Hi everybody this is Monica Reinagel the nutrition diva here with your quick and dirty

tips for eating well and feeling fabulous today's quick and dirty nutrition tip is that just because foods are vegetarian or

vegan doesn't necessarily make them good for you. A couple of you have asked me to do a

show on vegetarianism. Is it a healthier way to eat? Well, it can be. It really depends on how you go about it.

Many studies have shown that vegetarians on average live longer, are less likely to be overweight,

and have lower rates of cancer, heart disease and many other diseases.

But statistical studies like this look backward in time.

They tell you how yesterday's vegetarians fared compared with yesterday's carnivores.

And that doesn't necessarily tell you how today's vegetarians will fare in the future,

especially because vegetarianism has become a completely different sport than it was

20 or 30 years ago.

First of all, let's get our terms straight.

Vegetarians come in a variety of flavors.

Vegans are vegetarians that consume no animal products of any kind, no meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, or honey.

Lacto vegetarians eat dairy, but not eggs.

Ovo lacto vegetarians eat both eggs and dairy. Now everyone else, the Pesca

vegetarians who eat fish, the clucatanians who eat poultry, and those part-time vegetarians

who refuse the pork chop you've prepared for dinner

and then have bacon the next morning at breakfast, none of these are vegetarians.

That doesn't make them bad people, they're just not vegetarians.

And in case you're wondering, neither am I.

According to the Vegetarian Resource Group, which is a terrific resource for anyone

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