Ideal Bite

Are you sure about that spinach? According to the USDA's Nutrient Data Laboratory, a cup of raw spinach has less than 1 gram of protein--so your "small" salad would have to contain about 15 cups to give you 13 grams of protein. Are you sure you're not thinking of iron? A cup of spinach is relatively high in iron, at .81 mg (a lean hamburger patty has 2.22 mg). Iron is actually a much bigger stumbling block for vegetarians and vegans than protein is.

On the other hand, you seem to have underestimated almonds--the NDL says a cup of almonds has 30 grams of protein, not 20 (but its fat content is nearly equal to that of a cup of peanuts).

John Salley! As a matter of fact he was the keynote speaker in my town's 3rd annual Veg Fest few mos. back! --Amy, Ferndale, MI

There are three compelling reasons to be vegan: 1. THE ENVIRONMENT - raising animals for food contributes more to global warming than all the cars and trucks in the US. For comprehensive report on impact of raising livestock, visit http://www.fao.org/ag/magazine/0612sp1.htm 2. YOUR HEALTH - the only consistently proven way to combat and/or prevent cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity is to adopt a plant based diet. Consider what will happen to our health care crisis if everyone was healthy! Check out these sites: http://www.tcolincampbell.org/ http://www.heartattackproof.com/ and http://www.drmcdougall.com/ 3. COMPASSION FOR ANIMALS - this one's a difficult one. Most of us don't want to really know the cruelty animals are subjected to throughout their lives. Ghandi said, "One can measure the greatness and the moral progress of a nation by looking at how it treats its animals." For more information, visit http://www.goveg.com/ or, if you dare, http://www.peta.org/

Finally an article devoted to the health and environmental benefits of a non-animal based diet! Please post more! But I want to clarify that Quorn is NOT vegan, it does contain egg.

I'm all in favor of less meat. You have listed the protein content of a number of alternatives, including kidney beans. I understand that the protein from kidney beans is "incomplete" - that a meal of kidneys beans should include something with complementary protein - like brown rice. This may hold true for the other items on your list. Diet for a Small Planet by F.M Lappe is my source for this. I'm sure there is more up-to-date information available.

While I appreciate the clever wordplay in the title, I just wanted to clarify that while Quorn is vegetarian, Quorn products contain eggs and are not safe for vegans. Also, Field Roast offers several tasty high protein options: http://www.fieldroast.com/products.htm

I noticed that you have a decent amount of soy options listed here. The health and nutrition benefits of soy have been hotly debated - for that reason I choose to limit my soy intake (See Dr. Mercola's one of many articles on soy: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2005/02/26/soy-myths....). I'm vegetarian, so avoiding soy can be difficult. I usually avoid soy products at home and reserve things like tofu for when I'm eating out. You can also get additional protein by eating whole grains such as 100% whole wheat bread - or brown rice as another biter indicated above. They don't have as much protein as beans and nuts, but it will add up when consumed as part of a healthy diet.

Although this tip may help the environment, please remember it will hurt the economy by taking hard earned money from the pockets of farmers. The agriculture industry is the backbone of this country and helped to build it into the great nation it is today. I'm not talking about the huge corporate farms either, but the individual family farms that are struggling to make ends meet. Take that into consideration next time you pass on a meat based meal.

As a former vegetarian myself, I have to say that one of the things that us women on birth control have to watch out for is keeping enough Vitamin B in our system. I started having panic attacks years ago; apparently, it was because of a very low amount of Vitamin B (which does a lot of things, including helping you digest your food properly and making you happy!) in my system. My doctor told me that birth control pills can leach Vitamin B out of your body and that the only food sources for it are meat and leafy green vegetables. So if you are a woman on birth control pills and thinking of going vegetarian, be sure to consume a lot of leafy green vegetables.

in response to Dawn, I think the "farmers" in this country would do themselves and the population a favor by switching to vegetable and fruit agriculture. Even in relatively small scale, 'farms' that breed animals for human consumption resemble factories and laboratories more than they do the idyllic fields and barns in our heads. Moreover, I support local organic farms by buying my produce from farmer's markets exclusively so don't equate vegetarianism with the fall of the farming industry--it's a much bigger issue that should be looked at through many angles. The meat industry is subsidized by the government, agriculture is not. --- I'm truly disappointed to know that many people working at Ideal Bite aren't even vegetarians. Taking into account the reasons Marylin presented, I would think that a company based on eco-awareness would do its part in reducing unnecessary consumption and unsustainable behaviors. Most people I know didn't stop eating meat because they didn't like it. They stopped because they were aware of the larger issueS and want to reflect their morals in their eating habits. May you all be so fortunate.