I'm a vegetarian and I always feel hungry?!

I definitely don't think eating meat is the answer. That answerer who said humans are naturally carnivores is very wrong - to start with, they mean 'omnivores' a human cannot survive on a carnivore diet.

When I first became vegetarian I found that I did eat larger servings of meals. I now make sure I ate filling things such as foods that were high in protein and/or carbohydrates. I also find I need to eat more often - I make sure I have muesli bars, fruit and nuts to munch on during the day. It is much healthier to graze throughout the day and eat small, healthy snacks regularly, than it is to fill up on meat in huge amounts for your body to try digest all at once.

I have become a vegetarian for the same reasons as you. Sometimes, I also have doubts - none of my family members are veggo and none of my friends that live in my city are either. It is difficult at times. It is amazing how many times in a day people around me talk about the foods that I used to love. But, luckily for me there are also many reminders of why I made this decision in the first place. On top of not wanting to contribute to the suffering of animals or destruction of the environment, I feel a lot healthier and more spiritual when I don't eat meat. I wouldn't want to give that up.

So I suggest you change your diet and give it one more go. Eat super filling meals like pasta, veggie chili, casseroles, etc. And snack on healthy foods as much as you like throughout the day.

I really feel for what you are saying and wish you all the best.

SO just eat more solid food.
Pasta with loads of soycheese and chickpeas.
RIce with veg curry and naan
Potato and leek soup with garlic bread
stuffed pumpkin with cheese and walnuts
Bagels with peanut butter and roast veg.
Greek pie with walnuts and goat cheese and olives.
Fruit and nuts and seeds- you need to keep blood sugar UP ( makes you feel less depressed) and carb/protein up too.

Eat SOLID food, NOT JUST SALAD.
Bread, pasta, rice, pastry, cereal, oatmeal, noodles, hummous, millet, buckwheat- all that stuff.

Uh... if your stomach is growling, you probably do need to eat. More. It sounds like you're not eating enough. Make sure you get a balanced diet of Legumes, Grains, Fruit, Vegetables, Nuts and Seeds.

If you still feel hungry after eating say, a big Chickpea Curry, then there's something wrong. Go see a Doctor or something. Could be anything from malabsorption to a food allergy, or even stress. Allergy-wise, Gluten's a big offender for stomach weirdness.

There's no such thing as "some people not being able to live on a Vegan diet." It's an excuse, not a fact. All humans can, it's their own ignorance and lack of will that stops them. If you feel like ****, it isn't because you're Vegan. It could be you're not eating the right foods (Flax, B12 and D Vits are required), it could be blaming other problems on a convenient scapegoat.

But don't get me wrong, people are different. People need different levels of vitamins, minerals, etc... best to get a nutritional blood panel to check any deficiencies. If it's that, it's pretty easy to solve, whether by supplement or just including more foods with the deficient vitamins/minerals.

For the moral issues... such is life. Life sucks and then you die. A good percentage of people go through it, just concentrate on the happier thoughts and eventually the badness will float away.

Do you eat eggs? Plenty of nuts? Often the lack of satiety on a veg*n diet is what turns people back to including meat in their diet. It might help to post a sample of what you eat every day. Eating too many sugary, carb-laden foods will set you up for sugar-crashes and hunger pangs hours after eating them.

Some folks just weren't designed to thrive on an all plant-matter based diet. If this is your case, don't make yourself miserable just to adhere to a diet. If you decide to start eating meat again, choose your meats wisely--don't buy commercially-raised beef or poultry, try to buy from local farmers who treat their animals humanely and feed them what they need, not what fattens them up the fastest. Bringing your business to local farmers supports them and takes money out of the pockets of the big guys who tend to mistreat their animals.

PS We are not carnivores, we are omnivores.

Humans are carnivores by nature, which means that we eat meat. Chicken, cow, lamb, pig, turkey, fish, and a variety of others. I'm sure there are vegetarians out there who have no trouble, just as I'm sure that there are others like you who do not feel satisfied after a meal. For me, I would swallow my pride and go back to eating meat. Maybe not all meats since you have this difficulty but maybe just limit yourself to fish & seafood when you feel you must have something more.

Good luck.

You're in quite a dilema. I'm surprised that it's taken you a year to have problems...if you were going to have them. But it might be that you've just now depeleted the vitamins and minerals your body had stored from years of eating a normal diet?

The simple fact is that vegetables don't have as many calories as meat....nor as much nutrition. If you're eating a lot of starch (pasta, bread, rice), that turns to sugar quickly in your bloodstream and spikes your sugar levels. Then you're on your way to diabetes. If you're eating mostly vegetables, you'll just have to eat more of them. Calories in, calories used.

Whatever you do, don't build your diet around soy. 90% of soy is GMO soy. Plus soy has been tied to early puberty in girls, low sperm count in men, and it can affect your thyroid. If you've been eating a lot of it, perhaps you should get your thyroid checked? Your thyroid can affect weight gain and your mood.

Are you getting enough eggs and dairy to keep your B12 levels up? Research shows vegetarians to have lower stores of B12 than omnis and vegans even lower stores than vegetarians. Low b12 levels have also been tied to depression and the only place to naturally get B12 is from eggs, dairy or meat. Not just an egg a week either. Low B12 levels can also put you at risk for heart disease and stroke....yes, even at a young age.

Look, if you need to eat meat, eat it. Humans have been eating meat ever since we got smart enough and fast enough to catch it. It's your natural diet. You get complete protein from meat, not from veggies. You get heme iron from meat which is easier for your body to use than the non heme iron in veggies. Vitamin D(3) from animals is easier for your body to use than from plants. The veg*n propoganda that convinced you to go vegetarian is just that: propoganda. Your diet does NOT save animal lives. 1.2 billion animals are killed in the fields every year during planting and harvesting of the veggies and grains that you eat. If you've bought into the propoganda that animals are abused when they're killed for food, it's not true. But if you must, as your parents about locally produced meat where you can talk to the person who raises and kills it. Yeah, it's expensive.

You made a mistake. Now you're embarrased to admit it. Believe me, if this is the worst mistake you make in your life, you'll be very unusual. Do what you need to do to feel better. You'll probably be surprised how few people will notice or care if you go back to a normal diet. Good luck...

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