Vegetarian eating continues to trend up. It is not just those who are practicing vegetarians, but people practicing a more vegetarian style of eating in an effort to reduce saturated fat and increase fruit and vegetable consumption that help continue to propel this trend.

As with any trend, we find more and more vegetarian options available in our local markets. This is really a great thing, although as with any style of eating, some foods are not as healthy as they seem. Fruits and vegetables are healthy -- YES -- please eat more of them.

The less healthy options are the vegetarian foods that are highly processed (similar to highly processed foods of all kinds). Consider the vegetarian corn dog. Do you really think that is healthy just because it is vegetarian? Of course you don’t, and you are right -- it is highly processed food with an ingredient list a mile long.

Aim for foods that are minimally processed with few ingredients and low in saturated fats, beans, all fruits and vegetables, bean soups, whole organic tofu and edamame are just a few examples of less processed foods to include in your vegetarian style eating plan.

For more information on how to eat a healthful vegetarian or vegetarian style diet, click here or click here.

Until next time: eat well, live well.

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