My friend is a Vegetarian and wondering...

markawebber

I thought I would do some searching for my friend who is a vegetarian just as i'm not sure if this is the problem or not. I'm wondering if he is not eating correctly, and this could be leading to him getting incredibly tired at about 9pm, and not being able to focus at all. He seems to become slightly not quite switched on in the mind, and i'm thinking he might not be getting all the vitamins due to having a very narrow diet. He is not eating hardly any vegetables - he also did feint a few weeks ago whilst in his flat, thinking this might be due to not having had enough fluids, but it could also be due to some lacking vitamins. Are there any good vegetarian - no processed / organic food guides I can pass on.. I'm also interested anyway in finding out some good vegetarian / vegan foods so its a win win. Cheers.

arl1286

I'm not 100% sure what you're asking, but vegetarians are more prone to anemia (iron deficiency) than most-- ESPECIALLY if they don't eat their veggies, and this could contribute to the lack of energy. B12 is another vitamin that vegetarians tend to lack.

Before having your friend start taking vitamins and supplements, why not have him start to actually eat vegetables? I know a ton of people who decided to be vegetarians and just basically stopped eating meat and increased their intake of processed carbs, which are basically empty calories and don't give you a whole lot of energy.

I'm not sure of any food guides but the Internet is rich with information (sorry that was pretty unhelpful).

LAW_714

I thought I would do some searching for my friend who is a vegetarian {...}i'm thinking he might not be getting all the vitamins due to having a very narrow diet. He is not eating hardly any vegetables

How does that work?

Alphastate

A good multi-vitamin with B-12, iron, and Vitamin D would help if he's not getting enough nutrients.

SJVZEE

I'm not 100% sure what you're asking, but vegetarians are more prone to anemia (iron deficiency) than most-- ESPECIALLY if they don't eat their veggies, and this could contribute to the lack of energy. B12 is another vitamin that vegetarians tend to lack.

Before having your friend start taking vitamins and supplements, why not have him start to actually eat vegetables? I know a ton of people who decided to be vegetarians and just basically stopped eating meat and increased their intake of processed carbs, which are basically empty calories and don't give you a whole lot of energy.

I'm not sure of any food guides but the Internet is rich with information (sorry that was pretty unhelpful).

Yeah, my first thought was iron too. Eating vegetables are really important, to get a lot of the necessary nutrients in. I'm not overly fond of veggies myself, so I've incorporated a large (large canning jar size), green smoothie every day. That way I get in those dark, leafy greens that are so important, without actually tasting them lol.

Seesawboomerang

He obviously needs to pay attention to his diet. If, as a vegetarian, he's only eating junk, then yes he'll suffer from deficiencies.

I used to be vegetarian (for 14 years), and was raised by vegetarians, and know how stuck in a rut you can get with turning to cheese and bread all the time.

Quinoa is a fantastic protein-rich base (cook it like rice). But I'm guessing if he doesn't really like vegetables, he won't be much into cooking.

Fainting will be a sign of low blood sugar, so perhaps he needs to snack on complex carbs throughout the day. Pile on the oats, apples, bananas, nuts, eggs, and so on.

Seesawboomerang

Dried apricots and almonds are both great sources of iron if he's not going to touch the green stuff.

LAW_714

What I don't really understand is someone becoming a vegetarian but then not eating vegetables.

They've cut out meat.

They don't eat vegetables.

Are they living off of starch and sugar?