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Any vegetarians or vegan's out there?

Raw vegan for about one year. Happier and healthier than I was a year ago. Still use boar, badger, tallow, etc. Also, have leather goods. It's a health thing.
 
How did any of you educate yourself on how much of what to eat and what supplements you may need. IE B12. etc
 
Been mostly vegan for almost 2 years now. I am a competitive cyclist, so the diet is completely working for me. I am someone who eats healthy though, and vegan doesn't necessarily mean healthy. I say mostly vegan because sometimes it is just not practical. I went to Europe for 10 days and since I didn't know the language and didn't want to be pain, I just made the best choices I could for food and lived with it. I would opt for meat over dairy though. It was nice since in Europe when they serve you a meat dish, there is not a lot of meat whereas in the U.S., the portions of meat are huge.

For me, it is about making smart choices. I certainly support any reduced meat diet for both health and environmental reason. If you are going to eat meat, I just suggest knowing where it came from. As for dairy, I really try to avoid that. I can't think of any good reason to eat any dairy products. I used to, and since going vegan I don't even like cheese.

If I had to, I would choose eating meat over dairy any day. I mean who ever thought that drinking that stuff coming out of a cow was a good idea ;)

As far as supplements, you can get everything from food sources, you just once again need to be smart about what you eat.
 
If it fits your lifestyle, there is nothing particularly wrong with vegetarianism or veganism. I don't think they are inherently superior diets though, because that implicates that meats/protein/dairy are inherently unhealthy for humans, which studies have failed to verify (though the anti-milk lobby is really trying hard in those regards). Those diets seem to work (and do) because they inherently limit calories (thinner people are healthier) and are significantly richer in vitamins, minerals, fiber and other micronutrients (because most people switching to those diets suddenly and drastically increase their vegetable, fruit and legume consumption). I'd hate to see you give up meat because of a misguided notion that it was the secret villain to your diet all these years (again its the increased vegetable intake and likely weight loss, not the decrease consumption of animal protein causing your good results).

As an aside, to vegetarians/vegans out there, I do recommend taking a B12 supplement as it is one of the few vitamins you can't really get outside of animal products.
 
Made a nice dish this evening. It was a side dish to a small tuna steak.

half cup mung beans
one cup brown rice
one onion
one carrot
one stalk celery
two cloves garlic
seven or eight leaves of kale
about a cup of asparagus chopped
four cups of mushroom broth
spice and season to taste

I used trader joes 21 seasoning salute, Mrs Dash garlic and herb salt free seasoning and black pepper.

I hit it with a dash of salt but not much.

If I make it again I'll probably throw in the whole bunch of kale.
 
I went vegetarian for six months over a year ago, as an experiment involving trying to eliminate foods and additives that might be causing arthritis flare ups. Believe me, if you are following a sensible vegetarian diet, you will get all the nutrients you need. Beans, and other legumes, tubers, whole grains, and moderate amounts of dairy should form the backbone of a good vegetarian diet. On this, you add vegetables and fruits appropriate to the recipe or meal plan. I got a lot of good recipe ideas to build on by looking up Indian and Mideastern cuisine. You just want to avoid becoming a "junkfood vegetarian"; don't base your diet on frozen cheese pizza and potato chips, for example. Also, there is no sense buying vegan burgers, soy bacon, artificial chicken nuggets, and such. Being a vegetarian, sticking to it, really requires a change in attitude toward foods, and you really just want to eliminate things that are made for the sole reason of making you feel like you're still eating meat. They're really not very good, anyway. For the six months I was adhering to a vegetarian diet, I continued my weight lifting, and didn't notice any drop in my energy, strength, or ability to continue increasing the amount of weight I lifted. I did, however, drop down to a 30 inch waist. I eventually got tired of having to figure out meal plans that included my carnivorous wife and daughter while sticking to a vegetarian diet. And the coup de gras; bacon, the downfall of many vegetarian diets. I felt healthier and younger, and had more energy while on a vegetarian diet. But I was raised on meat, and it's hard to break that. Since getting back on a carnivore diet, I've tried to keep it more balanced, with more fresh vegetables, fish, and whole grains. But I've gained back weight I lost, and I'm back up to a 34 inch waist. But at least now my Hispanic mother in law doesn't think I'm going to starve.
 
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pdillon

How did any of you educate yourself on how much of what to eat and what supplements you may need. IE B12. etc

I became a vegetarian in high school and learned to cook as a result; my mom was simply dumbfounded. I'm no longer a vegetarian but 99% of the cooking I do is vegetarian because my wife does not eat meat. She was a vegan for a couple of years but is now a lacto-ovo vegetarian (i.e., she eats milk and cheese, just no meat).

If you're becoming a vegetarian, I wouldn't worry too much about supplements or nutrition. Just make sure you eat enough protein. I'm pretty clueless about veganism, but I would pay ALOT of attention to your nutrition in that case. Make sure you're getting all of your amino acids. I would eat quinoa several times a week. But if you're just doing vegetarianism, don't worry about it.

Now to the fun stuff. I highly recommend three books:

1. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman - OK, I don't have this book. I have the red (meat) version, How to Cook Everything, but the green veg version is on my list. Still, even the red version has lots of great vegetarian recipes. They're so simple that I recommend this as a starting place. Bittman wrote a column for the NYTimes for awhile called The Minimalist. He's great. He underwent a big lifestyle change and now stays vegan before dinner and eats whatever for dinner. The resulting book he wrote was called Food Rules. It's kind of Omnivore's Dilemma lite but with recipes (more on that later).

2. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison - This was my first cookbook ever and it has a super soft spot in my heart. Like How to Cook Everything, it is encyclopedic. It definitely has a California flair to it and it's not quite as simple as How to Cook Everything, but it is still a great starting point.

3. Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi - This book is AWESOME for meat eaters & vegetarians. Many of the recipes in this book take time and special ingredients (weekend projects), but there are some simple dishes as well. Every recipe in this book looks awesome and I plan to make them all!

I also highly recommend the book Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. It really changed the way I look at food.

I don't cook a lot of meat, but vegetarian cooking to me seems to take a lot of time. It is challenging to find stuff that is easy to whip up on a weeknight without getting too involved. Stir-fries with tofu are great (a high-quality rice cooker goes A LONG way toward improving this). I've probably blabbered on long enough but if there's anymore advice I can give, let me know.
 
I'm not a vegetarian but over the last two years I've stopped eating junk food / processed food. Almost by accident I've virtually stopped eating red meat. I eat a lot of fish and occasionally chicken. I feel healthier as a result. My system just seems to work better.
I keep dry soya mince on hand, so if I'm making a meal without other protein I can put that in. It has no taste to speak of, but it contains complete protein (all the essential amino acids we need.) It's cheap, quick to cook and healthy so I tolerate its blandness. I'll probably try Quorn sometime as an alternative, but it seems much more expensive and I'm not sure the improved taste/texture makes it worth it. I'm not looking for imitation meat.
 
I've been a vegetarian for 11+ years. There are some great forums that can help, like www.veggieboards.com

Start by eating "normal" foods, like bean and cheese burritos, pasta with marinara sauce, or Chinese food. Cheese Pizza isn't bad at first.

For the first 2-3 weeks I felt light headed and weak. This is normal. Your body is used to processing a hunk of meat. After that 2-3 period, you'll feel great.

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison is a great book. I would HIGHLY recommend going to a Barnes & Noble, buying a coffee, and browsing through the vegetarian cookbook section. I would also check out amazon.com, and read the reviews. Your local library may have plenty of vegetarian books, too.

Becoming a vegetarian is one of the things I ever did. My son is 10 and has never had meat. He's proud to be a vegetarian.

There are many studies that show that those who don't consume meat or meat products, or live in poor countries where meat is very expensive, have virtually no heart disease. A lot of it is genetic. My ancestors who came to the US died in their 50s and 60s from stroke and heart disease. I want to live a bit longer.

Feel free to PM me
 
It has no taste to speak of, but it contains complete protein (all the essential amino acids we need.)

"Complete protein" is a myth, and has been disproved for at least 30 years. There is virtually no way to have a protein deficiency, even if you tried. Only very very poor people from third world countries and raw vegan infants whose parents don't watch their diet suffer from protein deficiency.
 
I have been steadily increasing my vegetable intake with a corresponding decrease in meat. I currently refer to myself as a flexetarian. (is that a word?) I gusee omnivore works too. My main concern is personal health. I'm not sure that I feel the need to completely quit eating meat... etc. Not sure I don't feel the need.

Any pointer's.

I was vegetarian for about four years. It's not bad as long as you really study it and make sure you're getting everything your body needs. I did it because I was tired of meat (growing up dad was best friends with a butcher). Pointers...

1. Beans, legumes, nuts, seeds and green leafy stuff are your friends when it comes to protein.
2. If you want to be a vegetarian, be one don't become a pastatarian...resorting to making pasta all the time because it's easier will do the opposite of helping you with your health concerns. It won't help your self-image either.
3. Don't be afraid of seafood or eggs once in a while if you feel like it. Dairy is good too. It really depends upon how strict you want to be and how many vitamins you want to take/how much money you want to spend on groceries.
4. Learn to stir-fry. It's quick, easy and makes for something that's not bland or boring. Indian food is awesome as well.
5. Meat substitutes are fine, but don't make them a staple. Soy anything usually has much higher fat content than what it is substituting so if your health is your concern don't let them become a crutch.

Everything in moderation is the key.
 
I've been following a vegan diet for over 15 years. I'm vegan in terms of diet only for the last few years.

Following a vegan diet in today's world if you live in/near a major city is probably easier than it ever has been before. Key thing to stick with it is to learn how to cook and make food that tastes good. When you first transition to a vegan diet, you may notice that you feel hungry when you didn't before. You can avoid that problem by eating more food - especially good fresh veggies/fruits and lots of protein. Eating more protein than you think you might need and getting on a weight training and cardio workout program helps a lot too. Good sources of protein are many types of legumes, tofu, tempeh, seitan, nuts, etc. Also agree that you should resist the temptation to load up on too much pasta and bread.

Off the top of my head, check out the Post Punk Kitchen website for recipes. Lots of food discussions on Vegan Fitness also.
 
I could be, because there isn't a vegetable on earth that I don't love to eat.

However, I love me some meat. It goes so nicely with vegetables!
 
I I eventually got tired of having to figure out meal plans that included my carnivorous wife and daughter while sticking to a vegetarian diet.

This has been my downfall as well. I've made two pretty strong efforts over the years to go vegetarian. Both times, I threw in the towel because it was just more hassle than it was worth trying to work around my wife and kids meat eating ways. Now days, I sort of wax and wane between skipping the meats and going all out cheese burger.
 
Cite a credible reference please.

There are 20+ sources here, including a little story from the woman who started it. :)

http://www.veganforum.com/forums/sh...ombining-from-the-woman-who-launched-the-idea

Here's wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_combining


Protein combining (also protein complementing) is the theory that vegetarians, particularly vegans, must eat certain complementary foods like beans and ricetogether in the same meal, so that plant foods with incomplete essential amino acid content combine to form a complete protein, meeting all amino acid requirements for human growth and maintenance.
The theory was initially promoted in Frances Moore Lappé's 1971 bestseller Diet for a Small Planet. The American National Research Council and the American Dietetic Association (ADA) soon picked it up, cautioning vegetarians to be sure to combine their proteins.[SUP][1][/SUP] Later, the ADA reversed itself in its 1988 position paper on vegetarianism. Suzanne Havala, the primary author of the paper, recalls the research process:
There was no basis for [protein combining] that I could see.... I began calling around and talking to people and asking them what the justification was for saying that you had to complement proteins, and there was none. And what I got instead was some interesting insight from people who were knowledgeable and actually felt that there was probably no need to complement proteins. So we went ahead and made that change in the paper. [Note: The paper was approved by peer review and by a delegation vote before becoming official.] And it was a couple of years after that that Vernon Young and Peter Pellet published their paper that became the definitive contemporary guide to protein metabolism in humans. And it also confirmed that complementing proteins at meals was totally unnecessary.[SUP][2][/SUP]Other nutrition experts and medical professionals who now agree that this theory is outdated include Dennis Gordon[SUP][3][/SUP] and Jeff Novick[SUP][4][/SUP] (registered dietitians), andJohn A. McDougall[SUP][5][/SUP], Andrew Weil[SUP][6][/SUP], and Charles Attwood[SUP][7][/SUP] (medical doctors).
 
BTW, this is a myth that has been around for 40 years, and has been known as a myth for 30 years. I should have added this:

In fact, the original source of the theory, Frances Moore Lappé, changed her position on protein combining. In the 1981 edition of Diet for a Small Planet, she wrote:
"In 1971 I stressed protein complementarity because I assumed that the only way to get enough protein ... was to create a protein as usable by the body as animal protein. In combating the myth that meat is the only way to get high-quality protein, I reinforced another myth. I gave the impression that in order to get enough protein without meat, considerable care was needed in choosing foods. Actually, it is much easier than I thought."With three important exceptions, there is little danger of protein deficiency in a plant food diet. The exceptions are diets very heavily dependent on [1] fruit or on [2] some tubers, such as sweet potatoes or cassava, or on [3] junk food (refined flours, sugars, and fat). Fortunately, relatively few people in the world try to survive on diets in which these foods are virtually the sole source of calories. In all other diets, if people are getting enough calories, they are virtually certain of getting enough protein."[SUP][8][/SUP]
 
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