does vegetarianism necessarily = healthy?

L

Longhorn_Fan68

1,000+ Posts
I'm just not convinced. The few times I've gone any significant stretch without any meat it made me jittery and feel warn down. I had a buddy tell me tonight that he feels better now than he ever has (newly converted). He said he gets his protein from black beans. I just don't see how that can be sufficient. Can I be convinced?
 
Do some googling on the life spans of long-term vegetarians. It's kind of eye-opening. If that's not enough to get most people to swear off beef and pork I guess I can understand. Hell, I eat meat. But the hardcore medical studies here are pretty much undeniable.
 
Done correctly, absolutely yes, I think it can be a very healthy lifestyle. I have a different take, though, on the practicality / healthiness of veganism . My personal opinion is that humans are naturally omnivorous and we need a bit of meat now and again. However, I think as a society we eat entirely too much meat and as with any excess, there are going to be problems because of it.

I'm not sure if your friend is doing it the healthy way or not. A lot of vegetarians just start doing it one day without a real plan and make it up as they go. A lot of vegetarians are carboholics & you need more than black beans to get all the essential aminos your body needs.
 
I went four years without eating any meat. I didn't do it for any particular reason, except that I had a couple of rotten steaks in a row, got sick, didn't eat meat for a couple of weeks and then wondered how long I could go without.

Four years later, I had consumed enough cheese to actually gain weight and feel worse. I'm very allergic to soy and soy products, so I had little choice. Ultimately, my answer would be "it is absolutely possible to eat like crap and be a vegetarian". Done correctly, it's probably pretty healthy, though.
 
This year my wife and I decided to cut the crap out of our diet -- we no longer buy processed foods or cokes, and we're eating more fresh fruits and vegetables. When we made the decision, I decided to go ahead and go veggie too. I don't know which element it is, or if it's a bit of each, but I've lost 35 pounds since January. I feel more healthy and energetic, because I'm not wanting to take a nap every time I eat a chunk of meat. I think we've done vegetarianism right, incorporating it into a holistic philosophy of eating healthy. However, you can eat noting but Twinkies and Doritos and still be a "vegetarian."
 
My wife and I have been vegan since the end of Jan. We love it. I would recommend reading Skinny *****, the RAVE diet and/or China Study. All the nutrients and "protein" you get from meat comes from plants...that is where the animals get it. However, with plants you get fiber without the cholesterol.



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I would go so far as to say that vegetarianism does = healthy; I am quite certain that vegetarianism = healthier (than how a vast majority of people currently eat).

I am not a vegetarian. I find their self-righteous zeal quite annoying. But that is not why I am a meat eater.
 
You can be vegetarian and eat junk and become unhealthy.

However, if you are vegetarian with a good diet, then it is very healthy. As someone else said, you will likely increase your lifespan, reduce your risk of cancer and other illnesses, and lastly if it is any concern to you, be doing some potential good for the enviroment, not to mention the cruelty issues.

There are plenty of ways to get protein, and in fact a lot of studies say that we actually consume too much protein in modern diets. Beans, pulses, eggs, and dairy products if you eat that. Soy, etc etc.

It is not always an easy transition, but if you do it bit by bit, that is often the easiest way.

Here is some info that may be useful.

The Link
 
In my completely unscientific study which is a very small sample, I've found the vegetarians I know to have all kinds of health issues. But here's the thing, I'm not convinced all their issues are real. Alot of them appear to suffer from mild hypochondia or something. I wonder if people that are leaning that way are more likely to try the veggie style?

The sad thing about one couple is they don't let their kids eat meat either and my non-medically trained eye thinks the kiddos could use some protein.
 
As a lifelong vegetarian, I've found that one of the main things to worry about is the amount of iron that you get.

There was a stretch in my earlier college years when I wasn't eating very well because it was cheaper and I wasn't getting nearly enough iron or any other vitamins and minerals for that matter. As a result I was dead tired all the time.

Once I resolved that issue and started eating more produce like I used to things were back to normal and I had plenty of energy. Protein isn't really as much of an issue as one might think unless you are working out and trying to build muscle.
 
The amount of meat that Americans eat, the amount of meat that a human being should eat and no meat at all are distinct categories. As is often the case, the right path lies somewhere between "total abstinence" and "gratuitous consumption."
 
You could probably find some "vegetarians" who eat fish, but I'd say they aren't vegetarians. The tricky part is classifying people who won't eat beef, pork, fish, etc., but who will eat eggs and dairy.

Then again, it's just a label, and not a very important one at that.
 
*** GROSS OVER-GENERALIZATION ALERT!!! ***

I have found that most people who don't eat meat for philosophical reasons are not very healthy. Most people who don't eat meat for health reasons are. Not a tight theory, but it proves true more times than not.
 
Vegetarianism is probably healthier done right, but who would want to? Eating a good piece of cow's *** or a roasted pig is wicked good.
 
Lacto-ovo vegetarian (eggs & dairy). My two cents on this is that I was raised vegetarian and have always been very healthy. (5'9", 177 lbs, I oscillate around 16% body fat at 28 years old, almost never get sick -- i.e. less than once a year). All the people I know who have tried going vegetarian are amazed at how much better they feel after doing so.
 
I didn't mean the tricky part was putting a name on vegetarians who will eat dairy and eggs. I meant that it would be harder to get a concensus on whether or not they're "true" vegetarians. (There are people who say vegetarian = vegan, and nothing else.)
 
I was a vegetarian for about 12 years. I stopped because I was the only one in my house who was a vegetarian, and it just got to be too complicated once we had kids.

I don't believe in forcing other people to eat what I eat, or to feel bad about what they eat.

Anyway, I felt better when I was a vegetarian, but that doesn't necessarliy mean that vegetarian=healthy. I mean a Snickers bar is technically vegetarian, but it's certainly not healthy.

I am a big guy. Always have been. I was still fat when I was a vegetarian, but I am heavier now. I keep thinking about going back.

Basically, it depends on how you do it. If you are a vegetarian that only eats pasta and cheese, you won't be healthy. If you eat healthy foods, you will be healthy, vegetarian or not.

Oh, and my rule was always that I didn't eat anything that had parents.
 
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