Young Vegetarian - any tips on being healthy?

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  • katy_trail
    katy_trail Posts: 1,992 Member
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    for omega 3's take ground flax there's another thread on here about creative ways to eat it.
    most people just stir it into oatmeal, yogurt, or muffins.
    tons of other vitamins and benefits too including B vitamins and fiber
    2 tablespoons is less than 80 cals.

    for iron
    eat more legumes
    lentils are loaded with iron and frequently used to make veggie burgers
    there are some really awesome lentil 'meat' ball recipes too.
    tastes very much like ground turkey

    Oh she glows is a really great vegan blog
  • BaconMD
    BaconMD Posts: 1,165 Member
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    There IS a vegan source of DHA/EPA. I know because I take it. ^_^

    It's algae oil. The same place the fish get it from. It's a bit pricey, though. I order mine from amazon, the best brand I've found is Nordic Naturals.
    Cool! This must be fairly newly-available? I haven't looked into it in quite a few years. I will mention it to my wife. The krill oil we use is not cheap, either.

    My earlier point about other plant sources stands. Flax oil, for example, is simply not a good source for the omega-3s we want... ALA conversion is very very low. You'd need at least 20+ times the amount of ALA... Not worth it... Pretty much an exercise in futility and caloric waste, if you ask me. ;)
  • BunkyBumBum
    BunkyBumBum Posts: 157 Member
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    OMG - thank you for your response! You went very in depth :)

    If I eat eggs alone I get sick but if I have them with something or if they are in something that I consume, I'm fine. Not sure why. Same with milk. I can't drink a glass of milk without needing to vomit but any other dairy product is fine (I tried Lactose free milk and that made me more sick. Organic milk didn't make me sick though).

    I'm definitely going to get some Greek yogurt. I've never had it before.

    I'm going to look into getting some magnesium because 1, as a female I probably need supplements to help my bones and 2, I'm on a form of BC that may affect bone density.

    Is the Quron brand very common at grocery stores? I've never seen it before, I don't think.

    Interesting about how you stopped taking a multi vitamin and started taking vitamins individually - I think I might do that too :)

    About the breast size thing - I'm sorry to hear that you have to have surgery to fix your back problems :( I'm a 38DD and I have some back issues as well, but not like you've mentioned. I think once I lose weight they'll go down (hopefully).

    For milk I like unsweetened vanilla almond milk, to me it tastes the best of all the substitutes.

    If you've never had greek yogurt it's important to note that they vary quite a bit. I like Fage brand (and I'm addicted to the blueberry acai 0% with the fruit compote on the side of the container) it's expensive, but it's worth it for the benefits and if you can catch it on sale it had a pretty good shelf life (a couple weeks). It can be substituted for sour cream, and I've even used it in place of oil in baking.

    Quron is hit and miss at the grocery stores. Whole foods always has it, and our local grocery stores have it on and off. It's in a yellow box and they make cutlets, naked cutlets, patties, and stuff like that. It's made to mimic chicken, I like the naked cutlets because when I prepare dinner I can cook it the same way I'm cooking my husband and son's food (they are not vegetarian).

    Look at Floradix vitamins. They're liquid and you have to refrigerate them, but they seem to absorb better because of it.
  • holothuroidea
    holothuroidea Posts: 772 Member
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    There IS a vegan source of DHA/EPA. I know because I take it. ^_^

    It's algae oil. The same place the fish get it from. It's a bit pricey, though. I order mine from amazon, the best brand I've found is Nordic Naturals.
    Cool! This must be fairly newly-available? I haven't looked into it in quite a few years. I will mention it to my wife. The krill oil we use is not cheap, either.

    My earlier point about other plant sources stands. Flax oil, for example, is simply not a good source for the omega-3s we want... ALA conversion is very very low. You'd need at least 20+ times the amount of ALA... Not worth it... Pretty much an exercise in futility and caloric waste, if you ask me. ;)

    From what I've read, and from advice from nutritionists, people have different conversion efficiency for ALA to DHA/EPA. Most people have no problem converting ALA, but it's impossible to tell if you're one of the ones with a crappy conversion until you start showing symptoms of deficiency. I have a history of depression so I'm not taking any chances, but I don't think everyone needs to take a DHA supplement.
  • exclamationdot
    exclamationdot Posts: 4 Member
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    I'm a vegetarian as well, and I'm the only one in my family. I recently found out I have an iron deficiency. My favorite way to get iron is Cream of Wheat. 50% of your DV of iron, for only 120 calories!! And, I can even double the serving, have all my iron for the day, and still have eaten very few calories. Some places it's called enriched farina.

    I try really hard to not eat too many pastas. I used to practically live on pasta, mashed potatoes, etc, until I started gaining weight. After realizing that, I try to avoid having pasta more than once a week (if that). I've learned to LOVE fruit. I also learned how to cook broccoli, and it can actually make a decent meal.

    You should definitely give "fake meat" another try. Morningstar is GREAT for the variety they have. So is Lightlife. My favorites would be the chik patties, chik'n nuggets, and hot dogs. So yummy, and won't hurt your diet at all.


    Feel free to message me about how I stay healthy (or try!!) as a vegetarian :)

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