my mom is worried about me being a vegitarian and not gettign enough nutrients... yadda yadda... so shes gonna ask my doctor if its healthy 4 me, and thats basically the deciding factor. im afraid he'll say something about my blood type (im type O) or that i need to eat lots of soy or something. i dunno hwy im posting this, its not like you all can control wut the doctors gonna say (lol, that would b awesome though)... but if anyone has any advice for me, post here...please
It's healthy if you eat the right things. The doctor won't tell you that it's bad... just ask if he (or she) has some kind of menu thing or a diet for you to follow, or any references to people who specialize in that.
Good luck There's nothing you need that can't be got from a plant based diet. In fact any good doctor will say people should eat a pant based diet (not veggie per say, but not loads of animal products) Just keep reading up on loads of reasearch about nutrotion and such (you can never do too much) and you're away. With plenty of good information you can counter critics and keep yourself healthy and on track. There are so many vegetarians out there, with and without doctor's approval. None have yet keeled over just from being vegetarian. So you'll be fine. TTFN Sage
http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16620 ^^thread about blood types from a few days ago! I wouldn't worry too much about what the doctor says. if worst comes to worst he'll probably just say you'll need supplements. good luck!
If your doctor doesn’t think its healthy or says stuff like u need to eat lots of dairy or something... i would go and see a specialist in diet, a dietician or nutritionist. Most normal doctors’ don’t get much training in nutrition. A specialist would be way more qualified to help plan what foods you need to eat etc.
My doctor would never tell me to give up vegetarianism, and I don't see to many other doctors doing it, either. He might give you suggestions on your diet, which is actually good because it will help you get all the nutrients you need. He'll definitly tell you that you should be taking vitamins, but that sorta goes without saying. It's really unhealthy for vegetarians and vegans not to take vitamins. Speaking of which, I better go and take mine now.
I'm not totally sold on the whole vitamin suppliment idea. If you just ate a balanced diet then they wouldn't be necessary. Might be a bit more work, but probably better for you in the long run. TTFN Sage
Yeah, but it doesn't hurt just to take them. It's hard to eat a completely balenced diet all the time, especially if you travel a lot of live with other meat eaters.
Very true Suppliments are good in the early days, till you get the hang of what you need to eat. TTFN Sage
I'm also vegan and type O, plus I take a multi-vitamin daily. You might be interested in knowing that as recently as Friday I went to my doc for a routine physical and to review a blood test. He said I was in great health and was particularly amazed at my cholesterol level (147) which he said is excellent. I told him about my diet, secretly hoping that he might suggest it to some of his patients who are struggling with high cholesterol. On the down side, he said perhaps I had slightly a little too much potassium in my blood, which he ascribed to eating too many tomatoes, brocolli, bananas and the like. I looked at him a bit askance - I mean, can you imagine a doc telling you that you eat TOO MANY vegetables? Then I saw him grin a bit and he said it's not serious.
My family practioner did some research for me when I decided to convert my children to vegetarian, and she concluded that it was perfectly healthy for them to have a completely veggie diet. They are quite young and picky, but since I turned them veggie, they have been eating more different veggies than before...well, my 5 yr old is...my 19 month old has always been veggie and always has eaten everything I give her. They are both perfectly healthy, good iron levels, good weight, everything.
