thinking about it....?

Question

i saw a show on HBO about peta, and i was disgusted..so i looked it up and i found alot of information about the animals and how they torture them just for us to eat...its so horrible, so i thought about becoming a vegetarian, but don't you need at least some meat in your diet to be healthy? i know theres vitamins and everything, but is it the same as meat?

i never thought it would be so hard to be a vegan...how hard was it for you to start..and what food do you eat thats different from your meat diet (if you had one)
(i say this because some parents are vegans and they make their children eat veggie foods as soon as they start eating)

Answer 1

I know a lot of people who went veg after seeing that movie on HBO... even people I wouldn't have suspected, like my next-door neighbor. Kudos to you for looking into the issues :)

We do need nutrients like protein, iron, and calcium, but there are other sources of these besides meat. (See http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/?v=08sources for veg sources).

According to the American Dietetic Association, one of the leading nutrition experts in this country: "...appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Vegetarians have been reported to have lower body mass indices than nonvegetarians, as well as lower rates of death from ischemic heart disease; vegetarians also show lower blood cholesterol levels; lower blood pressure; and lower rates of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer. "
http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/advocacy_933_ENU_HTML.htm

Going vegan definitely takes some adjusting.. it helps to find fake meats that you can use to replace the meats in your favorite meals and recipes. I like Tofurkey Deli Slices, Boca Chik'n Patties, and Nate's Meatless Meatballs. Here's a list of other good ones: http://vegcooking.com/guide-favs.asp

Also, see this site for lots of tips on making the transition:
http://vegcooking.com/makingthetransition.asp

Good luck!

Answer 2

I truly appreciate your intention. Trust me i started off like you. It took me a yr to give up. I used videos of animals being treated cruely for food.....the more you look at them the more you don wanna eat. Now i have reached a point that i jus cant stand meat nor the smell of it. Also, being both, i have seen / felt a huge difference in myself. I am a healthier person being a vegan. I live in America and peopl are surprised that im a vegan, but yes i am, in every restaurant i customize my food and make it vegetarian. The only thing hard in this process is listening to few selfish ignoratn ppl's comments, other than that you are a better human being than the others in many ways. Good luck.

Answer 3

It's not hard.

No, you don't need meat. There is nothing in meat or dairy you can't get from a (BETTER) plant source.

The American Dietetic Association supports a vegan and vegetarian diet for ALL stages of life.

This'll give you an idea of how easy it is to find "normal" food that is animal and vegan friendly. http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/

Answer 4

Same here. I am a lacto-ovo veggie though, not vegan. Protiens from dairy and stuff all break down to amino acids which are good (dont know if its all protiens or not). And I take a multivitamin with iron, zinc, and B vitamins which I no longer get from meat.

Please go vegetarian. It is great!

Answer 5

It is hard at the beginning, I will grant you that. However, as you discover more foods you can eat and resources for them, it becomes easier. Also, the people around you will need to get used to accommodating your new needs.

www.vegweb.com has recipes and resources, and www.happycow.net lists restaurants and natural food stores all over the world.

And, no, you don't need meat, dairy, or eggs to be healthy. You also don't need to combine your proteins. As long as you eat a good variety of foods, you will be fine.

Answer 6

You do need to do some planning to get your full protein and vitamin requirements -- for example, most of the amino acids you need for digestion come from animal products. You can get them from some plant sources (a lot of people recommend a combination of beans and rice) but you need to think about it. Of course, if you allow yourself dairy and eggs, that'll really help with the protein.

I'm not a vegetarian, but I eat meatless meals at least four days out of the week. I think it's healthier to limit my meat intake.

Answer 7

PETA takes the worst situations and blows them up to seem like every meat producer in the world does it. Eat steak it tastes oh so good!