vegetarian help?

Question

I've been thinking for a while now that I should go vegetarian. I don't eat much meat to begin with but the only problem is that I'm severly anemic. I've been taking iron pills but I don't like to, I understand that some veges are high in iron. Which ones are they? What are some pro/cons of becoming a vegetarian?

Answer 1

Since you're a young woman (I'm inferring from your name), if you're anemic you're likely going to be that way regardless of diet unless you feel like a big slab of liver on a bed of spinach every day. It's just facts of life since we lose blood every month. No problem with taking the iron pills as long as they're not causing you any side effects. If you want to become a vegetarian you will be just fine.

Answer 2

Well first, I wouldn't become a vegetarian until you get your health better. Let me tell you something.I've been a vegetarian for 8 months. And when I first started I became very sick. But I started taking vitamins. You should take multivitamins, it's the best vitamins you can take. It's good for you. I'm actually writing a paper about the pros of being a vegetarian. And what i've researched is being a vegetarian is actually healthier than being a meat eat. You see, when you eat meat, the meat is stored in your stomach and it's left there to rot. Therefore, that's why most people get stomach bugs or periodic stomach aches. When you become a vegetarian you're less likely to get sick. This entire time that I've been a vegetarians i haven't gotten sick other than getting a cold. No flu, or stomach bugs. And another fact is just because people become a vegetarian isn't 100 percent true that they are healthy. To be healthy you have to eat healthy. Start eating healthy food. Such as tofu, black beans, fruit, vegetables and lay off on the junk food. Maybe that's why you're anemic. Good luck. You can hit me up at my email if you want more information.
[e-mail]

Answer 3

You can be anemic whether you're a vegetarian or not. I've had several bouts of anemia & had to be under a Dr.'s care each time, but this has only happened to me *once* in the 20 years that I've been vegetarian & that was *not* due to my diet.
You can read labels to see how much iron you're getting. As several people here have mentioned, beans & dark leafy greens have iron & they should be eaten with a Vit. C source. My Dr. actually suggested raisins for iron but I haven't this anywhere else before or since. A vegetarian nutrition class I took was enlightening, as we learned that a really good source of iron is to use a cast-iron skillet for some of your cooking.
Like you, I don't like taking iron pills, but when I needed to I went through with it & focused on building up my iron reserves with my diet so that I could lose the pills ASAP. During my latest bout of anemia, which was a few years ago, they were testing my blood every couple of weeks & it just took a couple months to get things backto a decent level-- and my counts were so low to begin with that the Dr. was talking about transfusions & hospitalization. My last several tests (during routine exams) have been great. Good luck.

Answer 4

If you are female, the blood loss of a period if very small and does not cause or contribute to anemia unless you have an abnormally large amount of blood passing (lots of people with unhealthy diets do).

The reason you are taking vitamin iron pills is because western doctors only treat symptoms and not their underlying causes. Basically they hand out prescriptions and reap the financial rewards of doing so.

What you need to do is improve your diet, exercise more, and all that stuff you already know. Cut out the junk food, processed food, etc. and eat more real food. Start a garden, get a rice/grain cooker perhaps... order seed catalogues, read The One Straw Revolution by Masa Nobu Fukuoka and start growing some of your own food. It's cheap, educational, and even fun -- especially at dinner time.

You see, all plants are balanced in nature. If you eat a natural diet, you will become balanced. But if you eat processed foods, you will unbalance yourself. So, you don't need to focus on eating lots of iron, but focus on reducing the stress on your body that is causing your anemic condition; help your body balance out. See, I'm very highly athletic, and as a vegan, have never had a need for vitamins, iron supplements, and so forth. No not even b12. These are just scare tactics, propaganda, and ignorance.

Taking vitamin pills are a waste of money. You see, spinach, for example, also contains vitamin c. It's already a balanced and ready-to-eat food. No need to do any fancy food combinations.

Yes, vitamin c does help in the absorption of iron, but do not eat spinach with oranges. The body can store nutrients to utilize at a later time, thus you can eat an orange in the morning, and eat your spinach at dinner and yes, the nutrients will find each other.

Answer 5

This is a great resource for becoming a vegetarian. You can always come here with your questions, and everyone above has answered amazingly to your question. But if you are questioning the pros and cons of vegetarianism, there are a ton of things for you to help you decide.
Check out how we get our meat at http://www.meat.org

And also, get a load of information you need about making the switch safely by ordering a starter vegetarian kit at http://www.goveg.org

Good luck - What you are considering doing is something that will benefit your body, the environment and animals and you will feel noble about this new lifestyle.

Answer 6

Anything mega green like Kale, Spinach, Broccoli, should be high in iron...you can check on that. You do have to eat a lot of those and plus it gets your veg requirements out of the way for the day, so look into that and see what you think.

Answer 7

IRON RICH DIET

Purpose:

Iron is a necessary nutrient for building and maintaining healthy blood. It is important in the diet because it has a role in making hemoglobin, part of the red blood cell, which supplies oxygen to the body.

Iron Rich Foods:

Meats: Lean beef, lean pork, skinned poultry, shellfish, fish, liver, organ meats

Egg yolks: Very high in cholesterol and should not be used if you are on a low cholesterol diet.

Dried beans or peas: Pinto, kidney, lima, navy, chick peas, black-eyed peas,lentils, split peas, green peas

Green leafy vegetables:
Spinach, kale, collards, beet greens, chard, broccoli

Dried fruits: Raisins, prunes, figs, dates, dried peaches, dried apricots

Nuts and peanut butter

Grains: Iron fortified cereals (read labels), enriched breads, whole grain breads

Blackstrap molasses

Your body absorbs iron from animal foods more easily than iron in foods from plants. To help your body absorb plant iron, include a source of Vitamin C with your meal. Sources of Vitamin C include: citrus fruit or juice, tomatoes, broccoli, melons, strawberries and most deep colored fruits and vegetables.

Select a variety of foods from all food groups and include a food high in iron at least once a day.

Answer 8

Do your homework!! before you go vegetarian.There are many websites out there to help you.I use to be the same way until I switched over .

Answer 9

If you are taking iron pills, are you eating foods rich in vitamin C or taking supp. with vitamin C. It is essential to the absorption of iron. So if you aren't getting enough then the extra iron is just going right through you.

I have been vegan for 4 years and do not take any supplements. I work with dogs and love to have them chase me through the yard. I also gained 40 lbs. of muscle since becoming vegan. So I think that it has more to do with how you educate yourself about what you eat than whether or not you eat dead animals or anything else that they produce.

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If you want to become a lacto-ovo vegetarian, the transition should be quite simple. Almost all meats have widely available commercial replacements. All that you have to do is replace any flesh in your diet (beef, pork, poultry, seafood) with meat analogs or just leave it out altogether.

You should keep in mind that a journey such as this can be quite short but should just be the beginning of a longer one to a plant-based diet with no animal products. This is because of the reality of factory farming in which animals that are kept alive to produce milk, eggs, etc suffer much more and longer than animals that are raised to a certain weight and then slaughtered.http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/
http://meat.org
Some people use the word "vegan" in reference to this idea, but be aware that that applying that label to yourself should always come with the inclusion of wise activism and advocacy.http://www.veganoutreach.org/advocacy/index.html
Two extremely important examples of this are that you should never speak to someone about vegetarianism/veganism without their consent and genuine interest or as a comment on what they are eating AND your dietary beliefs should never be used as an introduction or explanation of who you are as a person. Veg*ism should be something that comes up AFTER people get to know you and they offer you a situation that makes it confusing to withhold the information/dicussion. Also, if you are presented something that you choose not to eat or you are
ordering food/eating together somewhere/picking the best place to eat.

When you you hold off on the subject until it's necessary and then act like it isn't a big deal at all, people are usually surprised and WAY more interested and curious than if you were to bring it up when someone's eating or just using it as a conversation starter.

Just to clear things up, the vegetarian/vegan diet is not composed of salads, vegetables, fruit and fake meat.
A balanced plant-based diet includes grains(breads, pasta, rice,cereal), legumes(soy, beans, peas, lentils), fruit and vegetables.
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/food_groups.html
http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/
http://www.veganoutreach.org/whyvegan/eating.html
Being vegan can be an art, one whose challenge is to take things that involve the suffering of the innocent and change them into something free of cruelty.

A vegan woman can create an ENTIRELY NEW,HEALTHY HUMAN BEING INSIDE OF HER. Many of these children stay vegan and grow up to be perfectly healthy adults. So just keep yourself educated about what you eat and don't let anyone tell you that a veg diet is lacking anything essential.

Technically the term "vegetarian" does imply that you don't consume anything that comes from the body of an animal that requires killing it. Many ingredients such as gelatin and glycerin are found in many candies, Fig-Newtons, and many of other foods as well as rennet found in many cheeses.
http://www.happycow.net/health-animal-ingredients.html
The best thing to remember is to take your time so that for example: when you are comfortable not eating beef and pork you can then give up chicken when you are sure you can make the commitment permanently.
Depending on your age or reliance on parents or regional options, it may not be best to give yourself a label. The important thing is to do your best to make progress and be committed to your compassion towards animals. Never put your focus onto what you or other people use to describe yourself.

If you meet someone that talks down to people for eating meat, dairy, etc or to you because they think they are "more veg" than you, laugh in their face and tell them they are a disgrace to the entire philosophy. People like this only hurt the idea of veg*ism AND the animals. The point of all of this is to live compassionately and and as free from cruelty as you can, all the while maintaining your health and a positive attitude. People who don't maintain either, need not open their mouths and represent our beliefs.

If you actually choose to read all of this, I hope it helps. If not, feel free to e-mail me if you have questions.

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Breakfast: bananas, cream of wheat with brown sugar and soy butter, cereal, pancakes or french toast with real maple syrup, vegan "sausage" patties, smoothies.

Lunch: VEGAN "SAUSAGE" SANDWICHES, sandwiches with vegan deli slices(Tofurkey is the only one that's kinda funky), fruit, dinner leftovers, couscous salad, vegan sushi, potato or pasta salad.

Dinner: sloppy joes, "sausage" and gravy with homemade biscuits, Spaghetti and Trader Joe's "meatballs" or TVP, lasagna, Thai pad see ew, pad khi mao(drunkard's noodles), pad prig king, tofu+eggplant with basil sauce, yellow thai curry with tofu or vegan chikn and veggies and jasmine rice, Indian dal with homemade roti or dosai, channa masala, aloo gobi, vegetable or minestrone soup, pizza, STEAMED "PORK" BUNS with potstickers or spring rolls, sweet&sour/orange/lemon chikn, vegan pho or wonton soup

I use these sites to find recipes:
http://www.foodnetwork.com
http://vegweb.com
http://www.recipezaar.com

Answer 10

well come to the world of vegetarian because of you more and more animals will save their lives thaks :-
Proteins: Body's protein needs can be provided by either animal or plant sources. Mixed protein diet obtained from various plant sources is better than animal protein and is recommended in diabetes, renal diseases and liver diseases. Mixed protein diet from different plant sources has been the pattern of diet in India for all vegetarians.

Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are mainly found in plant foods; like cereals, grains, fresh and dry fruits, legumes, vegetable, greens, nuts etc. plant carbohydrates include' large amounts of starches, sugar and fibers which are important for gut functions. The body is better suited to a high carbohydrate diet than a low carbohydrate diet. In fact 55% of the food intake should be carbohydrate. All animal products do not contain carbohydrate which is essential for body.

Fat: Plant fats differ from animal fats in two different ways 1) they are cholesterol free 2) they generally contain more polyunsaturated fat and less saturated fats. Plant fats usually have higher polyunsaturated fat value than animal fats.

A diet which is low in cholesterol and which contains fat of a high PIS value is associated with a lower incident of coronary health disease.

Vitamins and Minerals: plant foods are rich in many vitamins and minerals.

Vitamin D: Vitamin D is obtained by exposure of skin to sun light and this is not a problem in India.

Calcium: The vegetarians can meet their needs for calcium from dairy products. Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) Dark green vegetables are good sources of Riboflavin as are legumes and whole grain cereal.

Iron: The problem of iron deficiency is relatively common but vitamin C significantly enhances absorption of iron hence it is advisable for vegetarians to include with each meal a food high in vitamin C which as lime, citrus fruits or juices.

Zinc: Zinc is found in large number of plant foods.

Fiber: Fiber is found only in vegetarian food like whole grain cereals, legumes, greens, fruits, vegetable etc.

Thus in vegetarian foods all requirement of nutrition for body growth and maintenance is fulfilled. One can have a complete and balanced diet provided we take enough food which is as close to nature as possible in maintaining sturdy and disease free body. It is equally helpful in curing many diseases.

ADVANTAGES OF VEGETARIAN DIET:
More & more evidence is surfacing that directly links a prolonged non- vegetarian diet to diseases as cancers, heart diseases, diabetes, asthma just to name a few.

1. LOGEVITY: Vegetarian can expect to live 4-10 years longer then the non-vegetarians.

" Source: Seventh day Adventists study

2. LESS HEART DISEASE: Because of low fat, saturated fat and cholesterol content of the vegetarian diet the risk of heart disease is lowered. High blood cholesterol levels are associated with increased risk of heart disease.

3. LESS CANCER: Up to 40% of all cancers are diet related. Cancer death rates have been associated with obesity and high fat / low fiber diet. Vitamin A & C are thought to be protective against colon cancer. Low fat diets protect against prostrate and breast cancer. Indoles, lignans, isoflavones, protease inhibitors which are present in plant foods and shown to be potent anti carcinogens.

4. LESS BOWEL DISEASE: Diverticular disease and appendicitis occur more frequently with low fiber intake as in meat diet.

5. LEES OBESITY & LESS INCIDENCE OF DIABETES: It is easier to plan a low fat diet for a vegetarian then for a meat eater. The fiber in plant food dilutes the energy & provides a satisfying meal without all the calories. Diabetes over the age of 40 seems to be related to obesity.