After years of habit and eating a diet of particular foods, many of us realise that we have been unaware of the full range of quality food that is now available to us if we are willing to explore and make room for some changes. In agriculture there have been spectacular improvements. Over the years, there are changes in the markets with advancement not only in the quality of food offered but in an immense variety that was not existent 50 years or even 20 years ago. This is particularly obvious in the large range of fine fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains that confront us when we are making our choices.

Each of us insists on our personal freedom to eat whatever we decide for ourselves. And it is usually our sense of taste which dictates our primary selection although we all know that to keep healthy, both our bodies and our brains require a considerable variety of foods.

Individual selection and taste determines choice over and above the advertisers' power to pressure consumers. There is no way a consumer need take any food into the body other than good food, once he has determined to discriminate before making that selection. However, many people still fall victim of the 'fast food' industry and suffer for it.

There is no doubt that nutritionists all agree that a natural healthy diet should consist of an abundance of fresh fruits, salads, nuts and grains and a smaller proportion of dairy products, fish and meat.

Some go further to ensure that the meats they eat are guaranteed kosher and are free of the adrenalin which the unfortunate animals pump into their bodies in their fear before being killed in the abattoirs.

Vegetarian choose not to eat meat at all. They are usually animal lovers and by their choice of food, demonstrate their sincere affection by not eating flesh foods at all. They find the idea one that makes them recoil, just as it is usual for most people to recoil at the thought of eating their pet animal.

So some vegetarians choose not to eat meat because they love animals intensely and believe it is a matter of principle that humans reduce killing other creatures in order to subsist.

Some have witnessed the intensely barbaric killing of animals and poultry in the commercial killing houses and are shocked into reconsidering the actions in the kind of animal husbandry that ends this way.

Some have studied animal health and methods of commercial production and conclude that modern methods of inoculation and drenching are not logically producing the best quality food for humans. Contamination is now recognized in the market which now hears increasing demands for 'organic' meat products. However, animals also get sick, like humans and there are many diseases that are not known to the public but which plague the creatures. Only the healthiest animals are supposed to be selected for slaughter for human food. The criteria for second grade meat must be questioned although it is known that a great quantity is used in producing pet food to feed in turn to our pets.

Many vegetarians would argue that to go directly to the green source of food rather than through the secondary channel of an animal's body is likely to avoid many serious diseases that are transmitted through the animal food chain, particularly now with many exotic diseases becoming evident.

As food builds our body - it is our choice of food that determines the quality of its structure and its efficiency in physiological processes. So when choosing a food we naturally consider 'do I want to build my body out of this material?" We have a contrasting selection that ranges from the fresh crunch of an apple, to the recently slaughtered animal steak; from a fresh pineapple juice to a fizzy coca cola drink; from a crisp green lettuce to a vegetable stew and so on. We build and maintain our bodies out of the material we select in our diet. As our food creates the energy that we need for an active life, we must think of it also as a body fuel, more important than the fuel we need for our motor cars. What are the foods that will provide us with the finest quality, high performance energy? This consideration will also affect our choices.

But where it is rational to consider nutrition from various viewpoints, we have a hurdle that is our greatest handicap and that is our particular enjoyment of taste sensation. Our taste buds are able to permit poor quality food to be eaten even if it is not going to give us the health and vitality we want. We become slaves to our palate if we don't consciously cultivate our tastes and appetites to match the results we want. The reactions will be inevitable We eat unwholesome food - we become ill, either now or later. We eat wholesome food - we are healthy and are likely to remain so. Eating proper food is becoming realised as our basic and most potent 'life insurance' responsibility.

Enjoyment of food is one of the health principles that determines good digestion. It is therefore obvious that each of us will remember this rule very easily. But all the other rules of nutrition must be remembered and applied also and this information is readily available.

The vegetarian chooses to enjoy a diet of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, seaweed, sprouts, herbs and should also be seeking a balanced diet with limited eggs and dairy products, refined foods and with an introduction of seaweeds . Such are known as lacto-vegetarians. Those who do not eat anything other than fruits and nuts are known as vegans. The three types however, share the common principle of no flesh foods at all.

It is no wonder that those who choose vegetables will be more familiar with the full range of vegetables that are available and will know better how to prepare them for enjoyment. They will be more adventurous than others who are not so dependent upon them in their diet. So they will enjoy more of the different colours, varieties and flavours also. This applies to all the nutritional avenues open to a vegetarian once they omit meat from their diet. It also answers those who suggest that a vegetarian diet is boring and tasteless without meat.

As there is no accounting for individual taste we are all free to comment on food as we find it, pleasant of unpleasant. But having lived more than 50 years happily and healthily as a vegetarian it must be that personal results tell their story - and this is a rule which applies throughout.

There is no way to persuade another person - each must select food for themselves. Only is it possible to encourage you to think about the food you eat and consider if your nutrition can be expected to give you're the results in the good health and well being you want.