Vegetarians – Why? How?
Priding ourselves on a 55-foot- salad bar of fresh veggies, tossed salads and prepared salads makes our restaurants very popular with vegetarians. In addition to our plentiful salad bar we offer eight made-from-scratch soups daily that always feature at least two vegetarian options. Our pasta bar highlights three pasta every day and one is always vegetarian. Sometimes we even add veggies to our muffins, our zucchini nut is the favorite thus far.
Some that don’t keep to a vegetarian lifestyle might have some questions on the why’s and how’s. We hope to answer some of these for you. A vegetarian eating pattern is based on a variety of foods that are satisfying, delicious and healthful. Vegetarians avoid meat, fish and poultry. Vegetarian meals are typically low in saturated fat and have little cholesterol. Vegetarians typically have lower blood sugar, help control diabetes and help prevent cancer.
The San Francisco Vegetarian Society has come up with a three step way to go vegetarian.
1. think of three vegetarian meals that you really enjoy. Pasta, vegetable stir-fry, vegetable stew or chili.
2. Think of three recipes that you prepare regularly that can be adapted to a vegetarian menu. Ie- a chili recipe with the meat replaced a vegetable protein such as tofu or additional beans.
3. Check out some vegetarian cookbooks from the library or online and experiment with the recipes for a week.
With minimal changes to menus, you can adapt to a vegetarian diet in no time.
Becoming a vegetarian was the best thing I ever did! There are so many advantages to it. At first I thought it would be hard but I found that if I ate a high fiber meal for breakfast such as whole grain cereal and dried fruit I was able to eat lighter vegetarian meals for lunch and dinner without nagging hunger and I lost 36 unwanted pounds in 4-5months. I also stopped getting indigestion and heart burn I was getting from animal fat. Vegetables taste so much better now. I never would have thought I would have said that years ago. I never cared much for veggies when I was younger. I have always loved animals too so now when people ask I say, “If it has a face or a mother I don’t eat it.” If you can’t go total vegetarian at first try the “Meatless Monday” idea. Sweet tomatoes is # 1 in my book. I take my family once a week for dinner. It’s great because my kids are slowly eating more and more veggies and loving them!
Why would anyone WANT to go vegetarian? It’s not healthy. Meat is an important source of nutrition that can NOT be replaced by plant sources of protein and nutrients.
Avashea, your statement is incorrect. While I respect people choices to eat whatever they want It’s important to note that the benefits of a plant-based diet are well documented in the scientific literature. Also meat does not contain many of the essential components of food that humans require such as fiber, carbohydrates and vitamin C while being loaded with fat, saturated fat and cholesterol. All starches and vegetables are complete proteins, containing ALL of the essential amino acids in amounts that meet or exceed the RDA.
All of the important nutrients and the safest, best utilized protein comes from plant foods. This is fact.
You’re right
You’re half-way there…
How about offering VEGAN menu items using Gardein products or Daiya vegan cheese so we can have pizza or pasta?
SOUPLANTATION IS ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL. MY FAVORITE . A GREAT WAY TO EAT A HEALTHY MEAL AT A GREAT PRICE. KEEP ON DOING WHAT YOU ARE DOING . IT WORKS !
ROBERT OF INDIO ,CA
Aveshna, sorry bit have to correct your misinformation, above, lest others might be or become as confused as you are.
Meat is not an “important source of nutrition!”
Meat, especialu red meat, but all animal meat loads you up (if you eat more than 4 ounces per meal (size of a deck of playing cards …NOT MUCH) with the following:
1. FAT
2. CHOLESTEROL (which only come from meat, except the natural amount your body makes without any meat).
3 . Lot of CHARBODRATES … WHICH TURNS TO SUGAR … an excess of which can cause diabetes and can real havoc on the health of the 50 million diabetics in America ( some of whom don’t even know they have diabetes, that is my best recollection of where the number is …its a growing epidemic in America now.
4. Unlike vegetables, serious meat eaters also get a lot of CALORIES from meat, and except for very leans meats, a high and unhealthy portion of this calories can come for very unhealthy
Your rhetorical question is WHY “ANYONE” WOULD WANT TO GO VEGEtERIAN? The answer is simple … To avoid the excess and harmful effects … Or limit it … Which meat can do to your body; to stop taking in fat, cholesterol, calories and excessive carbs and high blood sugar. One third of -Americans are obese and headed for, or already have diabetes. Many of the other 2/3 are having or are candidates for heart attacks and strokes, even though not classified as obese. If they stopped eating meat “American style” many of them would be healthier and live longer.
The only main thing that meat supplies that is GOOD AND NEEDED is protien, but vegetables, beans, legumes and other plant source can provide all the protien a vegetarian needs; they do NOT need meat to get the needed, 60 – 80 gerald a day (approximately, for most) of needed protiens!
One should not assume that eating the way the were shown or are use to is “best” or even good for them. You have to do the homework and get the facts?
Dr Robert Peck
Dr. Robert Peck, with all due respect I do believe you misspoke on meat containing carbohydrates. Meat contains no carbohydrates, and i also to not adhere to the notion that carbohydrates are bad and cause diabetes. It’s important to differentiate between the various types, but that is for another discussion. haha. Perhaps you were thinking of dairy products, as milk is loaded with sugar and is a major culprit in the cause of juvenile diabetes (type-1).
I am grateful for the Vegetarian/Vegan options, I love Souplantation because I can build the best salads and the price is such a good value. Also I very much like how the word VEGAN has been added to the menu items on your website and in-store booklets to make for easier menu navigation. BUT… One thing I want to say is that I usually only visit if you have vegan soups available. I always check ahead to see what’s being served, and if no soups are vegan then i do pass on visiting. A lot, probably most of your vegetarian soups WOULD be vegan except for the Vegetarian Base that includes Lactose (milk sugar). Not just vegans avoid it but also quite a large and growing segment of the population have dairy allergies and digestive complications with Lactose. Cream, milk and cheese based soups I understand, but adding lactose to something like your Pinto Bean and Basil Barley or Garden Fresh Vegetable soups can be frustrating because I know you make other bean and vegetable soups that taste great WITHOUT the lactose and Vegetarian Base. Further, I can’t imagine lactose imparting such an important flavor component that it would be missed if removed or replaced.
I hope Souplantation takes this suggestion into consideration, certainly I know I would visit a lot more if I have more vegan soups to look forward to.
Fifteen years vegetarian and enjoying excellent health. Proof all needed nutrients are available in a plant based diet.
Souplantation is wonderful! It gives me a place to find healthy, tasty, plentiful selections that aren’t loaded with sodium. We have to leave town to enjoy lunch there most week-ends. It’s worth the trip!
Please keep us vegetarians in mind when creating new items, we really appreciate it!