Are there any side effects on the body of being a vegetarian?

Answer 1

Yeah...oh and the side affects are really noticable too. I've only been vegan for six months, haven't taken any supplements either (you don't need to unless you have a pre-existing medical condition) and I already feel an increase in energy level. Not to mention healthier in general. I also don't feel constipated anymore like I used to and I suffer from less colds, actually no colds, since I became vegan. Hm...maybe I should be worried since so many people say this is being sick???

Edit: To *left* and also other ill informed omnivores
People are going to give you thumbs down because your answer is stupid and you're very ill-informed. If I feel healthier, it's because I am. If I weren't, I wouldn't have felt as healthy as I have the past few months. So, *left*, you're trying to tell me that even though I've felt healthier these past few months, it's because I've become unhealthier? That sounds really stupid. Calcium is found in many things, including vegetables. My soy milk and cereal has just about every vitamin there is (including Vitamin B12 and Ribflavin) that most of you ill-informed omnivores say can't be found in anything other than meat. As for protein. I don't see how I don't get enough? Vegetables, soy, other beans...loads of things have protein. I seriously doubt I'm not getting enough of what I need. If you can honestly say vegans and vegetarians are unhealthy, how do you explain the millions of them who have been vegetarian for years and have been perfectly fine?

Answer 2

A vegetarian diet can be healthy as long as it is well balanced. There's no need to take vitamins if you have a balanced diet. Anyone who says otherwise is giving misinformation.

People who are healthy manufacture their own B12; it's not necessary to get it from diet unless you have Pernicious Anemia (that's how it's spelled). Pernicious anemia is not caused by diet, it's a metabolic disorder where the body fails to make it's own B12.

Answer 3

Here's the thing--you have to eat a vegetarian diet correctly. If it's a healthy vegetarian diet, then you will feel good. I have been eating healthy vegetarian food for a year, and i feel good. (and without supplements). If your diet is balanced enough, you won't have anemia or any kind of B12 deficiency.

Answer 4

yes you feel so much lighter and energetic. not bad if i may say so myself

don't listen to annazzz1966. b12 can be found in a variety of non-meat sources! i.e. fortified cereals, soymilk, nutritional yeast, and some leafy greens.

Answer 5

Truthfully, though you may feel better, your body lacks essential amino acids within a couple days, and if you're not getting enough calcium (milk actually leeches calcium from the bones) then you will get sickly, and your body will begin to deterioate. It's like you are killing yourself. People are going to give me the thumb's dowm, but from a completely medical perspective, it is so easy to begin to kill your body, and extremely hard not to. I wish you the best, please don't give me the thumb's down, I am just trying to help.

Answer 6

Without the added protein of meat or fish....You are in danger of having muscle and bone loss......Just make sure you take some sort of multi vitamin............

Answer 7

Many of the side affects include dramatic DECREASE in risk of cardiovascular disease such as heart attack and stroke as well as prevention of many cancers.

There have been vegan Olympic gold medalists and 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.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Lewis
http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/advocacy_933_ENU_HTML_(Draft).htm

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


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 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/discussion. 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.

A responsible vegan ALWAYS studies the subject of their own health and how to keep their body completely provided for in every sense. http://www.veganhealth.org/sh
To neglect their body is to define a plant-based diet as unhealthy and is the opposite of helping the animals.

Just to clear things up, the vegetarian/vegan diet is not composed of salads, vegetables, fruit and fake meat. Fruits and vegetables are always important but they DO NOT make up the largest portion of any healthy diet.
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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm vegan and these are some of my favorite things to eat:

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 8

Most vegans are unhealthy sickly and in many instances overweight. My wife's best friend is slowly becoming as big as a house-she has been a strict vegetarian for 14 years and is a mess and getting worse . Humans are designed to be omnivorous!

Answer 9

low fats intake=low energy
and low iron intake=possible blood problems
[and low calcium intake >if you are vegan ]
many health food shops sell vitamin packs
aimed specifically at vegetarians and vegans
as a supplement to replace vitamins only found in meat
that are good for general health

Answer 10

Lack of b12, iron, and protein.

There are some pretty good vegan-multi vitamins on the market. Check your local health foods store or pharmacy.