Vegetarian nutrition

Your flu almost certainly has nothing to do with not eating meat. If you don't like following an exclusively plant-based diet, then just don't do it. Or, just eat high-quality, humanely raised and slaughtered meat a few times a week or one serving a day, rather than with every meal. If your OH is looking gaunt, it could be that he's fine, but you just aren't used to seeing him at that weight. If he really is underweight, then he's not getting enough calories and he needs to eat more--plants or animals.

As above, flu's unrelated. There's so much veggie info and recipes online but a good place to start might be the Vegetarian Society's site. If you eat a balanced veggie diet you should still reach your protein requirements as well as all the other necessary nutrients. Even if you don't like cooking or don't have much time for food preparation, there are loads of quick healthy meals to choose from, e.g. a light meal might be as simple as beans, cheese or scrambled egg on toast or you could serve a frozen food like veg sausage or cheese and onion pasty with a baked potato or rice and lots of fresh or frozen veg. Thousands of far more interesting dishes if you're prepared to spend a little more time; check out the International Vegetarian Union, www.ivu.org ... I ate a veggie diet for years, now meat/dairy-free, and I rarely catch a cold, never had flu and meet all my nutritional needs.

You can get everything you need from a vegetarian diet. You have to pay some attention to your macros and micros, just like meat-eaters, but you can get everything you need. Vegans *sometimes* have to supplement, but you should be able to get everything from your diet.

Cutting meat out of a diet doesn't give one the flu. That's coincidence.

One thing that new vegetarians/vegans don't always seem to get is that there's a difference between something taking the place of a meat product and something actually nutritionally replacing a meat product. Many new vegetarians find things that functionally replace meat but don't give them the protein/fat/iron/etc. that they were getting from meat (for example, using a portobello mushroom instead of a burger. Even some commercial veggie burgers are basically grains with some smoke flavoring -- not at all an acceptable source of protein and fat). I've been a vegetarian for over 20 years, so I'm not at all opposed to vegetarianism/veganism, but you must do your research and make sure you're covering your macro/micro needs.

Btw, I agree with everyone else -- the flu has nothing to do with you cutting out meat. That reminded me of a bit in Trainspotting (the book, I don't think it made it into the movie), where Renton's mom tells him that she thinks that him being a vegetarian caused his heroin addiction.

amberlyda1 wrote: »

yep my daughter is vegetarian again and I constantly have to check what she is eating. For her its making sure she is getting complete amino acids from either whole sources or combinations. You have to do your homework and make sure you are getting proper nutrition in place of the meat.

Combining proteins is a myth... The article that showed that has long since been retracted.

Also, nutritional yeast is a good source of b12.

BecomingBane wrote: »

hekla90 wrote: »

amberlyda1 wrote: »

yep my daughter is vegetarian again and I constantly have to check what she is eating. For her its making sure she is getting complete amino acids from either whole sources or combinations. You have to do your homework and make sure you are getting proper nutrition in place of the meat.

Combining proteins is a myth... The article that showed that has long since been retracted.

Also, nutritional yeast is a good source of b12.

Yes, an incomplete amino profile and combining proteins has been debunked... but your point about nutritional yeast is only half accurate. Nutritional yeast is fortified to contain b12.... if it's not fortified, it does not contain b12 and will still need to be supplemented.

This is such an important call-out. I see many vegans say "Just eat nutritional yeast and you'll get enough B12." But there was a period recently where the only nutritional yeast carried at my local Whole Foods didn't have B12 -- people buying nutritional yeast for the B12 should always check the label to ensure that it is fortified.

@amberlyda1 the wiki article gives a good overview of the history of "protein combining" and why it is debunked today. You can always go to the cited source articles for more information.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_combining

When my (then) teenage daughter expressed interest in going vegetarian, I went in to parental overdrive, getting the "other side" of the story from our local agriculture and cooking LOTS of bacon. She was skinny enough I didn't want to worry about getting enough nutrition in to her.

When my (now) teenage granddaughter also expressed interest in going vegetarian, my daughter set her up by arranging a little convo with her grandmother! I predictably freaked. They did get me to agree that a single meat dish a week would likely serve them any possible missing elements in the diet. My granddaughter, on her own, went plant-based for all of ten days, I think.

I asked her what changed her mind? Meat cravings.

I guess when it comes to teenagers, their eating habits are habitually awful anyways. As a mother and grandmother I do not go out of my way to cater to it. I insisted they get educated on nutrition. Then nature took it's course.

http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/43411/1/WHO_TRS_935_eng.pdf

Here is the WHO breakdown of how and why protein works. Protein combining is not mentioned in the whole journal.

On page 151, you can see a breakdown of protein sources and their amino profile. As you can see, all protein sources contain all indispensable amino acids in equal or greater quantity than the "average" requirement pattern.

There is much useful information here, much of it has to do with adaptation to nitrogen uptake, but it's worth a read.

jgnatca wrote: »

@amberlyda1 PETA targetted my daughter as well. I swear much of their literature is aimed at her age group. When I made a call to our local agriculture department, I found out that PETA produces deceptive literature, like showing a decrepit horse supposed to be representing estrogen production. The picture is of a stallion.

Teenagers are sensitive to deception and injustice. Perhaps pointing out some of the deceptive practices of the PETA people will wear off some of their charm.

I've been Vegan for a long time... I've met many PETA people in that time. Man, those people are extreme, all about being extreme and getting the "message" heard, often willing to lie, misdirect and very often responsible for the deaths of lots of animals whom they "liberate" but don't care for (often animals that cannot live outside of captivity, in the wrong climate, in captivity to study certain nutrient deficiencies that will often lead to their death outside of special diets or nutrient supplimentation, etc... not to mention shelter animals who are euthanized)

They give vegans a bad name and I cannot support their actions, methods or behavior. I'm a vegan, maybe you are not. That's ok. My decisions are mine and yours are yours... but PETA is not the "voice" of veganism as they claim to be... just one more extreme group advocating an extreme solution that is not appropriate to everyone.

I agree PETA is off in their own world. There is a great anti PETA hypocrisy website. I completely forgot the name.

I do not support PETA. They might have been a great voice at one time, but now they seem to always go to the absolute extreme without allowing for reasonable conclusions.

She isnt doing this for PETA reasons anymore, she just says she feels better when she doesnt eat meat. She is also against factory farming and stuff of that nature. I fully support her.
Again if she is going to "rebel" this is a very ok method for me.

jgnatca wrote: »

@BecomingBane , I eat a lot of plant-based meals, and my concern chiefly is serving nutritious meals. Teenagers I believe are particularly vulnerable to say, abstention dieting where they may cut out an entire food group. Which then cuts in to the potential for a nutritious, balanced diet.

I know my daughter came home in tears after reading PETA literature and wanted to become vegan on the spot. It wasn't a balanced approach so I nipped that in the bud.

Now, if an adult, fully informed on nutrition, wants to go down this path, all the power to them.

I think teenagers are capable of understanding and applying basic nutritional concepts. If someone, as a teenager, determines that participating in unnecessary animal exploitation and suffering is wrong, they shouldn't be expected to wait until adulthood to begin acting on that.

It seems like you define "balance" as using animal products. I can certainly understand that, as it is what is normal for most people in our society. But one can certainly have a balanced diet that meets nutritional needs without animal products. There are many vegans who eat a balanced diet.

jgnatca wrote: »

Based on the college kid questions we get on here, I think there are many young people woefully ill-informed on what constitutes a balanced diet. Also, teenagers are congenitally suited to risk-taking.

It is HARDER to get enough protein, B-vitamins, and calcium on a vegan diet. And this, when our young people are going through their biggest growth spurt. Based on my teeth, I know I am most suited to an omnivorous diet. I'm a dietary conservative. I admit it.

You are perpetuating a lot of myths here. Many people do not find it difficult to be vegetarian. I work for an India based company, and the vast majority of my Indian coworkers are vegetarians. They have zero problems eating enough plant based protein. The IBM programmers who come over from the East bring their own lentils in their luggage. There are a lot of people in the world who are meat free without effort.

janejellyroll wrote: »

jgnatca wrote: »

@BecomingBane , I eat a lot of plant-based meals, and my concern chiefly is serving nutritious meals. Teenagers I believe are particularly vulnerable to say, abstention dieting where they may cut out an entire food group. Which then cuts in to the potential for a nutritious, balanced diet.

I know my daughter came home in tears after reading PETA literature and wanted to become vegan on the spot. It wasn't a balanced approach so I nipped that in the bud.

Now, if an adult, fully informed on nutrition, wants to go down this path, all the power to them.

I think teenagers are capable of understanding and applying basic nutritional concepts. If someone, as a teenager, determines that participating in unnecessary animal exploitation and suffering is wrong, they shouldn't be expected to wait until adulthood to begin acting on that.

I agree with this, and think it's something to encourage. Sure, lots of teens may buy into some derpy stuff (like that promoted by Freelee), but certainly adults do too, and pushing an interested teen to actually learn about nutrition is a good thing, and wanting to follow a vegan lifestyle might be a good incentive to do that.