Vitamins for a Veggie?!
Vitamins for a Veggie?
So I have been a vegetarian for almost half of my life--about 12+ years but I always say I'm an unhealthy vegetarian. I eat lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains etc but the problem is I never really looked into what vitamins I should be taking to make up for the meat, fish, and dairy i dont eat. I do eat some dairy--yogurt, cheese--but not much. So my question is what vitamins should i be taking other than a one-a-day. I'm a female if that matters. THanks!
Answers:
You are probably fine, plenty of meat eaters with poorer diets than you never look into their vitamin intake.
Go get a blood test i would suggest, to see if you are missing anything.
Since you have been a vegetarian for so long, you could have a B-12 deficency, but that is not certain. If you eat eggs, you probably wont have a problem. B-12 is in a lot of leafy greens too, I think.
you should eat plenty of red meat the rarer cooked the better.if the blood is still dripping its cooked to perfection by the way.
You can try Spirulina...
Protein, iron, and vitamin B-12 are generally the nutrients cited when the subject comes up of what vegetarians (and especially vegans) could be missing in their diet. Get a medical checkup before you start trying to make this up using vitamins. I read one Good Housekeeping article where a woman was misdiagnosed with low iron levels, treated with iron supplements, and ended up with hemochromatosis (a condition of excess iron in the blood).
Protein: if you're eating dairy and eggs, this should be no problem at all. If you're going vegan, then a good sourcebook is _Diet for a Small Planet_ by Frances Moore Lappe.
According to other things I have read, iron acquired from natural sources (e.g., spinach) is more easily expelled by the body than iron from supplement sources.
Vitamin B-12: I think this won't be a problem unless you go vegan. Ask your doctor.
you don't need any.
You should check out the book called "China Study", or the authors website www.drmcdougall.com (he probably knows more about nutrition than any other human being!).
none, a balanced diet does not require any suppliments.
me: veggie for 26 years and quite well.
I found some good info here.