my daughter has decided to be a vegetarian.how can i be sure that she gets the protien she needs??

Question

my daughter has decided to be a vegetarian.how can i be sure that she gets the protien she needs??

Answer 1

Protein is the least of your worries. The fact is that the only people who have ever been diagnosed as having a protein deficiency are people who also have a caloric deficiency. In other words, anorexics, etc.



Our protein needs are not large. The reason why protein is the first thing everyone worries about is that there is a large industry(beef & dairy) with an extremely powerful lobby in government that makes it's livelihood by selling meat and dairy products to people. Since these products are very unhealthy for human consumption, they have to put the most positive spin on it that they can. So they focus on the two things in which these products have in abundance, which are protein and calcium, respectively.



I have been a vegan for 9 years(in fabulous health, by the way), and those are the two things that people ask me about ALL THE TIME when they hear that I am a vegan. It is as if protein and calcium are the only two nutrients that anyone has ever heard of.



Listen, the protein thing is a myth. It truly is. I say that as someone who used to believe the myth. The fact is, most Americans have excessive toxic levels of protein, and the only ones who don't have enough are the ones who don't eat enough food.



FACT: There is as much protein per calorie in FRUIT as there is in human breastmilk(which I think we can safely assume is not deficient, otherwise nature doesn't know what it is doing). Don't believe it? Get a nutrition chart, pick out a variety of about 10 different fruits. Add up the total grams of protein, and the total amount of calories they add up to. Then do the math and find how many grams of protein would be in that same # of calories worth of breastmilk. The numbers will be nearly identical.



I know, I was skeptical when I first heard about that, but I have checked it many times, and it is true.



The truth is, most Americans have a deficiency in vitamins, minerals, and water...and an excess of fat and protein. Cutting out meat only helps in this matter. Your daughter has NOT compromised her diet by cutting out meat. She has helped it. It is the people who DO EAT MEAT that should be looking for ways to supplement their nutritionally poor diet.



Personally, I have been eating a diet of all raw fruits, veggies, and occasional nuts about 4 years now, and at age 33, am in the best shape of my life. I have good muscle tone(better than ever), can do about 50 pushups, and definitely do not have a protein deficiency.



The meat and dairy industry is selling you a product, pure and simple. In order to do this, they need to make you believe that you need what it has to offer. Vegetarians have the health advantage over meat-eaters. Not the other way around. Countless studies have shown this.



I recommend reading DIET FOR A NEW AMERICA by John Robbins. He has done a tremendous amount of research, and sites numerous specific studies.



For a superior book on nutrition, I recommend The 80/10/10 Diet by Dr. Douglas N. Graham. You can order it from www.livingnutrition.com



Hope this doesn't sound militant or anything. I don't mean it that way. I used to eat meat, too. But hey, the facts are the facts, even if they are not what we expected them to be.

Answer 2

All foods, including fruits & vegetables, have some protein & this adds up during the course of the day. As long as your daughter eats a healthy variety of foods & gets enough calories she'll get plenty of protein on a vegetarian diet. There are 2 boys in our family, aged 7 & 9, who've been vegetarian all their lives (one is vegan) & they've always been very healthy. I've done a nutritional breakdown of my daily food intake for various college classes & have learned that I get substantially more protein than I need & more than sufficient levels of other nutrients.

If your daughter is vegan or simply doesn't use much dairy, she should take a vegan vit. B12 supplement a couple times a week.

Answer 3

She should talk to her doctor about her choice, to understand the importance of nutrition. There are also books at Borders about being a young vegetarian.



If she is open minded, tofu is a good source of protein, but if not, beans, peanut butter, and almonds are all good. If she is just not eating meat but still eating dairy and eggs those are good too. Hummus (made from chick peas) is a good dip for chips and pretzels and has protein.



Support her decision and help her find and make some good vegetarian recipes that the whole family can enjoy.

Answer 4

The very best advice I can give you is to read, read and more reading and get your daughter to read as well. Research is very much required when embarking on a new diet. Go to the Vegetarian Society UK www.vegsoc.org and google or yahoo vegetarian recipes. You will find 1000s of recipes. Here are some other websites. www.vegsa.org.au, , www.vegsa.org.au, www.vegetarianaction.org.au, vegsoc.org.au or google veghan wolf another great resource.



salemthegoddess: when I was 6 years old I changed my name. The name my parents chose was so hard to pronounce so I told them waht I wnated to be. When I was 12 I wanted to work in Social work and Law and i did. I also wanted to travel to India and i did. your dismissive attitude of these young people indicate to me you are in the job too long and maybe should be considering a change. Young people do know their minds. Yes some might be impressionable but most a lot of life styles that adults have were formed by them when they were young - as young as 12. Your advice should be about being supportive and helping this lady's daughter and not dismissing her daughters inclination to be a vegetarian as silly.

Answer 5

It is a common myth that vegetarians don't get enough protein. The truth is just the opposite, most Americans get more protein than necessary. As long as she eats a few servings of beans and nuts each week she should be fine.

Answer 6

I am the manager of a Teen and Youth Center and I frequently have girls who 'experiment' with becoming a vegetarian. I hear this because they want to 'save the animals' but through general questioning they want to become a vegetarian because of two reasons; 1. they (secretly) believe it will be an effective weight loss program and 2. they are controlling what goes into their bodies as an outward step of becoming independent of their parents.



The one thing I always stress to them is that eating Skittles and drinking Coke doesn't make you a vegetarian and they MUST learn how to cook/order food properly to insure that they are getting all the important nutrients they need as growing young adults.



The phase usually doesn't last when a pepperoni pizza shows up.



I have posted @ the center this vegetarian food pyramid.

Answer 7

Thank you for supporting your daughter. She can get the nutrients she needs by eating a well-balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, and grains. There are a number of vegetarian foods rich in protein and iron; see http://www.tryveg.com/cfi/toc/?v=08sources for a list. Vegetarians don't have to take supplements, but it wouldn't hurt to give her a multi-vitamin if you want to be on the safe side.



For more health info, see: http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/index.html

Answer 8

She will probably do better in the long run by avoiding all the hormones the food industry is loading into meats and dairy.

If she does dairy at all, make sure it is ORGANIC, without all the growth hormones given to the cows to make them produce milk longer.



Please make sure she is NOT eating a bunch of soy products in place of meat and dairy. Soy is a whole-body endocrine system disruptor. Most people discover this disruption when it flattens their thyroid and they get fat and tired. It will also mess with the female organs. Soy also contains a lot of aluminum and will also block the absorption of other nutrients she is taking in... things like calcium, magnesium, zinc, potassium, etc. Not only can you not make use of the protein that is in soy, it keeps you from getting it from other sources.



RAW FOODS is probably the ultimate way to go because she really will be getting the most nutritional bang for the buck... the problem with that will be when she wants to move past salads, fruit and nuts, and move into the cuisine end of it, you are staring at buying some major appliances... a high horsepower blender (I have a Blend-Tec 3 HP), a dehydrating system (I have the Excalibur 9-tray), and a food processor.

Answer 9

Have her eat lots of soy and other protein-rich food like peas. If she's ready, have her becom vegan.



"Vegan" means you don't eat or use an animals products or buy products that have been tested on animals or buy from companies that test on animals.



I am glad your daughter is vegetarian, but just to let you know, she is still supporting beef and other cruel companies by drinking milk and using other animal products.



Be careful with soaps and deodarants and such because usually there are by-products or it tests on animals. For cruelty-free living, you should check out Trader Joe's (a lot of what they sell is vegan), or visit the websites in my sources, please.



Thanks!!

Answer 10

The one thing to remember is that she needs to replace the

nutrients she is no longer getting from meat with other food. Major concerns for most people are protein, iron and b12(although they shouldn't be since they are easy to get).



Protein



The average person only needs about 50 grams of protein per day. Protein is in everything, just look at the side of boxes. In todays world it is very hard to be protein deficient if you are eating a wide variety.



High protein foods include:

soy milk, tofu, nuts(Almonds, Cashews, Filberts, Hemp Seeds, Peanuts, Pumpkin seeds, Sesame seeds, Sunflower seeds, Walnuts (black)), seeds, legumes(Garbanzo beans, Kidney beans, Lentils, Lima beans, Navy beans, Soybeans, Split peas), grains(Barley, Brown rice, Buckwheat, Millet, Oatmeal, Rye, Wheat germ, Wheat, hard red, Wild rice), vegetables(Artichokes, Beets, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Green peas, Green pepper, Kale, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Mustard green, Onions, Potatoes, Spinach, Tomatoes, Turnip greens, Watercress, Yams, Zucchini), fruits(Apple, Banana, Cantaloupe, Grape, Grapefruit, Honeydew melon, Orange, Papaya, Peach, Pear, Pineapple, Strawberry)



Iron

Like vitamin B-12, iron is a crucial component of red blood cells. Dried beans and peas, lentils, enriched cereals, whole-grain products, dark, leafy green vegetables, and dried fruit are good sources of iron. To help your body absorb non-animal sources of iron, eat foods rich in vitamin C — such as strawberries, citrus fruits, tomatoes, cabbage and broccoli — at the same time you consume iron-containing foods.



B12

Vitamin B-12. Your body needs vitamin B-12 to produce red blood cells and prevent anemia. This vitamin is found almost exclusively in animal products, including milk, eggs and cheese. She can also get vitamin B-12 from some enriched cereals, and fortified soy products.



I would suggest she pick up a few recipe books or look online. Variety is the key to any healthy diet. If she is eating different fruits, veggies, grains, nuts, seeds, etc daily, then there should be no cause to think she is lacking anything nutrient wise.

Answer 11

soy, nuts, beans, milk products. ask her doctor for a referral to a nutritionist and take some cooking classes with her.

Answer 12

Great, another hippie that I gotta eat 3 animals to make up for...