Thinking of becoming a vegetarian

[GleeLover514]

So I made the decision that I wanted to become a lacto-ovo vegetarian.
I have a couple of questions about it though.
1. Where would I start? Like, what foods would I have to buy to get started so I can get protein?
2. Would this have any effect on my Crohn's Disease?

[ALLorNOTHINGforCHRIST]

I am not sure about the second question, but I think that dry beans are one huge source of protein.

[Palmolive]

What kind of vegetarian?
You can be a vegetarian who eats nothing at all (No meat, no fish etc)
Lacto Vegetarian who will still eat dairy.
Ovo Vegetarian who eats eggs but no other dairy.
Me, I don't eat any meat or fish. I don't eat gelatine either but I do eat dairy products.

It's really important to try and get protein. This is from things like fish and seafood, nuts, cheese, broccoli, eggs etc. And it comes from chicken which of course you won't be able to eat. Legumes, Nuts, Seeds, Dairy products (If you're going to eat them), Cereals, Algae, Soya beans, Vegetables, Fruits all have a lot of protein.

Red meats high in Iron especially beef, as is sardines, a lot of cereals have iron added in to them and porridge is high in iron too. Spinach is high in iron but lentils are beans are great! As a girl it's really import to keep your irons levels high but if you're a big eat meat eater and got a lot of your iron from red meats its important to look for alternatives.

Some vegetarians won't eat gelatine or some carry on eating fish etc so it's important that you really discover what is is you're going to stop eating, find out what that means you will be missing out on and try find new food with them in.

It could be good to talk to your doctor about it as well Proud to be a vegetarian!

[Diaminohexanoate]

I think Jessica hit all the points on the first question in her post. That was excellent.

From a medical perspective, Crohn's might present a little bit of a problem, because a lower-fiber diet is recommended during attacks. That's not as much of a problem if you're going lacto-ovo, obviously. But otherwise, a vegetarian diet is perfectly fine (and sometimes even recommended) for Crohn's. Make sure to avoid eating lots of fat (ie. too many nuts), smoking, alcohol, and caffeine.

Just a general point about vegetarianism in general, you might want to take a multivitamin to make up for some certain essential nutrients you're not getting from meat, particularly B-12, the lack of which can lead to a particularly nasty disease called pernicious anemia.

Have fun! I did want to become a vegetarian once, but my parents disallowed it and now I fear that I like meat a bit too much for my own good. :P

[dancinfool]

Good sources of veggie protein:
eggs
cheese
beans (baked beans, kidney beans, cannelloni beans etc)
pulses (lentils, chickpeas etc)
quorn (can be expensive but they do burgers, 'chicken style' pieces and all sorts)
tofu (if you've never tried it before, buy the already marinated stuff, it tastes nice whereas the plain stuff requires carefully cooking to make it taste of anything at all :P

Being veggie is much cheaper than buying meat (I cooked a lot of veggie food last year being a student). I have some veggie recipes if you're interested.

Have no idea whether it would affect your Crohns disease, probably best to check with your doctor about that one.

[MegaMadness]

I say lentils and legumes and beans for protein.

[GleeLover514]

Thank you everyone, it helped a lot to know what I would need nutrient-wise.
Jessica- I'm going Lacto- Ovo so I can eat dairy and eggs. I'm not exactly a huge fan of beans, mainly because of the texture, but I'll just deal with it since it's a huge source of protein. I've never had lentils though, so maybe I might like those better.
Fred- I actually never knew that a vegetarian diet could be better for Crohn's Disease. I just really hate eating meat. xD
dancinfool- I just looked up quorn and that's really interesting, I didn't even know that stuff like that was made. I'll definitely look into that.

[Diaminohexanoate]

If you're looking for a complete protein other than beans (the standard vegetarian complete proteins are eggs, soybeans, and rice + corn + beans), you might also want to look into quinoa. It's a sort of grain, and if memory serves it's pretty darn awesome.

Just another alternative to consider.

[GleeLover514]

Fred: I Just Google'd quinoa, it sounds pretty interesting. (Kinda like rice, but different in a way.) Can you just buy it in any grocery store?

[GleeLover514]

Originally Posted by dancinfool

Good sources of I have some veggie recipes if you're interested.

I would love some recipes if you don't mind.

[Diaminohexanoate]

Quinoa's like rice, except it's a compete protein. Rice misses one or two amino acids (can't remember which ones). And to be honest, I'm not entirely sure where you can get it. I forgot to ask my mom where she got it the last (and only, actually...) time she ever made anything with it. Check your grocery store, and if they don't have it, ask around about where might.

I'm not a vegetarian. I've just considered being one and have an awesome friend who is one, so I know a little bit about it.