What should I have in my daily diet to stay healthy without meat?
I can’t eat meat, because when I do I just picture the animal in my mind and I adore animals. I know how they are treated and it’s just wrong. I already don’t buy products tested on animals, but lately I’ve been wanting to cut meat out of my diet. I’m only worried about the effects it would have on my health. If I don’t eat meat, what should I add into my diet?
Thank you for any help.
Comments
If you don’t eat meat, you need other sources of iron and protein.
Protein- good sources, legumes. beans, peas, lentils etc.
Iron- Lots of dark green veg- spinach, broccoli, kale etc.
Talk to a dietitian or a friendly gp before you make the switch.
It won’t have any negative effects on your health, only positive ones. Use common sense when it comes to meal planning. You should be eating mostly veggies, with whole grain rice, pasta or beans.
You could try out some fake meat products if you have trouble making the transition, but these should be viewed as a treat since they are still processed.
Eating healthy like this and you won’t have any issues. There’s no reason to be too worried about protein or iron or anything like that. Protein is found in all plant life as well as animal. Most omnivores get too much protein, and there’s often no difference between a vegetarian and an omnivore in terms of iron. Being a woman, of course, you should be making sure you get enough iron whether you eat meat or not.
That being said, you can be an unhealthy vegetarian as well. After all, most junk food is vegetarian. So just use your head, and you will be fine!
Here’s a good site, which also has the vegetarian food pyramid on it:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vegetarian-diet/HQ01596
This one talks about iron:
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.htm
Nuts.
Have a lot of veggies and vitamins.
Keep eating eggs cheese, and milk if you can do it. If not you need to eat beans with a grain to get complete proteins. Also you need to take vitamin supplements, mainly B vitamins, most namely B12.
It can be done, you just have to pay attention to what you eat. Ignore the propaganda about if you don’t eat meat you will somehow magically be more healthy. Also I would warn you about some false sense of security form eating vegetables. Remember it was spinach that was tainted with E.Coli (it is because while the FDA inspects all meat it does not inspect all vegetables). Basically use common sense and don’t believe all the hype.
You need to learn about proteins and complementary proteins. Some foods like hummus already have these mixed together. Other things require you eat bread along with them (lentil soup for example). But as long as you pay attention to your protein intake you will be fine.
Look no further than your bag of carrots. The wholesome goodness you find in carrots has many essential nutrients your body needs.
The following nutrition information is for one serving of wholesome carrots. That would be about one cup of sliced wholesome carrots, or 122 grams. This general information is for any variety of wholesome raw carrots.
Macronutrients:
Water: 107.71 g
Calories: 50
Protein: 1.13 g
Carbohydrates: 11.69 g
Fiber: 3.4 g
Sugars: 5.54 g
Total Fat: 0.29 g
Saturated Fat: 0.045 g
Monounsaturated Fat: 0.017 g
Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.143 g
Cholesterol: 0 mg
Micronutrients:
Calcium: 40 mg
Iron: 0.37 mg
Magnesium: 15 mg
Phosphorus: 43 mg
Potassium: 390 mg
Sodium: 84 mg
Zinc: 0.29 mg
Vitamin C: 7.2 mg
Thiamin: 0.081 mg
Riboflavin: 0.071 mg
Niacin: 1.199 mg
Pantothenic Acid: 0.333 mg
Vitamin B6: 0.168 mg
Vitamin B12: 0 mcg
Folate: 23 mcg
Vitamin A: 20509 IU
Vitamin E: 0.81 mg
Vitamin K: 16.1 mcg
Phytonutrients:
beta Carotene: 10108 mcg
beta Cryptoxanthin: 153 mcg
Lycopene: 1 mcg
Lutein and Zeaxanthin: 312 mcg
Fruit
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vegetarian-diet/HQ01596
http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/nutrition/vegetarian.htmlhttp://www.vrg.org/nutshell/vegan.htm
These are just a few websites to get you started. You could also try some books,including cookbooks.
http://www.ecobooks.com/catalogs/vegan.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Ethical-Vegetarianism-Kerry-Walters/dp/0791440443
http://michaelbluejay.com/veg/books/
http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/special/vegetarian/
avoid white rice.have milk,fruits,vegetables and brown rice.
Hi. You make a great choice! Cutting out meat from your diet won’t have any negative effects, unless you just live off junk food but then living off junk food is not healthy on any diet, including the meat diet. You do need to replace the protein and iron that you won’t be getting from meat. For your protein, eat eggs, Quorn, tofu, beans, nuts and nut butters and dairy. Dairy will also provide you with Vitamin B12 which you’ll need as you won’t be getting it from meat. For your iron, eat green vegetables and tofu. For your Omega 3 intake, eat walnuts and fortified Flora butters. Good Luck!!
A good way to look at being veggie/vegan is it’s not about what you don’t eat, but about what you *do* eat. You have cut meat out of your diet which is good, now you need to replace it with sources of protein, iron, etc.
If you want something to be like a meat substitute, try textured soya protein..it comes in chunks, mince, and flakes, and can be bought dried out or frozen. You can use it exactly how you would use meat…add it to chilli or stew or a curry. You can also get veggie burgers but don’t rely on them as they are highly processed.
Eat a wide variety of vegetables and fruit…spinach especially is a great source of iron and vitamins.
Beans of all kinds contain lots of protein, carbohydrates and fiber…so add beans of any kind to soups, stews and caseroles, or just have some on toast or cold in a salad.
There’s also tofu and soy milk which are excellent sources of protein and easy to digest.
Try and base your diet around foods such as wholemeal pasta, wholegrain rice, various grains, oats, quinoa, buckwheat and so on. They will give you energy and keep your blood sugar and energy levels smooth.
Don’t worry too much about getting enough protein..most people actually eat too much protein.
Getting a good vegetarian cookbook would be a great idea as it would give you lots of ideas and recipes and also more information on how to achieve a balanced diet, or just print some info and recipes off of websites.
Hope that helps.
Leave a Comment