For a lot of people it's tough figuring out what kinds of food to eat as well as how much. But for vegetarians, it can be even harder as a major staple of their diet -- protein derived from eating meat -- is removed from the list of foods they can eat.

If you're a new veggie and you're wondering what exactly you need to consume each day to maintain a healthy diet, this vegetarian food pyramid is a great place to start. Obviously, it's pretty similar to a traditional food pyramid (and shouldn't be confused with a vegan food pyramid) but offers examples of what you should eat to replace meat in your diet.

This article goes into a bit of depth explaining how the pyramid works. Basically, you should eat the foods at the top (vegetable fats and oils, sweets and salts) sparingly, and munch on more of each of the subsequent levels. Staples like whole-grain bread, cereal, rice and pasta are at the bottom of the pyramid, so you should include lots of these in your meals and snacks each day.

Remember though that everyone is different and while the pyramid is a useful general guide, it may be a good idea to chat with a nutritionist about your own personal dietary needs.

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Salt has a bad reputation but in truth it's necessary for the healthy function of the human body. The problem comes in how much salt we all eat, and what kind -- because not all salts are created equal. The common table salt we see everywhere has little to no nutritional value, other than the fact that it's usually iodine fortified. But sea salt, on the other hand, provides many trace minerals such as iodine, iron, copper, zinc, manganese, cobalt, and selenium. And some forms of sea salt even contain significantly less sodium than table salt, and that's always a good thing!

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