Vegetarian Diet Pyramid

nutrition · vegetarian · healthy eating · food guide

Plants are the star. The vegetarian diet pyramid puts vegetables, fruits, grains, and beans at the bottom and center, meaning you eat lots of these foods every day because they give your body energy and important nutrients.

Built by smart scientists. Experts from Cornell and Harvard universities worked together in 1998 to create this pyramid, using real information about how healthy vegetarians actually eat around the world.

Different cultures, same idea. Vegetarian food pyramids work great in Asia, Europe, South America, and North America because people in these places have eaten this way for generations and stayed healthy.

Dairy and eggs matter. This pyramid is for ovo-lacto vegetarians, which means people who eat eggs and milk products along with plants, giving them extra protein and calcium.

Inspired by Mediterranean eating. Scientists studied how people around the Mediterranean Sea eat their healthy diet and used those patterns to help design the vegetarian pyramid.