Ok, so I’m not a vegetarian & for many years I’ve said that I could never become one, 85% of my diet is made up of meat products (mainly beef). So just after Christmas, I’m sat there eating a turkey sandwich when the phone rings, my mum answers. Its her close friend Sheila (we were brought up to call her aunt), who is a cattle farmer who’s farm is just up the road. She’s phoned up to tell us that her husband, Bruce, had suddenly died of a heart attack, we were all really surprised because Bruce had cancer. Anyway, so I heard nothing more after Uncle Bruce’s funeral. A couple of weeks ago my mum went on her annual twice-yearly meal with my auntie Sheila, Lynne & Kate. My mum must have said something about me being a hippie & being more & more concerned for the environment & getting more involved in politics. My aunt Sheila said to my mum to ask me if I would like to help her on the farm, milking the cows, mucking out etc. so yeah, my mum asked me & I jump at the chance to go work on the farm (between working at my normal job as a tattooist & piercer). So for the past two weeks I’ve been getting up at 4am, running up to the farm & helping look after the cows. I have total utter respect for cows, they get so much stick, being produced just for milk & human consumption. So over the last two weeks I’ve learnt more about cows than ever, they are the most placid gentile animals really, really lade back & very loving animals. Its really thrown me, as much as I thought that I didn’t care that I eat dead animals its really made me think about being a vegetarian only a need a little help. Do you need to take multi-vitamins or do you get your RDA of vitamins from veg, & quon products? How easy is it to be vegetarian? I know its like smoking, you need willpower & determination & to remember why you have become vegetarian (or stop smoking). But I mean, do you have to check every product you buy to check for meat or animal products? And how easy is it to know what animal products are in what, e.g. sweets, chocolate, drink products etc? Do meat substitute products taste nice? There are just some of the questions I have but my biggest worry is that I’ll have to stop drinking coke. Since I was 3 years old all I’ve drunk is Coca-Cola (& a few occasions OJ, milk & apple juice), I don’t like any other drink products & think I’d rather not drink for the rest of my life if I cant drink coke. Is this going to be a problem, does Coca-Cola contain animal products?
I don't take any vitamins or extra stuff (I dunno, I prolly should). There are many alternative meats nowadays (from turkey slices for sandwiches to ground round veggies to even fake lobster andf king crab!), and some taste like rubber, some taste sooo close tto the real thing you wouldn't believe it! It depends on the brand. Coke is just carbonated water and syrup, isn't it? I don't think there's any animal products in it... I know there is in beer and coolers though
Congrats on making the first leap. A great resource is the vegetarian starter kits from www.cok.net and www.goveg.com Do you need to take multi-vitamins or do you get your RDA of vitamins from veg, & quon products? You don't necessarily have to take a vitamin, but it might be a good idea till you get in the swing of plant based nutrition. I'm terrible for taking suppliments (always forgetting) and have yet to drop dead with a deficency. How easy is it to be vegetarian? I know its like smoking, you need willpower & determination & to remember why you have become vegetarian (or stop smoking). But I mean, do you have to check every product you buy to check for meat or animal products? And how easy is it to know what animal products are in what, e.g. sweets, chocolate, drink products etc? It totally depends on the individual, and you never know till you try. Doing lots of reasearch will strengthen you're understanding and conviction. Purists do check everything, it sounds daunting but generally things are labelled vegetarian. Once you learn the names of animal byproducts then they aren't hard to spot. The most obvious are probably gelatin and rennet. Do meat substitute products taste nice? Depends on the product, so search around for ones you like, and don't give up just because one brand is yuck. I've never really come across any bad ones, apart from those that are so 'meat like' it's scary. There are just some of the questions I have but my biggest worry is that I’ll have to stop drinking coke. Since I was 3 years old all I’ve drunk is Coca-Cola (& a few occasions OJ, milk & apple juice), I don’t like any other drink products & think I’d rather not drink for the rest of my life if I cant drink coke. Is this going to be a problem, does Coca-Cola contain animal products? As far as I know coke is vegan, so don't worry. Saying that coke is really bad for you (caffine, sugar etc) so cutting down would definetly be a good thing. Good luck Any more questions, just ask. TTFN Sage
Well, If you are still going to eat dairy products, you won't need vitamins, you should become feeling a lot more healthy after a month of vegetarianism, but if you become a vegan, and eat no dairy or meat, it would help a lot to take vitamins and supplements. As for it being easy, it is kind of hard for the first few weeks, especially if you go out to eat a lot. YES, if you want to be a vegetarian you must ALWAYS look at the ingredients, it is hard at first, but to me it has become a completely natural and normal thing to do, and it is just part of life for me now. Meat Substitutes taste VERYYY good, being a vegan i cannot eat a lot of the substitutes (Boca, Morningstar...) because they contain eggs and milk in them, but i can eat a lot of GardenBurger and Amy's Products. Meat Substitutes are very good, but you must remember to eat veggies and fruits too, they keep you very healthy. As for coke, if you are going to be a VERY serious vegetarian, you might not want to because 50% of sugar in america is refined using animals bones, but most vegetarians and vegans use sugar anyway (Including myself) so i think you should be ok drinking coke, although vegetarianism and health go hand in hand, and many vegetarians and vegans, including myself, do not drink soda anymore because it offers nothing to your health (No vitamins, minerals, etc.) but it is your choice... Good luck on your spiritual jounrey into vegetarianism, and i hope it makes you a happier person in the long run Peace and Love, Dan
wow, thanks everyone for your replys. another question, what about fish? i know some vegetarians have mixed views on eating fish, do you still class it as meat & there for not eat it? or do some of you still eat it in your vegetairan diet?
People who eat fish and not other kinds of meat generally are vegetarian for health reasons, not for moral reasons. Which is perfectly all right, but you're going for moral reasons, so I'd suggest ditching fish. However, that's your decision. As for your earlier question regarding meat subsitutes, some of them are better than others, and it really depends on what you like. Just like everything. My suggestion is before you dive into anything, taste different vegetarian foods and decide what you like. My biggest mistake when I first became a vegetarian is that I gave up meat all at once and had little to eat because I had no idea where to start. It worked out for me in the end, but it was really frustrating and I wouldn't suggest trying it.
I don't believe you are a vegetarian if you eat fish, they are living organisms just like us, and chickes, and cows. But if you wanna look at it from a health standpoint, well thats not good either. I heard about this before but then I decided to look it up when I read that last post, was how fish today are showing higher levels of contaminents then ever. http://www.***********/2001/apr/25/mercury_fish.htm thats a link i found that deals with mercury in the fish and pregnancy, but hey you get the picture.
Well if u do decide to eat fish, be prepared to get hassled by other vegetarians. If you eat any kind of creature then you are an omnivore, pure and simple. I've been veg for years and don't get any of my vitamins in pill form and i'm doin alright But u do need to do a lot of research into what your body needs to function and if u ever have a deficiency of some kind, chances are you just need to be eating more of a certain kind of veggie. Good luck to ya! You're very lucky to be able to work so closely with some beautiful creatures. here's some more sites: http://www.vegkitchen.com/ http://www.vegsource.com/
Aww you're welcome Well last time I checked fish are animals ergo meat (not that I consider corpses are food products, but nah). I used to have a goldfish (in my pre veggie days) and always felt guilty about eating fish, it seemed almost like eating him. I'm in it for the moral reasons, and those still apply to fish. There is plenty of evidence they feel pain, and the descriptions of how they die freak me out. Health reasons never really figured. I always think it's ironic when people eat fish for health reasons. Consider it is responsible for the majority of food poisoning and the flesh of fish is 9 million times more toxins that the water said fish lives in (there have been reports of dangerously high mercury levels). Pescatarian (sp) is the word for people who eat eat fish but not meat. They aren't technically vegetarian. TTFN Sage
You all are probably right about the fish thing (people who choose veggie for health rather than moral) because one thing that is a recommended vitamin are some fatty acids or amino acids that are generally found in fish. If I remember correctly it involves the digestive system. However, a substitute for these can be found in some cereals which have them supplemented or in Flax seed oil. I would recommend vitamins like was said by others until you get into the swing of things. For a healthy plant based diet you need a wide variety of plants which is not always easy or too cheap to find. The ADA has a great paper on the vegetarian diet which gives a list of what kind of vegetables carry what vitamins and such. Anyways Good Luck to you.
Good advice I think you meant omega 3 & 6. You're right those are found in various plant sources. Not totally sure what the deal with them is, but a while ago there was a lot made about how important they were in the media and such.
