health risks of vegetarian diets

I've been a vegetarian for the past four months, and it actually isn't hard. Once I stopped I rarely crave meat, and even looking at something containing meat I once enjoyed doesn't seem very appealing to me. Once in a while I'll have cravings but I ignore them and they go away.

BUT..my mom is a doctor and very aware of the health risks, and she is very set on me knowing them too. I'm aware of the fatigue, and all of the health risks a vegie diet contains, and I've never been too worried before.
I feel like I get my vitamons through nuts and grains that I would have gotten through meat, but lately I've been worried.
I don't want my body to start shutting down and becoming sick because of lack of protein and iron.
I'm actually starting to get a little scared. Latley I have felt a little more tired than usual-I've lost weight and my skin has become very pasty. I'm not sure if it's because of my diet, or my period, or if I'm just imgainging it, or whatever it may be.
What kind of things should I make sure to do, to eat in order to insure my good health? Also, does anyone have any articles about this?
I don't really know exactly what I'm worried about..I've just always been very concious about how I treat my body, and I don't want to wake up one morning in a few months with all kind of problems because of being a vegetarian.
My mom also told me of long term effects that I'd start experincing down the road. Anyone know of any of these?
Thanks, I'm just a little worried and want to make sure I'm doing this right so i can continue this diet..and not crash and burn!

 

Being vegetarian isn't unhealthy ....at all. If you're worried that you're not getting what you need take a multivitamin.

Protein usually isn't a problem, although everyone makes a big deal out of it. Just either eat beans/legumes, seeds, nuts, soy/soy meats...etc. for protein and you should be set.

eat lots of leafy greens like spinach for iron.

If you aren't keen on taking vitamins, drink lots of soymilk....almost anything you need can be obtained through soymilk.

if you have any questions just feel free to PM me, I've been vegan for a little over a year, and vegetarian for about 5.

 

But here's something you need to realize ... no matter what diet you eat, your body can shut down and become ill without the proper nutrients. A vegetarian/vegan diet is not much more difficult to sustain than a meat-eating one.

"The American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada state that "well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence." Vegan diets bestow several nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, no cholesterol, no animal protein, and higher levels of carbohydrates, fiber, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals. Vegetarians have been anecdotally 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. However, no cause and effect relationship between vegetarian diets and these health benefits has been scientifically established." - Wikipedia.com

I don't know about you, but these are the things that I need to make sure I get enough of as part of a vegan diet:

Protein (nuts, beans, especially soymilk)
B12 (leafy green vegetables: spinach, lettuce, cabbage, asparagus, etc.)
Iron (leafy green vegetables)
D (the sun)
Essential amino acids (soymilk, any varied diet)

I can imagine that for a vegetarian diet, the focus remains approximately the same. Just eat a varied diet, and if you have problems, take a vegan multivitamin. I hear from others that you can get capsules from veganessentials.com.

Also: If your mom is a doctor and she is telling you these things, she is obviously not acting as a doctor and more acting as a mom. She probably is trying to scare you into eating what she thinks is a "normal" diet. As I showed above, the ADA and DoC both recognize that well-planned vegan/vegetarian diets are appropriate. And from other sources, I have learned that, on average, vegetarians live 7 years longer than meat-eaters, and vegans live 15 years longer than meat eaters. I would not call that unhealthy.

But, just as important in any diet, your diet MUST be well-planned, varied, and balanced. A vegan diet that isn't balanced is NOT going to be as good as a balanced meat-eating diet.

Cheers, and good luck!

 

My dad is 61 has been a vegetarian for 40+ years barely looks a day over 50 and except for a herediatary problem with high blood pressure is as healty as a horse. Just do some research to learn how to plan your diet.


I'm vegetarian and I work two job which equals 10-12 hour days on an average of only 5-6 hours of sleep per night.

 

I think it's very sad that so many medical doctors have the same misconception of a vegetarian diet as the general public. FWIW, however, both my primary care physician and my husband's primary care physician are very happy that we are veg*n.

 

Most medical doctors recieve no more than a few hours of nutrition lessons in their whole time at med school. Atleast thats what I read.