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Originally Posted by Cheese
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Vegetarians eat no red meat or high-salt, processed meats. In general, they consume a larger amount and variety of vegatables when compared to non-vegetarians. They may also be more generally conscious of nutrition. All of this probably makes your typical vegetarian's diet a healthier one than your typical non-vegetarian. I'd be suprised if a study contradicted this in its findings.
However, moral or philosophical leanings on vegetarianism aside, a complete nutritional diet can include regular servings of white meat, fish, and eggs. This diet will be no worse, and very possibly nutritionally superior to a diet that can be arranged within vegetarian limits. It is also a diet that would be adopted by a wider base of population for reasons of taste, convienience, and habit.
Lastly, if you eat out or consume quick prepared convienience foods regularly, this will trump anything else you do in your diet in terms of health effects (vegetarian or not). Fried, over salted, over sized, rich, high calorie offerings are the norm, not the exception in most restaurants and processed convienience foods.
I think this problem surpasses the "meat" issue in social nutrition impact by a fair margin. Consumers have too many bad choices, and not enough good ones when it comes to convienient and inexpensive food.