Is there truly anything that can replace meat?

Question

I don't really like the idea of eating animals but don't want my health to suffer either. What's are good alternatives to add to my diet?
( I went to donate blood recently and they wouldn't take it as my iron levels were low even though I've been taking iron supplements and vit C etc since stopping eating meat)

Answer 1

Boca and Morningstar Farms have meat substitutes like burgers and chicken patties. If you make a chicken patty sandwich with pickles on a bun, it's not much different that a fast food chick sandwich except nothing died for you.

My blood levels are great, my cholesterol is low, I feel great and I have been lac-to-ovo vegetarian for about 5 years. You need to eat almonds, walnuts, beans, and probably more than you are eating. A vegetarian can eat much more than a non-vegetarian if you are staying away from processed foods like sugary treats and too many carbs (lots of breads). I munch on nuts and raisins and dried fruit all the time. It gives me energy and it obviously helps with blood levels.

Dark green leafy veggies are high in iron...spinach? collards? Beets are also high in iron.

You need to broaden your diet to include more foods. You absorb your vitamins and minerals much better from foods than from supplements. I do take vitamin C and a good multivitamin daily. I would ask someone at my health food store. Iron supplements are poorly absorbed unless you take them with food, and sometimes you still don't get what you need out of them. Perhaps a good prenatal vitamin would help you.

Answer 2

At one time the only things available to eat, apart from veg were animals but in today's civilisation where we have the technology to produce other foods, it is not only unnecessary but I think completely immoral to eat anything that was once alive. There are so many different types of food produced, apart from the natural vegetables grown. Someone mentioned quorn. I personally hate the taste of this. I don't know what country you are in but in the UK there is a meat substitute called Realeat and it tastes lovely, just how I remember beef from about 30 years ago. I use it for stews, sphagetti etc. They have produced one that also tastes like chicken but its not so good.

Answer 3

Of course. There are things like tempeh, tofu and seitan, which are all amazing. If you hve a Noodles and Co in town try the organic tofu next time. Really, if you are having trouble with the thought of giving up meat, go to www.meetyourmeat.com to discover what it is you will be giving up.

Now, when you went to donate blood and they told you that about your iron, did they tell you this is directly related to your diet? It could be a number of factors like anemia or your time of month. I hope this helped!

Answer 4

If it's primarily iron you're looking for, you can find it in dark green leafy vegetables, beets, dried fruits (apricots are a great source,) blackstrap molasses, and quinoa, among others. Quinoa is also a good source of protein, calcium, folic acid, b vitamins, potassium and magnesium. If you make an effort to eat a varied diet rich in plant foods (and minimize processed convenience foods) you should get all the nutrients you need.

Answer 5

I've not eaten meat for the last 7 years,i get on fine eatin Quorn,Cauldron & Some Linda Mc,don't eat tesco's own meat free range,it's not very nice,very rubbery. As Said before you can get Quorn Recipes from there web site. good luck and happy eatin.

Answer 6

Yea. You can use soy meat crumbles when like you are cooking spaghetti and lasagna...You can eat veggie burgers also. Of course, if you never tried a veggie burger just go to BK and they have one. It has milk so vegans should beware. Some people use tofu to replace meat also but im not a big fan of that.

Answer 7

I adore Quorn. It is available in the frozen part of supermarket and is available in mince and chunks that look like chicken when cooked. My dad was a doctor and he used to try and get me to eat spinach soup for my anaemia but I found black strap molasses more palatable. You can go on the quorn website for recipes. I adore spaghetti bolognese made with quorn mince. Honestly no one will know the difference. Try it

Answer 8

You mean can anything deliver everything that meat delivers (vitamins, minerals, flavour etc) but in such a way that no animal died to make it. Basically no one product can do all that for you. You would have to break down all the things that meat gives you and find them from several different sources.
Sounds to me like vegetarianism doesnt agree with you

Answer 9

You answered your own question. If you're too anaemic to give blood even when taking supplements, you are suffering.

There's another problem about vegetarianism: an ecological one. If we didn't eat them, how many animals would there be in England? Without animal cover on the land (and their dung) how would we grow the masses of grain, beans etc. ncessary for protein? Artificial fertilisers and pollution are the only answer. We go too far down that road already - do you want to go the whole hog? Again, what would you do with the land that's not fit for arable farming? Without the sheep the Lake District would be unproductive.

Killing is never pleasant, but death gets us all, even cows. My personal standard is that I eat meat, only from a known source (the butcher buys from named farms where the stock is well treated) and of course humanely slaughtered. Get used to it, and eat healthily again.

Answer 10

I use Quorn occasionally for a nice change. As a meat eater you can tell it's not meat but it is very similar to chicken