When a title for an article is “Vegetarian diet is nuts: study,” you know that somewhere down the line, the study was funded by a livestock association. Upon reading the article, it becomes clear that the “study was funded by Meat and Livestock Australia.”

According to the study, “Vegetarians must double their portion size and kilojoule intake to achieve recommended daily levels of iron, zinc and omega-3 fatty acids.”

Is this an attempt by Meat and Livestock Australia to try and turn Vegetarians back into meat-eaters, or, is this, in fact, true?

Many studies and books that I’ve read advise it’s quite easy to achieve the daily level of nutritional requirements. The article itself has suggestions by the VNV (Vegetarian Network of Victoria) that by eating a balanced diet, you can in fact decrease your risk of osteo and heart disease.

One book I’ve religiously followed last year titled “The Vegetarian Sports Nutrition Guide,” applies to athletes on a vegetarian diet. These athletes advise that from abiding by their vegetarian diet, they feel they perform greater than they would from eating meat.

Who would you believe, the person selling the meat or high performance athletes?