is being vegetarian healthier?

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fruittart7
fruittart7 Posts: 20
in Food and Nutrition
is it healthier to be a vegetarian?
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  • llbreell
    llbreell Posts: 37
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    I was watching a show on it and it said they're depressed because they don't eat meat..even if they take vitamin d. Thought about it..ALLLLL of my vegan and vegetarian friends are on antidepressants.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,639 Member
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    You'll get subjective viewpoints. I know vegetarians who are fat and eat french fries, chips, and fried foods. No meat, but they still eat some foods that don't help with keeping them thinner or healthier.
  • Tattoos_and_Tea
    Tattoos_and_Tea Posts: 529 Member
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    Not necessarily :-)
  • LATeagno
    LATeagno Posts: 620 Member
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    No. Most of the vegetarians I know are busy eating soy meat substitutes. Natural is better. Natural fat, natural protein, natural carb... all in moderation.
  • sarah_ep
    sarah_ep Posts: 580 Member
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    I was watching a show on it and it said they're depressed because they don't eat meat..even if they take vitamin d. Thought about it..ALLLLL of my vegan and vegetarian friends are on antidepressants.

    I find this very silly, no offense. I know many who aren't on antidepressants and show no signs of depression.

    To the OP, it's all relative. Just because you are a veggie doesn't mean you are more healthy or thinner. It's all about what you eat. My boyfriend used to be a vegetarian several years ago and ate nothing but bean tacos.
  • SquishyVicki
    SquishyVicki Posts: 280 Member
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    I was a vegetarian for almost 20 years and started to eat meat again a few years ago. Personally I feel a lot healthier now as I have more energy and generally feel better. When I was a vegetarian I was constantly battling with protein and iron deficiencies which left me feeling drained.....

    I think it's different for different people and you just need to find what works for your body.
  • snailrunner
    snailrunner Posts: 215 Member
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    I've been vegetarian for 27 years and have never been on antidepressants. Even when I went through a prolonged and horrific relationship break-up I don't think I was depressed...I just looked forward to a better future.

    I have my moments when I eat cr*p, but I try to focus on eating mostly unprocessed foods, which is something anyone can do whether vegetarian or not.
  • karenwill2
    karenwill2 Posts: 604 Member
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    it depends on the person. Being a vegetarian requires more than a health goal. It is a commitment to not eat anything that has a face. Mr Rogers was a vegetarian and not a depressed person at all. I have tried that life for health and it was okay but I love meat. I like to eat chicken, pork and cow. Fish are fair game too. The most important thing is to learn how to eat and satisfy yourself while maintaining a healthy weight.
  • BigMamaDiva
    BigMamaDiva Posts: 24
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    It depends on the food choices you make. If you're loading up on carbs, then no. But if you are eating the right good carbs, lots of fruits and veggies, beans, legumes then yes it can be. Do some research on the contents of your meat. Chickens are twice the size they used to be 25 years ago because of the use of the steroids and are also PUMPED FULL of antibiotics. This is pretty much ALL meat companies. Perdue being the dominate one. Ground beef is rinsed in an ammonia wash to wash it of bacteria. Its really gross what they do to meat before we get them. Everything is genetically modified. You do not need meat to live. The fats alone in animal flesh are no good for humans. This also includes dairy products. Cows milk is not made for humans. It's made for...Ready? BABY COWS. Meat also degenerates the bones. The best thing I ever did for me and my family is stop eating meat and starting to cut off dairy products too.
  • mirenner
    mirenner Posts: 205
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    A well balanced diet is the key to happiness through health
  • StanShields
    StanShields Posts: 1
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    Totally depends on what they eat. Everyone has a subjective opinion unless you are a research scientist who's done the work. Read The China Study and find out why being vegetarian or Vegan is healthier. The key is to make sure you are getting all the right nutrients for your body. After reading the China Study and work from the Hippocrates Institute in Florida, I am moving to become vegetarian as a minimum. I may quite possibly become a Vegan. We'll see. It's also not something you should try to do overnight. I think you have to work your way into it slowly to make sure you are getting the right nutrition. Meat isn't necessary though.
  • shesonic80
    shesonic80 Posts: 13 Member
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    I went vegan for about 6 months in an attempt to lose weight. I really lost weight fast and i felt good but it was hard for me too. i had to give up a lot of the things I liked. I went back to my old ways and of course put the weight back on. But I have had a lot of trouble with dairy items since. I also had a lot of trouble properly digesting meat again when I started ti eat it again. I lost a lot of the enzymes and things I needed for nutrition, I found out. Now I'm trying to lose weight gain. But this time I'm not giving anything up. I'm just using moderation and better judgment. That's what I like about this site.
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
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    I think the average vegetarian eats a lot more healthily than the average omnivore. If only because we have less scope to eat junk without the McDonalds/KFC fast food thing to tempt us.

    However, it is perfectly possible to be a healthy meat eater and equally possible to be an unhealthy vegetarian.

    In general I would say simply making the decision to be vegetarian or vegan usually means you are thinking more about nutrition than the average person.
  • zoodalia
    zoodalia Posts: 294
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    I think it depends on the individual. My sister has been a vegetarian for about 20 years and never craves meat. I run a fairly strict no-meat, no-meal policy. Our mum reports that my sister was never interested in meat when she was a littlun and apparently I loved it!

    Some people don't seem to be unwell without it, but I think I'd start to feel pretty crappy if I removed it from my diet. I don't think anyone can make sweeping generalisations.
  • zoodalia
    zoodalia Posts: 294
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    I think it depends on the individual. My sister has been a vegetarian for about 20 years and never craves meat. I run a fairly strict no-meat, no-meal policy. Our mum reports that my sister was never interested in meat when she was a littlun and apparently I loved it!

    Some people don't seem to be unwell without it, but I think I'd start to feel pretty crappy if I removed it from my diet. I don't think anyone can make sweeping generalisations.

    P.S. sorry for the duplicate post!
  • pander101
    pander101 Posts: 677 Member
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    I was watching a show on it and it said they're depressed because they don't eat meat..even if they take vitamin d. Thought about it..ALLLLL of my vegan and vegetarian friends are on antidepressants.

    This is not true at ALL.Whatever show you were watching doesn't have good sources.

    As for being healthy, no they are not healthier. Meat eaters and non-meater eaters can both be healthy or not healthy. It depends on what you take into your body. There are healthy and unhealthy choices for both. I have never had a problem with a lack of protein or any vitamins also. Neither do my vegetarian friends. So it's really about WHY you want to be a vegetarian. Shouldn't just be for weight loss.
  • adventuring
    adventuring Posts: 178
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    I was a vegetarian for almost 20 years and started to eat meat again a few years ago. Personally I feel a lot healthier now as I have more energy and generally feel better. When I was a vegetarian I was constantly battling with protein and iron deficiencies which left me feeling drained.....

    I think it's different for different people and you just need to find what works for your body.

    On the flip-side, I was a pescetarian for the first thirteen years of my life, and then ate other meats for five, and in that five years, I gained a great deal of weight and was very unhealthy, I think probably both because my body didn't like the other meat and because I wasn't eating healthy in general. It's going to depend on if you eat healthy no matter what. You can eat healthy whether you're vegetarian or not.

    As an aside, I've never had a problem with protein or iron deficiencies, and as a pescetarian I ate seafood seldomly enough I think it wouldn't impact that.
  • spinachdiva
    spinachdiva Posts: 45
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    It's all about what you're eating! As a two year vegetarian, I can definitely say that you can still eat crappy food--cakes, too much pasta, cheese (moderation is key). However, becoming a vegetarian made me love many more vegetables than I used to, and has really helped me make healthier choices.

    Being a vegetarian doesn't equate healthiness, but it's a great tool if you want to take advantage of it. If you're going to be denying yourself and you're going to cry every night because you can't eat chicken, then it's not for you. The point is that I DON'T want to eat beef or chicken or any of that stuff anymore, not that I CAN'T. :)
  • silkysly
    silkysly Posts: 701 Member
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    idk..., I'm a meat-etarian & i'm pretty happy about it! :o)
  • DaniJeanine
    DaniJeanine Posts: 473 Member
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    Recently, a lot of research has pointed toward eating a Mediterranean for the best effects of overall health. It's a diet rich in veggies, whole grains, olive oil, fruit, fish (about 3 serving per week), with limited amounts of white meat (1x/week) followed by very limited amounts of red meat (1x/month). Sweets and processed foods also fall into the "very limited" category. It also promotes drinking 1 (not more!) 4oz glass of red wine per day. If you Google it, you can find lots of info on the research and dietary recommendations. Eating this way promotes a balanced, healthy lifestyle without major sacrifices or omissions of a particular food group. Hope this was helpful and good luck!!

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