A friend of mine has a problem: She gets sick a lot. I mean a whole lot. It seems as if shes sick with a bad cold or a sinus infection or a bronchial thing once a month.

Shes also a vegetarian, gets no exercise, and is clearly gaining too much weight. I sure as hell would never say any of this to her, but I am bothered. I wondered if being a vegetarian is part of the problem. So I did some research and also asked University of Connecticut nutritional sciences Professor Hedley Freake (yes, thats his real name) about the risks and benefits of being a vegetarian.

First a definition: Vegetarians eat no meat, meat products, poultry, or fish. The American Dietetic Association classifies vegetarians more specifically:

Vegans exclude all animal products (meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, and other dairy products).

Lactovegetarians exclude meat, poultry, fish, and eggs but include dairy products.

Lacto-ovovegetarians exclude meat, poultry, and fish but include dairy and eggs.

Most vegetarians in the U.S. are lacto-ovovegetarians. Vegetarians eat mainly fruit, vegetables, legumes, grains, seeds, and nuts.

As for my friend, Freake said, its always risky to argue that a person is sick, and therefore its because shes a vegetarian. He said its possible to design a diet that is absolutely healthy and does not include meat or meat products.

If youre a vegan excluding dairy and eggs he said, Then it gets a little harder to meet your nutritional requirements.

People worry about protein, Freake said, but with judicious choice of foods its relatively straightforward for a vegetarian to meet their protein needs.

Continued here:
Is a vegetarian diet good for your health? Research says yes