should i stay vegetarian ??

Question

well, i became vegetarian a little over 1 1/2 weeks ago. before i became vegetarian, i had never eaten pork or beef or red meat, just chicken & turkey. but i know how to get the protein that came from that. my whole life. well...my parents think its a horrible idea to stay vegetarian, that im gonne get sick and all. and tis really getting to me. but i wanna stay vegetarian very much, and im eating healthy and all, and i feel just fine. im almost positive i can survive. what do you think i should do ?? im 13 yrs old btw if that makes any difference.

ive eaten pork before people, i just didnt eat it regularly. but honestly, ive never had a burger. :/

Answer 1

Ya, I think it is an excellent idea to stay vegetarian if you know how to stay healthy without it. I think more people should be vegetarian, it is really a great idea I hope Im not to late but dont let your parents tell you not to do something like that its stupid, do not give in!

Answer 2

If you're an ovolactovegetarian (i.e. you eat eggs and consume dairy products) you'll probably be fine. Speaking as someone who was a vegetarian from ages 12-19, I can tell you from experience that it's perfectly possible to not eat meat and stay healthy at a young age. I'm not a vegetarian anymore, but I feel as healthy now as I did when I was a vegetarian.

The biggest myth is that all vegetarians will somehow wither and die from lack of protein. It is not very difficult to get a healthy amount protein from beans and dairy. Many "meat-eaters" get much more protein than neccessary to stay healthy and then mistakenly assume that it's somehow dangerous to consume less protein.

I'm sure you can find alot of educational info about staying healthy on a vegetarian diet on the internet. Try having your parents consult a doctor or find them reading material about vegetarianism to assuage their fears. I know this may not work, however, since parents are often unreasonably intolerant of children making life decisions that are contrary to their expectations.

If you really feel like staying a vegetarian, try not to let people intimidate you into changing. Having the strength to be different builds character in the long run...

Answer 3

Of course you can survive. I've been veggie for 27 years. 60 million people in Indian do just fine as veggies. You can do more than survive, you will be very healthy and live longer with less chance of cancer, heart desease and obesity. Surely a loving parent would want that for thier child ?


its no big deal, jsut get a decent balance of fruit, vegetables, nuts and cereals and you'll be perfectly fine.

Ignore peolpe who say you'll be ill, or need meat , or need supplements, its all wrong and normally said by meat-eaters who have no experience of a proper vegetarian diet.

1.5 weeks is not really enough time to get used to it though, it'll take about 6 months to get rid of the bad stuff from meat that is in you.

Perhaps you can look at all the information packs on the vegetarian society's website - www.vegsoc.org.

They have lots of stuff for new, young veggies, as well as thier parents so you can find something for mum and dad to read.

Answer 4

KFC doesn't skin their chickens alive silly. It's worse. They run them on a onveyor belt slitting their throats on a stationary knife, then they die in a scalding tank where their feathers are burnt off.

IT ISN'T KFC! They just get the rap because they refuse to buy any meat froim slaughterhouses who DON'T do that. If you buy chicken from your supermarket it is the same as KFC. Tortured to death.

That is why being a vegtarian is good! Morally and healthfully.

You can only safely digest 4 ounces of meat a day. Not enough to fulfill protein. Also meat has different protein than other sources, it is lower quality.

People who say vegetarians don't get protein are retarded. If I ate 30 grams of protein from meat a day, id be gettin 30 grams more than I needed. I take in about 60 grams daily without a hint of meat, soy, or tofu. Legumes and nuts are amazing for you.

Good luck and don't give up!

Answer 5

As long as you are getting a well balanced vegetarian diet you have nothing to worry about. You actually have less to worry about like heart disease, colon cancer, high blood pressure, and obesity. Biologically humans were not designed to fully digest meat. Most religions speak of peace towards animals and not to be a means to their suffering. Either way you put it a vegetarian diet is benificial to everyone. Some choose to become a vegetarian and others don't. What matters is what decision is right for you. If you want to be a vegetarian then go for it and don't let anyone stop you.

Answer 6

definitely stay veg
its healthier and youll be less likely to get sick- after i became a vegetarian, i felt way better, and hardly ever got sick
itll be way easier for you if you make your own food when your
parents make meat, and just eat the sides
also, eat about as many vegetables as pasta, which sounds strange but its very true. a lot of kids who become veg at a young age and cook for themselves just eat pasta, and it throws off their triglycerides, which is really the most unhealthy thing about being a vegetarian.

and about your parents- mine are the same way
i hate to tell you this, but you probably cant convince them that being a vegetarian is healthy- mine are still in denial- so youll probably just have to deal with them

its amazing how crazy people get about vegetarians, saying its unhealthy


anyways, good luck and stick to it!

Answer 7

My dad became a vegetarian when he was 13. He use to feed the cat any meat his mother gave him when she was not looking. He is now 63 and in perfect health. Can't even remember the last time he was sick and he has never been in the hospital for anything, thank God! I've been a vegetarian for the last 15yrs. I'm 33 and can't remember the last time I took off from work because I was sick. Being Veggie is healthier. Stick with it if you can.

Answer 8

I became Vegitarian when I was about your age, I felt fine for a week. Then i got really sick, but it only lasted for about 2 hours. I was vegitarian for two years and my parents didn't support me at all. I learned alot about nutrition and that I could accutually survive without meat. The reason I stopped was because I'm going into culinary arts and I figured that if I was going to cook meat, I better know what it tastes like.
So yes you should definatley stay vegitarian, at least for a while. It's a wonderful learning/experimenting experiance, thats what our teen years are for. I'm 17 by the way.

Answer 9

The average person only needs about 50 grams of protein per day. Protein is in everything, just look at the side of boxes. In todays world it is very hard to be protein deficient if you are eating a wide variety.

High protein foods include:
soy milk, tofu, nuts(Almonds, Cashews, Filberts, Hemp Seeds, Peanuts, Pumpkin seeds, Sesame seeds, Sunflower seeds, Walnuts (black)), seeds, legumes(Garbanzo beans, Kidney beans, Lentils, Lima beans, Navy beans, Soybeans, Split peas), grains(Barley, Brown rice, Buckwheat, Millet, Oatmeal, Rye, Wheat germ, Wheat, hard red, Wild rice), vegetables(Artichokes, Beets, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Green peas, Green pepper, Kale, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Mustard green, Onions, Potatoes, Spinach, Tomatoes, Turnip greens, Watercress, Yams, Zucchini), fruits(Apple, Banana, Cantaloupe, Grape, Grapefruit, Honeydew melon, Orange, Papaya, Peach, Pear, Pineapple, Strawberry)

Trust me protein deficiencies are rare in the U.S and are mostly found in third world countries that suffer from famine. Itf you feel fine than stick with it. Maybe your parents should educate themselves on vegetarian nutrition if they are so worried, this way they would be able to help you/or see that you are eating fine.

Answer 10

Hmm...you should definitely stay vegetarian, but you may need to work to persuade your parents that it's the right thing to do. You should definitely find some information online (or better yet, books) that describe how a vegetarian diet can be healthy, and show it to them. Also, you should do your own cooking. If your parents aren't crazy about the idea of you being vegetarian, then they definitely aren't going to want to cook vegetarian.