Vegetarian diets can be healthy because they're often lower in saturated fat and cholesterol and higher in fiber than regular diets. Choosing a vegetarian diet with a low-fat content can be helpful for weight loss. But vegetarians-like non-vegetarians-can also make poor choices by eating large amounts of "junk" foods.
Calcium: dairy products, fortified soymilk, fortified orange juice, tofu (if prepared with calcium sulfate), kale and broccoli.
Vitamin B12: eggs, dairy products, and fortified soymilk, cereals, tempeh and miso. (Tempeh and miso are foods made from soybeans. They're low in calories and fat and high in protein.) Many of these soyfoods are found in supermarket cases.
Iron: nuts, tofu, lentils, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), enriched rice, spinach, blackstrap molasses and tomato juice.
Zinc: whole grains (especially the germ and bran of the grain), eggs, dairy products, nuts, tofu, leafy vegetables (lettuce, spinach, cabbage) and root vegetables (onions, potatoes, carrots, celery, radishes).
Vitamin D: fortified milk and soymilk, and fortified cereals. Getting more sunlight is helpful, too.
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