Bay Area Vegetarians Like To BBQ Too!!

Healthful eating and vegetarianism is a growing trend in the U.S. and very evident in the S.F. Bay Area where many restaurants here will feature vegetarian menu selections. In order to better serve and recognize the Bay Area's health conscious community and to introduce others to very healthy eating habits there's a special kind of BBQ event planned.

A couple of generations ago vegetarianism was a word rarely spoken or heard. Now, the practice is so common that many restaurants carry one or more vegetarian friendly menu selections. Vegetarianism is the following of a plant based diet. This can include or exclude the use of dairy products and eggs. Lacto vegetarianism (or lactarians) consume dairy products but not eggs. Ovo vegetarians eat eggs but not dairy products. There are health benifits to either or both. Studies have shown that, overall, vegetarians tend to have lower body mass index, lower cholesterol and lower blood pressure. [1] They also have less incidents of heart desease, renal desease and type 2 diabetes than meat eaters.[2] "But", you ask"...What about protien?" Studies at Harvard University as well as other studies conducted in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and various European countries, confirmed vegetarian diets provide sufficient protein intake as long as a variety of plant sources are available and consumed.[3] In an interest to better serve the vegetarian community in the S.F. Bay Area and to encourage other people to consider adopting more healthful eating habits, the following event is planned:

FREE Community Healthy/Vegetarian BBQ!! All are welcome [including meat eaters]!! There will be lots of free vegetarian food, and activities for children. There will also be free professional Health Analysis available, FREE massages and prizes! The event will be at Immanuel Temple SDA Church 2411-55th Ave., Oakland, CA. on July 17th, 2011 from 1 to 4 p.m. The contact person is LueVenia Scott 510-278-3728.


[1]^ Appleby, P.; Thorogood, M.; Mann, J.; Key, T. (1998). "Low body mass index in non-meat eaters: the possible roles of animal fat, dietary fibre and alcohol". International journal of obesity and related metabolic disorders : journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity 22 (5): 454–460. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0800607. PMID 9622343. edit
[2]^ Rizzo NS, Sabaté J, Jaceldo-Siegl K, Fraser GE. Vegetarian dietary patterns are associated with a lower risk of metabolic syndrome: The Adventist Health Study-2. Diabetes Care. 2011 May;34(5):1225-7
[3]VR Young and PL Pellett (1994). "Plant proteins in relation to human protein and amino acid nutrition". Am. J. Clinical Nutrition 59 (5 Suppl): 1203S–1212S. PMID 8172124.