Will becoming a vegetarian make me more healthy?!

I have been vegan (100% vegetarian) for the last 20 years. I very rarely get sick, and look very good for 42 years old.

Whether you'll loose weight depends on what you eat & how active you are. There are plenty of vegetarians who tend to be rather fat, especially if they're what I think of as 'junk food' vegetarians who eat a lot of processed foods high in sugar, hydrogenated fats and white flour. Focus on whole foods and an active lifestyle where you exercise 20-40 minutes at least a few days a week. This can be walking (that's exercise) or more strenuous work-outs like yoga, weights, calisthenics, biking, hiking, swimming or running.

How easy it will be depends on where you live, what kind of support you have, what you learn and why you want to be vegetarian. My main reasons for being vegan are environmental and ethical. The good health is a nice side-effect.

Protein is not an issue, as long as you're not starving or limiting your food to a few low protein items; like living on iceberg lettuce. Humans need a lot less protein than we are taught, by the meat & dairy industries. As long as you eat a variety of foods you get plenty of protein.

Ask yourself why you want to be vegetarian - there are far more people and groups in this country who will actively discourage you from being Veg* than support that choice. It is very possible, and I generally love being vegan, though it does add extra fun when I travel! Still, if you request the vegetarian item when you fly (if you fly long enough to get served) your meal will be better than what other folk are eating & you'll get served first!

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/i…
http://www.raw-food-health.net/Vegetable…
http://www.vegan.org
http://www.vegsource.com

No, it won't make you healther. For most people it's not an easier change. There are three times as many ex-vegetarians in the US as vegetarians. That should give you an idea about the difficulty.

You might lose a few pounds. In spite of vegetarians say, getting enough protein is not easy. Protein is made up of amino acids. Meat (and other animal products) have all the amino acids to make complete protein. Most veggies only contain some (or weak versions) of amino acids. You must eat a lot of a variety of veggies every day so your body can combine those different amino acids for the complete protein it needs.

Iron in meat is heme iron. Your body absorbs the heme iron much better than the non-heme iron found in veggies. You need to eat a lot of those iron rich veggies to get the iron your body needs.

Many veggies contain oxalates. Oxalates inhibit your body's ability to absorb iron and calcium. Soy is very popular in the vegetarian diet, but it contains a lot of oxalates. Kinda like shooting yourself in the foot, huh?

You'll have to decide if it's a good idea. If you have the time to spend planning your diet and the $$$ for all the special foods, go for it.

Truthfully though humans evolved on meat. That's why so many nutrients are easier to get from meat than veggies. B12 is not available in any plant food. The optimum diet for most humans is some meat, some veggies, some fruit, cut back on sugar and refined carbs.

No, and yes, the body needs protein to be healthy, and veggies and fruits don't have that much protein in them, compared to meat, if you want to be healthy I just suggest cutting all the junk food and just eat non processed foods, you could be a healthy vegetarian if you buy protein shake powder, it gives you the protein from milk and sometimes soy, but your immune system will also be a little weaker than usually, as humans we've been eating meat for so long that we need it now.

Used to be a vegetarian.

That would depend how healthy you are now!

In general a vegetarian diet needs to be supplemented with vitamin B12, vitamin D, calcium etc - this will vary depending what you choose to eat instead of meat.

Cheese, milk, youghurt, beans, tofu, lentils, grains, bread and pasta, nuts and seeds are all good sources of protein.

Whether or not you lose weight depends on more than just a vegetarian diet - things like your current weight and diet, exercise and the substitutions you make will have an effect.

Is it a good idea? Only you can decide that one! Research it from both sides - of course the Vegetarian Society website will give you the pros, but check out the arguments against as well before you decide:

http://www.acu-cell.com/veg.html this gives both sides.

Vegetarians do tend to be slimmer but it all depends , if you still eat junk food then you wont loose weight. Vegetarians are less likely to develop heart disease, bowel cancer, diabetes, high cholestrial and high blood pressure. If you eat an healthy balance of the right foods then you wont need to take supplements, there are no deficiencies on an healthy vegetarian diet. You will find protein in beans, pulses, nuts, soya, tofu and dark green vegetables. Look on the vegetarian web site for more advice on nutrition and recepe ideas.

A vegetarian diet is not more healthy than a meat diet. It can be as good as though it just needs a little more thought.
Humans need iron. The best source of iron is meat. Meat is a rich source of other necessary nutrients also. To replace these nutrients with foods of vegetable origin needs some knowledge of nutrition whereas following the regular mixed human diet gives us what we need automatically.
The vegetarian society,address on google, can give advice.

is it easy? Yes, just don't put dead animals in your mouth.
lose lbs? How should I know, I have no idea what kind of peanut butter jeely fried banana pancakes you're gonna eat.
protein? More protein in legumes and nuts than meat.
Good idea? uh....yeh.

questions to your questions:
is it easy? Is eating easy?
Will I lose a few...? Are you going to eat cheese butter potatoes pasta alfredo sauce coconut fried oreos and fried rice every day?
Will I get..protein? It depends on whether you decide to stop eating normal food ( PBJ, chickpeas, fava beans, brown rice, almonds, walnuts, cereal , soymilk) or decide to only eat cabbage and grapefuit, will you?
Is it a good idea? Is reading about it and getting a whole picture a good idea?

No look at the TOP athletes in the world they eat meat. While there are some vegan athletes they are not at the top look at robert cheeke vegan body builder. I just work out at a home gym on a 4 day split and I have way more muscle than him. He can only compete in the vegan category not with the real body builders.

Easy? depends on the person.
weight loss is usual for people that are a bit heavy or very heavy.
good idea depends on the person
protein, there are ways like beans and rice or dairy products and eggs.

no, no, protein supplements (pills), no.

eat beef jerkey for protein