I want to be vegetarian, but my parents tell me I'll become anemic. What other foods can I eat to get protein?

Question

Also, what other foods contain iron? I hate meat and I wonder how other vegetarians, as well as vegans, deal with a lack of certain nutrients.

Answer 1

My daughter wanted to be a vegetarian. Here is what I found out.
You might also want to check with your doctor. Milk has one gram of protein per ounce of milk. peanuts and peanut butter have protein, (make sure you are not allergic), yogurt, tofu, some breads, cheese. Just remember 8 ounces of milk has 9 grams of protein, 4 ounces of chicken has approximately 24 grams of protein and anyone under 25 needs about 60 grams of protein a day. You will need to eat alot of the other foods to get enough protein. You will also need to take a multi-vitamin everyday.
Read labels. Be careful the vegetarian meat substitutes can be high in fat. Being enemic comes from lack of iron not lack of protein. You could eat raw spinach in your salad to get the iron. but most meats do not have a whole lot of iron but liver is known to have a high amount of iron. There are iron supplements you can take just be careful they can constipate you if you take too many. You can eat apples and raisins to help with that. Hope I helped

Answer 2

I'm a 14 year old vegetarian. Meat is gross, you are sooo right on that 1! :P But you can always take supplements. I don't but instead eat a lot of peanut butter. Other forms of protein are Ensure protein drinks ( taste almost like mikshakes ), eggs, nuts, beans, rice, protein or energy or power bars, mock meats (there are some really good ones out there) and look in your health food section in your grocery store. In Fred Meyer there is a section in near the pizza with all vegan and vegetarian foods.

Answer 3

You can get protein from rice, nuts, and eggs. Foods that contain iron include broccoli and green-leaved vegetables. Basically stick to fruits and vegetables.
However, you don't have to be a full vegetarian. You can say that you'll eat poultry such as chicken, for instance, and give up other meats such as cow meat (beef) and pig meat (pork). Still, unless you're strictly prohibited by your religion, you might want to eat meat occassionally, particularly when your parents force you, so you don't make a big deal out of it. Then, when you're independent and grown up in college or such, you can adopt a fully vegetarian course (or maybe one that includes chicken). Oh, I almost forget that you should eat fish too.
So, it might be best not to disobey your parents for now; when you're out of their house, then you can go all the way.
Still, you may want to minimize your meat servings as much as possible. Meat--particularly that of cows and pigs--is rather unhealthy in the long run; although it provides protein, it spreads lots of diseases and such. I mean, I usually feel safe eating fruits and vegetables, but meat's safety is questionable. Besides that, it's often gross how they process the meat. The vegetarian lifestyle is thus justified. Try to eat those foods that I mentioned.

Answer 4

Veggies are loaded with mineral and nutrients including iron and protein. Soy has oodles of protein as does peanut butter. If you are super worried take a once-a day daily Miltie-vitamin to catch up on things you may be missing. Check with your doctor too some diets can go against medications. And your doc can even recommend a class with a nutritionist to cover all the bases for your new eating way of life!

Answer 5

I've been a vegetarian for almost 15 years now and am very healthy. I try to take a good multi vitiman every day, and eat lots of fruits and veggies - green veggies like spinach are good for iron, tofu and beans for protien, and even meat substitutes like veggie burgers etc. There are some great vegetarian cookbooks, and books about becoming a vegetarian. Check out Moosewood Restaurant - and their cookbooks - and amazon.com.

Answer 6

Eat leafy green vegetables to keep your iron levels good. Increase leafy green consumption during menstruation to prevent anemia. Porcini mushrooms are the third highest source of protein (after animal flesh and legumes) and most mushrooms are extremely rich in the amino acids that your body would normally get from meat. Be aware of your calcium intake. Supplement with mineral calcium if necessary.

Answer 7

Depends what kind of vegetarian you are. Some (vegans) don't eat animal products either, (milk and eggs) those usualy take pills to get their protien and stuff. however i still eat eggs, and those have protein. by the way, if someone naggs at you about eating eggs because "what kind of vegetarian are you when you eat baby chickens?" tell them to shove their head up their butt and get educated, store bought eggs are NOT baby chicks, these are laid eggs without a rooster involved, it can only be possibly alive when a rooster is involved.

Answer 8

OMG seriously? your parents told you you'd be anemic. lol.

anyways, beans are a good source of protein, as are rice. there are many many specialized vegetarian multivitamins that will make up for the lost protein, and lastly, one of the best things to do is eat fortified breakfast cereal. oh and dairy's good for it too, depends on wether you want to be a vegan or a lacto ovo vegetarian.

Answer 9

Anemia has to do with your body's iron stores, not protein. Of course, you still need to be concerned with your protein intake, too! Check out these sites for iron- and protein-rich foods, and to find out just how much of each you need on a daily basis:

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.htm
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm

Answer 10

Nuts. Eat lots of nuts. It's good for protein and iron. Also, take a supplement with iron.