Not everyone follows Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating to the letter. Some people, either because of their religion, their beliefs about animal cruelty, their desire to eat healthier, or their desire to follow trends, decide to become vegetarians. If you're thinking of joining the other residents of your Bay Bloor condos building in becoming vegetarian, you should do your research and make sure you know what you're getting into. This guide can act as a starting point.

When you're vegetarian, you pledge to avoid all meat and animal by products. People who don't eat red meat but do eat chicken and fish are not vegetarians. Vegetarians eat no meat at all. So if you become a vegetarian, expect to ban all red meat, poultry, fish, and shellfish from your North York houses along with anything containing rennet and gelatin, which are both by-products of animal slaughter. Some foods that would fall under the by-product umbrella include gummy candy and certain types of cheeses. A vegan diet is not the same as a vegetarian diet, which also excludes animal-produced products such as eggs, milk, and honey.

A vegetarian diet can have many health benefits if properly followed, including a 20-30% reduction in the risk factors for heart disease. Vegetarians in Leslieville and elsewhere also tend to have lower cholesterol and blood pressure, less chance of developing diabetes and dementia, and a lower body mass index. Vegetarians also report feeling better than people who eat red meat, with fewer instances of depression and an overall better mood profile. However, this is only if the diet is correctly followed.

Many people who become vegetarians are hampered in their efforts by the fact that they don't like certain vegetables or by their hectic real estate careers which make it difficult to find vegetarian options at mealtimes. On a vegetarian diet you still need the Canada's Food Guide recommended daily intake of protein, which will have to come from non-animal sources, such as beans and nuts, and the recommended amount of dairy, which can come from either real milk products or soy/rice milk products.

Typical problems vegetarians run into include not getting enough calcium, iron, and vitamin B12, which, in non-vegetarian diets, come from meat and animal products. Calcium can be obtained from leafy greens grown on your PEI real estate, iron from certain beans, and B12 from dairy products, but you may need vitamin supplements if you're not getting enough of these substances from your diet.