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Nutrition

Whole food first, and honest about fats

No exotic imports or expensive powders. Everyday foods from any market, built on vegetarian home cooking, with meat and fish if you eat them.

§ 01 — The plate

Half vegetables, a quarter protein, a quarter grains

50%
Vegetables and fruit. The WHO recommends at least 400 g a day, which is about five portions.[1]
25%
Protein. Dal, beans, eggs, paneer, soya, chicken or fish.
25%
Whole grains. Roti, brown rice, oats or millets.

Plate model adapted from the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate.[2]

§ 02Protein

Three levels, not one number

Minimum
0.83 g/kg
WHO/FAO/UNU safe level[4]
Everyday
1.2 g/kg
Newer research suggests this better meets real needs[5]
Training / fat loss
1.6 g/kg
Where extra muscle gain levels off[6]

You don't need meat every day to get enough protein. Dal with rice, rajma with roti, chana, soya, paneer and curd all provide good protein, and pairing cereals with pulses fills each other's amino-acid gaps.[3]A well-planned vegetarian diet is suitable for adults of every age and for athletes.[15]If you have kidney disease, speak to your doctor before increasing protein.

Calculate your numberRead: protein in depth

§ 03Fats

Ghee, seed oils and the honest middle

Two separate questions get mixed up: which fat holds up best when heated, and which fat is best for your heart. They have different answers.

For high-heat cooking

Ghee and stable fats hold up better

Oils high in polyunsaturated fat, such as sunflower, safflower and corn oil, break down faster at frying temperatures and form more harmful aldehydes than more saturated or monounsaturated fats.[7] For tadka and high-heat cooking, ghee or a monounsaturated oil (groundnut or olive) is the more stable choice.

For your heart

Unsaturated fats come out ahead

Ghee is mostly saturated fat. Replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat lowers LDL cholesterol and cardiovascular events.[8,9] The WHO recommends keeping saturated fat below 10% of your daily calories.[10] At 2,000 kcal, a teaspoon or two of ghee a day fits comfortably within that.

Store-bought and homemade ghee have essentially the same nutrition. The real risk is adulteration, so buy from brands that publish independent lab testing.

§ 04Foods

What to build meals from

Protein

Eggs
About 6 g of protein per egg, and a complete protein.
Dals and lentils
Toor, moong and masoor. Paired with rice or roti, they make a complete protein.[3]
Chickpeas and kidney beans
Chana and rajma: high in both protein and fibre.
Paneer, curd and milk
Dairy protein, plus calcium. Curd (yoghurt) also contains live cultures.
Soya chunks
About 50 g of protein per 100 g dry, and one of the few plant proteins that is complete on its own.[3]
Chicken and fish
Lean and high in protein. Fatty fish such as mackerel and sardines also provide omega-3.

Carbohydrates

Whole-wheat roti
More fibre and slower-release energy than refined flour (maida).
Brown or hand-pounded rice
Keeps the bran, so it has more fibre and B vitamins than polished white rice.
Oats and poha
Quick, filling breakfasts.
Whole fruit
Fibre, potassium and vitamins. Eat fruit whole: the WHO counts fruit juice as free sugar.[16]
Potato and sweet potato, with skin
The skin adds fibre.

Micronutrients

Leafy greens with vitamin C
The iron in plants is absorbed less well than iron from meat. Eating a vitamin C source at the same meal, such as lemon, amla or tomato, increases how much you absorb.[14]
Calcium and vitamin D
Milk, curd, paneer, ragi and sesame provide calcium. Your skin makes vitamin D in sunlight.
Vitamin B12
Found almost only in animal foods. Vegetarians who eat little dairy or egg, and all vegans, need fortified foods or a supplement.[15]
Plant omega-3
Flax, chia and walnuts contain ALA, but the body converts only a small fraction of it into the omega-3s EPA and DHA. Vegetarians can consider an algae-based DHA supplement.[13]
Amla, citrus and seasonal vegetables
Rich in vitamin C.

§ 05Your style

Veg, occasional non-veg or non-veg

Vegetarian

Dal with rice or roti every day, plus soya, paneer, curd and chana. Plan for vitamin B12 through fortified foods or a supplement, and eat iron-rich foods with vitamin C.[15]

Occasional non-veg

Build most days on dal, paneer, soya, curd and eggs, and add chicken or fish once to three times a week. Keep an eye on B12 and iron.

Non-veg

Eggs, poultry and fish as staples, and red meat only occasionally. Avoid processed meat, which the WHO's cancer agency classifies as carcinogenic.[18] Still eat dal and vegetables every day for fibre.

Sugar

Keep free sugars below 10% of your daily calories, and ideally below 5%. Free sugars include table sugar, jaggery, honey and fruit juice, but not whole fruit.[16] Sugar in chai adds up quickly.

Water

EFSA recommends a total daily water intake of about 2.5 L for men and 2.0 L for women, and around 80% of that usually comes from drinks. You need more in hot weather or when you exercise.[17] Water, buttermilk and lemon water are good choices; skip sugary drinks.

§ 06Premium

Your 7-day meal plan

Everyday meals that reach your calorie and protein targets.

References

  1. 1.Healthy diet — fact sheet no. 394. World Health Organization, 2020.
  2. 2.Healthy Eating Plate. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2011.
  3. 3.Dietary protein quality evaluation in human nutrition (FAO Food and Nutrition Paper 92). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013.
  4. 4.Protein and amino acid requirements in human nutrition (WHO Technical Report Series 935). WHO/FAO/UNU Expert Consultation, 2007.
  5. 5.Reevaluation of the protein requirement in young men with the indicator amino acid oxidation technique. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2007.doi:10.1093/ajcn/86.4.995
  6. 6.Protein supplementation and resistance-training-induced gains in muscle mass and strength: systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2018.doi:10.1136/bjsports-2017-097608
  7. 7.Aldehydes contained in edible oils of a very different nature after prolonged heating at frying temperature. Food Chemistry, 2012.doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.09.079
  8. 8.Dietary fats and cardiovascular disease: a presidential advisory from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 2017.doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000510
  9. 9.Reduction in saturated fat intake for cardiovascular disease. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2020.doi:10.1002/14651858.CD011737.pub3
  10. 10.Saturated fatty acid and trans-fatty acid intake for adults and children: WHO guideline. World Health Organization, 2023.
  11. 11.Evaluation of the deleterious health effects of consumption of repeatedly heated vegetable oil. Toxicology Reports, 2016.doi:10.1016/j.toxrep.2016.08.003
  12. 12.Erucic acid in feed and food. EFSA Journal, 2016.doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2016.4593
  13. 13.Conversion of α-linolenic acid to longer-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in human adults. Reproduction Nutrition Development, 2005.doi:10.1051/rnd:2005047
  14. 14.Iron bioavailability and dietary reference values. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2010.doi:10.3945/ajcn.2010.28674f
  15. 15.Position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: vegetarian diets. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 2016.doi:10.1016/j.jand.2016.09.025
  16. 16.Guideline: sugars intake for adults and children. World Health Organization, 2015.
  17. 17.Scientific opinion on dietary reference values for water. EFSA Journal, 2010.doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1459
  18. 18.Carcinogenicity of consumption of red and processed meat. The Lancet Oncology, 2015.doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(15)00444-1

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