I need help with being a vegetarian?!
I need help with being a vegetarian?
I started about three days ago an want to know how i can get anough protien for my body while not eating meat.Also how much % of protien do i need to have anough for my body.Currently im 13. if that helps
Answers:
It's quite difficult to balance a vegetarian diet properly, and I am glad you are asking about this now, because too many people think it's ok to just stop eating meat without making any effort to replace the protein they are no longer taking in. This is important, particularly at your age when your body is still going through a lot of changes and needs all the nutrients in good balance.
Vegetarians don't eat meat, but they still eat dairy products like milk and cheese (vegans cut these out as well), though most don't eat eggs. So you can get some protein from cheese, but this is quite fatty and you can't really eat it every day because you would just get bored with it.
Other protein sources are Quorn, which is a protein made from some sort of mushroom, soya protein (including tofu) and cashew nuts. Other nuts can also be eaten, such as walnuts, brazils, hazelnuts and so on.
You can get what is called a "full" protein, meaning one that contains the full set of amino acids you need, by combining foods from the grain group with foods from the pulse group. Grains include rice, wheat, barley, rye, oats, corn, maize; and pulses include beans and peas of all types and lentils.
Vegetarians usually eat whole foods, ie. wholemeal bread, brown rice. This also helps to boost their protein intake, as polished white rice, white flour and white sugar have all had their nutrients removed to leave just the pure carbohydrate content. Ok, it looks nice and white, but it has no nutritional value at all beyond the actual calories.
Some people who call themselves vegetarians eat fish, and some eat eggs. It is up to you whether you choose to include these or not, but if you did, it would add plenty of protein to the diet. Whether you should still call yourself a vegetarian though, I couldn't say - perhaps a demi-vegetarian.
I have just set up a page for you with protein content of quite a few foods. I'm sorry it's not complete, it's just a work in progress I had lying around on my computer. You will find it here: http://www.the-health-site.com/articles/...