By Jessica Simeone

Living a vegetarian lifestyle is not as healthy as many people believe. You can actually make yourself sick due to lost vitamins and minerals. Feeling rundown and tired is a common complaint of some vegetarians.

Many of the vitamins and minerals you find in meat can be compensated for with a

balanced vegetarian diet.

On the FDA's website, John Vanderveen, Ph.D., director of the Food and Drug Administration Office of Plant and Dietary Foods and Beverages says, "The more you restrict your diet, the more difficult it is to get the nutrients you need. To be healthful, vegetarian diets require very careful, proper planning."

Iron from plant foods isn't absorbed as well as the iron found in animal foods. In fact many of the foods that vegetarians eat, such as soy protein, fiber, and bran, contain constituents that inhibit iron absorption.

Coffee and tea may also decrease iron absorption, so you should avoid drinking them with meals.

Lack of iron can lead to anemia, fatigue, irritability, headache, and loss of energy. According to the ADA's website, American Dietic Association, taking vitamin C has been proven to increase the absorption of iron.

Some of the vegetarian foods rich in iron are green leafy vegetables, dried fruit, whole grains, oat meal, beans, fortified breads and cereals. Combining these foods with vitamin C should supply you with adequate iron absorption.

Some vegetarians risk a vitamin B-12 deficiency, however vegans, who eat no animal foods, are at the most risk.

The FDA's website states that a vitamin B-12 deficiency can result in irreversible nerve damage. Vitamin B-12 can be found in such foods as spirulina, tempeh, sea vegetables, and miso, however these sources are considered inactive, as stated in the ADA's position on vegetarian diets. Active

The sources of B-12 found in spirulina, tempeh, sea vegetables, and miso are considered to be inactive.

sources of vitamin B-12 are found in fortified soy beverages and cereals, eggs, dairy foods, and nutritional yeast.

Due to the fact that most B-12 is found in animal foods, it is advisable for vegans to take an additional vitamin B-12 supplement.

Amino acids are used by the human body to synthesize proteins. The eight essential amino acids that the body cannot synthesize on it's own, need to be supplied by the foods we eat.

Animal products are the best at providing all eight of the amino acids at the same time. No one vegetable or legume can provide all eight of the essential amino acids.

The best way for a vegetarian to ingest all of the amino acids is to combine the proteins from grains, legumes, seeds, and vegetables.

The grains, legumes, seeds and vegetables eaten by vegetarians do individually contain some of the 8 of the essential amino acids, the ADA suggests eating a variety of these foods throughout the day to gain all of the essential amino acids.

The ADA recommends minimizing the intake of less nutritious foods such as sweets and fatty acids, when adopting a vegetarian diet.

Even though vegetarian diets are considered lower in fat than those diets containing red meat, fat is still considered a factor.

In the article "Beware of Junk Food Vegetarianism", Donald Counts, M.D. says, "A big problem in many vegetarian diets is the amount of cheese and oil."

The article recommends staying away from foods like enchiladas, pizza, and lasagna, because they are generally accompanied by large amounts of cheese.

Some of the nutrients that are primarily found in animal foods, that vegetarians may be lacking are calcium, vitamin D, and zinc.

There are non-animal alternatives for these foods that vegetarians and vegans should consider.

Calcium can, of course, be found in dairy foods, but there are other calcium sources to consider. Calcium can be found in tofu, broccoli, seeds, nuts, peas, greens, and calcium-enriched grain products.

Vitamin D can be found in fortified cereals and soymilks, margarine, and sunshine.

Finally, zinc can be found in grains such as wheat germ, lentils, oats, sesame seeds, brown rice, and almonds.

Nutritional information charts can be found at www.veggieglobal.com.

By following these 5 steps to vegetarian dietary planning, you can hope to live a healthy vegetarian lifestyle. It is advisable before making any serious dietary alterations to see a dietician.