A question for vegetarians....

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  • redraidergirl2009
    redraidergirl2009 Posts: 2,560 Member
    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
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
    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
    coccodrillo72 Posts: 94 Member
    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
    The_Raspberry Posts: 84 Member
    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
    Dianeshealthysteps Posts: 15
    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
    NiikouruDesu Posts: 100
    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.

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