Vegetarians loosing out?

Bluehair

Hi,

Have been considering becoming vegetarian on and off for years now but must admit I do enjoy my steaks (hate pork etc. though) and love fish and chicken.

My gf is veggie though but for taste reasons rather than anything else and I'm always concerned at her diet, it's predominantly pasta, rice, vegtables etc with no protein that I can see. I've gotton her on multi-vits/minerals and cod-liver because I'm certain she couldn't be getting what her body needs in those terms.

I've no doubt there must be a healthy way to be a vegetarian and am open minded and willing to learn if there is a reasonable way to do so. I'd be thrilled if there was a way to do so together (i.e. my shift to being a vegetarian too but in the process make sure we're both doing so safely etc.).

I'm following the 'why be a vegetarian' thread with interest but thought I'd start this because it's more of a 'how be a vegetarian' question.

Do meals have to be so boring? Is it difficult to fulfill the requirements of a healthy body with no meat intake at all? (or even eggs?).

So, are vegetarians loosing out?

Cathy

If she's eating plenty of pasta, rice and leafy green vegetables she's likely to be getting enough protein.

[edit - Okay, I was wrong about this. There's a list of protein-rich foods here, though.]

It's not as difficult to have a healthy vegetarian diet as some people think - you just need to put a bit more thought into what you're eating.

Chong

Cathy wrote:

If she's eating plenty of pasta, rice and leafy green vegetables she's likely to be getting enough protein.
It's not as difficult to have a healthy vegetarian diet as some people think - you just need to put a bit more thought into what you're eating.

There is no protein in pasta or rice only plenty carbohydrate , green vegetables only have trace protein and lots of iron coupled with lots of vitamins.

Bluehair

Willem D wrote:

There is no protein in pasta or rice only plenty carbohydrate , green vegetables only have trace protein and lots of iron coupled with lots of vitamins.

See thats what I thought! I'm no genius when it comes to food but I know the body requires a certain amount of protein per day and she's not getting it from pasta,rice or veg.

Tar.Aldarion

you can have practically the same meals as you did if you eat a meat substitute,all you have to do is to be conscious of adding in a little more variation and vegetables,lentils etc even sunflower seeds and nuts are great!


doing a quick google and fing places like this is a great help http://www.oldwayspt.org/pyramids/veg/p_veg.html

Tar.Aldarion

Bluehair wrote:

See thats what I thought! I'm no genius when it comes to food but I know the body requires a certain amount of protein per day and she's not getting it from pasta,rice or veg.

use the almighty pyramid my son

embraer170

People spends ages lecturing vegetarians about not getting enough protein without having the slightest idea about how much protein the body actually needs.

Cathy

Willem D wrote:

There is no protein in pasta or rice only plenty carbohydrate , green vegetables only have trace protein and lots of iron coupled with lots of vitamins.

I disagree. I'm no expert, but I've always heard that there is protein in these foods.

These links agree with me:
http://veggietable.allinfo-about.com/articles/protein.html
http://www.crescentlife.com/dietnutrition/food_guide_vegetarian.htm
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/african_food_preservers/102163
http://www.foodfit.com/healthy/nutritiondictionary.asp

THEZAPPA

have nuts and you can get tablets for iron,i was low in iron so i take these tablets.......also multivitamin tablets!

embraer170

Spirulina (seaweed based) is apparently a good supplement to take.
Vegetarians in France are big into it though I have never heard it mentioned in Ireland.

Chong

It couldn't be any further from the truth . Pasta is flour, water and olive oil which means no protein, Rice is pure carbohydrate and as for green vegetable they contain no amino acids which make Protein what it is.

Tar.Aldarion

Cathy wrote:

If she's eating plenty of pasta, rice and leafy green vegetables she's likely to be getting enough protein.
It's not as difficult to have a healthy vegetarian diet as some people think - you just need to put a bit more thought into what you're eating.

afaik what you mention only partially covers it,these are a very good base but you need a bit more to have the full set of 8 amino acids needed for humans

Cathy

Willem D wrote:

It couldn't be any further from the truth . Pasta is flour, water and olive oil which means no protein, Rice is pure carbohydrate and as for green vegetable they contain no amino acids which make Protein what it is.

Yes, pasta contains wheat flour. There is gluten in wheat, which is protein.

Brown rice also contains protein -

One serving of brown rice (half a cup, cooked) contains two and a half grams of protein, nearly two grams of dietary fiber, and only one gram of fat.

- from http://www.wholegrain.umn.edu/grains/rice.cfm

There isn't a huge amount of protein in vegetables, but it is there.

Chong

Yea ok but the amount of protein in those are minuscule to say the least.

Cathy

Willem D wrote:

It couldn't be any further from the truth . Pasta is flour, water and olive oil which means no protein, Rice is pure carbohydrate and as for green vegetable they contain no amino acids which make Protein what it is.

Willem D wrote:

Yea ok but the amount of protein in those are minuscule to say the least.

There's a bit of a difference between these two statements. I'm not saying that they're 100% protein, but it is there.
Tar - you're right about needing a more varied diet to provide the different amino acids you need. There's an informative site here dealing with protein in the vegetarian diet.
At the bottom of the page there's a sample meal plan, which provides the recommended daily intake of protein. It shows you just how easy it is to achieve.

K.O.Kiki

Tofu!
Dunno why everyone hates it so much; I like a food that can absorb flavours like a sponge!
And I quite like it pure, with miso soup, too.

If you're looking at vegetarian options, I always say look to the Mediterranean & the Far East/India: large cultures where meat is used (as it should be!), but where using vegetables has been perfected.

And if you think vegetarian meals are "always so boring", guess what -- you have an inexperienced cook! (or 2 ). The solution? -- Cookery books!! Experimentation!! Go to the Asian markets; loads of weird, wonderful veggies there

Yugo

I love tofu too -Fried Tofu with fresh hot chopped chilies or Satay sauce is great! try it on a barbeque - it works really well (if you can prevent the charcoal from becoming satay-charcoal)

Miso soup is fab. for a hangover incidently!!

More on the point - imo (but I'm no scientist) I think the quantity of protein required by the human body is greatly exagerated - particularly by those who have a vested interest in our continued consumption of meat and dairy. I've been veg now for 7 - 8 years and have never had any health problems - far from it, and I don't worry about how much protein I consume at all. (He said falling off his chair in an anemic stupor..)

A good example of vested interest thinking in Ireland: - the ministries for agriculture and food are combined - what the hell is up with that???! Surely they should be as mutually exclusive as George Bush and Sadam Hussein!

leftofcentre

One word my friend - Quorn.

Tastes just like chicken, try it out.

Doctor Benway

leftofcentre wrote:

One word my friend - Quorn.

Tastes just like chicken, try it out.

The mince is good as well.

Actually, that reminds me. When I was a kid, we used to get this stuff called Beanfeast, which was a soya thing that you mixed with water to come up with a bolognese sauce. I loved it, but I haven't been able to find it recently. Does anyone know if it's still on sale anywhere?

leftofcentre

It sure is. Bachelor's "Bean-feast", well I seen it in Sainsburrys, but not sure how easy it is to get it down south. There was a bit of a kick up about it as they where using GM soya http://www.networkingnewsletter.org.uk/17/genetix.html

I was never dying about it, vegemince is better and you can get that in most health food shops.

One thing that is not bad is the realeat vege burgers mix, check them out.

Tar.Aldarion

reading the back of quorn boxes(as i generally do for the craic),it seems like there is a lot of protein in them,it seems to actually be a huge amount.the burger box i read yesterday said 50% protein and 25% wheat protein or something.

CJhaughey

Beans have plenty of protein.

Tar.Aldarion

Beans (1 cup) Protein (g)
Beans, baked,canned 12.17g -17.48g
Beans, black, cooked 15.24g
Beans, Great Northern 14.74g
Beans, kidney, canned 13.44g
Beans, navy 15.83g
Beans, pinto 14.04g
Beans, snap, green, canned 1.55g

Indeed they do.



these are good too,

Vegetarian Foods Protein (g)
Soybeans, dry (2oz) 18g
Peanuts, fresh (2oz) 13g
Black-eyed beans, dry (2oz) 12g
Lentils, dry (2oz) 12g
Red kidney beans, dry (2oz) 11g
Cashew nuts (2oz) 8.9g
Baked potato (7oz) 8.7g
Tofu (3.5oz) 8g