The vegetarian zone - high-protein diet for vegetarians - includes recipes and related article on

Vegetarian Times, Jan, 1997 by Karen Cope Straus

For fats, Sears uses monounsaturated plant oils such as olive, as well as nuts, nut butters, avocados and olives.

Alcohol counts as a starchy/sugary carbohrydrate and should be consumed sparingly. If you have a glass of wine with dinner, reduce your other carbohydrates accordingly to keep your meal within Zone guidelines. Sears also recommends getting off caffeine because the metabolic breakdown of caffeine tends to increase insulin levels. Instead of beverages with caffeine and/or sugar, he recommends an eight-ounce glass of water with each of the recommended three meals and two snacks daily. He also stresses the importance of regular exercise because it is a well-known hormone regulator.

One of the biggest adjustments vegetarians will have to make on a Zone-type diet is rethinking the place of beans, legumes, nuts and nut butters, traditional vegetarian sources of plant protein. In a Zone-friendly diet, beans and legumes count as carbohydrates, not as protein, while nuts and nut butters count as fats. "Although beans contain protein, they also contain a tremendous amount of carbohydrate, and your carte to protein ratio is thrown out of balance if you try to consume beans as a primary protein source," says Sears. Nuts also contain protein, but the fat content overwhelms it, making them undesirable as a main source of protein.

Another adjustment is how you read nutrition labels. Instead of just checking calories and fat, Zone adherents check the protein and carbohydrate first, with the goal of balancing the carte, protein and fat ratio in every meal and snack. For example, you might want to pass up a 1-cup serving of couscous with chickpeas (11 grams [g.] of protein and 67 g. of carbohydrate) in favor of 4 ounces of baked tofu (23 g. of protein and 6 g. of carbohydrate), a fresh green salad, steamed or sauteed nonstarchy veggies and some fruit.

HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH,

Sears recommends women consume 20 g. of protein per meal and men about 40 g. per meal. For a more precise assessment of your individual protein needs, the book contains tables, charts and work sheets to help to you calculate your requirement based on your height, weight, percent body fat, lean body mass and activity level.

Meals and snacks also need to meet calorie guidelines of 500 per meal and 100 per snack. If you require more calories than that, keep your ratio of protein, carbohydrates and fat at what Sears considers the right levels. He recommends never going without food for more than five hours. Snacks are recommended in the afternoon and prior to bed, as the stretches between lunch and dinner and dinner and breakfast are likely to be the longest periods of time that we go without food.

A vegetarian can meet Zone protein guidelines by having an egg and egg-whites omelet with I ounce of nonfat cheese or 31 cup oatmeal with I cup low-fat milk or soymilk and 2 tablespoons soy protein powder for breakfast; 2 soy "burger" patties or 9 ounces eggless "egg" salad made with tofu for lunch or 2 cups of textured-vegetable protein chili or 4 ounces firm tofu stir-fried with vegetables for dinner. Zone-friendly snacks include 6 ounces of low-fat milk, 1/4 cup low-fat cottage cheese with 1/2 piece fresh fruit, 4 ounces plain yogurt or 1 1/2 ounces tempeh.