I have been looking into what vegetarian diets are particularly well-known to research and adopt one, as I'm currently planning to give up consuming meat (but not dairy, at least not yet) products.
So, for the vegetarians here: What diet(s) do you currently follow? And what are some of the most used ingredients in it?
Pescatarians are welcome to give their input too; pescatarianism is an option I'm also considering just in case I'm not able to go fully vegetarian yet.
I was vegetarian for a number of years and then transitioned to being pescatarian after further research.
The diet I follow focuses on natural foods and aims for being anti-inflammatory. I usually buy all organic stuff.
My main ingredients are:
Vegetables:
-Broccoli, Kale, Spinach, other green leaves, green beans, romaine lettuce, red pepper, chili pepper, onions, scallions,
Fruits:
-Apples, bananas, strawberries, blueberries, tangerines, dried apricots
Carbs:
-Brown rice commonly, potatoes sometimes, whole wheat pasta rarely. If you like sweet potatoes, they're awesomely healthy, but I don't like them.
-I have some cereals with like corn, amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa, and a bit of honey. They don't have gluten or added sugar.
Fats:
-Lots of olive oil for toppings, medium use of coconut oil for cooking, nuts like walnuts and almonds
Beans:
-Sprouted lentils, mung beans, and a few others
Herbs and Spices:
-Lots of everything. Cinnamon, garlic, basil, oregano, black pepper, coriander, cumin, nutmeg, etc.
Fish:
-Wild caught fish that are sustainably caught, low in mercury, and high in omega 3 fatty acids. This includes especially Alaskan sockeye salmon, but also occasionally Alaskan halibut, Alaskan sablefish, and Alaskan flounder. Mercury generally accumulates in fish that live long and high up on the food chain, but salmon has a short lifetime due to its breeding habits, so its mercury is generally very low. Also, wild-caught fish are
extremely nutritionally different compared to farmed-caught fish. When it comes to the intersection of sustainability, mercury, and nutrition, it all depends on the species, location, and capture method.
-Mussels, a non-fish seafood.
-Rarely other seafood.
Dairy:
-I drink probably 3 ounces of whole milk per day (in cereal), and use butter a couple of times per week on potatoes and green beans.
Desserts:
-Dark chocolate (80-85% for me), and sometimes a bit of vanilla ice cream
Drinks:
-Water, green tea, white tea, sometimes herbal "teas", once in a while red wine.
Things I specifically exclude:
-Land animals. I had a phase of including some Amish-raised chicken so I was no longer pescetarian, but went back to fish-only.
-Highly processed oils ("vegetable" oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, etc)
-Highly processed foods (high fructose corn syrup, most things that come in a box)
-Added sugar, except rarely.
-Empty carbs (white bread, white rice, etc)
-Eggs.