Meat, fish, dairy, plant - which one are you?

And I don't mean literally! It's not one of those questions you might see on an episode of Come Dine with Me when they're trying to introduce some light entertainment between courses hosts - 'if you were a type of food, what would you be?' There's such a diverse choice/availability of foods these days which means we all have an abundance of choice when it comes to the type of diet we follow. So where do you sit? As far as I can see the following probably covers all categories:

Vegan: no animal products or by-products. No meat, fish, eggs and dairy foods and do not use honey, beeswax, gelatin or any other animal by-product.

Lacto-ovo vegetarian: This is the most common type of vegetarian. Do not consume any type of meat or fish but do consume dairy products and egg products.

Lacto vegetarian: Do not eat any type of meat, fish or eggs but will consume dairy products such as cheese, milk and yogurt.

Ovo vegetarian: Ovo-vegetarians do not eat any type of meat, fish or dairy products, however, do consume egg products.

Pescatarian (or semi vegetarian): While technically not a type of vegetarian, meat consumption restricted to fish and seafood. Pescatarians do not consume red meat, white meat or fowl but normally will consume dairy and eggs.

Flexitarian: semi-vegetarian diet. Eat a predominantly vegetarian diet but do eat some meat and fish, probably white meat over read meat.

Omnivore: eat everything!!

I suppose I am a flexitarian - hardly ever eat meat at all and red meat is pretty much non existent in my diet. Reasons for this, various - I honestly don't like meat that much, I hate any fat and would spend most of the meal time trying to dissect the meat from the tiniest amount of fat. I also love vegetables, particularly roasted veg, and definitely subscribe to the rainbow plate for both balance of nutrients and for food appeal, it looks great!

It is widely accepted that fruit and vegetables provide many health benefits. Our bodies like variety and indeed need the variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals found in fruits and vegetables and which bring their own distinctive colours, hence the 'rainbow'! They also help reduce the risk of many health conditions:

• Heart disease

• High blood pressure

• Type II diabetes

• Some cancers

Everyone is different and will follow their own diet for their own reasons. However, more people are now giving a plant based diet a go and in particular looking to reduce consumption of meat. This does not necessarily mean that their diet is anymore healthy as this obviously will depend on exactly what is consumed and in what quantities. Vegan or vegetarian diet isn't automatically healthy as it could still be low in vegetables and high in processed foods, fat, sugar and salt. If you are looking to lose weight then no matter what your diet is just by eating less of it will make a difference. But to make it healthy then that's where you need to be a bit more savvy about what you are eating. So by, for example, filling half your plate with vegetables every meal then you are automatically leaving less room for the less healthy bits. To take it one step further split the other half between lean protein and whole foods, ie whole grain and high fibre foods therefore cutting out as much processed stuff as possible!

If you are thinking of shaking things up a bit and moving to a more plant based diet then don't go too 'extreme' and make sure you still focus on getting enough carbs, proteins and fat. Think balance and how that is going to work if your are restricting certain foods. Remember the more extreme the diet the more likely the lack of important nutrients such as protein, iron, calcium, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D, Omega 3 and the trace mineral iodine. It is these that can be commonly lacking from vegetarian and vegan diets. My advice would be to get used to reading food labels and any nutritional claims they make about being 'high in' or 'a good source of' a particular nutritional element. The British Nutrition Foundation has quite a good resource, Looking at Nutrition Labels. But as a start take a look at my page Moving to a plant based diet on the website under nutrition. This gives an idea about sources of the aforementioned nutrients that maybe an issue when trying to reduce meat, fish and dairy in your diet.

Whatever type of diet you are following it's always worth taking a bit of time to review what you might be missing out on or indeed consuming too much of. Top tip: don't just assume you are lacking in a particular vitamin or mineral and start taking dietary supplements without understanding what to take, how and when to take them. It is always a good idea to consult either your doctor or a qualified dietician to understand exactly what you need.

Enjoyment is the name of the game, if you don't like something then there's no way you'll keep eating it no matter marvellous its supposed to be for you! Variety is key though, as this will cover your bases nutritionally and prevent over exposure to the same old thing for dinner every day! Bon appetite!