How to get proper nutrition as a vegetarian?

Kaylabooboo2525

title says all, oh if it helps I eat morning star and boca faux meat for protein and I'm lacto ovo vegetarian so that I can get calcium, I don't seem to be getting proper nutrients though. Any supplements that anyone would recommend?

dancerkb31879

Try protein powder, nuts, seeds, avocados for healthy fats and protein.

GWehsling

@Kaylabooboo2525: It depends what you mean by 'proper nutrition'. Your diary is hidden so it's hard to pass comment. I've been vegetarian for a long time (over 25 years now) and had no health issues related to food/nutrition - I do eat eggs and dairy products, though not 'a lot' at all. I run about 30kms a week and workout in a gym 3-5 hours, most weeks. I do occasionally take an iron supplement and that's about it.

Have you had a blood test for nutritional deficiency? Do you have any signs or symptoms of abnormality?

You are welcome to friend me or share your diary for some advice or suggestions - there are some good helpful folk here, just be sure not to take everything everybody says to heart - there is a lot of 'bro science' and 'solid wikipedia' research here too.

RodaRose

What do you mean by "nutrition?" Are you talking about the distraction macros?

eswims802

Lentils, beans, quinoa, protein powder,nuts, seeds, and chickpeas are all good.

Kalikel

Dairy is a huge start. Soybeans are a complete protein (and very yummy, IMO.) Other veggies have protein, but some have this kind and some have that kind. Read up on complementary proteins.

Quorn and Morning Star make faux-meat products with protein in them.

Tofu.

Visit some veggie sites. Get a book about nutrition (a responsible one, like a textbook) and read...or just visit the library and read. Maybe see a dietitian if you're really confused.

You can have just as healthy a diet as the carnivores if you put a little effort into it!

B_TEEN

Kaylabooboo2525 wrote: »

title says all, oh if it helps I eat morning star and boca faux meat for protein and I'm lacto ovo vegetarian so that I can get calcium, I don't seem to be getting proper nutrients though. Any supplements that anyone would recommend?

Are you a processed food vegeterian? Embrace the "veg" of vegeterianism

If you are eating fruits, veggies and legumes the only areas that probably need supplementation are B12 (take a supp), Vit D (sun first, then supp), and possibly calcium (OJ, kale, bok choy, soy milk, tofu or mustard greens to a lesser extent some cereals).

karenalyssa9

I agree completely with B_Teen with regard to embracing more vegetables in your diet and letting go of some of the processed supplements. I have been vegetarian for close to 2 years and I spent 13 months of that time eating everything but vegetables. After having blood work done I found that I was deficient in many areas including Vitamin D, B-12 and Iron. I have since visited with a certified nutritionist and after our first visit I was given a simple dietary guideline that has changed my life. In 6 weeks time I've lost 12 lbs by increasing the number of vegetables I was consuming, reducing the amount of fat I was consuming and eating clean as opposed to the processed items. I get my blood work checked every 3 months and I am looking forward to August to see how well I've done with these changes. Please note that I take prescribed Vitamin D and a vegan B-12 supplement. Increasing my intake of dark green vegetables will help with the iron levels. Maybe visiting with a nutritionist will help you see things from a different perspective.

melimomTARDIS

I bought a few books on nutrition from my local goodwill, and printed out the loma linda vegetarian food pyramid (as a visual reminder of what I am shooting for)

I eat a serving of protein with all my meals, and i will utilize soy products, beans, protein powder,nuts, etc to meet that goal. No shame in that game.

I eat veggies with all meals, with the exception of breakfast, when I have fruit.

I also take a women's one-a-day multivitamin, and 2 capsules of flaxseed oil everyday. That helps me with iron and omega 3's, which i tend to slack on in my diet.

nataliebordeauxx

B_TEEN nailed it. Eat all the plants & you can't go wrong!

pumpkinpocalypse

i'm no ''actual'' vegetarian because I cannot afford restricting such a large group of food in my diet, especially when it's offered to me, but I cook 95% of what i eat daily and a huge part of it is usually veg, as i'm not a fan of meat to start with (except fish and seafood....i can't help it. but thats on occasions)

My staples are : beans of all kinds -cooked into falafels, chilis, frijoles/burritos etc, salad, hummus...the trick is to always make something more elaborate out of them so you don't get tired of the same taste all the time. nuts, eggs, cottage cheese, greek yogurt, tofu, tempeh, 2% cow milk or soy milk, lentils, all kinds of seeds like chia, sunflower, hemp, pumpkin...cheeses, etc for protein.
I don't use them because I don't have the money but i've heard a lot about maca or other protein powders and such which have health benefits on top of that. I avoid processed soy ''fake meats'' and all those kinda sub things like the pest, i'm a very whole-foods kinda person.

For healthy fats i absolutely adore avocados. Also nuts, olive oil and other vegetable oils, then again cheese, nut butters, coconut milk etc.

And if i were to list you where i get my carbs the list would be endless so i won't. I'm an absolute vegetables and fruits freak, i have a literal ton at every meal. That, and i like my fair share of whole wheat/grain pasta or noodles/rice/bread (also gluten free whenever i can because i have troubles digesting it)

I take a liquid iron supplement called Floradix every morning, it helps me a lot, too. Most women lack iron, anyway. My mom is a meat eater and she takes it too (and 3 times a day even!)

edwardetr

melimomTARDIS wrote: »

I bought a few books on nutrition from my local goodwill, and printed out the loma linda vegetarian food pyramid (as a visual reminder of what I am shooting for)

I eat a serving of protein with all my meals, and i will utilize soy products, beans, protein powder,nuts, etc to meet that goal. No shame in that game.

I eat veggies with all meals, with the exception of breakfast, when I have fruit.

I also take a women's one-a-day multivitamin, and 2 capsules of flaxseed oil everyday. That helps me with iron and omega 3's, which i tend to slack on in my diet.

Flaxseed oil is not likely giving you the fat coverage you want. Flax is rich in ALA but you also need EPA and DHA, which the body can produce from ALA, but at a very poor rate. Sorry to say it, but you may want to consider a fish oil supplement if you want your omega-3s.

Steve_ApexNC

Kaylabooboo2525 wrote: »

I don't seem to be getting proper nutrients though.

You didn't say how you came by that conclusion. The best way is look at your macro's and micro's so you can compare actual intake to recommended levels. If you find yourself coming up short on a specific nutrient, then first add foods that contain that nutrient into your diet.

If you came to that conclusion because you don't feel right or if you feel ill, then perhaps you should see a doctor.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

MakePeasNotWar

edwardetr wrote: »

melimomTARDIS wrote: »

I bought a few books on nutrition from my local goodwill, and printed out the loma linda vegetarian food pyramid (as a visual reminder of what I am shooting for)

I eat a serving of protein with all my meals, and i will utilize soy products, beans, protein powder,nuts, etc to meet that goal. No shame in that game.

I eat veggies with all meals, with the exception of breakfast, when I have fruit.

I also take a women's one-a-day multivitamin, and 2 capsules of flaxseed oil everyday. That helps me with iron and omega 3's, which i tend to slack on in my diet.

Flaxseed oil is not likely giving you the fat coverage you want. Flax is rich in ALA but you also need EPA and DHA, which the body can produce from ALA, but at a very poor rate. Sorry to say it, but you may want to consider a fish oil supplement if you want your omega-3s.

Just to note, there are now microalgae-derived DHA and EPA supplements for those who don't want to take fish oil.

Since I don't know how to edit the half-page link, I'll just say that "vegan EPA DHA" in the Amazon search bar returns several options.

MakePeasNotWar

What makes you say you are missing nutrients and which ones? It's hard to give advice without knowing what the problem is or if there even is one.

The only nutrients I have trouble getting in sufficient quantity from a vegan diet are DHA/EPA and B12, so I supplement both.

angel_minor18

This thread has been very helpful to me as I am not quite a vegetarian. I eat meat maybe a couple times a week and am looking for new ways to combine foods. I find that I eat lots of vegetables but lack in the protein area.

angel_minor18

This thread has been very helpful to me as I am not quite a vegetarian. I eat meat maybe a couple times a week and am looking for new ways to combine foods. I find that I eat lots of vegetables but lack in the protein area.

edwardetr

MakePeasNotWar wrote: »

edwardetr wrote: »

melimomTARDIS wrote: »

I bought a few books on nutrition from my local goodwill, and printed out the loma linda vegetarian food pyramid (as a visual reminder of what I am shooting for)

I eat a serving of protein with all my meals, and i will utilize soy products, beans, protein powder,nuts, etc to meet that goal. No shame in that game.

I eat veggies with all meals, with the exception of breakfast, when I have fruit.

I also take a women's one-a-day multivitamin, and 2 capsules of flaxseed oil everyday. That helps me with iron and omega 3's, which i tend to slack on in my diet.

Flaxseed oil is not likely giving you the fat coverage you want. Flax is rich in ALA but you also need EPA and DHA, which the body can produce from ALA, but at a very poor rate. Sorry to say it, but you may want to consider a fish oil supplement if you want your omega-3s.

Just to note, there are now microalgae-derived DHA and EPA supplements for those who don't want to take fish oil.

Since I don't know how to edit the half-page link, I'll just say that "vegan EPA DHA" in the Amazon search bar returns several options.

Great tip! Thanks.

RodaRose

CharonCharon wrote: »

I am sure you take a daily women's multivitamin.
If note, you may be lacking enough B-12, iron, zinc, full calcium, and Vitamin D.
Vitamin C is also hard to get at desired amounts of at least 500 mg a day.

All of those including B12 are parts of a vegetarian plan.

One bell pepper for example has 100 mg of Vit C.

ScreeField

The suggestions to eat more fruits and vegetables are right on. Especially whole fruits and vegetables. There is a scientist by the name of Dr. Rui Hai Liu doing work in this area. He's been showing that whole fruits and vegetables (like an apple for example) have a far better health and nutrition benefits than individual supplements.

For example, he published in Nature back around 2000 showing that 100 grams (about 1/2 cup) of fresh apple had the same antioxidant equivalent as 1,500 mg of vitamin C--about 3x the amount of a single vitamin C supplement. The apple itself only has about 5.7 mg of vitamin C, but the benefit is from the right combination of the vitamin C in the apple and everything else in the apple. Supplements don't give you all the same components, nor the right blend of those components.

Quote: It is estimated that more than 5000 individual phytochemicals have been identified in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, but a large percentage still remain unknown and need to be identified before we can fully understand the health benefits of phytochemicals in whole foods.

Here's a link to an interview w/ the researcher:

http://archive.sciencewatch.com/inter/aut/2012/12-jan/12janLiu/

For Omega-3's, your body can actually convert ALA from nuts and seeds into EPA. And, DHA isn't necessary for most people if your Omega 3:Omega 6 ratio is balanced (which commonly occurs with a vegetarian diet). In fact, pregnant women are warned against taking fish oil supplements. And, although a few small studies showed improved biomarkers for certain ailments with fish oil supplementation, a survey of 98 studies (including a 15 year long study with 200,000 participants) showed detrimental effects from taking fish oil supplements.

Protein is another interesting issue. Although it's currently the darling of the macros, there is increased scrutiny showing links to cancer from high animal-based protein diets. The paradigm will shift again. My best guess is the shift will shy away from individual micros in favor of unbroken structures.

RodaRose

ScreeField wrote: »

The suggestions to eat more fruits and vegetables are right on. Especially whole fruits and vegetables. There is a scientist by the name of Dr. Rui Hai Liu doing work in this area. He's been showing that whole fruits and vegetables (like an apple for example) have a far better health and nutrition benefits than individual supplements.

For example, he published in Nature back around 2000 showing that 100 grams (about 1/2 cup) of fresh apple had the same antioxidant equivalent as 1,500 mg of vitamin C--about 3x the amount of a single vitamin C supplement. The apple itself only has about 5.7 mg of vitamin C, but the benefit is from the right combination of the vitamin C in the apple and everything else in the apple. Supplements don't give you all the same components, nor the right blend of those components.

Quote: It is estimated that more than 5000 individual phytochemicals have been identified in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, but a large percentage still remain unknown and need to be identified before we can fully understand the health benefits of phytochemicals in whole foods.

Here's a link to an interview w/ the researcher:

http://archive.sciencewatch.com/inter/aut/2012/12-jan/12janLiu/

For Omega-3's, your body can actually convert ALA from nuts and seeds into EPA. And, DHA isn't necessary for most people if your Omega 3:Omega 6 ratio is balanced (which commonly occurs with a vegetarian diet). In fact, pregnant women are warned against taking fish oil supplements. And, although a few small studies showed improved biomarkers for certain ailments with fish oil supplementation, a survey of 98 studies (including a 15 year long study with 200,000 participants) showed detrimental effects from taking fish oil supplements.

Protein is another interesting issue. Although it's currently the darling of the macros, there is increased scrutiny showing links to cancer from high animal-based protein diets. The paradigm will shift again. My best guess is the shift will shy away from individual micros in favor of unbroken structures.

That is good stuff. Thank you.

withoutasaddle

It totally depends on what your 'not getting enough of'. I'm a vegetarian (no eggs or milk for the most part) but somehow I get enough nutrition on a weekly average (ignore this week- vacation ) without trying too hard. It's different for everyone