Vegetarians....I NEED your help!!!?

Question

Here's my question. I think I want to become a vegitarian, for health reasons, and I don't know if a vegitarian diet includes cheese and milk. Any help would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you in advance!!

Thank you to the first response, I was wondering if anyone could go into detail about the lifestyle...is it healthy to just stop eating meat? What can I look forward to as far as "meat withdrawls" (if any), and what does a list of vegitarian foods consist of? THANK YOU!!

Answer 1

Hi Nuthutter,
I just wanted to chime in here. There are a lot of really good answers and I think the most important thing to remember is that if you doing this for health reasons and not because of the cruelty to animals aspect, milk, cheese and eggs should be fine to eat. You want to keep your eyes out for a few secret products though. One was mentioned earlier, which is gelatin. Some others include rennet which is enzymes from the stomach of an animal (most of the time from a calf). This is used a lot in cheese as a stabilizer and it helps the cheese become solid. Another one is pepsin (relatively the same as rennet). Then there is Cetyl Palmitate which is harvested from whale and dolphins heads (sorry to be graphic), lard which is fat from a pig, stearic acid (I won't even go into that one) and urea (You can yahoo that one as well, too gory to be specific about where that comes from).
These are just a few things that can be found in cheese, chocolate, vitamins (especially the gel cap kind like vitamin E and A) and some types of refried beans just to name a few.
So, if you want to really kick all animal products out of your diet it is best to check labels! We try and stay with organic milk and I am the only one in my family who still eats range free, organic eggs (although there are some good substitutes out there that are much lower in fat and cholesterol; since you are going healthy, that might be the way to go).
Good luck with your decision and remember sometimes it's good to start with baby steps and work your way into a healthy lifestyle!

Answer 2

I would like to begin by saying there is no such thing as a semi-vegetarian or a pesco-vegetarian. Those people are just delusional meat-eaters. A person either eats dead animals or s/he does not. This person may pick and choose which animals s/he eats, but still eats the animal.

That being said, whether you eat meat or are a veggie, you are healthy or unhealthy depending on *how* you eat. You can be perfectly healthy by eating chicken and fish and adding more fruits and vegetables into your diet.

Overall, vegetarianism is an entire lifestyle change; it is not a diet you can *cheat* on. You can't occasionally treat yourself to a dead animal because you have been doing so well. At that point, you are just on a diet.

If you want to be a vegetarian, then that is wonderful. You would be doing a great thing. Vegetarians can eat cheese and milk. Some also eat eggs.

Don't believe all the angry meat eaters who list off all the reasons why you *need* to eat meat. You can lead a very healthy and bountiful life. At first you will crave meat, but what you are really craving is the fat meat contains. Believe it or not, fat is an addictive substance. Fake meats are a lot more healthy than regular meats, so substituting those will be helpful for you.

Whatever you decide to do, good luck and have fun.

You can find great vegetarian recipes at
http://allrecipes.com

The vegan food pyramid recommends
5-6 servings of grain a day
3+ servings of vegetables
3 servings of fruits
2-3 servings of legumes (beans, soy etc.)

I know it can be hard to eat that often and that much, so I use a juicer for my veggies, and use a blender to create smoothies for my fruits using ice and light-vanilla soy milk.

Answer 3

Hi, part of our household is vegan meaning that we don't eat any animal products, except for a little honey. We eat a big variety of fresh, organic, raw (and cooked, in the winter months), ripe, juicy fruits and vegetables. We especially don't like dairy because of many problems we have had with everything from allergies to digestive problems. We try to keep our bodies in an alkaline state and that is the opposite from 'acid' (the acid stomach, acidosis, etc.) that is pretty common with the SAD (Standard American Diet)with its meat, dairy, coffee, wheat products, processed sugars, and other acid-producers.

There are lots of sites online that will give you piles of exciting information about being vegetarian, as well as recipes, etc.

We wish you all the best!

Answer 4

I am one and personaly, I think it is totally fine to drink milk and dairy. I mean, the cow is not even hurt in the process of milking! Being a vegetarian is a lifestyle. It is not unhealthy IF you have plenty of protien in your diet to replace the lost protein in the meat. Honestly, you can't be a healthy vegetarian if you don't like beans. Beans are your primary source of the lost protein in the meat. You should try to have beans like once every to days at least. Or, if you don't like beans, it's very important to find another source of the portein. It is really important that you don't stop drinking milk and eating cheese becasue those have calcium and vitamans and plenty of other good parts. Without that AND the lesser amount of protein, you would not be healthy.

Answer 5

Everything that wasnt once walking/slithering/swimming around.... Loads of meat eaters only occasionally eat it, it's not an essential part of your diet and you get protein from vegtables. Plus most of you favourite meals you can probably still make just substitute the meat for something else (i made spag bol for a friend he ate it, loved it then sed, 'i thort u were veggie?' :s Didnt notice the differance, except meat is more chewy!xx

Answer 6

my mom considers herself a strict vegetarian. she eats everything but meat. that's basically how it works, vegetarians just can't eat meat, but everything else is fair game.

the biggest debate about vegetarians is whether or not they can eat eggs, because they fall into that blurry catergory.

milk and cheese is actually one of the most effective ways of getting calcium for vegetarians. i know my mom takes one-a-day for women, but you can't get all of your supplements from vitamins. milk is important, and especially if you like it, don't stop having it. if you want to cut back on the fat intake (i dont know much about your health reasons) but im just putting it out there, then it's easiest just to have skim milk. and eat the cheese in moderation, because the cheese is going to do way more bad than good for you haha.

hope this helps!

Answer 7

Read LOTS of books and websites about being vegetarian. Go to the library and check some books out and figure out exactly what type of a vegetarian you'd like to become. I'd recommend The Complete Idiot's Guide to Being Vegetarian.
All I can say is read a lot about it and start testing out vegetarian recipes.

Answer 8

There's veganism, which avoids all animal products (including honey from Bees), and then there's lacto-ovo vegetarianism, which does not exclude dairy and eggs. My vegetarian friend described eggs in a funny but insightful way, as "chicken periods". The eggs we eat are not fertilized, so to a lacto-ovo vegetarian, they're okay. What you'd need to avoid, besides meat, is gelatin (which is derived from animals).

Answer 9

One more thing to watch out for--soups. You can't just grab that can of soup at the grocery store, you need to check the ingredients. A lot of soups you would think vegetarian from the name (black bean, corn chowder, etc) are made with chicken or beef stock. Never assume.

Be very careful of ramen, too--most of the flavor packets contain chicken, beef and/or shrimp "extract", even the non-meat flavors such as Oriental or Mushroom.

Answer 10

Yes it is very healthy to avod meat as long as you make sure your getting enough vitamins.

I'm geussing you want to either be a lacto-ovo or lacto veggie due to how you worded your question.

loacto-ovo vegetarians eat eggs and dairy products, no fish or meat.

lacto vegetarians eat dairy products and no eggs fish or meat.

To get iron:
Leafy green vegetables are very iron rich. Drink or eat something with citrus like orange juice before to absorb iron better.

Protien:
-protein bars
-tofu
-soy
-fake meats
-beans
-nuts
-peanut butter