"Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet." - Albert Einstein

A vegetarian is someone whose diet is free from meat, poultry, fish and their by-products, with or without eggs and dairy foods. Millions of people across the world are vegetarian. Going veggie is healthy, animal friendly and great for the planet. It's one of the best choices you can make, and with all the tasty foods that are available today, it's never been easier!

A well-balanced plant-based diet can be healthy for everyone, no matter what stage of life they're at. Veggie foods are loaded with fiber, nutrients, vitamins and minerals, are low in fat, especially saturated fat, and have little or no cholesterol. People on a veggie diet have a much lower risk of getting any of the major illnesses like heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes or osteoporosis - all of these have been directly linked with diets high in animal products.

Studies show that people with a plant based diet have stronger immune systems than meat eaters, are more than half less likely to die of heart disease, are 40% less likely to die of cancer and have a lower death rate from food related causes. Vegetarians are far less likely to get food poisoning, never have to worry about ingesting animal antibiotics and hormones, or getting diseases that are spread through meat and animal products. Vegetarians, on average, live six years longer then meat eaters.

The New Four Food Groups was developed by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine as a healthy alternative to the old food pyramid. The plan is pure vegetarian and gives you all of the daily nutritional requirements for the average adult.

Vegetables (dark green leafy vegetables, carrots etc) - 3 or more servings
Include a variety. Full of vitamin C, beta-carotene, riboflavin, iron, calcium, fiber, and other vitamins.

Whole grains (bread, rice, pasta, cereal etc) - 5 or more servings
Stacked with fibre and other complex carbohydrates, protein, B vitamins and zinc.

Fruit (bananas, oranges etc) - 3 or more servings
Try to eat whole fruit rather than juice, and make sure at least one serving you grab is high in Vitamin C. Crammed with fibre, beta-carotene and Vitamin C.

Legumes (beans, peas, lentils etc) - 2 or more servings.
Great for fibre, protein, iron, calcium, zinc and B vitamins. Be sure to include good sources of Vitamin B12 in your diet from foods like fortified cereal, orange juice or soymilk.

You can improve your health, help the environment and save animal in one simple step…why not take it? Go veggie - and eat for life!

--Erin lives in Australia. She's been vegan for just over a year and vegetarian pretty much all her life. She decided pretty early on that she didn't want something to have to die for her dinner. Her favorite thing about being veg is that "even though it might seem like an insignificant choice to make, it can make such a difference to the world..and I think that's pretty cool."