Vegan food pyramid as one variant of vegetarian dietetics in practice Added: 01/31/2006

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The history of vegetarianism can be traced to the India and its Buddhism philosophy from the east side and to the great thinkers of ancient Greece from the west side. Nowadays vegetarian boom development began in the beginning of the 20th century. Very vivid example of quick vegetarian development is American vegetarianism.

The beginning of vegetarianism power and rise in the USA took place in the beginning of the 20th century. But paradox was presented with reality when at the time of western vegetarianism birth, it was detected the fact of new meat revolution. Another paradox shows that at that time Americans ate much less meat food than today. Maybe it can be explained by high meat price in the beginning of 20th. Today new technologies of ?artificial? food industry provide big choice of cheap products. Great deal of sociological researches and experiments show quick rise of strong heart diseases, cancers, and diabetes. Is there any connection between these two dramatic facts?

But fortunately the era of blind thoughtless consumers is over. ?Diet for a small planet?, by Frances Moore Lappe?s published in 1971, opened door to thousands of representatives of new healthier and happier generation. But it was just a successful start of eternal struggle between meat eaters and crazy plant ones. The most difficult task was to crack the idea that vegetarianism is harmful for our health and that it is not possible to survive following the vegetarian diet. The book was real crucial event in life and history of the USA although it had some inexcusable mistakes (for example wrong theory about use and necessity of proteins complex combining).

1971 year is considered to be rather fruitful one that brought also the emergence of first vegetarian society in the USA that was named ?The Farm? and organized by the group of San Francisco youth. The work of the Farm is made a significant contribution and became a real support in development of western vegetarianism.

That was the United States Department of Agriculture that the first touched the problem of food pyramid and consequently vegan food pyramid. The first pyramid became famous all over the world and brought great success to American vegetarian system. As this pyramid presented the concerns of farmers, it was concentrated on organic products and became strong presupposition for vegan food pyramid emergence. Indeed it had already included the fragment of vegan food pyramid as some layers of general food pyramid present full vegan food pyramid.

Some layers of this first American food pyramid (that refer to vegetarian ration) included carbohydrates as the basis (but there was not determined the distinction between whole and refined carbohydrates as different vegan food groups). Vegan food guide recommend consuming organic products by complicated scheme in the following order:
- rice, bread, cereals, pasta, grains;
- vegetables;
- fruits;
- beans, seeds, nuts;
- sprouts.

The vegan pyramid is essential basis for future vegans that should take into account veganism nutrition rules while planning vegan diet to make it more balanced.

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