A question for vegetarians....

Nutritionut2013

I've only been a vegetarian for about 3 months now, but occasionally I will look at meat and have to remind myself that I no longer eat meat. Not so much as craving as it is a lifetime habit of eating meat that had to be broken. I take a women's multivitamin. As far as the iron and B-12 previously mentioned by others, a no or low sugar fortified cereal would do good. I tend to eat Enriched Bran Flakes or even Whole Wheat Cream of Wheat is good for the iron as well. Just have to eat like an orange or something with Vit C. to get good iron absorption from the plant-based foods she eats.

MorgueBabe

She may be low in B12, Iron, or D like others have said.
For B12 I really like Nutritional Yeast, I put it on eggs, soups, salads, and pastas.
As far as meat subs go I would have Morningstar Farms since they have really bad Soy in them. I like Quorn but they aren't vegan (they have egg whites in them).

AprilMae1975

I only crave bacon and I don't think it has anything to do with anything I'm lacking....except bacon

MorgueBabe

I only crave bacon and I don't think it has anything to do with anything I'm lacking....except bacon

I was going to say this too. I've been some form of meat free for almost 20 years now. (holy crap!)... and everynow I just want me a piece of fried chicken or a whopper. I don't think it has anything to do with my diet lacking.

alisonlynn1976

I never have cravings for meat, since one of the reasons I'm vegetarian is that I never liked meat anyway. I take a multivitamin for vegetarians just in case I'm missing anything in my diet.

coccodrillo72

For B12 I really like Nutritional Yeast, I put it on eggs, soups, salads, and pastas.

Nutritional yeast is great and I use it all the time but it's NOT a reliable source of vitamin B12, unless is fortified: commercially produced nutritional yeast is made under controlled conditions that prevent B12 producing bacteria to grow.

There are no reliable B12 sources in a plant based diet, really. It's the only supplement vegans HAVE to take (as a side note: B12 deficiency is not uncommon in omnivores too),

From the Position of the American Dietetic Association: Vegetarian Diets. "Lacto-ovo-vegetarians can obtain adequate vitamin B-12 from dairy foods, eggs, or other reliable vitamin B-12 sources (fortified foods and supplements), if regularly consumed. For vegans, vitamin B-12 must be obtained from regular use of vitaminB-12 fortified foods, such as fortified soy and rice beverages, some breakfast cereals and meat analogs, or RedStar Vegetarian Support Formula nutritional yeast; otherwise a daily vitamin B-12 supplement is needed. No unfortified plant food contains any significant amount of active vitamin B-12. Fermented soy products cannot be considered a reliable source of active B-12 (12,46).Vegetarian diets are typically rich in folacin, which may mask the hematological symptoms of vitamin B-12 deficiency, so that vitamin B-12 deficiency may go undetected until after neurological signs and symptoms may be manifest (47)"

You can find the paper and the references here:
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/2009_ADA_position_paper.pdf

kgeyser

I'm not a vegetarian, but my first thought was a nutritional deficiency. My second thought was pregnancy. :embarassed:

Love4fitnesslove4food2

if she craves meat then why doesn't she eat it? Sorry if this has been asked but that's the most obvious solution. I've never ever ever craved meat so I couldn't make any recommendations.

pineapple_jojo

I'm a pescetarian and if I've not eaten enough protein I crave chicken - which is weird because I don't even like the smell of chicken!! Once I've had some eggs or fish then I'm fine I find mfp really handy to track my protein intake.

MorgueBabe

For B12 I really like Nutritional Yeast, I put it on eggs, soups, salads, and pastas.

There are no reliable B12 sources in a plant based diet, really. It's the only supplement vegans HAVE to take (as a side note: B12 deficiency is not uncommon in omnivores too),

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/2009_ADA_position_paper.pdf

THANK YOU

redraidergirl2009

um I don't take any supplements usually for being vegetarian. If she's craving "meat" it may be a craving for iron, protein, or zinc. It's hard to tell since you didn't tell us her usual diet. I eat lots of beans and greens that have lots of iron, for fats I like avocados and nuts and seeds. consider getting her a book on vegetarianism, it can be helpful.

MoreBean13

The only thing you can't get from non meat sources is B12. Most B12 supplements include iron. I take seven seas vegetarian and vegan one. I would get her to go to the doctor and get iron levels checked though. Protein wise you've got to try really hard not to get enough protein unless her diet is incredibly unbalance I very much doubt protein is the problem. I'm a vegan and I easily hit Protein targets without even trying. There's protein in most things a cup of spinach has around 6 grams. Even rice has protein in it.

eggs and dairy have b12, if she eats those, b12 shouldn't be a problem.

thorough blood work is advisable though OP

Even with eggs and dairy, long term vegetarians are still at higher risk of b-12 deficiency, but its not well understood why. It took me 18 years but I still developed a serious b-12 deficiency. IMO all vegetarians and vegans and people with mostly plant based diets should supplement it. The symptoms are miserable.

OP- it sounds more like iron to me, though.

coccodrillo72

eggs and dairy have b12, if she eats those, b12 shouldn't be a problem.

Even with eggs and dairy, long term vegetarians are still at higher risk of b-12 deficiency, but its not well understood why. It took me 18 years but I still developed a serious b-12 deficiency. IMO all vegetarians and vegans and people with mostly plant based diets should supplement it. The symptoms are miserable.

I definitely agree. It could take years for the deficiency to manifest itself and a diet rich in folate can mask the deficiency. Besides the usual serum B12 test can give you a false sense of security: a better alternative is a methylmalonic acid level test. http://nutritionfacts.org/video/new-vitamin-b12-test/

Bottom line: the risk of deficiency is high, the consequences of deficiency are potentially devastating, the supplementation has no side effects and it's also inexpensive if you get a 2000mcg tablet each week. You really, really should do it.

The_Raspberry

Hey, vegetarian since 10 years here. Well, aside from the obvious, that she should eat protein, b12 (if she eats dairy she should be good), vitamin D and iron, here's how I work:

I never crave meat. However, I do crave dishes that contain meat, usually things from my childhood. Things I remember my parents used to cook, comfort food. So, I might for example crave pork chops with apple sauce, because my dad used to make it. The cravings come on when feeling lonely, blue, sick or something. So I make a vegetarian dish similar to it, and give my dad a call. That helps. So, it's not actually porkchops I miss, but the psycological connotations of it, if it makes sense.

Maybe it's something like that that your sister is experiensing?

Dianeshealthysteps

I've been vegetarian foe 10 years occasionally I still crave meat but I just talk myself out of it, as for protein, I don't think that's a problem there's loads of protein in a lot of things, if we were that concerned about it we could have a protein shake,

Essential fatty acids is one to look out fore this can be got through things like walnuts and abaca dos

Linda McCartney sausages make a great dinner with onions gravy etc, a lot of people think gravy is not vegetarian, just check labels there's some great things out there once you start looking

NiikouruDesu

She probably needs to eat more calories. When I'm truly hungry, my body tells me to drop my standards and eat anything, and I am aware of this and always try to keep my calories topped up to avoid these cravings.