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Vegetarian health
Hey. I've been a veggietarian for nine months now, and I've changed so much. I am so malnurished and I'm having like a million mental break downs. I've become really sad and angry. I wanted to stop being a veggie but its so hard! I wont eat meat or i'll start like crying...well not really but ill feel really sad and become moody. im also really malnaurished cause im allergic to a lot and cause im kosher. i need advise from a veggie or someone who once was one. thanx to anyone who can help! by the way...incase you wanna like address me in ur note back my names joey f/! thanx!!
xox
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Maybe give some free advice about: Nutrition?
If you are malnourished, you are obviously not eating well enough.
Being a vegetarian does not mean you eat only vegetables. :-P You need protein, and if you can't bring yourself to get that from meat, you can get it from nuts and legumes, and there are many soy products out there.
You should probably talk to a doctor, though, because being a vegetarian might be a bad idea when you have allergies.
And keeping kosher shouldn't be a problem if you aren't eating any meat. Most laws referring to kosher food has to do with meat(i.e. not mixing meat with dairy, only eating fish that have scales, etc.).
Talk to a doctor about your malnutrition and in the meantime start getting more protein in your diet.
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I've been a veggie for five years now.
On my fourth year i started to act like you are. because i wasnt eatting enough of protien and iron. i got really low iron and i would sleep all the time. i'd go to sleep from the time i got home (3) until 7, did homework showered and maybe ate then went back to sleep around 9 and slepted until 7 the next day. not healthy at all.
i wasnt getting any excersize, so i should have been gaining weight. but i was losing it like crazy. i think i went from 115 to 100 in a month?
i would get theses massive mood swings and horrible toughts in my head. and it was just so crazy.
i went to my doctors and they sent me to get my blood taken. it found out that i was anemia. Anemia occurs when your blood doesn't have enough hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is a protein in your red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body. My iron level was lower then it should be. i think it should be no lower the 14, mine was 2. so i was pretty unhealthy.
They put me on iron pills 3 times a day, and i had to eat certain foods for about 6 months. and now i can say i truely feel better. i mean, i still have the break downs, but not as much. i still sleep, not as much.
so i'd go talk to your doctor, as soon as possible. in my case, it was bad. and if you get it under controll now, it wont turn out like mine. The doctor will probably tell you to start eatting meat again. and you dont have to. there are so many things out there that you can take instead of meat.
so best of luck! ♥
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I got malnurished when I became a veggie too. What I did was ate meat again, and the problem was solved. While you are eating your meat, go to the doctor. Tell him/her that you were veggie and you became malnurished, so you stopped, but you want to start up again (if you do) he should provide a good vitamin. I am pretty sure they have special ones that are better for veggies. With these vitamins, you should get all the protien and iron you need, and plus more essential vitamins. Oh, and please eat three healthy meals a day, Joey!!
<3
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I've been vegetarian for nearly 13 years now and also suffer from Coeliac Disease (allergy to gluten, found in wheat, oats, barley and rye).
I have to admit, it can be very difficult to ensure you have a healthy diet and it's a lot more difficult if you have other restrictions imposed on you because of allergy or religion.
Make sure you have a balanced and varied diet. You haven't said what you are allergic to but there are alternatives to most foods available in stores, in prescription or in special health food shops. Make sure you try to have 5 portions of fruit or veg a day, either by having some salad or rice with vegetables, fruit smoothies, soups, or just having the fruit or veg by itself. Also try to eat nuts if you can. Nuts contain complex carbohydrates and essential fatty acids which you need to have in your diet. Eat around 4-5 portions of dairy a day, to ensure you have protein and calcium. Eggs are very good for you and if you can, make sure you drink plenty of milk. If you can't drink milk, try a lactose free alternative like rice milk or soya but try to find ones that are fortified with calcium.
On top of all this, try to find a supplement. It's not as good as the real thing but it's always a good idea for vegetarians to take one. Find a good supplement that covers all of the essential vitamins and minerals such as Vitamins A,B,C and D, Zinc, Copper, Iron, Magnesium, etc.
Make sure you try this for at least 3-4 months to give the supplements a chance to work. If you still feel ill, speak to your doctor who might be able to refer you to a nutritionist and/or a dietician. They will be able to assess you and make sure your diet is as balanced and sufficient as possible.
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You need more protein in your diet. Eat beans and peanuts. Try and have some dairy and veggies.
*Hope I Helped*
xoxoxoxoxoxoxo =)
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There is no reason these days to become malnourished on a vegetarian diet. There is a huge range of foods available now which weren't there when i became a veggie 20 years ago, ( i've actully put weight on). See a dietician and get a sensible eating plan together, one that will give you all the nutrients you need whilst staying on the veggie diet. You can take supplements to replace some things you can't get, like B6 and omega's 3 and 6 etc. Done properly veggies should be healthier than meat eaters as they are not eating all that fat from meat, they should be getting loads of vitamins and if they eat organic they are not eating all the anti biotics in meat or the pesticides. Your arteries will love you. Good luck with it Joey.
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Any sudden change in diet will cause a shock to the system and, in the case of malnourishment, the lacks in your diet may not show for some time.
The human species is omnivorous. Feel in the front of your mouth and you'll find 'bladed' cutting teeth designed for slicing and stripping flesh. Feel at the back and you'll find flat, grinding teeth, used for chewing up fibres and tougher vegetation.
As a species we owe much of our success, and our intelligence, to our omnivorous nature and we've evolved to live on both plants and animals. Our bodies run best, work best, when they're fed what they need.
A vegetarian diet is possible but it requires a lot of discipline and may cause long term damage in very young children as they will miss fats and proteins from meat needed to lay down their nervous system.
With your other dietary restrictions - allergies and kosher - keeping to a veggie diet is going to be that much harder and require even more discipline. It's up to you really to find ways you can eat and get what you need or to go back to eating meat again. Otherwise, dietary supplements are the way to go.
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Being a vegetarian doesn't go hand-in-hand with malnourishment. If done properly, it's actually better for your body than eating meat.
A good first step might be to see a nutritionist. He/she would help you work out the sorts of food you'd want to include in your diet to make sure you were getting all you needed. This includes lots of beans, pulses, etc.
Any good vegetarian cookbook would be able to explain what non-meat foods are needed for a healthy diet, and these days there are a good number of websites offering recipe suggestions and diet guidelines.
Your allergies and being kosher will certainly impact on your diet whether you eat meat or not - but being kosher actually fits well with being a veggie, as there's no meat involved! At any rate, you'll need to get medical advice to set you off on the right foot. If you are feeling poorly and the only possible reason is because of your diet, then your body is trying to tell you something.
Get a doctor's guidelines, browse the web, and then you can be a healthy veggie.
Best of luck.
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Being a vegetarian doesn't mean just not eating meat. If you do it that way it can be very dangerous. When you don't include meat in your diet you are not getting certain nutrients that your body needs. So, you have to work around that and make sure that you eat other foods that have those nutrients in them. You need to seek professional help on this one. Talk to a doctor or a nutritionist. This is very important. What you are doing is extremely unhealthy. I would also suggest buying some books and reading up on proper vegetarian diets online. Please set up an appointment with a doctor as soon as possible or you're going to end up very very sick! Good luck!
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Hi Joey
Ok well i was what you call a "mammaltarian" for over a year...what that means is that I would only eat chicken and turkey...no other meats. That is a better choice than going completly veggie....my friend went complety veggie and ended up in the hospital...its extreemly unhealthy to completly cut out all meat from your diet. I know exactly what you mean abotu how you would feel really sad when you ate meat...once i actually started crying when my dad froced me to eat pork roast....but for some odd reson I dont feel that way when I eat chicken. I think this is the easiest solution to yoor problem..but if you feel you cant even eat chicken then go to a nutritionist and ahve them recommend a diet. Good luck! ♥ caitie
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I was a vegetarian for 7 months when I was 15. Between my allergies (I can't have tomatoes, most beans and most pasta) and my otherwise not so great health, my iron dipped so low I ended up admitted to a hospital.
I saw a nutritionist and he gave me a very strict meal plan I needed to stick to if I wanted to remain a vegetarian.
That's what you need to do, see a doctor and get a referral to a nutritionist immediately. Your doctor can also probably recommend some vitamins and supplements for you to begin taking.
Even if you have trouble eating meat, eating some chicken broth based soups might make you feel a world better.
I'm not a vegetarian anymore. In the end, it wasn't reasonable or economical for me to be. I can't afford the supplements and specialty foods I would need to be a healthy vegetarian. I still don't eat very much meat, but I am careful to get a few servings a week 'cause without I know I will be ill and miserable.
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