Approximately 12 million U.S. citizens consider themselves vegetarians and 13.5 percent of all U.S. households claim to have at least one fa mily member practicing some form of vegetarianism. Vegetarian Nutritio n provides data to help explain the preventive role of vegetarian diet s for many chronic diseases such as heart disease and some types of ca ncer. As a professional reference, this book is an invaluable resource for those interested in vegetarianism and/or public nutrition.