Going Vegetarian

[GW2lacky]

Hey guys! So a friend of mine was ranting how after a month of being a vegetarian she was feeling better and had more energy. Now my question is, it better than an all around balanced diet? I play soccer on my college team, so would the lack of meat affect my performance? Surely I could get the protein and calories I need from nuts/dairy. I'm three days into my new diet, would just like other opinions on this if any of you were vegetarians.

You don't have to go vegetarian to feel better and have more energy (but I'm certainly not against as I LOVE veggies).

Staying well hydrated, reducing/eliminating processed foods that are shit for you (some oils that are good for you are processed, but that's the only thing I can think of off the top of my head), and removing all [refined/processed] sugars from your diet can make a HUGE difference in how a person feels....especially if they were regularly eating fast food and TV dinners before.

I am almost a pure carnivore (keto diet), i have never had so much energy.

Same here...although I have a hard time staying in keto for any period of time as I like my veggies too much.

[saffi]

try switching to turkey, fish and chicken instead of beef for instance (no need to eliminate it completely, but keep it mostly lean protein). This is ofc if you work out in addition. Other than that, watch your intake of fast carbs (slow carbs are better i.e wholewheat bread, brown rice etc). Take care of your vitamins and in general lead an active life and eat properly (5-6 smaller portions a day instead of 2-3 big ones). These simple things will help you a lot instead of crash-veggie-diets

[NineSpine]

Protein makes about 650 calories of a daily meal and this is how much protein you can get in different food groups.

Meats
Beef (6 oz.) – 54 grams
Turkey, breast (6 oz.) – 51.4 grams
Pork Chop (6 oz.) 49 grams
Turkey, dark meat (6 oz.) – 48.6 grams
Hamburger (6 oz.) – 48.6 grams
Chicken, dark meat (6 oz.) – 47.2 grams
Tuna (6 oz.) – 40.1 grams
Chicken, breast (6 oz.) – 37.8 grams
Salmon (6 oz.) – 33.6 grams

Dairy/Eggs
Cottage cheese (1 cup) – 28.1 grams
Yogurt, low fat (1 cup) – 10.7 grams
Skim milk (1 cup) – 8.3 grams
Whole milk (1 cup) – 8 grams
American cheese (1 oz.) – 7 grams
Soymilk (6 oz.) – 6.7 grams
Egg (1 large) – 6.3 grams

Beans and Legumes, Nuts
Tofu (6 oz.) – 13.8 grams
Peanut Butter (2 Tbsp.) – 8.1 grams
Almond Butter (2 Tbsp.) – 7 grams
Lentils (1/2 cup) – 9 grams
Split Peas (1/2 cup) – 8.1 grams
Kidney Beans (1/2 cup) – 7.6 grams
Sesame Seeds (1 oz.) – 7.5 grams
Black Beans (1/2 cup) – 7.5 grams
Fruits and Vegetables
Orange (large) – 1.7 grams
Banana (medium) – 1.2 grams
Green Beans (1/2 cup) – 1 gram
Carrots (1/2 cup) – .8 gram
Apple (large) – 0 grams
(Source: The Harvard School of Public Health and Northwestern University)

As I said, it is easy to get the appropriate amount of protein needed from meat, or you can jump through hoops and get what you need from vegetarian and vegan sources. Your choice. You can be healthy either way. Or as you said, if you eat like shit, you eat like shit.

I hope that clarifies things for you.

That's ab absolutely obscene amount of protein. You do not need that much.

---------- Post added 2012-05-05 at 02:43 AM ----------

You do realize humans =/= orangutans/gorillas right?

Humans EVOLVED into being sustained by an omnivore diet. Just like how orangutans & gorillas evolved into being dependent on mainly an all fruit/vegetable diet.

But that's besides the point considering orangutans & gorillas aren't even vegetarians to begin with....

I was responding to the point that human teeth are evidence that we *need* to eat meat to be healthy.

[Strah]

That's ab absolutely obscene amount of protein. You do not need that much.[COLOR="red"]

Depends. If you do sports and you want to maintain a muscular body. Hell, bodybuilders and weightlifters eat up to 1g of protein per 1lbs weight a day. Which can translate to up to 200-220 grams of protein a day.

If you eat a 2000 calorie per day diet you only need about 50 grams of protein.

You can get that very easily without "jumping through hoops" on a vegetarian diet.

A vegetarian diet doesn't have a lot of saturated fat, growth hormones, or any of the other wonderful things you get from industrial farmed meat.

So yes, a vegetarian diet is strictly better than a diet that includes meat.[COLOR="red"]

I consume over 180 grams of protein a day. And that is not enough for consistent weightlifting gains, so when i can i try to eat more.
Sat fats are good, GH aren't bad as well. Fruit and veggies you buy at the local supermarkets aren't any better than the meat, in fact, they contain their own share of chemicals.

So no, a vegetarian diet is not better than a diet that includes meat. Unless you are on a very strict veggie diet that has got loads of protein in it, which is doubtful.

[Aalyy]

You gain or lose weight based on calorie intake and calorie burning. Period.

No. You gain fat or burn fat based on hormones in your body. They are determined by both genetics, health issues, and diet. Insulin is the main hormone that influences the storage of fat. This is not debated within the scientific community. Carbs cause a much larger release of insulin than protein does. Fat causes almost none. Unless you are active enough to burn the carbs you eat they will be stored as glycogen (in finite amounts) or fat due to the cascade of biochemical reactions initiated by insulin. Period.

A calorie of carbohydrates and a calorie of fat are not processed by your body in the same way. The calories in calories out model is based on a simplistic understanding of Thermodynamics and doesn't take into account hormones, enzymatic activity, or any of the other biochemical reactions in your body that determine how energy is partitioned. It also doesnt take into account that not all of the protein or fat you eat is burned for energy. A lot of it goes towards bodily functions like repair, breaking down old cells, waste material removal, and rebuilding what was broken down and discarded. If you eat 100 calories worth of protein but 70 of those calories went towards cellular repair, making enzymes, hormones, etc did you really get 100 calories out of the protein you just ate? There are far more important factors that determine fat storage vs burning other than calories.

---------- Post added 2012-05-04 at 08:01 PM ----------

You just keep saying the same thing over and over again. That doesn't make it true.

If you eat a 2000 calorie per day diet you only need about 50 grams of protein.

You can get that very easily without "jumping through hoops" on a vegetarian diet.

A vegetarian diet doesn't have a lot of saturated fat, growth hormones, or any of the other wonderful things you get from industrial farmed meat.

So yes, a vegetarian diet is strictly better than a diet that includes meat.

50 grams of protein is way too low. And saturated fat is healthy. Trans fat isn't. Seed oils aren't. I think you need to brush up on your nutritional knowledge if you're still spouting the "saturated fat is bad" mantra. Ancel Key's lipid hypothesis is based on faulty scienc, what the whole low fat craze that actually made us fat was based on, and has been thoroughly debunked.

It's possible to be somewhat healthy eating a vegetarian diet if you're very careful. But it won't prolong your life. Studies have shown vegetarians actually have shorter lifespans. And it isn't any more moral than a meat eater. All kinds of animals die producing vegetables, grains, esp soy, the staple of vegetarians. If you want to be vegetarian fine but don't do it based on claims that aren't even true.

[Ryve]

Do you know that's not always true?

Yeah, sometimes they don't use pesticides or any form of chemical treatments for a few years... And often, from what I've seen, those farmers suffer huge losses because their crops are riddled with insects and fungus. While also pissing off other farmers in the area for propagating these things so close to their own crops.

You probably wouldn't be happy if your neighbour piled a heap of termite infested rotting wood against your fence.

[Zzeke]

I just find meat gross, so I don't eat it. I'm allergic to soy and most nuts, and my sources for protein is most often just dairy, and sometimes beans. Honestly it's not something I pay a whole lot of attention to. I haven't eaten meat for something like ten years now, though it's been easy because I didn't like the taste to begin with.

[anothdae]

While it's not wise to scream the sky is falling over GMOs, the health consequences of them are far from well-understood, and could very well be disastrous. The thing is that we just don't know.

I -really- dont think that you understand what a GMO is at all. Everything that can be done with GM can be done with cross breeding, a process that has existed with plants and animals for millenia.

Guess what? Your heirloom 100% organic tomatoes have been genetically "modified" to be optimal, strong, delicious, hearty, and big. It was done with cross fertilization and painstaking culling of the products. The laboratory GMO crops just speed up the process 100 fold, but the product is 100% identical.

Yes, there are problems with GMO crops. But they are things like "greedy companies making them sterile" or "one genetic breed of crop makes them susceptible to a catastrophic disease". You will notice that these have NOTHING to do with health, they are supply side problems.

[Clevername]

Oh they cant?

http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slu...etarians021711

Notice they had to supplement their diet with protein shakes.

---------- Post added 2012-05-05 at 04:37 AM ----------

That's ab absolutely obscene amount of protein. You do not need that much.

General consensus for most bodybuilders is you need at least 1g of protein per lbs of bodyweight in order to gain muscle mass, I have heard even higher figures but that's the bare minimum. If you'd like to just exist and be a fairly lean guy I can understand not needing much protein but if we are talking about athletes you absolutely need those high doses of protein frequently.

[Taygete]

Guess what? Your heirloom 100% organic tomatoes have been genetically "modified" to be optimal, strong, delicious, hearty, and big. It was done with cross fertilization and painstaking culling of the products. The laboratory GMO crops just speed up the process 100 fold, but the product is 100% identical.

I'm sorry... but you just can NOT compare a locally grown organic tomato to a store bought GMO tomato and call them identical. Even nutritionally, while the difference isn't THAT big at all, they are only similar... they are certainly not "100% identical". They don't even taste the same, not by a long shot.

Probably besides the point, but that's the New Jerseyan in me... we love our tomatoes. /yum

[Gerrin]

No. You gain fat or burn fat based on hormones in your body. They are determined by both genetics, health issues, and diet. Insulin is the main hormone that influences the storage of fat. This is not debated within the scientific community.

No for the first point, correct for the second point. A 'calorie' is a unit of energy, that energy is gained through digestion based on everything you mentioned. IF calories in = calories out you won't change weight. If the number is positive you gain, negative and you lose weight. Since an organism obtains calories based on the things you mentioned that organism needs to ingest based upon those things to obtain the correct amount of calories they generate from the ingestion.

[Bathory]

Had a handful of "G & Ts" and totally thought this thread said you were "Going Vegeta"

I got excited ; _ ;

[Slummish]

Every vegetarian I know looks tired and sickly... And I know a few... just sayin'.

[ishootblanks]

Hey guys! So a friend of mine was ranting how after a month of being a vegetarian she was feeling better and had more energy. Now my question is, it better than an all around balanced diet? I play soccer on my college team, so would the lack of meat affect my performance? Surely I could get the protein and calories I need from nuts/dairy. I'm three days into my new diet, would just like other opinions on this if any of you were vegetarians.

just remember.. meat is your best source of protein.. and animal fat is good for your joints..

[nyc81991]

It has actually been proven that eating meat can shorten the human life span by a few years. Now I'm not telling people to stop eating meat or anything but personally I think being a vegetarian is a good choice. You can get all of the nutrients you need from Fruits and Vegetables.

For me there is just something weird about eating a dead corpse.

[Gerrin]

I'm sorry... but you just can NOT compare a locally grown organic tomato to a store bought GMO tomato and call them identical. Even nutritionally, while the difference isn't THAT big at all, they are only similar... they are certainly not "100% identical". They don't even taste the same, not by a long shot.

Probably besides the point, but that's the New Jerseyan in me... we love our tomatoes. /yum

Love tomatoes too; however two tomatoes grown on the same plant in the same season and at the same time are not 100% identical nor are identical nutritionally. You're splitting hairs. Nobody has been able to show any evidence that a GMO product is inferior to an organically grown product or vice versa. Not to mention that many 'locally grown' tomatoes that are not GMO are done hydroponically and are still indistinguishable (many places buy them because they are always the same size, color, and shape and fit into SOP's better). Personally I use organically grown tomatoes that I grow in my garden in the summer and greenhouse in the winter. This is ONLY for economic purposes.

---------- Post added 2012-05-05 at 04:55 AM ----------

It has actually been proven that eating meat can shorten the human life span by a few years. Now I'm not telling people to stop eating meat or anything but personally I think being a vegetarian is a good choice. You can get all of the nutrients you need from Fruits and Vegetables.

For me there is just something weird about eating a dead corpse.

No it hasn't. None of that data corrects for other influences. And on a side note try not to be redundant, how can you eat a live corpse?

---------- Post added 2012-05-05 at 04:58 AM ----------

just remember.. meat is your best source of protein.. and animal fat is good for your joints..

No, this is not true either. It is true that meat provides for more complete proteins, but the human body does not require complete proteins. All proteins are broken down through digestion and reassembled for what the body needs. Humans can gain all the correct amino acids to make the required proteins by eating a variety of plant life.

[Darkedged]

It has actually been proven that eating meat can shorten the human life span by a few years. Now I'm not telling people to stop eating meat or anything but personally I think being a vegetarian is a good choice. You can get all of the nutrients you need from Fruits and Vegetables.

For me there is just something weird about eating a dead corpse.

Even if that were "true", in a few months they'll turn around and prove eating meat will lengthen your life.

As for what your diet consists of, everyone's body is different. I've tried to go without red meat and after a while I just get sluggish and cannot function properly, while trying to replace red meat with foods with similar nutrition. You have to figure out what you can function off of the best and we are designed to be omnivores at our core as told in our teeth design.

[Jackdemenzes]

Being vegetarian is not only a bad health choice.

It goes against nature. Things eat things, that's the way it is meant to be.

But if you so choose to be a vegetarian, don't be one of those vegetarians who thinks they are better than meat eaters.

Nothing is "meant" to be. Nature doesn't intend anything, it has no intent because it's not conscious.

Even if that were "true", in a few months they'll turn around and prove eating meat will lengthen your life.

As for what your diet consists of, everyone's body is different. I've tried to go without red meat and after a while I just get sluggish and cannot function properly, while trying to replace red meat with foods with similar nutrition. You have to figure out what you can function off of the best and we are designed to be omnivores at our core as told in our teeth design.

Our teeth aren't designed to eat meat, we have teeth that are good at eating meat because we eat it. If the meat supply dried up, those that have an easier time chewing and digesting vegetables would thrive.

[schwarzkopf]

It's perfectly possible to have a balanced diet without eating any meat.

Incorrect. It is perfectly possible to have an acceptable diet without meat, but by definition a balanced diet for an omnivore involves meat.

---------- Post added 2012-05-05 at 05:06 AM ----------

Nothing is "meant" to be. Nature doesn't intend anything, it has no intent because it's not conscious.

Nature doesn't intend anything, but nature results in things. Humans are omnivores, omnivores eat a combination of things.

The only real issue humans have with eating meat is that nature didn't intend for it to be delivered to our doors without effort... we evolved to eat meat sparingly after significant effort.
Once you are old enough to choose, then being vegetarian is ok - but it is not natural.

[nyc81991]

Even if that were "true", in a few months they'll turn around and prove eating meat will lengthen your life.

As for what your diet consists of, everyone's body is different. I've tried to go without red meat and after a while I just get sluggish and cannot function properly, while trying to replace red meat with foods with similar nutrition. You have to figure out what you can function off of the best and we are designed to be omnivores at our core as told in our teeth design.

Like I said, I am not telling people that they shouldn't eat meat. Everyone can choose that kind of stuff for themselves. As for the way our teeth are designed, I would like to see a human run down any animal in the wild and try to kill it with their teeth alone. That would tell me (in my opinion) if humans are suppose to really eat meat or not.

We can live off meat or we can live off plants, either way it keeps us alive and gives us the energy we need to keep going. I have chosen to not eat meat anymore because it is a dead animal. I can almost guarantee most people wouldn't eat meat if they had to watch the animal be killed and cut up.