March 28, 2024

Is a vegetarian diet healthy? – some swear by it while others hate it.

The staunch vegetarians believe that the vegetarian diet is the key to staying fit and healthy for life. No wonder that most celebs follow the vegetarian diet. Animal lovers who have their personal reasons for staying away from non-vegetarian diet also follow this diet.

Is A Vegetarian diet healthy?
Is A Vegetarian diet healthy?

On the other hand, supporters of a more meat based diet believe that vegetarians are in general weaker than them because vegetarian diet lacks the nutrition available in plenty from fish, meat and eggs.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

It is true that fish, meat and eggs are nutritious foods in their own ways; however, that doesn’t mean that you couldn’t get an equal amount of nutrition from fruits and vegetables.

In this article I will tell you how to make a Vegetarian diet healthy.

Vegetarian or non-vegetarian diet, any healthy meal should be rich in all the following nutrients:

  1. Vitamins
  2. Protein
  3. Calcium
  4. Carbohydrates
  5. Zinc
  6. Iron

Okay, now lets look at the foods that contain these nutrients:

Vegetarian Diets – Healthy In Its Variety

Calcium: Broccoli, dairy products, tofu, soy, fruit juice (especially orange juice)

Protein: Tofu, apart from being rich in calcium, is also full of protein. Besides tofu, lentils, peas, nuts, seeds, etc. are also rich in protein content

Iron: Once again I have to suggest the highly nutritious tofu here. Apart from that, iron is also available in plenty from rice, cashew nuts, tomato juice, etc.

Zinc: Tofu is here as well. Aren’t you surprised how a single food could be rich in so many different types of nutrients? Okay, apart from tofu, whole grains, especially the bran and germ of grains, are rich in zinc content.

Also, any vegetable available in the form of roots such as radishes, carrots, beets, etc., contains zinc. Leafy vegetables such as lettuce, spinach and cabbage leaves are rich in zinc as well. If you hate potatoes because of its carbohydrate content, note that it is rich in zinc too.

Vitamins: Vitamins are available in milk, soy, cereals, Tempeh, miso, etc.

Carbohydrates: Do I even need to tell you where could you get carbohydrates from? They are already available in junk and sugary foods but…WAIT, since you cannot have them, eat potatoes instead. Their carb content is much lower than those of junk foods.

Who says that a vegetarian diet is health cannot be as nutritious as a non-veg diet? As long as you eat a healthy and well-balanced meal, your body would definitely receive the right amount of nutrition.

Moreover, being low on calorie, the vegetarian diet won’t make you fat; if anything, it would help you maintain a slim and flat stomach throughout your entire life.

So the answer is YES and that a Vegetarian diet healthy in a great variety of foods can be great for you.

89 thoughts on “Is A Vegetarian Diet Really Healthy?

  1. I actually like vegetarian food, but I can’t last very long on a vegetarian diet. I work, and I mean really work, and that takes a toll. Protein is absolutely necessary to maintain my health and stamina, and I would flounder myself on even the most protein-dense vegetarian foods before I took in what I needed. (And besides, tofu tastes fine but it is full of hormones that men really don’t want to ingest.)

    The truth is that the most common guidelines for a healthy diet, vegetarian or not, are really geared toward sedentary suburbanites and not toward people who are actively engaged in physically challenging activities. Do you have any idea how many calories the men who worked in turn-of-the century (early 1900s) logging camps consumed on a daily basis? Between 5000 and 7000! And those guys were not fat. Their protein intake would make a contemporary bodybuilder look like a little girl on a fad diet.

    Interestingly, I once read a biography of Genghis Khan that explained the Mongol conquest of China in terms of dietary advantages. The Mongols ate a diet rich in animal proteins, and Mongol warriors were incredibly strong (note: PROTEIN). The Chinese soldiers lived on a mostly vegetarian diet, and they were much weaker on average than the Mongol warriors. Chinese soldiers could not draw Mongol bows, and the Mongols used the superior range of their more difficult weapons to attack their enemies without coming into range of the opposing force’s bows. In this way, along with other tactical advantages, the Mongols defeated a vastly superior force (numerically superior). I don’t know if Chinese soldiers were in some sense healthier than Mongol warriors, but I know that when the two met on the battlefield the latter had a longer life expectancy.

    So, are humans “designed” to eat meat or are we “designed” for a vegetarian diet? Well, considering the above example, diet clearly gave at least one army an advantage on the battlefield. That has probably been the case in other conflicts as well. Since evolution is about natural selection, and winning a war is clearly a way to be “selected” for survival (it worked for the Khans; it has been estimated that GK has more than twelve million living direct male descendents alive today!) , it seems likely that many of us are descended from humans who won wars specifically because of diets that made them stronger on the battlefield. Oh, I know that’s not “politically correct”, and war is “bad”, but it has been a factor in our history and our evolution. So, I am inclined to think that we are specifically adapted to a meat-eating, high-protein diet. And yes, that diet is specifically the one that makes us – gasp! – tough brutes!

    If you are trying to “go veg” to save some cute critter’s life, just remember that the cute critter you saved today is going to die some horrible death tomorrow in spite of your assumed nobility. Animals, like us, are also ravaged by nasty diseases, starvation, and other critters. A quick slice across the jugular is, for many animals, one of the better ways to go. No living thing is immortal, so your guilt-assuaging act of compassion actually spares no one. Not the cute, cuddly critter. Not you. Not me. The very best any of us can do is try to ensure that we treat our food humanely before we kill it and in the way we kill it and then hope that we come to a painless end ourselves.

    By the way, humans ARE designed to eat meat. We are not cows. Cows have four stomachs. We have one. They chew their cud. If we upchuck it’s called vomit. Yes, our teeth are designed for tearing, as with carnivores, not grinding as with herbivores. I have some very sharp incisors. I use them to eat critters.

    My philosophy? Life is brutal. Man is a moral agent, but he cannot change reality. He has to work within certain limits. We must take life in order to ensure our own survival, but mother nature – the bloody bitch! – seems to regard it as just another fine example of nutrient recycling to ensure that the entire web of life continues. Individually, none of us matters to anyone but ourselves. We are not free to change the rules of the game – no amount of prayer or meditation will change it one iota regardless of what our religious impulses (insanity?) tell us – but we can change the way we conduct ourselves within it. I repeat, treat and slaughter the animal humanely while realizing that the best that any of us can hope for ourselves in this crummy world is a good life with a peaceful, relatively painless end. Regardless of how much we wish for it, it WON’T – CAN’T – get any better than that.

    1. I just watched forks over knives, and saw a fighter for mixed martial arts who was on a plant based diet, and also there were firefighters who were also on this same diet. I myself am not a vegan, or vegetarian, but I do think we can benefit from eating less meat, and more fruits and vegetables, whole grains. My husband who is a Marine works a whole lot too, and he noticed he was getting more energy and feeling less fatigued when I started cooking more meals geared to that of a vegetarian. We do consume chicken, or turkey every once in a while, but about 50-60 % of our meals are completely meatless. I agree, we do need a good amount of protein, but the outside appearance of a person may not say it all. I think knowing your numbers as far as cholesterol, blood pressure, etc… is highly important. At the end of the day everyone feels very strongly about what they eat, or not eat, but if you are feeling energized, well, strong, and your numbers are okay , then you are doing something right.

  2. Yo… I used to be vegan for 2 years and vegetarian before for 2 years! It felt great and everything, but I’ve recently developed a stomach problem which makes many beans and carbs hard for me to process and causes me pain. So I eat meat, like about, once every two weeks… Most of the time I eat different kind of omelets made from eggs at a nearby farm that humanely raises chickens in a field. I’m not really sure why people get into these arguments all the time… I think it is unacceptable that people just cram their face full of meat every day. Its unhealthy for humans and for the environment, oh wait! Humans are a PART of the environment! I think it’d be way better if fast food was eliminated and proper meals were made cheap for people to eat, whether it be a normal quantity of meat, or just healthy vegetables and potatoes instead of shit. If those who ate meat a lot just toned it down and ate a lot more vegetables and healthy carbs such as sweet potatoes and more brown rice and whatnot, supplemented with eggs and avocados, we’d be in a much more happier place compared to now. with all this wasteful production of food for those who are already obese its just getting ridiculous.

  3. I would like to know for all the vegans and vegitarians out there are you going to go to the zoo or even out in the wild life and make sure no animals eat other animals? if so then you can start telling other humans not to eat meat.

    1. lol no one is forcing you to eat a vegan diet, it jsut vegans in whole tend to be alot more healthier than someone with meat in there diet. personaly i speak for myself when i say this, if you can kill any animal with your bare hands then i think you earnt the right to eat it. But then most people cant kill chicken a cow or pig there too scared.

      1. There is no control group in the fact of vegans being healthier. Obviously vegan people are concerned about their health more than the average american. They are not healthier because they eat vegan, they are healthier because whatever they eat, they make it healthy. It is a good rule of thumb to not eat too much meat, but we as humans are made to eat meat, and the main source listed on this site (tofu) has female hormones that no sain man would ingest.

  4. Grace, if you are equating yourself to an animal then you need to be in a farm somewhere. Animals can never be equated to humans other wise they would be able to buy a flat, drive a car and work their asses off like i do.
    Eating meat has nothing whatsoever to do with animal cruelty. Most vegetarians I’ve met come off as being self-righteous and completely obnoxious. Where do you all get off judging other people because of what they eat. If that’s how eating all that bland crap make s you behave i sure as hell don’t want to be vegetarian.
    I love my meat, and i don’t support animal cruelty, period!

      1. thats the power to make the world better and peaceful.
        Also, “vegans ARE ANNOYING
        just like seat belts, ambulances and other things that save lives.”

    1. My friend brought up a good point in that you’re only going to experience the obnoxious and self righteous vegetarians because the ones that mind their own business are minding their own business and you would never notice them, so it’s kind of a biased outlook on the group. It’s a prejudice just like any other prejudice in that you only see the negative points on a group of people because the positives aren’t seen

  5. Listen,I believe what God told Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
    After they were expelled from Eden they were given all of the trees and every living creature they could eat.
    The sad story is the meat industry and yes,poultry and even fish have exploited and gone to extremes in providing edible healthy meat for us.
    Not everyone does well on a Vegetarian,Vegan or Macrobiotic diet. We need to eat right for our metabolic type.
    I eat pastured meat and poultry because I do not do well as a vegetarian. Cholesterol goes sky high and blood sugar spirals.
    Why don’t all of you just realize that we are all made in God’s image but we are all biologically different.
    If everyone is so concerned about the beastly cold way meat are slaughtered why nt ake it to congress?
    Yes. Not buying meat might make a difference. Look at the Weston Price Foundation.Lots of research there.

      1. Dude, honestly don’t bring god into this. There is a time and place for that, which isn’t here. Respect other peoples beliefs, you don’t have to believe in it but don’t trash talk it. Thank you 🙂

    1. Actually, in Genesis, God told Adam and Eve to eat a vegetarian diet — plants only. It wasn’t until after Noah’s Flood that God gave people permission to eat meat. Of course, I’m sure many people were eating meat before that time, they weren’t actually given permission by God until after the Flood. God also gave man dominion over the earth, so we can eat animals if we want to, we just shouldn’t torture them before doing so because that’s not being good stewards of His creation.

    2. I’m surprised that Vege foods affect your cholesterol. Generally it’s high saturated fat foods (mostly found in meat) that cause those problems. The problem I have with vegetarian diets (and I tried recently for 3 months) is that you do have to work hard to get a proper varied diet. Maybe that is a good thing but it didn’t suit me. I found vege food ok as one offs but overall it becomes bland and unsatisfying – and actually I love my veggies. I soon realised I was looking for meat substitutes such as Quorn and similar and then what is the point. Veganism seems to me much more difficult as there are no animal products – cheese, eggs or milk so it just makes it even harder to get a decent balanced diet.

  6. Tofu is just about as water intense as chicken. If you want to save the environment (human habitat, if we have that sorted we can take care of non-human sentient life too), eat soy directly. If you don’t like monoculture, soy isn’t grow locally or don’t feel it contains enough nutrients, eat hempseeds every now and then. I’m not sure if soy is equally healthy as tofu though. But I’m assuming the only thing that’s added is water…

  7. That some people choose to be vegan or vegetarian, fine it is their choice but I really can’t stand how judgemental vegans and vegetarians are towards those who have chosen otherwise. And yes it is possible to love animals and have a steak. I have read some pretty funny comments in this thread. For example somebody compared humans with gorillas and elephants. I doubt this person has enough scientific knowledge to put forward such arguments, this is just ludicrous… Can you compare a cow and a tiger??? Now I totally accept that some if us might decide not to eat this or that for various reasons but for goodness sake, stop judging people for eating meat and fish. There is no right or wrong and if we were not meant to eat fish or meat, then we would not be able to digest or it would result in something pretty nasty. Look at what happened with the mad cow disease.
    I for one could not be a vegetarian as I find the diet terribly boring and lacking in good quality protein (can’t be eating tofu everyday, life is for enjoying!!) but if some poeple are happy with it, then so be it good for you! But for the love of God, leave us meat eaters alone!!!!!!

    1. Actually, and don’t get mad, I hate that stuff, it’s a discussion, we can’t really digest meat =/ I mean, we can, but not well. We have the intestines of herbivores, so it’s a bit nasty inside us. It takes 72 hours for a steak to pass though you, so imagine a steak sitting in 98 degree weather for 3 days. Ugh. And vegetarians have “good quality protein” 😛 I actually don’t know any vegetarians that like tofu by the way. Nasty stuff.

      1. You’re totally right- When people eat meat, it just sits in their intestines for days and the mere idea of that tends to make my stomach turn =-(

        However, I am a vegetarian and I absolutely love tofu. I’ve never understood why people don’t like it, hahaha.

  8. In all the arguing about meat eaters being cruel et al I must agree it is ridiculous.

    We do not know any better. Even when we do know better it is so in grained in many people to eat meat and accepted by society that for the minority to attack people is not going to help the animals being abused.

    Additionally not all animals are abused. It is the system in general that is at fault and trying to change it by arguing on forums is a waste of time.

    Maybe we can all look at what has happened to our planet and realize it is time we change things and maybe make this a place where we all can get along. Imagine that. It would likely be without meat as a food for humans simply because the planet cannot sustain these insane levels of meat production. But that would be another story. I am as guilty as anyone but I believe that if we were forced as individuals to kill whatever we eat for our self I for one would never eat any meat again. But many could do the killing.

    It has been said that when people’s bodies are very acidic from a diet of acidic foods they are much more hostile. They claim that people that eat a species appropriate diet are balanced and no longer have these hostilities against their fellow man.

    Jeez Imagine if that was true too.

    Stuff to think about for me and I sure wish it was easier to eat healthy and not have a government that literally approves poisons for profit centers. That is what really bugs me. Along with them hiding the inventions that allow for free electricity of course ..

    Again I say Good luck to us all as we really do need it.

    1. – Type Sucrase-Isomaltase Deficiency into Google or Google scholar. It exists. Doug don’t imply my medical condition is ‘bull.’ That is annoying because I have to live with it and doing so isn’t much fun.

      – Vegetarianism is a healthy option for a lot of people but not everyone.

      – Humans are not all the same. This is particularly true when it comes to intestinal enzymes and food allergies. Think lactase deficiency (aka lactose intolerance) and celiac disease. Humans vary in this respect. How acid or alkalizing you or your foods are does not change this. What Gorillas eat does not change this. What elephants eat does not change this either.

      – Evolution isn’t just governed by the passage of time it is also governed by the intensity and type of selective pressures. For instance, the Inuit in Greenland have a high incidence of sucrase-isomaltase deficiency because they have a long history of not eating a lot of plants and subsisting on a mainly meat based diet.

      – Animal welfare and sustainability are important issues but that doesn’t change this either.

      – If you care about your cause you should take this into account. We need better genetic profiling and diet science tailored to the individual. This would be good for everyone.

      I know what I am talking about. I have to live with a very severe genetic variant of this condition. I can only eat a very select group of fruits and vegetables and no high sugar foods and no grains. This select group is not enough to live off on its own because it just doesn’t provide enough calories. And if I eat fruits and vegetables from outside this group I get osmotic diarrhoea and keep losing rapidly and become dangerously under very quickly. This has seriously affected my life and I am not happy about it.

      I get that you don’t know what I am talking about. It is a rare condition. Most people don’t know what Sucrase-Isomaltase deficiency is. From my point of view this is annoying but understandable. But people who don’t know what it is telling me that it doesn’t exist because they don’t want it to…. that just pisses me off. And I think it is out of order. That just says to me that you want to believe what you want to believe and you are not interested in anything that calls any of those beliefs in to question. How can you expect any of the meat eating population to take you seriously or sympathise with your cause if that is your attitude. You can’t tell me seriously that my medical condition doesn’t exist just because you don’t want it to. Frankly I don’t want it to exist either but it does. I know it does because I have the condition. I have Sucrase-Isomaltase Deficiency. So look it up already if you care so much about what the politics of what other people eat.

      And for the record if I had to kill my own animals too eat meat I would just have to suck it up and do it. I wouldn’t like it. But in my case meat is a necessity not a choice.

      I am for environmental preservation and protection. I think a vegetarian diet is great diet with lots of benefits for those who are suited to it. Vegetarianism is a healthy option for a lot of people but not everyone. It is time EVERYONE (not just vegetarians) gave this universal diet idea a rest.

      Sucrase-isomaltase deficiency, Hereditary fructose intolerance, fructose mal-absorption, celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, soy allergies/intolerances, lactose intolerance, milk allergy, egg allergy, various individual allergies and a bunch of intolerance/metabolic/digestive problems with fat and protein (that I don’t know enough about to name individually). All these things exist and need to be taken into account when making any statements about the human diet and what it should be. Taken individually these might be rare conditionS but taken together these things affect a lot of people. If you want to get the politics right when it comes to diet you have to take that into account. And you can’t do that if you pretend these things don’t exsist just because you don’t like them.

      You get to choose your beleifes. I don’t get to choose my disease. Its not fair is all.

  9. Nobody needs a lot of protein. That is pure bull that most vegetarians do not get enough. Most Americans get 20 times the protein they need per day. They also get 20 times the things they do not need.

    Just as a quick example.

    Lets look at our cousins the Gorilla. They eat leaves and berrys and bark and ants and whatever else they find in the woods. They are extremely healthy. Funny huh. Elephants eat leaves and bark and some sea vegetables and also are very healthy.

    Everything they eat is raw and unprocessed.

    If a Vegetarian is cooking everything to hell or buying frozen vegetarian dinners they will suffer but it is not the selection of vegetables it is the processing.

    Humans can live just fine on very little food. If it is alkalizing and balanced so they get all the minerals and vitamins they will do just fine.

    As another great example of how Humans are not meat eaters just look at our teeth and our digestive systems and compare them to carnivores such as the lion or even a dog.

    Clearly our teeth are not designed for tearing flesh.

    Our intestines are not designed for meat either or any animal protein and the fact that most males get cancer of the prostate is great evidence. The cat and dog have very short intestines. It goes direct from stomach straight out. No time for the bacteria to grow and create problems. This is why Humans must cook the hell out of meat first and even then it will kill you. Our digestive system is designed for a long slow process, exactly what fibrous foods like vegetables need.

    These two very obvious facts would be enough for a NON Brainwashed human. But after so many generations of hearing the 5 food groups we “REQUIRE” etc etc humans are basically under the impression they need much more than they really do. Hence the great health care business was created.

    It was not by accident that Rockefeller and Carnegie created the AMA. It was in their assholic opinions a stroke of genius. But they care very little about crimes against humanity as all they care about is power obtained through money In their opinion. It is these people and the many that have followed that have brought us to this precipice we are at now where finally it seems people are awakening to the obvious.

    It is not easy to eat correctly in a society designed to feed you incorrectly. Additionally the food we should eat tastes like crap compared to ice cream and bacon sandwiches. We need to be alkaline. That means that 80% of the food you eat is out of the picture completely. The human body requires foods that alkalize for 80% of the diet. Greens, some beans, sprouts, nuts and seeds and just a few fruits are OK. Like Avocado, Lemon, Grapefruit and tomato and 2 of them seem like vegetables to me too. Since sugar is very bad for humans most fruit is also very bad. The goal is to stop all fungus from growing in your system and all viruses and pathogens require fungus to grow in. Candida in particular.

    Most vegetarians eat whatever they want leaving out meat and dairy. But that is no good at all and is the reason they are sick as well.

    Not so simple huh?

    Read the China Study and the PH Miracle and you decide. These are real eye openers as they actually use logic throughout the concepts.

    Good luck to all of us!!!

    1. A lot of protein is essential to me right now (age 15). I eat 5000 calories per day, and am losing fat due my muscle building taking all of my calories. I don’t even work out very much at all. I ran 2.5 miles yesterday, and it wasn’t hard at all, but I am really not a “typical” high school boy in spandex. Without a lot of protein, or with too much estrogen from soy, I would be interrupted going through puberty, which could endanger my ability too… (cough) reproduce. Most Vegans and Vegetarians I know (i know a lot of them) are extremely weak. I mean really weak.I have a 16 year old friend (a guy that works out also a vegan until very recently) who I can put my thumb and middle finger around his upper arm, and touch them together. Obviously this is partly genetics, but his brother who graduated before his family became vegan is immensely strong without working out very much, and they look very similar, so I am guessing that they have similar ginetics.

  10. I can’t be a vegetarian or a vegan. I have a medical condition that makes it impossible (Sucrase-Isomaltase Deficiency). My capacity to digest sugars, grain and plants in general is extremely limited. So a lot of my diet is made up of animals and animal product by necessity. The condition is genetic. I have a serve form of it and I am thus somewhat unusual. But a lot of other people will have the condition to a more mild degree and will never be diagnosed with it. Indeed on normal diet they may be asymptomatic. A vegetarian/vegan diet would probably not be beneficial for this group. No-one knows exactly how big this group of people is. Some scientists have suggested that the mild form of the condition may affect as much as 10% of those with European ancestry but they really don’t know. The prevalence varies across regions and ethnic groups. It is most prevalent among those with Viking and Inuit ancestry. Supposedly this is because these groups’ ancestors lived in the very cold climates of the Northern hemisphere. A reduced capacity to digest plant sugars was not selected against there. Those populations were largely dependent on meat and animals. The gastro-intestinal variation in the human population has to be taken into account when making any dietary recommendation and it often just isn’t. Humans gastro-intestinally speaking vary on an individual as well as on a regional and ethnic basis. If you doubt this just consider lactose intolerance (otherwise known as lactase deficiency). Lactose tolerance in adulthood is much more common in the Caucasian population than it is in any other ethnic group. (However, it is important to note that individual variations cut across ethnic and regional variation. Hence some Caucasians are lactose intolerant.) Gluten intolerance is another great example of this kind of variation. We really need to use and develop technology that allows us to genetically/scientifically profile an individual and identify the best diet for them as individuals. This whole area is underdeveloped and this is in my opinion what leads to so much controversy. I am left of the political spectrum. I have always had a sympathy attitude toward vegetarians/vegans and their concerns. However, the fact is some people flat out NEED a lot of meat and animal product in their diet. Some people are just better off with meat and animal product in their diet (how many people we just don’t know). This is something that the vegetarian/vegan movement has to accept and come to terms with. This isn’t the end of the world for the movement there are people who could benefit from a more vegetarian/vegan diet. Just not all people.

  11. there is no need to insult people just because they eat meat. im a meat eater and even though i know what happens in slaughter houses i still eat meat but i also like animals. just because you eat meat doesnt mean you hate animals, besides even if alot of people stopped eating meat slaulghter houses would still continue killing animals hoping somebody would buy the meat.

    1. Well, my friend you are cheating your-self. Its true you love animals. But you love eating meat/fish more than you love animals! You can not do both at ones, frankly. All animals/fish like to live in this world without being brutally killed for their flesh. You know how fish come to your plate? Just deadly suffocation! lots & lots of pain… longer time…. Killing innocent animals in slaughter houses are also same. Unbelievably brutal & inhuman. Meat/fish eaters not only encourage murder animals just for their love for meat/fish taste, but also they steal! They steal animals’ lives inhumanly for their greed of bloody flesh! So, if you love animals, love them frankly from heart & brain. Be a Veggie! then you can die happily that you did not contribute to kill animals…

  12. Did your dentist take your cholesterol and triglycerides? What about your blood pressure? Did he do a colonoscopy? Study after massive study will link vegetarianism to longer life spans, less cancer (especially colorectal), heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. SO I want to know how you ascertained that your gum problems were exclusively from your vegetarian diet and not other factors (stress, lack of sleep, poor brushing habits, etc?) I realize you could live solely on krispy cremes and still be considered vegetarian. But studies demonstrate vegetarians are more conscious about what they put in their bodies. No decomposing animals sitting in my gut for 72 hours. No artificial growth hormones coursing through my daughters veins. I wont have to watch with guilt as a cow gets a smoldering hot branding iron shoved into their side. If that doesn’t bother you, that’s your choice, your moral dilemna to work through. I won’t judge. just don’t heckle me with questions about why I’m vegetarian or try to tell me that I sneak morsels of meat in here-or-there or that I should just eat a hot dog already. Have a hot dog for me. I’ll take the extra eight years I get with my family over a hot dog anyday.

    1. I agree. I have struggled with meat eating for many years. Then, I realized that if I was struggling with guilt, then there must be a problem. Finally, I watched many slaughterhouse video’s (something I would not do as a meat eater….denial is easier). I haven’t been able to touch meat since….:)

  13. Well if you are tired of eating vegetables then try Indian veg recepies they are lot more tastier and I bet you will be addicted to it I’am a vegetarian but there are lots veg foods that keep me healthy and always satisfy my taste.I love veg food.

    1. I agree whoile-heartedly! My family always comments on how being veg would be too bland, and they wouldn’t be able to stand it, but this is not true at all! It can be tricky to find good recipes using a western diet (that is heavily dependent on meat), but there are many tasty Indian curries out there. As well, for people looking to make tasty veg dishes, try looking into more oriental cooking! I just made a delicious Korean inspired stew the other day, which included seaweed. Look for recipes from the countries dependent on the ocean, like Japan for instance, and you’ll find lots of delicious dishes using seaweed and tofu. 🙂 I even recommend some Hungarian goulash, just omit the meat and get creative. 😉

  14. TL;DR
    Most vegetarians who advertise their lifestyle and try to push it on others are hypocrites. Vegetarianism should be a way of life for better health. If you want to make a difference in the world or make some sort of statement, there are better things for you to do.

    1. The meat industry pushes it’s products onto people all the time does’nt it? Children are given meat without even knowing what it is! I don’t think there’s a level playing field. I don’t think veggies advertise their lifestyle. Meat is thrown in our faces, I don’t think vegetarianism is. A lot of the time vegetarians are asked why they are vegetarian. It’s not our fault if meat eaters can’t handle the response! Drop the hatred Tasha! I don’t know what your problem is exactly but you seem to project a lot of hatred towards vegetarians. This puts you in the same category as racists and homophobics.

      1. Bwahahaha, you might as well compare me to Hitler while you’re at it, or some other hate mongering fascist. Racists and homophobics? Really?
        If you’ll notice, I am against vegetarian EXTREMISTS, who become so wrapped in their own beliefs, that they lack the ability to understand other people and their decisions, and so disregard them and tell them they are WRONG. Wrong for what they do, wrong for what they believe, and those extremists even go so far to assume all meat eaters to be uninformed and ignorant, and take it upon themselves to educate and “save” others. Who’s the prejudiced one?
        As said, I don’t eat poultry, cow, pork, or any other animals besides fish; I am not willing to give up the nutrituous oils and proteins found in them. Most meats aren’t entirely healthy for us, besides some super lean white cuts. That being said, many people don’t care, and some know this and prefer to still eat red meat simply because they like it, and they have that right. But due to the moral ambiguities with eating meat, vegetarianism has become fashionable and many advocate this hard-core animal murder crap without becoming properly informed themselves. I prefer to associate with people who do what they feel is best and healthy for themselves, and don’t judge others for their lifestyles.

    2. You sound pretty extreme yourself Tasha! This discussion board is about the benefits (or otherwise) of a veggie diet). It’s not a platform to express hate towards certain sections of society. The Omega 3 oils which are found in fish are also found in some nuts and vegetable oils. Rapeseed oil and wall nuts are two good examples. Why does this issue make you so angry? Regardless of your diet , anger is definately unhealthy! You say you don’t judge others by their lifestyles. Well I think everyone does that to some degree Tasha!

      1. The INTERNET is an international platform to express hate towards all sections of society. Yes, humanity is by nature prejudiced and quick to judge, and no matter how hard we try and how much we disillusion ourselves, we will always make generalizations and judgements. But that does not excuse us to outwardly judge people and tell them they’re wrong for what they eat. There are arguments supporting the health benefits of both meat-eating and vegetarianism, and no one should be so arrogant to presume that they are right and that all other people who object are wrong. And you should know the difficulties in supplementing all those good oils with other foods into your diet; not all of us have such a large income to drop into particular ingredients when we can pick up a nice piece of delicious, nutritious fish for a fraction of the cost! And human science is limited; we sure as hell don’t know everything about the foods we eat. For all we know, there may be other things in fish, or even chicken etc., that our bodies may need to function optimally. Nobody should tell a meat-eater they are wrong for eating something humans have developed to eat over millennia. If they chose to not eat meat, it’s their decision.
        And I am actually quite the happy individual, despite your opinion. 😉 I just love to rant and debate.

    3. I was reading some of Tasha’s comments and on the whole I kind of agree. I’m a vegetarian/almost vegan, and I’m doing just fine. I personally don’t give a darn if people want to stuff themselves with trans and saturated fats. That’s their business and right. Here’s where I get passionate on the subject: Factory farming of cattle, dairy, pork, poultry, etc., is amazingly an abuse of mans’ power. Those animals live their whole life in deplorable conditions and then they are killed, often times painfully. Research “slaughter houses” on youtube or google. It will break your heart. And if it doesn’t break your heart, I hope you eat as much fried chicken and hamburgers as possible. The sooner you choke on meat or die from a massive cardiac arrest, the happier I will be. And a quick message to you major farmers (Tyson, E6, AFFCO, FRAFT, IBP… and so on, I’d like to say (with pleasure) —> FU

  15. I am a piscetarian because I believe that they are many healthier alternatives to meat. I only learned of this word recently, and for years avoided peoples questions about my eating habits; that’s because of closed-minded vegetarians who claim eating meat is inhumane. Nearly everyone I come across seems to think I don’t eat meat because I think it’s cruel and even that I’m judging them, and I’ve even been told I’m a hypocrite for eating fish! The nerve. I shouldn’t be required to clarify and explain my eating habits to people I meet because of the grief these PETA idiots spew out at them.
    Vegetarian extremists are an example of the ridiculous stupidity and closed-mindedness that seems to fill nearly everyone I ever seem to see. I looked into PETA, and ended up unsubscribing from their e-mail list eventually because of the load of brain-washing tripe they drivelled out CONSTANTLY. I’m all for animal rights, but slaughter houses ARE GOING TO HAPPEN. People like meat, and others really like money, so their will always be individuals out there supplying the meat and meeting the demands of the populace. If slaughter houses were completely “humane”, like extremists unrealistically advocate and expect, then the costs to run the slaughter houses would be far too high and wouldn’t make nearly as much money. Not going to happen. The word “humane” itself makes me laugh, because humans as a whole are selfish and often cruel. PETA latches onto the simple-minded and campaigns the most horrible images of animal cruelty, brainwashing the people into thinking that eating meat is evil. Yes, animal cruelty happens, but not on that scale. There are also rapists out there, murderers, genocides, and kidnappings; they’re everywhere in the media and we could be shown some horrific images, but does that mean we should be scared to leave our homes? I don’t support an organization that misleads and manipulates people like this. If you want to make a difference in the world, start by living healthy, being kind, and working hard to be a good example to people around you. You change them in ways you couldn’t imagine; being angry at others for eating meat, for not believing what you believe, and acting out against “the system” is a waste of energy and works against what you’re aiming for.

    1. Tasha, you are free to eat what you like. I think people got upset because you started the discussion by using the word “hypocrite” before anyone had a chance to say anything. Obviously this is because of what you have experienced elsewhere, but you didn’t give people HERE a chance first.

      I’m sorry you have had people disagree with what you have decided to eat. You can probably understand how many of us feel who have had similar “discussions” with people about our choices!

      Health and long life to you 🙂

  16. I’ve just noticed that the article above says that vegetarians may lack the nutrients found in eggs!! Maybe someone can inform the author that vegetarians do indeed eat eggs. It’s vegans who don’t. A rookie error me thinks! Vegetarians are used to mistakes like that unfortunately!

    regards

    1. Steve – that is untrue in fact. Only Ovo-vegetarians eat eggs.. generally people are Lacto-Ovo-vegetarians, where they eat eggs as well as dairy. A true vegetarian does not. And vegan goes a lot further than simply no eggs..

      1. Products containing eggs are approved by the vegetarian society. The article is mistaken.

  17. A vegetarian diet is as healthy and varied as you allow it to be. There’s a wide variety of meat-free proteins here in the UK and most of them taste pretty damned good. I combine them with iron rich fruit and veg and it’s great for me as a trainer. I push my body quite hard and my diet does’nt restrict me. The vegetarian Society website has some excellent nutrition advice. Our bodies can of course digest limited amounts of meat without health problems, but I don’t think it’s the healthiest source of protein. I don’t think red meat is on the menu for any athlete. Maybe chicken. A well planned veggie diet is very healthy, but you can’t just drop meat from your diet without researching iron and protein alternatives.

  18. Amazing how stupid some of you are.
    Been a vegetarian for the last 12 years and a top level amateur competitive athlete for much of that time.
    Absurd to hear people talking about deficiencies in my diet. Every time I go for my physicals, which includes yearly blood work, cholesterol screenings, etc., I’m told by various doctors that I’m in fantastic health.
    Being a vegetarian does not qualify you for a healthy life. You still must make wise food choices and be active. But I can almost guarantee you that a vegetarian’s diet is likely more complex (not less!) and varied than a meat eater’s, w/far less saturated fats and all the unhealthy side-effects that come with a meat-based diet.

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