The number of vegetarians continues to grow in the UK and they tend to fall into 2 distinct categories. There are those who stay away from animal food quite simply because they feel that the the killing of animals for human consumption is unethical and unneccessary and there are also those who feel that there are many health benefits to be gained from staying away from eating meat.

In the United States a recent study from the American Dietetic Association shows that 2.5% of the adult population there follow a vegetarian diet including the absence of fish from their diet. It was also seen that between 20% and 25% of adults in the US say that they consume four or more meat free meals each week or they 'usually or sometimes keep to a vegetarian diet.' The same report also said that on average the vegetarians have lower weight than non vegetarians and also they are less likely to suffer from ischemic cardio disease. Vegetarians were also seen to have better blood cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure levels as well as lower levels of hypertension, diabetes and certain cancers when compared to meat eaters.

The American Heart Association says that a well planned vegetarian diet that consists of all the essential dietary requirements can be nutritionally sound and provide good health to those that follow it. The AHA warned however that with all diets a balance must be maintained and overeating or eating nutritionally poor food would always lead to bad health whether they were vegetarian or not.

The AHA says that protein that comes from plants alone can give you enough essential and amino acids provided that the calorie intake is big enough to reach energy requirements. The AHA notes that vegetarians sometimes suffer from iron deficiency more so than  than non-vegetarians and so care must be taken to eat vegetables and fruit that have a good level of iron like beans, spinach and dried fruit.