Can you get a skin virus from being a vegetarian? (lack of protein?)?

Question

I was just curious because my friend just became a vegetarian for two weeks, and she used to be a hardcore meat-eater. All of a sudden, she had to go to the hospital because she has some sort of virus? Could this be caused from her drastic change in eating meat?

Answer 1

Ummm.....Not really.

IF you are a BAD vegetarian and not getting the proper nutrition (which is easy to do as a vegetarian), then you might have a weakened system, which might in turn make you more susceptible to certain illnesses. However, you cannot make any sort of argument for a direct link between dropping meat and getting a virus, which is in and of itself not possible.

Answer 2

Do some reaserch on how many vegetarians have a protein deffeciency... It takes some talent to be a vegetarian and have a protein deffenciency. All veggies contain an amount of protein. If you eat at least 4 different veggies a day you'll be alright. Yes I said just four. You sould deffinantly eat more but that's the lowest amount you need to be fine.

She most likely got it from something else. There are no know virruses you get from being a vegetarian.

If you don't eat right you can have low iron. It's a bit harder to get enough iron but deffinantly not impossible to say the least. That's probably what she has.
I would guess though it has nothing to do with her becoming a vegetarian and more to do with just being sick.

Research becoming a vegetarian. It's healthier than you think...if you eat right/most cupcakes and junkfood is vegetarian so..it is just as easy to eat wrong as a vegetarian as it is to be a meat eater.

Answer 3

A virus is something that somebody catches from somebody else. Diet has nothing to do with it.

There is some possibility that someone might have more risk of catching infection with a compromised immune system due to malnutrition, but it's not true that vegetarians are necessarily deficient of protein or anything else. I have been vegetarian for 23 years and I very rarely get colds or anything like that. Vitamin C is good for the immune system and you don't get that from meat; fruits and vegetables are better sources of this vitamin.

If one thing happens and then another thing happens it does not always mean they are related. If I drink orange juice before the sunrise, it doesn't mean there won't be a sunrise if I don't drink the orange juice. It's simple logic.

Answer 4

In this case, it's most likely because she switched so quickly - so you're right if that's what you mean. You can't be almost a total carnivore and then go immediately to no meat at all. Your body isn't used to it. Instead you should ease into a new diet; stop eating chicken first, then pork after a week, then beef, etc. Also, protein deficiency is a common misconception about vegetarians - fruits and vegetable have all the protein we need. Getting too much protein is actually bad for you.

Answer 5

Any sudden change in diet can cause problems. It's difficult to say without knowing what type of diet your friend has switched to, but she is probably not coping well with the lack of amino acids caused by eating less protein. It's probably only a temporary thing, but I would suggest she gets advice about vitamin supplements from a GP or a trusted source such as Holland & Barrett. Please give her my best wishes! Don't forget, if dry skin is a problem, to try eating nuts and seeds- a brilliant source of nutrients for skin and nails, and make sure she drinks plenty of water, as the problem may be partly due to dehydration. Once she gets used to her new diet, the symptoms should subside. xxx :)

Answer 6

No. For one, viruses are caused by... viruses. They are not a dietary element. Secondly, it's very highly unlikely that your friend was lacking protein; in the Western world even vegetarians consume more protein than is needed.

Answer 7

Because vegetarian and vegan always walk in the shadow of a nutrient deficiency that often shows up in many different ways that the etiology is often shrouded in mystery, they may leave themselves with a depressed immune system and thus open to "weird stuff" . . . such as chronic verrucous varicella zoster, porphyria, Kaposi's sarcoma, etc.

Answer 8

Protein is virtually unheard of in the US or any other developed nation.

The only way that you would suffer from deteriorating health after becoming vegetarian is if you replace meat with twinkies or something.

Answer 9

Doubtful.
More than likely that virus was already in her & the timing just hit. She would hav gotten ill anyway.

Hope she gets better soon.

Answer 10

Sure can! It's not just a protein issue, there are tons of nutrient deficiences that can happen if you don't get it "just right" that set you up to get some kind of crud.