Vegetarian question: Do you find enough variety and taste in your diet??!
Answers: Reading the book The China Study and seriously contemplating switchng over, but I was wondering do vegetarians find enough variety in their diet. According to The China Study you should avoid milk and eggs too, so what do you do for your protein? By the way I am a semi athletic guy who lifts and works out. Any help would be appreciated.
I'm vegan - I abstain from animal flesh, eggs, dairy, gelatin, and honey - and believe me I get PLENTY of flavour and variety in my diet. I eat better now than I ever did as a non-vegetarian.
I get protein from: tofu, tempeh, other soy foods, seitan, nuts, seeds, beans and legumes. Also, there are several grains (quinoa, for example) that are very high in protein.
I reccomend you read "Becoming Vegan" by Davis & Melina. It's the vegan nutrition bible, and even has a chapter dedicated to vegan athletes. My first and favorite cookbook is "Vegan With A Vengeance" by Isa CHandra Moskowitz. Her latest cookbook "Veganomicon" is amazing, too.
Best of luck!
Have a look at the website of Storm Talifero for inspiration:
http://www.thegardendiet.com/storm.html
He is in his fifties and has a well toned body and he has been a raw vegan for more than 30 years.
Have a look at the website of Dr Doug Graham, he is a raw vegan and trains athletes:
http://www.foodnsport.com/joomla/content...
http://www.living-foods.com/articles/nut...
Here is a food chart:
http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm
I hope the website links above are beneficial for you.
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I am a vegeterian plus I eat fish. Have you heard about a grain called quinoa? I found a link below.
I am a raw vegan, and I get plenty of variety in my diet...
First, to answer your concerns about protein, I include raw nuts and seeds, as well as sprouts, in my diet. Most raw vegans say that vegetables have protein, and they may well do, but I like my nuts and seeds and sprouts. I have, on occasion, also supplemented with a soy protein shake (I use Super Green Pro 96 and add a banana, some peaches, or whatever fruit I have thrown in my freezer.
I have always used a food processor to reduce whatever I am eating to little bits, or even pastes, that I can combine with other things to make sauces, pates, "cheezes", burgers, and more. I do read recipe books from time to time for recreation.
If you google "vegan recipes", you will come up with a number of sites, but, to make it easier for you, I am including a list of my favorites.
You can find a fantastic number of vegan recipes at www.vegweb.com
Since my focus is raw vegan diet, here are some sites with trully fantastic collections of recipes, most of which are reasonably easy to make.
http://www.living-foods.com/recipes/
http://www.goneraw.com/recipes
http://www.naturalways.com/salomeb.htm
http://www.therawtable.com/recipes.htm
http://www.livingtreecommunity.com/store...
I'm not vegetarian anymore but I was for a while and I still like to cook vegitarian... And yes, there are MANY flavor options for meatless meals.
Asian food in particular is easy to cook and PACKED with flavor and protine...
"Flavor" depends on spices, sauces, and vegetable based fats... Like olive oil.
(Don't use too many Plant Based forms of Omega Fatty Acids if your male because there is growing evidence that it causes prostate problems)
As long as you include enough vegetable based fats in your diet, it will be just as "Satisfying" as meat based fat's...
Tofu, temph, nuts, and other meat substitutes are very satisfying and not bland or nasty at all if you do them right.
Go to barns and noble and check out the cook book section... There are MANY vegetarian cook books...
And remember, almost all Italian and Asian foods can be made meatless without any real difference...
Hell, browse http://www.foodtv.com and you are bound to find thousands of vege only dishes!
Good luck...
OOOHH! Go to BBC America and search for the show "You are what you eat".
It is an AWSOME SHOW and the website of the host woman, I can't remember her name and I am on my father's computer so I can't link you - sorry, but on her website there are dozens of recipes and the pro's and con's of dozens of types of healthy foods!!
If you have cable, I HIGHLY recomend DVR'ing the show... I watched the series through and I learned a LOT!
Plenty of variety! I always liked the flavor enhancers better than the meat. So I just cook everything the same way without the meat and it taste great.
You can marinate tofu, mushrooms, tempeh and wheat protein just like you would meat. You will probably find that you will eat even more varieties of vegetables and fruits, and legumes.
There are a lot of vegan athletes that you can look up on the web. Even a UFC fighter.
Good luck!
I'm vegan and I don't lack flavor or variety in my diet in the slightest. Since going vegan I have started relying far less on processed convenience foods and more on whole foods, which means cooking from scratch. Real food tastes wonderful! Arm yourself with a couple of fabulous cookbooks and go from there. "Veganomicon" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero is wonderful (Isa's first book "Vegan with a Vengeance" is great too - it was what made me realize I could do this.) I've tried everything from manzana chili verde to pumpkin baked ziti to leek and bean casoulet to spinach chickpea curry.
You can get plenty to protein on a vegan diet. Tofu and other soy foods (tempeh, tvp, edamame and faux meats,) beans and other legumes (peas, peanuts, lentils, chickpeas,) whole grains (try quinoa,) nuts and seeds, vegetables, some fruits, and even mushrooms have protein. If you are leery of relying too heavily on soy, try seitan as a meat substitute. There are vegan weightlifters, vegan Ironman triathletes, vegan Olympic gold medalists and a vegan even won the UFC so there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to pursue your athletic goals on a vegan diet.
I highly recommend "Becoming Vegan" by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina for thorough info on vegan nutrition.
Well, I'm just a vegetarian, not vegan, so i still have dairy and eggs, but I certainly have enough variety.
I eat pasta nearly every day, but that's just because it's my favourite food.
There are millions of things out there for you to eat.
Look for some recipes online. There are also plenty of pre-packaged, pre-made vegetarian meals. I personally love them.
Since becoming vegan, my diet is more varied and things that I liked before are still available without loss of taste. It does take some practice to make traditional foods with the same textures and flavors.
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The woman mentioned above from the BBC program "You are what you eat" calls herself a doctor but isn't really. Her show can offer a lot of valuable information but some things are very inaccurate. Overall, it's a show that could help a lot of people but most likely no if you are semi-athletic
There is more variety in my diet after turning away from meat - as for taste? You won't believe it until you try it - everything tastes better now. Go to a vegan restaurant if you don't believe...