When you go away to college and leave behind home cooked meals,there is no one forcing you to eat a healthy, balanced diet.

College dining halls present a challenge for all students, butvegetarians can have a particularly hard time getting all thenecessary nutrients while at school, especially with the limitedofferings at many dining halls according towww.healthyfood.com.

Based on a recent study, there is an increasing amount ofteenagers and college students resisting hamburgers and switchingto soy. By refusing to eat meat or poultry, and in some cases eggs,cheese and all other animal foods, vegetarians here at DillardUniversity say they are sparing animals and saving naturalresources spent on raising them for food. Many of students areforsaking steaks for tofu and ribs for bean curd.

“But not all vegetarian diets are healthy. Being a vegetarian isnot the same as having a good health,” said biology major JamieJohnson, a Dillard University freshman.

Johnson has been a vegetarian for seven years. When she firstbecame a vegetarian, it was for health purposes. “Instead ofbecoming healthy, I became anemic and hypoglycemic,” claimedJohnson. Being a healthy vegetarian means more than not eatingmeat.

“First, college students need to make themselves aware of whattheir nutritional needs are,” Johnson added.

According to www.healthyfood.com, vegetarianism can be a healthylifestyle choice. Complete vegetarian diets provide all thevitamins, minerals, fiber, protein and fats a person may need.Vegetarians should make sure they get the right combination ofvitamins and minerals. Sometimes a supplement such as Vitamin B12can be necessary for a balanced diet. A vegetarian diet can also befulfilling without all the calories.

A vegetarian diet can also be cheaper than diets including meat.This can be an important consideration for college students who payfor their own food.

Brandy Holmes, 21, a Dillard University junior, started out as astrict vegetarian in high school.

“I found substitutes for meat— kidney beans, peanuts,” shesaid. “I just totally prefer not eating meat.”

For advice, she has turned to her aunt, Edith Howard Hogan, aregistered dietitian, who frequently advises young vegetarians onfoods to buy and how to prepare them.

“I tell them they’ve got to take responsibility for their owndiets,” Hogan said.

The key to a healthy vegetarian diet is variety. A wide varietyof vegetables including beans in particular can help to ensure anice complement of secondary proteins.

“My mom tried to tempt me away,” mentioned Chantelle Ray, 23, aDillard University senior, who stopped eating meat and poultry whenshe was a high school freshman. “She made filet mignon.”

It did not work, even though Ray said her mother began to worryabout her. An athlete, Ray started vegetarianism without a clearsense of what her body needed.

“I wasn’t eating right and I started getting dizzy,” Ray said.”I started reading a bit, and made sure I was eating enough of thedifferent kinds of foods.”

Vegetarianism is not french fries and candy bars, Ray expressed.Nor is it a matter of changing high fat meats for high fat cheeses.”You can’t be stupid about it,” she added. Being a vegetarian isadopting a lifestyle- learning how to eat differently.

In some situations, students are leading their parents to a newway of eating.

Kareem Taplet, 20, a sophomore, said he and his brother grew upeating meat but became vegetarians three years ago.

Taplet’s mother was upset in the beginning. “My brother told herhe was doing it for health reasons, and she had been trying toraise us to be healthy,” said Taplet.

“Six months later, she was a vegetarian too,” added Taplet.

Taplet’s household has concluded that it is not right to killanimals to eat.

Nicole Chapman, a Dillard University junior, said she does notfeel guilty looking at animals now that she is a vegetarian.

Vegetarian diets can be great ways to remain healthy while incollege, especially if you can maintain a balanced diet. Here oncampus in Kearny Hall, there are plenty of vegetarian options tochoose from. So, a vegetarian diet can be an adventure if you avoideasy fallback options such as rice and pasta.