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That's strange. I've never had any problems and know other vegetarians who don't seem to have health issues because of it. I make sure I get protein every day from other sources, but that's about it.
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Originally Posted by RoaminRed
This is a common misconception about vegetarianism -- that you can't get what you need without eating meat. I was a vegetarian for the first 23 years of my life, and I got every nutritional requirement filled through simple knowledge of what and how to eat.
I've been obscenely healthy my entire life -- in fact the only time I've ever gone to a doctor or a hospital is for checkups, having a baby, or some sort of emergency care (broken bone, stitches). I just don't get sick. The times in my life that I have eaten meat, it's been in very minor amounts, probably on the order of once every couple of weeks. You CAN get proper nutrition from a vegetarian diet.
It's not that I couldn't get my vitamins from other places. I knew I could. It's just that I chose to eat a ton of cheese and bread instead. I wasn't doing it right. I was around 18 and didn't really do it right. I would do it again though. Knowing what I know now.
I haven't asked the doctor yet, but I was wondering about meat and little kids - I don't want to force vegetarianism on my kids, but I think it will be fine to serve many vegetarian meals so they get used to it. They'll most likely eat meat at school - I doubt schools have much in the way of vegetarian options.
Vegetarian kids is no problem - just have to be sure they get their protein and calcium. My son loves beans, grainy breads, orange juice, green beans, soy milk, and lots of other fruits & veggies. He does eat some meat - mostly chicken, and they do serve meat at daycare that he eats (except the red meat). At this point he doesn't know any different between meat eater and vegetarian - I'm just exposing him to both and when he's old enough he can make his own decision which way to go. For now I'm just working on him eating at all!!! Typical fussy 2 year old!
I stopped eating meat at the age of 15......I will be seeing the 21'st anniversary of my 29'th birthday next month so it has been a while. It started that I simply didnt care for it. As a bicycle race in my teens it seemed to give me more energy than my peers. As time has gone on it is hard for me to realize others eat meat and I can't relate to why anyone would. Aside from being cruel to animals, I cant help but think the hormones being pumped into those animals aren't affecting the population as a whole. It seems kids are going through puberty much sooner and I can't help but think it is because of the hormones. From an ecology stand point the flatulence of cows is a disaster and it takes 14#'s of grain to make a pound of meat... just eat the grain. The energy from grain I believe is a high level than the various meats which I think is better for us from a health and spiritual perspective.
I do not miss meat and never have. Now I have to be careful of where my non met products are cooked as the meat stuff makes me ill with cross contamination.
Thats the cliff notes of my reasons
It's not that I couldn't get my vitamins from other places. I knew I could. It's just that I chose to eat a ton of cheese and bread instead. I wasn't doing it right. I was around 18 and didn't really do it right. I would do it again though. Knowing what I know now.
Vegetarian kids is no problem - just have to be sure they get their protein and calcium. My son loves beans, grainy breads, orange juice, green beans, soy milk, and lots of other fruits & veggies. He does eat some meat - mostly chicken, and they do serve meat at daycare that he eats (except the red meat). At this point he doesn't know any different between meat eater and vegetarian - I'm just exposing him to both and when he's old enough he can make his own decision which way to go. For now I'm just working on him eating at all!!! Typical fussy 2 year old!
That sounds like the route I'll take. I have other vegie neighbors with babies, so we're not alone with this. We'll avoid fast food too - another of my no-no's! Wasn't it someone posting here recently who said their kids thought McDonalds was just an indoor playground? That'll be my kids.
I've been a vegetarian for 15 years now. I had a lot of pets at home while growing up- dogs, pigeons and even some chicken! Never felt comfortable with eating meat, I knew from when I was a little kid that it bothered me.
I think a vegetarian diet can be just as balanced as any other. I've never run into trouble with it, except when I first quit eating meat.
When people ask me about being vegetarian, I ask if it would bother them to eat a cat or a dog or a horse. Invariably, they'll be appalled and respond, "Oh, no, I'd NEVER eat that!"
I then point out that people in other countries regularly eat those animals, while other people (notably, Hindus) don't eat the cattle that we routinely slaughter for dinner.
My belief is that if you feel squeamish eating one kind of animal, then you probably shouldn't be eating other animals, either. Of course, if eating animal flesh doesn't bother you in the least, then go for it.
This is exactly how I feel too! And I have also asked people if they'd be ok with eating pets for food. I know it's a little extreme but atleast it makes them think.
You're not a vegetarian at all, much less a strict one. A "strict vegetarian" is the old-fashioned term for a vegan, and will not eat animal products at all, including dairy.
A lacto-ovo vegetarian will consume dairy products like milk and eggs, but doesn't eat the flesh of any living creature (including fish/seafood).
Then there are pescetarians, who choose a vegetarian diet supplemented by fish (so of course they are not truly vegetarians).
Please.... I spend years without any meat. Just fish (and I dont count that to meat) besides I barely eat diary products, I simply dont like the taste of milk or butter or eggs. Yogurt once in a blue moon and cheese it's the only diary product I consume. So I guess there should be another subtitle for 'vegetarian'...
Not being anymore or having never been a vegetarian, does anyone buy vegetarian foods ie.. morning star, soy or tofu based products..? I still buy all of that stuff and LOVE it!
We eat burgers, sausage, bacon, ground meat, sliced meat, and hot dogs from Morning Star, Boca, Yves, Tofurkey, and a few others. When we were younger we couldn't afford that stuff. We even ground our own soy beans to make tofu.
But over the years, besides getting older and fatter, we have gotten lazier and richer so we buy what we want, but we hardly ever shop at the trendy yuppie "natural foods" stores. Most of the larger grocery grocery chains have pretty good natural/organic/vegetarian sections.
Our daughter, who is in her thirtys and has been a vegetarian all her life, won't eat any of this stuff. She calls it "meat substitute" and she doesn't like how it tastes.
We don't consider it meat substitute. We think of it as just another form of soy protein and we like being able to give our diet and cooking the variety that it provides.
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I spend years without any meat. Just fish (and I dont count that to meat) besides I barely eat diary products, I simply dont like the taste of milk or butter or eggs. Yogurt once in a blue moon and cheese it's the only diary product I consume. So I guess there should be another subtitle for 'vegetarian'...
