I found a vegetarian food pyramid on MSN, and it says to eat legumes and beans at every meal.?

Question

Here is the page: Scroll to the bottom and its on the left hand side. http://health.msn.com/fitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100152062

It also says to eat whole grains and fruits and vegetables at each meal. That part I can do. But for breakfast, what would you eat for legumes and beans? I usually have cereal or toast and then grapefruit or some other type of fruit.

Answer 1

I think what they mean is to either have whole grains, beans or fruits and veggies at every meal.  You don't have to eat all 3 at every meal.  The pyramid is just a guide.  Most days I don't even have beans at all but I usually have a handful of peanuts as a snack (peanuts are in the legume family)

Answer 2

it's probably the only way to get enough protein (esp if your not eating soy products- ie veggie burgers).  

Answer 3

A nut spread (other than peanuts) on toast would help, adding much needed protein.

Or, too some  mixed nuts into your cereal.

Answer 4

That pyramid is from the Mayo Clinic, and is not consistent with others generally used by vegetarians.

The body does not store protein, and unless you're a serious athlete, you typically don't need more than 70-80 grams per day.

Here's a typical vegetarian pyramid:

http://www.vegsource.com/nutrition/pyram...

This is from Vesanto Melina, a nutritionist who specializes in vegetarian and vegan diet advice:

http://www.nutrispeak.com/vegetarian_pyr...

This is a well-researched pyramid for omnivorous diets from Harvard University. Note that it is very similar to the above:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsou...

So we should be getting plenty of protein during the day from a variety of sources, but there's no need to over do it.

For your breakfast, if you're having a whole-grain cereal with soymilk or milk, then you're getting protein that way.

Answer 5

just get peanuts and have them as an after meal snack.

Answer 6

Beans cause "gas" hehe