such a simple descriptor. 

It is useful to screen out those vegetarians who are likely to be at high risk of dietary inadequacy by using some simple characteristics of their diets and lifestyles to determine if further dietary assessment is likely to be needed. The entire pattern of intake (including avoidances, substitutions and additions of foods, and use of dietary supplements) describes the individual vegetarian s profile of nutrient adequacy or inadequacy. 

Other lifestyle practices with beneficial potential health impacts. Vegetarians have other health habits and lifestyles that alter risks for chronic diseases for the better, such as nonsmoking, abstinence from alcohol, and high levels of physical activity. Therefore, differences in their health outcomes are probably due to a range of factors, and not solely to differences in their diets. 

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