I am considering going vegetarian.I am told I cannot get the nutrients I need from vegetables.Is this true?

Answer 1

The only nutrient that I know of that is not available from non-animal sources is vitamin B12, but you can buy supplments that will cover that need. If you eat a balanced diet, you will get all the other nutrients you need.

Answer 2

Yes - you need legumes and grains too. The idea that vegetarians only eat vegetables is just a lack of information on the speakers part. You will be fine if you eat a well balanced diet that includes high protein legumes and mineral rich grains like Millet. There are recipes and dietary guidelines at may sites - like http://vegweb.com/ - make sure your Dr knows you are a veg so they can blood test you periodically to make sure you have a balanced diet. Good Luck!

Answer 3

No it is not true. A well balanced vegetarian diet is proven to be healthier than eating meat. You just need to ensure you're eating a good range of lentils, beans, chickpeas, grains, nuts and seeds for protein. There is also soya mince or quinoa mince that you can use instead of meat, so you can prepare all your usual meals like lasagne and chilli con carni. It's so easy to become a veggie - soon it will become second nature and you'll prepare protein rich meals without even thinking about it. It's better for your health, for the animals and the evironment so you definitely should consider it. Good luck.

Answer 4

If that is true, then millions will be dead and most of the biggest land animals like elephants, rhinos, hippos, buffalos....yada yada will be extinct.
But it does takes extra efforts and nutritional knowledge to achieve the required results since humans are omnivores and our digestive system are different than the straight herbivors.
The biggest concern is protein need. You'll need to consume the complete collection of amino acids groups from varies grains, legumes and nuts to insure proper availablility of protein making materials. Like rice and wheat with beans and corn etc.
The biggest challenge lies more with the culinary skills to put these things together within the meal than the nutritional science.
A Mexcian meal with bean burrito, rice, chips and salsa
can actually be a darn good vegetatian meal if you can control the fat intake.

Answer 5

This is 100% false. Period. People who say it's true are undereducated or malicious.

Every single nutrient that the body needs in available in a vegetarian source. This includes protein (beans, rice, eggs, tofu, etc), b vitamins (enriched grains, seaweed, fortified soymilk), zinc (legumes & nuts), and iron (spinach, kale, leafy green veggies).

In fact, a recent study shows that people with higher IQs tend to be vegetarians. And numerous medical and health organizations recommend a vegetarian diet to reduce the chances of diabetes, colon cancer, and numerous other issues.

But, all of this hinges on you being able to eat a balanced diet. Read as much as you can. goveg.com and PCRM have vegetarian resource kits and veggie cookbooks are readily available at most bookstores. Remember, going vegetarian doesn't just mean cocoa puffs for breakfast, a bagel for lunch, and cheese pizza for dinner - it means eating a whole range of foods.

Good luck to you.

Answer 6

I think that we are evolving towards being vegetarians as a species. Evolution takes a really long time (I'll try not to use such big words or concepts here) but you can certainly get a balanced diet more easily with meat in your diet; therefore I eat meat regularly, but in much smaller portions than what is considered traditional.

Answer 7

Absolutely not.

But you don't have to take my word for it. Try reading these two books, written by registered dieticians:

Becoming Vegetarian
Becoming Vegan

These are how-to books, and they do go into detail about vegetarian and vegan nutrition, including what amounts of different nutrients are needed and where to find them.

When you've read them, try getting the person who told you that lie to read them as well.

Answer 8

That is absolutely not true. The only nutrients that you need that you don't get from a vegetarian diet, are available from good ole sunshine. So eat your veggies and play outside!

Answer 9

I'm not a doctor, but I'm vegetarian, and thats not really true. There are alot of meat substitutes, try Morning Star Farms. If you're still eating eggs, theres still some protein there. There's also tofu. Alot of people dont really like it, but its really good, especially in Indian and Oriental food. As long as you have some sources of protein, you should be fine. I am.

Answer 10

Well whoever told you this didnt know what they were talking about.... !! :)
As long as you eat a well balanced diet and make sure you eat a wide variety of pulses, grains, beans and peas you will be very healthy.

Nutrients to be careful you could miss are;
all the essential amino acids (proteins). Meat usually contains them all. You have to get te right mix of pulses, beans etc to ensure you get them all.
Iron - usually plentiful in red meat - eat lots of green leafy veg (spinach, watercress, cabbage etc)
Some B vitamins - make sure you eat lots of grains or yeast extracts