I've been a vegetarian for two months, and I've had no problems. However, members of my family, friends, as well as articles I've read, claim that I should be careful with my vegetarian diet. Should I be taking certain vitamins? I've heard both good and bad things about soy, so what is the general consensus; should I be eating it? I'm fairly new at this lifestyle, so any help would be much appreciated.Been a vegetarian for 2 months, what advice can you offer me?
Soy has been consumed in China for thousands of years and they are more populous than any other country.
There are no nutrients that can only be found in animal foods but there are many that can only be found in plant foods.
No offense to them, but your friends and family haven't done any research and have no interest in vegetarianism. Why would they know anything about it?
There have been vegan Olympic gold medalists and a vegan woman can create an ENTIRELY NEW,HEALTHY HUMAN BEING INSIDE OF HER. Many of these children stay vegan and grow up to be perfectly healthy adults. So just keep yourself educated about what you eat and don't let anyone tell you that a veg diet is lacking anything essential.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Lewis
http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada鈥?/a>
Here are some more veg people:
http://www.mikemahler.com/index.html
http://www.vegetarianbodybuilder.com/ind鈥?/a>
http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/?page=b鈥?/a>
http://www.andreascahling.com/andreas-ab鈥?/a>
http://www.billpearl.com/career.asp
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-23鈥?/a>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Danzig
http://www.scottjurek.com/career.php
http://www.nfl.com/players/rickywilliams鈥?/a>
http://www.brendanbrazier.com/raceresult鈥?/a>
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You will always have people tell you that vegetarianism is foolish and lacks the ability to nourish healthy bodies. People know nothing of the subject but they are apparently arrogant enough to think that they know everything because they have swallowed all of the propaganda that's been fed to them.
There is a Japanese analogy/proverb that goes like this, ';The nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down';. People are like this everywhere. When you tell your family that it is your personal belief that animals should not be eaten, they take a look at themselves and it can be subconsciously translated into, ';What you do is wrong and I choose to be right.';
Your parents have probably been taught a huge amount of misinformation by their parents and their teachers while growing up. You really need to research vegetarian diets and health before you even think about saying the ';V-word'; in front of your parents or anyone else.
When you have gathered enough information and feel confident in a vegetarian diet's ability to maintain or even improve health, you may mention to them that you have made the decision. They may be shocked, angry, worried, curious or many other things, but you must NEVER react to their behavior and always stay calm. If they are able to speak to you and respect your choice, please tell them everything and answer all questions. If they are rude, inconsiderate, judgmental, violent, or verbally abusive, refuse to continue any conversation until they can speak to you with respect.
The best advice is to study everything that you can about a healthy vegetarian diet and keep yourself in good shape (better than most people your age or than your friends/family if possible). If nobody that you know shows a genuine, positive interest in your choice, don't give them the privilege of the knowledge that you have gathered. Work your way around any attempts they make to trivialize your beliefs and if possible, go shopping with your parents and buy things that aren't obvious veggie fare. Instead of trying to sneak fake meat into the cart, toss in lentil soup, peanut butter, pasta, fruits %26amp; veggies or anything else that you have learned is needed to fill any gaps in your diet.
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If you want to become a lacto-ovo vegetarian, the transition should be quite simple. Almost all meats have widely available commercial replacements. All that you have to do is replace any flesh in your diet (beef, pork, poultry, seafood) with meat analogs or just leave it out altogether.
You should keep in mind that a journey such as this can be quite short but should just be the beginning of a longer one to a plant-based diet with no animal products. This is because of the reality of factory farming in which animals that are kept alive to produce milk, eggs, etc suffer much more and longer than animals that are raised to a certain weight and then slaughtered.http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/
http://meat.org
Some people use the word ';vegan'; in reference to this idea, but be aware that applying that label to yourself should always come with the inclusion of wise activism and advocacy.http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/in鈥?/a>
Two extremely important examples of this are that you should never speak to someone about vegetarianism/veganism without their consent and genuine interest or as a comment on what they are eating AND your dietary beliefs should never be used as an introduction or explanation of who you are as a person. Veg*ism should be something that comes up AFTER people get to know you and they offer you a situation that makes it confusing to withhold the information/discussion. Also, if you are presented something that you choose not to eat or you are
ordering food/eating together somewhere/picking the best place to eat.
When you you hold off on the subject until it's necessary and then act like it isn't a big deal at all, people are usually surprised and WAY more interested and curious than if you were to bring it up when someone's eating or just using it as a conversation starter.
A responsible vegan ALWAYS studies the subject of their own health and how to keep their body completely provided for in every sense. http://www.veganhealth.org/sh
To neglect their body is to define a plant-based diet as unhealthy and is the opposite of helping the animals.
Just to clear things up, the vegetarian/vegan diet is not composed of salads, vegetables, fruit and fake meat. Fruits and vegetables are always important but they DO NOT make up the largest portion of any healthy diet.
A balanced plant-based diet includes grains(breads, pasta, rice,cereal), legumes(soy, beans, peas, lentils), fruit and vegetables.
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/f鈥?/a>
http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/
http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/ea鈥?/a>
Being vegan can be an art, one whose challenge is to take things that involve the suffering of the innocent and change them into something free of cruelty.
A vegan woman can create an ENTIRELY NEW,HEALTHY HUMAN BEING INSIDE OF HER. Many of these children stay vegan and grow up to be perfectly healthy adults. So just keep yourself educated about what you eat and don't let anyone tell you that a veg diet is lacking anything essential.
Technically the term ';vegetarian'; does imply that you don't consume anything that comes from the body of an animal that requires killing it. Many ingredients such as gelatin and glycerin are found in many candies, Fig-Newtons, and many of other foods as well as rennet found in many cheeses.
http://www.happycow.net/health-animal-in鈥?/a>
The best thing to remember is to take your time so that for example: when you are comfortable not eating beef and pork you can then give up chicken when you are sure you can make the commitment permanently.
Depending on your age or reliance on parents or regional options, it may not be best to give yourself a label. The important thing is to do your best to make progress and be committed to your compassion towards animals. Never put your focus onto what you or other people use to describe yourself.
If you meet someone that talks down to people for eating meat, dairy, etc or to you because they think they are ';more veg'; than you, laugh in their face and tell them they are a disgrace to the entire philosophy. People like this only hurt the idea of veg*ism AND the animals. The point of all of this is to live compassionately and and as free from cruelty as you can, all the while maintaining your health and a positive attitude. People who don't maintain either, need not open their mouths and represent our beliefs.
If you actually choose to read all of this, I hope it helps. If not, feel free to e-mail me if you have questions.
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I'm vegan and these are some of my favorite things to eat:
Breakfast: bananas, cream of wheat with brown sugar and soy butter, cereal, pancakes or french toast with real maple syrup, vegan ';sausage'; patties, smoothies.
Snack: BRUSSEL SPROUTS =) no joke
Lunch: vegan ';sausage'; sandwiches, sandwiches with vegan deli slices(Tofurkey is the only one that's kinda funky), fruit, dinner leftovers, couscous salad, vegan sushi, potato or pasta salad.
Dinner: sloppy joes, ';sausage'; and gravy with homemade biscuits, Spaghetti and Trader Joe's ';meatballs'; or TVP, lasagna, Thai pad see ew, pad khi mao(drunkard's noodles), pad prig king, tofu+eggplant with basil sauce, yellow thai curry with tofu or vegan chikn and veggies and jasmine rice, Indian dal with homemade roti or dosai, channa masala, aloo gobi, vegetable or minestrone soup, pizza, STEAMED ';PORK'; BUNS with potstickers or spring rolls, sweet%26amp;sour/orange/lemon chikn, vegan pho or wonton soup, baked tofu, BBQ homemade seitan (tastes like BBQ'd ribs), kabobs
I use these sites to find recipes:
http://www.foodnetwork.com
http://vegweb.com
http://www.recipezaar.comBeen a vegetarian for 2 months, what advice can you offer me?
Congrats on choosing a healthy cruelty free life style. I've been a vegetarian for 10 years and I am extremely healthy. Check at your library for books about beginning vegetarians. I think there are those(for dummies) books on vegan and vegetarian. I do take a multi vitamin but I always have even when I used to eat meat. I do eat soy but I also get tons of protein from eating beans.
You can also order free vegetarian starter kits from peta.com and pcrm(physicians committee for responsible medicine). Don't let anyone tell you this is an unhealthy diet! People who give you a hard time about protein and we are meant to eat meat are just uneducated. Ignore them! That's the best advice I can give you. :)
Congratulations on your decision!
And dear Gaia, not the protein thing again! If I had a dollar for everyone who whined, ';What about proooooteeeeinnnn,'; I'd be rich. You'd think people would have gotten it by now that unless you eat a junk food diet or not enough calories, you're getting plenty of protein. *sigh*
Soy is good--lots of phytoestrogens, a good source of vegetable protein. Just look for organic soy products to avoid GMOs. And in moderation, of course.
To allay your family's nutritional concerns, check out www.vrg.org.
I do take vitamins, just to make sure I'm getting everything I need. But then omnivores take vitamins, too. Read the labels to make sure there's no gelatin in your vitamin capsules.
Or go to www.veganstore.com or www.veganessentials.com to find vitamins formulated for veg*ans.
You just need a wee bit of education.
Start here with an article on veggie Sources of Protien
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/a鈥?/a>
Now here's a free newsletter by Dr. John McDougall..also look into the archives, they are full of information %26amp; recipes.
http://www.drmcdougall.com/
I am anti-soy except for fermented products, Tofu, Tempeh, Miso Soy Sauce.
I am a Vegan %26amp; eat well (lots of greens, Carrot-Veggies Juices %26amp; Green Smoothies), so only take B-12.
Slaint茅 (to your health)
Don't go crazy over the protein issue. Yes, your body needs protein...but according to what I've read, we're so high on protein (at least in the U.S.) that most doctors wouldn't know a protein deficiency if they saw one! Go figure.
I suggest looking into some basic ';vegetarian health'; stuff online, getting an idea of how to balance your meals so you're getting a decent amount of everything you need. I want to emphasize, though, that there's no need to freak out or get super-intense about PRECISELY WHAT TO INCLUDE IN EACH MEAL, and such-like.
You could try the free ';vegetarian starter kit'; available at http://goveg.com/order.asp . The same site also has some good health info at http://goveg.com/optimal_vegan_nutrition鈥?/a> (tips about getting proper B12, making sure to eat ';whole'; foods, avoiding unhealthy stuff like trans fats, etc.).
Soy...eh, I think it's like anything else: moderation is good! Include soy in your diet, sure...but don't make 70% of your meals soy-based, either! Shoot for a good variety.
Other good online resources include http://www.vegsoc.org/newveg/fft/nutrien鈥?/a> , which will correct any misinformation you've heard about some nutrients supposedly not being available in a vegetarian diet. You can head to http://www.vegsoc.org/info/basic-nutriti鈥?/a> for a whole overview on basic vegetarian nutrition.
Hope this helps!
I've tried soy milk and dont really like it.
Its supposed to be good for you though, and no baby cows had to suffer to make it.
As long as you're eating a varied diet you should be fine. Friends %26amp; family *usually* stop worrying after several months because they can see for themselves that you're healthy.
If you're vegan or simply don't use much dairy, have a vegan B12 supplement a few times a week. Protein is almost never a problem, despite what ppl may tell you. I use tofu or other soy products a couple times a week but soy isn't essential if you don't like it or would rather not eat it.
Flaxseed is a good source of the Omega 3 oils that ppl say you 'need' fish for. I keep ground flaxseed in our freezer %26amp; try to use it almost every day. It's got a nice, slightly nutty taste %26amp; you can use it in smoothies, baked goods, on cereal or fruit etc. You can buy it already ground or you can put some in a blender.
It's also nice to have fun %26amp; try out new vegetarian foods.
well you have to eat alot of protein to make up for all of the protein that isn't getting into your body through meat. you should take lots of viatamins. i am a vegetarian and I have c's , multies, and b -12's
eat more chikin
Get protein from many sources. Eat a lot of nuts, beans, tofu, whole grains, veggies, and fruits. Fake meats are good too when there's nothing else. Viatimins aren't necessary but they may help if you start having any problems. Try multivitamins or b12. Soy has many heath benefits, but there have also been studies proving it to be a little dangerous in mass quantities. Like anything else, just don't eat too much soy and you'll be fine.
Stop what your doing Your body needs protien. Just go easy on what you eat. Vegetarians do not live longer than people who watch what they eat. For godssake dont become a Vegan. Thats some kind of liberal culture garbage people get sucked into. Be kind to your body
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