I’ve been thinking about going vegetarian, but my mom says that I won’t get the nutrients I need from meat.What do vegetarians do to stay healthy? Are there any neg. side effects this type of diet? A safe way to start?
thanks!
I’ve been thinking about going vegetarian, but my mom says that I won’t get the nutrients I need from meat.What do vegetarians do to stay healthy? Are there any neg. side effects this type of diet? A safe way to start?
thanks!
first of all don’t eat meat start thinking about your food groups like milk and milk products and fruits and vegetables and breads and cereals why don’t you go to library and pick up a vegetarian cookbook or use the website allrecipes.com/Recipes/Everyday…/Vegetarian/main.aspx
http://www.vegetariansrecipes.org/
It’s not necessarily true that you wont get enough nutrition if you take the proper steps! Firstly, eat plenty of beans, milk and other dairy to get your protein in. Also just make sure to eat fruits and vegetables of all different colors. It doesn’t hurt to take vitamins everyday (Iron, calcium ect.) You can find all of that stuff at any old local grocery store. Being a vegetarian is a great choice! It’s animal and environmentally friendly not to mention can help you get on track to a healthier lifestyle all around. If your really worried about dropping meat all together then maybe you could try just eating fish for a while and then jumping to become a full on vegetarian. Lots of people become pescatarians (fish eaters) and then vegetarians in order to not go into complete shock. It’s probably a good idea to talk to your doctor first. good luck!
Get a vegetarian starter kit from these people:
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/index.html
It should answer most of the questions you have and may also help put your mom’s mind at ease. Also visit the site I am posting as my source.
Good luck
Do it! It is so not true that you will not get enough nutrients…I hate when older adults try to tell me this, because I have done more research than them and they base their responses in what their parents who didn’t know about vegetarianism either, told them. Anyways, you can eat a variety of foods ranging from vegetables, fruits, dairy, legumes (beans), breads, pasta, rice, yummy desserts, etc. To stay healthy just try to eat from more than just one group of food.
No, there are not any negative side effects from this diet and the best way to start depends on you. For some people diving right into vegetarianism from one day to the next is the best, but others prefer gradually transitioning to it.
By the way…some great places fast food places that have vegetarian food are taco bell (you can ask to just put beans in the tacos, chalupas, burritos, etc), moe’s (my fav!!) and burger king (they have a veggie burger). There are more but I currently do not know of them =P
So good luck! Hope you succeed at becoming a vegetarian!
Don’t listen to people who say it’s not healthy. It’s even more healthy than eating meat
That is, if you do it right. Just make sure you get your proteins from dairy products and beans. They even make meat substitutes that are vegetarian and taste a lot like the real thing! There’s a vegetarian food pyramid you can print out and show your mom.
http://www.californiachronicle.com/img/galleries/2376/0/vegetarian-food-pyramid.jpg
If the link doesn’t work, just go on google images and type in ‘Vegetarian food pyramid’
Good luck, I hope I helped
A vegetarian diet is healthier than meat-eating. Meat contains a lot of saturated fat and cholesterol whereas plants contain no cholesterol and are very low in fat.
If you are planning on being a lacto-ovo vegetarian, i.e. eating egg and dairy you will get most of your protein from those along with B12 and calcium. Leafy green veg contains iron so make sure you eat your greens.
If you are planning on going vegan you need to make sure you get a good variety of fruit, veg, grains, beans. Read this:
http://www.vegansociety.com/food/nutrition/
You cannot be healthy living on junk food, you need to eat sensibly to be sure you are getting the nutrition you need.
Edit: You also need to be aware of animal derivatives such as rennet (found in cheeses) and gelatine (found in marshmallows, fondant, jelly sweets..).
Things you won’t need: Meat
I’ve been a vegetarian for 3 years, I never really liked fish or red meat so all the protein I really got was chicken. Wasn’t hard to make the change.
Meat has lots of unnecessary fat in it. For protein peanut butter is reaaaally good. So get some peanut butter and make sandwiches when you want a snack. In general eat healthier. No fast food fries and such. That’s not healthy at all, at least get a salad or something.
You could become anemic if you don’t get enough iron, but lots of foods. Cereals have iron in them, asparagus, baked beans (vegetarian) and a baked potato (with skin).
So you don’t need meat. I eat trail mix for snacks on the go, peanuts in them and other deliciousness.
Negative effects, can just be during the transition phase…I didn’t experience much besides being a bit tired. If you eat right you’ll be fine. It’s a good diet, vegetarianism is. You’ll probably lose weight, but as long as you’re eating right it’ll be a healthy loss.
If you eat red meat, start by cutting it out, and pork. So you have chicken and fish. If you like fish more than chicken you can change to pescatarian for a little while and just eat fish for protein. Then slowly cut it out when ready. I went cold turkey and stopped one day, not safe but it worked for me. And if you want to have meat at some point make it a light meat like chicken or fish in small amounts. Ease into it, to be safe.
Also, buy a veggie cookbook, it’s a lifesaver. So you don’t have the boring same veggies every day. And they’re simple and usually cheap since it’s just veggies and no expensive meats.
Good luck!
Do a lot of research so you get it right… learn your basic food groups and learn about each food… learn their best combinations as well. Be an informed vegetarian!
Ovo Lacto Vegetarian is the easiest place to start.
They have eggs and milk products along with;
all seeds,
all grains,
all beans/ legumes,
all herbs,
all nuts,
all fruits.
all vegetables.
Honey.
Protein is found in small amounts in all the above foods. Grains and legumes combined give complete proteins.
If you have some of everything above every day you will get all the nutrients you need. You will need to take a regular B12 suppliment as well.
The biggest mammals on this planet are vegetarians… the elephant, Hippo, Rhino, draft horse, cattle (ox teams), just to name a couple. The elephant, draft horse and ox teams are also the ones used for heavy labour for extended hours at a time… strength and endurance!
Get used to the ovo-lacto vegetarian diet first before studying into the more specialised vegan diet. If you know what you are doing here, you will be fine, but too many people dont do their research and go into it not knowing what they are doing and get sick.
Also if you have food intolerances they involve a lot of extra research and study and professional guidance to get on top of and manage correctly.
But generally, the vegetarian way of living is easy once you get going.
I grew up on a ovolacto vegetarian diet and cant cook meat to save myself! I have since had to deal with food intolerances and a new way of cooking, so I pay a lot more attention to what I eat and why.
First, if you’re not born vegetarian, you need good self-control.
I’ve been a vegetarian since I was born, and I play soccer 4 days a week, and have tons of energy. You really need to balance your food out, more veggies and fruits and nuts than usual…you need lots of protein in place of the meat…etc.
To stay healthy, you need to excercise just like anybody else. Before you do, though, have some yogurt, or nuts or something with protein. Excercise just like anybody else would.
Sometimes when I haven’t eaten, I will feel very body dead. Like when I lie down, I just can’t get up, and don’t want to do anything. That’s where the protein comes in. (AGAIN!)
I suggest you try being veg. for a week, and then see how you feel, and if you could do 2 weeks. Keep it going and add on more days until you feel comfortable being vegetarian for long periods of time. THEN, throw yourself an “I’m going veg!” party!!! YAY!!!! join the club!!!!
good luck!
Look this website over with your mom. Vegetarian Starter Kit
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/
Vegetarian Nutrition for Teenagers
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/teennutrition.htm
Get yourself a vegetarian cookbook. There are a few written just for teens like:
The Teen’s Vegetarian Cookbook – Judy Krizmanic
A Teen’s Guide to Going Vegetarian – Judy Krizmanic
Student’s Vegetarian Cookbook – Carole Raymond
Vegetables Rock!: A Complete Guide for Teenage Vegetarians – Stephanie Pierson
The Starving Students’ Vegetarian Cookbook – Dede Hall
The Vegetarian Kids’ Cookbook – Roz Denny
Better Than Peanut Butter & Jelly – Marty Mattare & Wendy Muldawer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism
http://www.vrg.org/nutshell/nutshell.htm
http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/nutrition/vegetarian.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vegetarian-diet/HQ01596
http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/vegetarian.html
http://www.kfsm.com/lifestyle/health/sns-200909221553tmspremhnstr–k-g20090923sep23,0,4483805.story
http://www.vegsoc.org/cordonvert/recipes/index.html
I got all of these off of Google.com. I just typed in vegetarianism,vegetarian diet,healthy vegetarian diet.etc..
I have been vegetarian since 1991,starting when I was only 16 years old. I was very healthy then and now I’m even healthier. It is just a myth that you can’t be healthy with out meat. People have learned,at a young age,that life revolves around meat. They don’t know how to think about it differently. It takes a certain kind of person to take a look at things in the world and decide to do things differently. All you have to do is think about food slightly differently. You don’t need to go out and buy all kinds of “meat substitutes” like soy hot dogs,burgers,sausages etc.
Things like seitan,you can make yourself. Tofu is good because it’s so versatile,but still not necessary. You can also make your own soy milk,almond milk,oat milk etc. You get to be creative with your meals now,instead of just falling back on the same old thing like meat loaf,chicken,roast,etc.
Here’s a list of books on vegetarianism-http://www.ecobooks.com/catalogs/vegan.htm
Here’s a list of cookbooks-http://www.happycow.net/shop/cookbooks.html
For recipes,you can also go on to VegetarianTimes.com. You could even consider subscribing to Vegetarian Times,it’s really great and worth it. I don’t even live in the US anymore and I’m a vegan and I still get the magazine delivered to me,I like it that much.
The more you educate yourself on how to be healthy and happy as a vegetarian,the more comfortable your mom will be with it. It’s only because she doesn’t know anything about the diet,so she’s worried about you. Most vegetarians are not skinny,pale and sickly. I know so many vegans and vegetarians and none of them have any problems and they all look wonderful,young and healthy.
There are no side effects,especially from a vegetarian diet,since you’ll still be consuming some animal products. If you went vegan,you’d only have to be a little concerned with getting B12,which isn’t as hard as people think,even with out vitamins.
Im a vegetarian and don’t have any problem, coz im just fine and even healthier i think x (i love animals)x