Bill Pearl is a former bodybuilder who competed from 1953 to 1971. During that time, he won 11 bodybuilding contests, both as an amateur and professional, including Mr. USA in 1956 and Mr. Universe in 1953, 1961, 1967 and 1971.

It was once common for vegetarians to fret over whether they were getting enough protein. Myths abounded about the necessities of combining certain foods in order to obtain complete protein.

Your need for vitamin B-12 is the same whether you’re a vegetarian or a carnivore, but if you’re a strict vegan, your opportunities for obtaining B-12 are limited. Vegans do not eat any animal-based foods. Even honey, produced by insects, is not a strictly vegan food.

Vegetarians often need to get creative when it comes to meeting their protein needs. Texturized vegetable protein, or TVP, serves as an excellent meat replacement. Primarily made of soybeans, TVP is often sold as a dehydrated mix, although it is possible to purchase it in ready-to-eat blocks.

A vegetarian diet can provide all the nutrition you need, as long as it is carefully planned. Although many protein sources are animal-based, vegetarians can still meet the Institute of Medicine’s recommendation to consume 10 to 35 percent of daily calories from protein.

Whether or not you include eggs in a vegetarian diet depends on the type of vegetarianism you practice, according to the University of San Diego. If you're thinking about following a vegetarian diet, you need to understand the different types of vegetarianism and the restrictions imposed by each.

Planning and shopping for a week's worth of vegetarian meals is not that much different than planning non-vegetarian menus. You need to ensure that calorie and nutrition needs are met, which is easier to do when you plan in advance.

When you decide to reduce meat or other animal foods from your diet, it can be difficult to decide which vegetarian diet to follow. As you evaluate an ovo-vegetarian meal plan, think about whether it has foods that you like to eat and whether it will help you meet your nutritional goals.

Eating a vegetarian diet can vastly improve the health of some people. Most people can at least benefit from including more vegetarian foods in their diets. Consuming a vegetarian diet is not as complicated as it may seem initially; there are plenty of healthy, easy meals available that do not involve meat.

Lacto-ovo vegetarians exclude meat, fish and poultry from their diets, but include dairy and eggs, making it easier for them to meet their nutrient needs than vegans who don't consume eggs and dairy products. Following a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet can improve your health.

Vegan foods are solely plant-based and include vegetables, fruits, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, whole grains and in some cases, soy products. It is possible to be on a high-protein diet and still exclude animal protein from your diet.

High total cholesterol levels in your blood increase your risk for heart disease. You produce cholesterol in your liver and obtain it from eating meat, poultry, eggs, dairy and other foods.