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 Special
Diets
Meat Free or Meat Reduced Diets
Young people especially, are drawn to forms of vegetarianism as ways to
live more lightly on the earth. It is reported to take 16 pounds of grain
for every pound of meat produced. Consumers of all ages are reconsidering
their ingestion of meat and animal products for health, safety, or ethical
reasons.
As most of us know, moderating our consumption of red meat is important
to reduce the risk of heart disease and strokes because of the dangers of
saturated fat intake. Monitoring our egg and dairy eating for cholesterol
maintenance is important too, so many Americans are paying close attention
to the kinds and amounts of meat products they eat regularly.
Some folks shy away from meat eating because they do not want to support
what they see as the inhumane treatment of animals in the factory farming
system. One reason is its reliance on mass-produced livestock feed, which
regularly incorporates animal byproducts, and genetically engineered grains
and soy. Another safety issue since the latest European outbreaks of Foot
and Mouth Disease, and Mad Cow Disease, is the concern that these sicknesses
may spread to the United States.
Some abstain from eating meat as an extension of their involvement in the
animal rights movement on the grounds that it isn't ethical to raise animals
for the purpose of feeding and clothing humans. Others are observing the
dietary laws of their religious faiths when they abstain. For these reasons
and more, increasing numbers of people are choosing to reduce or eliminate
meat from their diets.
Chances are a recent guest may have been a non-meat eater, and you wondered
what to serve. Before planning a menu it's best to know which products they
avoid. Below are definitions of the most common meat free practices.
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Vegan Diet
The strictest form of vegetarianism, it is also the easiest to define: no
eating of animal flesh or animal products of any kind. This would include
meat, poultry, fish, or seafood, and no eggs or dairy products either. Some
vegans also avoid honey because like milk and eggs, it is a product produced
by an animal.
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Vegetarian Diet
A vegetarian diet is more difficult to define, as there are many variations.
Some popular variations are:
 Ovo-lacto
Vegetarian: same as vegan but includes eggs and milk products. This
is the most common definition of vegetarianism.
Ovo Vegetarian: same as vegan but also eats eggs.
Lacto Vegetarian: same as vegan but eats milk products.
Pescetarian: eats a diet of plant products and fish.
Fruitarian: a vegan who eats few processed or cooked foods. Diet
consists mainly of raw fruit, grains, and nuts, shunning foods that kill
the plant. (Peaches and squash can be picked without killing the plant;
beets cannot.)
Kosher: a set of complex Jewish dietary laws forbidding the eating
of pork, shellfish, and other unkoshered animals. It also requires that
dairy and meat not be mixed. Kosher cheese is vegetarian, and eggs must
be non-fertilized.
Pareve/Parve: a category of Kosher dietary law prescribing prohibiting
meat or milk ingredients.
Macrobiotic: a primarily vegan diet focusing on lightly cooked grains
and vegetables that are locally grown whenever possible.
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Food Allergies vs. Food Sensitivities
Sometimes a sensitivity to a particular food is called a food allergy, but
this may not be true. A food allergy is the body's immune system reacting
to a certain component, usually a protein, in a food or an ingredient. Real
food allergies are rare, but they can be life threateningly dangerous. Food
intolerance, the other sensitivity, is a more common reaction to certain
foods and ingredients, and does not involve the body's immune system. Because
it is so important to be able to tell the difference between an allergy
and intolerance, a knowledgeable health care professional should be consulted
for proper diagnosis when sensitivities to food occur.
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A Sugar Free Diet
People take up sugar free diets for numerous reasons, from weight loss,
and candida control, to Attention Deficit Disorder maintenance. These diets
usually target refined sugars found in processed foods. Information about
the sugar contents of packaged foods can be found in the ingredients list
and the nutrition facts label located somewhere on the package. Fruits and
milk contain natural sugars that are avoided in stricter sugar free diets.
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A Diabetic Diet
According to the National Diabetic Informational Clearinghouse, Diabetes
affects 16 million people, costs $98 billion per year, and is a leading
cause of death and disability.
Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that affects the way our bodies breaks
down our digested food into glucose which is the form of sugar in our blood.
In a healthy body, the pancreas produces the correct amount of insulin to
move the glucose from our blood into our cells. Diabetes occurs when there
is a problem with insulin production or absorption of the sugars by the
cells. When this happens, the body looses its primary source of fuel. Healthy
eating and physical activity play an important role in controlling the disease,
whether type 1, type 2. It is the total amount of carbohydrates, not the
specific type that raises the blood glucose (sugar) levels. Therefore, a
diabetic's primary concern is to monitor carbohydrates, sugars being part
of that group. There is no need for diabetics to restrict themselves to
sugar free diets; it is their carbohydrate intake they need to manage. When
grocery shopping, it is important to read two sets of information on the
side of the package: nutritional facts, and ingredients. The nutritional
facts label list sugars as a part of total carbohydrates. These sugars can
be added, as corn sweeteners and brown sugar are, or occur naturally, as
the milk sugar, lactose, or the fruit sugar, sucrose. The ingredient listing
is the other label to read, seeing if there are lots of added sugars.
Website for recipes:
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Candida Diet
Yeast, a natural occurrence in our digestive tracts, sometimes develops
into an overgrowth if it is out of balance with beneficial bacteria or goes
unchecked by a weakened immune system. Candida, the name for various forms
of this yeast condition, can be controlled by diet so the fungi is starved
of the undigested proteins it thrives on. Avoidance of foods and beverages
containing sugars, fructose, gluten, vinegars, or anything fermented is
important to manage the overgrowth. Maintenance is a matter of degree, beginning
with the most restrictive diet and slowly reintroducing foods that no longer
cause reactions.
Foods to avoid are: Sugar
Sugar
Sweetener (except stevia)
Fruit juices, (unless freshly squeezed)
Dried and Candied Fruit
Baked Goods (enriched flour, yeast, or sweeteners)
Cheese
Soured milk products
Mushrooms
Melons
Processed foods (yeast, refined sugar, or enriched flour)
Processed and Smoked Meats
Commercial Beef and Chicken (steroids and antibiotics)
Condiments and Sauces and processed Salad Dressings
Peanuts and Pistachios
Alcohol and Cider
Coffee and Non-Medicinal Herbal Tea
Foods to encourage:
Yogurt with lactobacillus acidophilus
Fresh Vegetables
Meat (not processed and without antibiotics)
Fish
Whole Grains (avoid for two weeks; introduce one at a time)
Fresh Fruit (avoid for two weeks, introduce one at a time)
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A Non Dairy Diet
A person with a milk or dairy allergy is reacting to one or both of milk's
proteins, casein or whey. Others may avoid milk or dairy products because
they choose a vegan diet, or are lactose intolerant.
Children are more likely to be affected by dairy hypersensitivity than adults.
According to parentsplace.com, 70 to 80% of babies who are allergic to milk
are symptom free by age three.
Switching to soy or rice based milk products is a good way to satisfy a taste
for dairy without cheating. Often they can be incorporated into cooking the
same way dairy products are used.
When choosing most any processed food, scan the ingredient label to make sure
caseinate, casein, curds, dry milk solids, or whey are not listed, as these
are all milk based ingredients.
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Lactose Intolerant
Another reason some people must avoid dairy products is lactose intolerance.
This condition happens when the body manufactures too little of the enzyme
lactase to break down the milk sugar lactose. Therefore, because lactose intolerant
folks produce so little lactase, they need to monitor the amount of lactose
their body can handle.
Below is a listing of the lactose content of some dairy products.
| Milk: |
| |
whole, low-fat, or skim |
5.0% |
|
| Lactose Reduced Milk: |
| |
70% to 80% |
1.1% to 1.6% |
| |
100% |
less than 0.5% |
| |
Evaporated milk |
10% to 11% |
| |
Sweetened Condensed |
11% to 16% |
| |
Dry milk, non fat |
50% |
| |
Dry milk, whole |
36% to 38% |
|
| Cream: (Rule of thumb. Lactose decreases as fat increases.) |
| |
Half and Half |
just over 4.0% |
| |
Light cream |
just under 4.0% |
| |
Whipped cream |
3.0% to 3.5% |
| |
Heavy cream |
3.0% |
| |
Butter: (Mostly fat) |
1.0% |
| |
Sour cream |
3.0% to 4.3% |
Yogurt, cheese and ice cream are not as easy to calculate. Because it is a
fermented and sour product, yogurt has a fairly low lactose content. However,
most commercial producers add nonfat milk solids, whey, or whey concentrate,
which drive up the lactose content. Commercial whole milk yogurt usually contains
4.1% to 4.7% lactose. Because of additives, low-fat ranks between 1.9% and
6.0%. For cheese, whey varieties like ricotta, have the highest lactose content,
sometimes a full 5.0%. Unripened casein cheeses, like cream cheese or cottage
cheese, regularly contain 2.5% to 3.5% lactose. Ripened casein cheeses such
as Swiss, cheddar, camembert, or mozzarella have the lowest amounts of lactose,
and the longer the cheese ages, the lower the lactose content. Processed cheeses
begin with cheese but add whey giving them the highest lactose content of
all cheese categories. Ice cream has too many factors to gauge specific lactose
percentages, but it could contain between 3.8% to 8.4% lactose.
People with lactose intolerance need to be specifically concerned with whey
when looking at any listing of ingredients. Food manufacturers boil whey down
into a powder that is nearly pure lactose, and use it in all sorts of processed
foods from baked goods and candies, to salad dressings, soups, and beer. Read
the label!
The other milk protein, casein, contains very little lactose and is of small
concern to lactose intolerant folks .
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Wheat or Gluten Free Diet
In recent years, whole wheat has been nutritionally favored by some, for
two reasons. First, whole grains, and their unrefined flours, have a higher
nutritional content than white flour because the bran casing, which is the
starchy endosperm containing 90% of the protein, is left intact. Secondly,
whole grains provide more fiber than processed flours, an important way
to increase bulk. However, these relatively unrefined grains are problematic
for gluten intolerant people because increased exposure to the starchy proteins
can be potentially toxic.
There are three conditions that are wheat intolerant: wheat allergy, wheat
intolerance, and Celiac Disease. Wheat Allergy involves the body's immunologic
system and is triggered by the proteins albumin, gliadin, globulin, and
glutenin. It can be deadly, and most often effects small children who eventually
outgrow it. In wheat intolerance, the body reacts to wheat peptides and
gluten, but the immunologic system is not involved. It can be uncomfortable,
but is never dangerous. Celiac, a disease, is characterized by hypersensitivity
of the intestinal lining to gluten, the gluey protein that causes dough
to be sticky. If undiagnosed, it can lead to reduced weight gain, poor growth,
and it increases the chance of colon cancer later in life. In all of these
situations, gluten consumption must be monitored.
The following formula is a general way to calculate the amount of gluten
in wheat: There are 6 to 8 units of gluten for 100 units of whole wheat,
and 8 to 10 units of gluten for 100 units of wheat flour. The average diet
contains approximately 10 to 40 grams of gluten a day.
Detecting wheat and gluten in processed foods can be tricky because manufacturers
use lots of different terms in their labeling. Some words to watch for are:
- Bran
- Breadcrumbs
- Bulgar
- Cereal extract
- Couscous
- Cracker meal
- Farina
- Flour (graham flour, enriched flour, high protein flour)
- Gluten
- Semolina
- Soy Sauce (contains wheat)
- Spelt (not truly an alternative to wheat)
- Starch (modified, vegetable, gelatinized - they possibly contain wheat)
- Vegetable gum (could contain wheat)
Foods that are assuredly gluten free are:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables
- Fish, meats and poultry
- Eggs
- Rice, potatoes, and popcorn
- Canned fruits (not in heavy syrup)
- Canned vegetables (not in sauce)
- Coffee and tea (possibly not flavored types)
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