What are tips on becoming a vegetarian?

All foods that contain protein contain some of each essential acid. In some foods the protein utilization is limited by the amino acid(s) that are in short supply in that food. For example wheat and rice are limited by lysine, beef (yes even some animal proteins are not 100% utilized) is limited by tyrosine. Chicken and egg protein is not deficient in any amino acid and thus is the reference point for protein utilization. Someone only eating a protein with a limiting amino acid simply has to eat a little more of it to get enough protein. Anyone who eats enough calories will get more than enough complete protein regardless of their choices.

There are statistics to indicate the “value” of various proteins. The most recent one is Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS). On this scale eggs are rated 1.0 meaning that the protein is completely digestable and usable by humans. Peanuts are rated 0.52 meaning that you would have to eat almost twice as much peanut protein to equal egg protein. Soy protein at 0.91 is only one tick behind beef at 0.92, since soy foods are often lower in fat than beef it is possible to get more protein from a meal of soy foods than meat.

I am a vegetarian and all you really have to do is put your fooy down and say I’m not going to eat meat! And you have to be commited to being one.

Just do what I do, think about the poor little animal your eating. And stick with mainly green foods like

      - Salads
      - Pickles
      - broccli
      - Celery

And stuff like that.

just think about how bad you will feel after ‘indulging’ as you may feel you would be. Its only going to last for the while you eat it. Where as being a vegetarian it sticks with you. The key to being a vegetarian is will power, strong beleifs and can be bothered to find out if say milk os organic eggs are free range and chocolate is vegetarian. hope it helped

Ever think that perhaps they are anorexic as well? I found a few examples of anorexics who use veganism as an excuse not to eat. The term orthorexic has been coined to describe individuals who are obsessed with the correctness or purity of their foods.

Vegetarianism doesn’t take research. Humans are omnivores; we can live on almost anything. That is why we have been able to survive almost everywhere. There are people who thrive on little else but nuts and berries and there are other people who survive bitter cold on little else but raw whale blubber.

I’m really not taking this personally and I hope you aren’t either; I said all the same things you do when I first became a vegetarian. The whole concept of protein complimentation has since been shown to be unnecessary. The biggest concerns with a vegetarian/vegan diet is getting enough vitamin D which is more of a sun deficiency than a dietary one and B12 which can theoretically be a probelm for vegans though a few vegans haven’t eaten any animal products or taken supliments for decades yet never developed pernicious anemia so for me the jury is still out even for B12.

I’m not a vegan; I’ve been a ovo-lacto vegetarian for 27 years and have been trying to eat closer to vegan for the last 4 years, I occasionally eat eggs and dairy. To me the biggest problem with veganism is that you have to prepare most of your own food; when you are short of time it is very difficult to find something to eat. If I was wealthy enough to hire my own vegan chef I don’t think I’d have any problem with it.

Our good captain is pushing some old and incorrect information. Unless you eat a pathological diet of just apples and bananas it is virtually impossible to be protein deficient on any diet that provides enough calories.

There is no time in your life when you are growing faster than when you are a baby. Human breast milk is only 10% protein. At the time in your life when you are growing the fastest 10% protein is all you need. Why would you need more protein than that when you are an adult?

There is complete protein in all the foods we eat. There is no food you eat that is completely deficient of any of the essential amino acids we require. The proportion of amino acids is not always optimal. Rice for example is deficient in the amino acide lysine. There is only about 74% of the lysine necessary to completely compliment the other essential amino acids. If you were to eat nothing but rice than you would have to eat about 1/3 more rice protein than meat protein to reach your protein requirement. Since vegans eat far more protein than they require they would not become protein deficient even on a mono-diet. If you eat several different foods your protein conversion will improve. There are people who are protein deficient but these unfortunate folks also don’t get enough calories either. Any diet that supplies sufficient calories will also provide sufficient protein.

The concept of protein complimentation was popularized by Frances Moore Lappé in her “Diet for a Small Planet” but the practice has been scientifically discredited. Her work was based on rat studies from the early 20th century. Rats require much more protein than humans so her conclusions were based on inaccurate science. We now also know that it isn’t necessary to combine proteins in the same meal to achieve complimentation.

We all know the stereotype about vegetarians being sickly and sallow. I can tell you from experience going to vegetarian get-togethers that all the vegans I met were vigorous and healthy looking. I think the stereotype of sickly vegetarians comes from the cattle industry that tries to convicne us that you have to eat meat to be healthy.

if you are living at home and mum usually cooks, but you want to change your diet, offer to help out by cooking dinner for the whole family a couple of nights a week, that way she wont feel like you are adding to her workload, and you will have some control over your plate.

chilli garlic and onions are the life savers of all vegans, fry them up with any sliced veggies with maybe a dash of soy sauce and the smell will make you feel like you are having gourmet food. have it piled on top of steamed rice or noodles to fill you up.

have a huge salad with lots of different fresh veg, you can add grated raw beetroot and carrot and cabbage for a bit more substance than just lettuce and tomatoes. sqeeze on a dash of lemon or lime juice.

stay away from fake meats or cheeses- reconstituted soy crap, whats the point? plus they taste gross, its like eating carob when you really want chocolate ewww. eat real tofu, its smooth and silky and creamy- way better than tofu sausages soups or stews are also really filling and hearty, add a handful of lentils or pearl barley to really “beef” it up. you can grill pretty much any kind of fruit, and it will become sweeter and taste more decadent. sprinkle on some coconut or some lemon juice and it will look like you bought it at a restaurant. if you sprinkle fresh fruit salad with some crushed mint leaves, some almond flakes and some passion fruit pulp, you wont need cream or ice cream for desert.

Personally I’m a vegetarian for health reasons rather than for animal rights tough I have to admit that seeing videos of factory farms makes it pretty hard to justify putting animals through that just so you can enjoy a hamburger.

Anyway, I became a vegetarian gradually. I called myself a vegetarian for about a year when I was still eating some meat. I was in college and they had this really good lunch meat and when there wasn’t anything else good to eat I found msyelf making meat sandwiches. Spring of 1980 I decided that this was something I really wanted to do and quit binging on meat.

There are times when it is hard to be a vegetarian. Sometimes I’m traveling and there is nothing vegetarian or nothing good vegetarian to eat. Most of the time it isn’t that bad. Before I became a vegetarian I was very much a meat and potatoes guy; I didn’t like very many vegetables and I usually didn’t eat fruit. Becoming a vegetarian forced me to find many new things I like. For me vegetarianism has been a culinary adventure; I eat a much wider variety of foods now than when I ate meat.

If you want to stick to being a vegetarian you should find some dishes you really like. If you are forcing yourself to eat food you don’t really like than this will make it doubly difficult to not eat meat.

takes deep breath

One of the main concerns with being a vegetarian or vegan, is protein intake. Will you still be consuming ‘dairy’ products (milk, cheese, yogurt) or not? The issue at hand involves consumption of certain amino acids. Your body can synthesis several amino acids on its own, but there are (10) that it has to get from outside sources (food), these are called ‘essential amino acids’

They are supplied by meat and dairy products, but if those are not consumed, they can be supplied by a combination of cereal grains (wheat, corn, rice, etc.) and certain beans and nuts. A common source of protein for vegans is lentils & soybeans. These beans don’t have ALL the essential amino acids, but come VERY CLOSE.

There are popular ethnic foods, so that in a single dish, one can get all 10 essential amino acids:

– Mexican corn & beans – Japanese rice & soybeans – Cajun red beans & rice

Have you heard the stereotype about vegetarians looking pale, weak & sickly all the time, like heroine addicts? Well, its because they often have an amino acid deficiency…

to heathurr, dont call urself a vego if you eat fish. eating fish is pescoeterian. vegetarian, vegetables notice the similarity fish=dead animal that is edible, dead animal that is edible=meat.geeez get it rite.

I Don’t Eat Meat Because I Don’t Like It And Yeah But I Love Chicken, I’m Like Almost Vegetarian, But I Dunno Lol. Just Remember The Reasons Your Becoming One, That Should Help? Hah.

dont eat meat?

go to goveg.org that’l be all you need.

think about the actual animals and how they kill them and raw bloody meat. think about the amount of fat they have in there. make yourself see it differently to how you see it now. try cutting up raw meat yourself. I think I’m going to be sick.

hah im a veggie tard :) uhh i live in an acreage and we butcher our cows i haven ate meet for a long long time and uhh i moo when my cooks meat. lol uhh. i dont no .. but eat lots of tuna and it will helps

get a blender and blend a handful of almonds, pinenuts sesame seeds and sunflower seeds. in a pan saute onions garlic and celery, with whatever spices or curry powder you have. add the blended nuts and let it fry for a bit. add a cup of green lentils and enough water to cover the whole mess. let it simmer away. it will look evil but smell great. when its kind of thick and gluggy, you have a filling for pasties or sausage rolls or just spread it on some crackers. once you pour tomato sauce (ketchup) or sweet chilli sauce all over it it’ll taste like a savoury mince.

Well, one thing that you have to do, is to not eat as many carbs now that you’re not eating meat. Otherwise you’ll actually end up gaining weight :-)

People are always worried about protien. Find in in beans, peas and tofu.

Brocolli and other greens can give you more calcium than milk.

If you eat lots of fruit and various kinds too, you probably never have to take vitamins.

Do your research! I can’t say that enough. Being a vegetarian mean reading up on whats good to eat, recipes and tips and so on. Google is a good place to start. No one is going to hand stuff to you on a silver platter.

PETA2.com :) Goveg.com :) When I started out I just took the 30 day veg pledge and it made me more dedicated. Do your reasearch. Like any healthy lifestyle you need to actually know whats what. It’s hard work to start off with, but if it’s something you really believe in then you’ll get there. Determination and perseverance. Also tell people about it, that’ll make you work harder at it, and make them less likely to offer you temptations.

Good luck. <3 :)

x

Expand your cuisine. Stir-fry, Thai, Indian, Mid-Eastern, African foods are packed full of delicious meat-free recipes, like peanut stew and seasame noodles.

Many cultures evolved with very little animal protein in their diets (eg “real” Chinese food has little meat in it) and people starting adding more meat when they got richer because meat is a sign of wealth (a luxury food). The base food without meat is often perfectly healthy, balanced, and has protein in it. Think about Mexican food for example - beans already have tons of protein, the meat is there for flavour.

The other thing to remember is that EVERYTHING has protein. Just eat it, and your body is smart enough to extract what it needs and combine it on its own. You do not need to pay that much attention to your diet, but make sure you consume diverse foods, whole grains (9g protein per serving, plus fiber), legumes (like beans, lentils, chickpeas)and nuts (peanut butter, sesame oil in moderation) in addition to the dairy/eggs/veggies.

To stay vegetarian, pay attention to these tips:

1. Do you feel good? -If you feel weak or tired, try taking iron supplements, eat more spinach and fortified cereals (better sources of iron than red meat). This is the number one problem for vegetarians in America. -If you are losing weight, eat more! MAKE SURE you eat good fats (olive oil, avocado), but go ahead and eat ice cream and corn chips once in a while, eat whatever you ate before switching except meat, and exercise! -Vegetarians don’t live on salad. Salad is not a meal. Toss some pasta and vegetables and black beans with some sauce and cheese - this should be a standard meal, not just lettuce and fruit.

2)Are you tempted by meat? -Think very carefully about your reasons for going veggie. Do you like animals? Then think about slaughterhouses, and read “the Jungle”. Do you want to be healthy? Remind yourself that Americans consume red meat at an alarming rate, and have the highest incidence of heart disease and colon cancer. Do you care about the world? Then know that consuming meat uses up enough food grade grain to feed 40 people, and the world will never be able to produce enough food to feed the 40 million starving people worldwide if we all ate meat. Do you care about the planet? Animal husbandry, especially on the US scale, uses up more water and emits more pollution than any other food industry.

3. Do you want to be vegetarian or be “healthy”? -These are different things to most people. I’m vegetarian, but I love cooking rich deserts and eating out. I’m also pretty healthy, but that’s because I have a normally active lifestyle and I don’t pig out too often. But I usually don’t eat ‘vegetarian’ cuisine because I’m not a huge fan of health food. So I eat good, cooked food, and just cut out the meat and throw in what I like. Remember than vegetarians can eat organic apples and carrot juice, but they can also eat cheetos when they’re watching a movie. Just relax and don’t think about your diet too much if you are not that into in “health foods”

Best of Luck, we will all root for you, and thank you for giving it a fair shot!

Oh, and not belittle vegetarianism AT ALL. I know many very healthy vegetarians too. But I’ve also seen the ‘stereotype’ vegetarians; often teenagers, who don’t really know what they’re doing, still live at home, and settle for whatever vegetables happen to be in the fridge. The parents think its just a phase, pay it no mind, and continue their normal routine. They don’t bother to do the research to find out what is needed.

That’s where the malnutrition can happen… damn kids…

I never said they were protein deficient, I said the common sources of vegetable protein DO NOT have all 10 essential amino acids. This is why you have to consume different combinations to get the equivalent of a ‘complete’ source of protein.

I was a veggie for about a year, but stopped because it made me ill because I didnt like all of the replacement ‘fake meats’. If you do it make sure that you eat quorn, otherwise you might end up like me. I sometimes whish that I was still a veggie but my mum and mates are always saying that I am more healthy and better looking ( I was reli pale ) now that I eat meat.