Becoming Vegetarian

When I first became vegetarian I was shocked and amazed when I walked into the first health food store. All the choices, options, and information! My family was eating a conventional diet and I (at eighteen) was going to explore something completely different. They were very supportive, but I was on my own. I bought a Vitamix industrial blender a few cookbooks, learned some new recipes, and started looking into some of the nutritional information. Within that same year my sister's close friend and her boyfriend changed to a vegetarian diet too. My sister asked if I could give them some advice after six months as their skin colour had gone gray and though they thought that a vegetarian diet was the right way to eat morally, they were not feeling great. There are some key things to think about, here are a few:

-First, be patient- Try new foods and new recipes but not too many at a time. The easiest way to transition to a vegetarian diet is to eat foods easily available at your neighborhood grocery store most even have organic options theses days. A health food store is another excellent resource. A vegetarian diet is not any form of deprivation. It actually opens up a whole world of new food choices and taste experiences you're never had before!

-A Step at a Time- Giving up meat and continuing to eat eggs and dairy products is a good way to start your vegetarian experience. You have more options, and it’s easier to include enough protein into your diet than a vegan diet or raw food diet. Eggs are great protein source, they also provide your body with lecithin, a substance that emulsifies dietary fat and which is needed to build cell walls. You'll need grains, beans, nuts, and soy, although not necessarily at every meal. If you eat some grains as well as a variety of protein sources in the same day, you will get the essential amino acids you need. Eggs are an easy meal, but you need to limit the amount of yolks you eat, as they’re high in fat and cholesterol, egg whites, are almost pure protein. Keep an eye on the amount of fat you’re eating. Diary foods are fast and easy too, but changing to a vegetarian diet isn't’t going to make you feel better if you start loading up on extra fat and cholesterol!

-Protein- Make familiar dishes and replace the meat with marinated tofu or TVP (textured vegetable protein). Tofu, opens up a lot of options to vegetarians, especially new ones. Although compared to cold wet styrofoam by some, it is meant to absorb the flavor of other ingredients.Like soy sauce tamari or any other marinade.

-Calcium- Nutritionists now believe that vegetarians actually need less calcium to keep their bones strong. Protein from plant sources are metabolized by the body in different ways than animal proteins. Meat contains more sulfur-containing amino acids than plant proteins, which makes the blood more acidic. To neutralize the acid, your body needs more calcium – and what it doesn't’t find in the bloodstream it takes from our bones and teeth.You can try things like: soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, soy yogurt, soy cream cheese, soy cheese, soy mayonnaises etc…Or make some of them yourself. Soy margarine has been around for years, but look for an organic brand without GMO soy. Soy yogurts and ice creams are easily available too. Some alternative sources of good calcium include tofu ( it contains four times the calcium of whole cow's milk), green leafy vegetables, seeds and nuts. The calcium in green vegetables which are not high in oxalate e.g. kale, is absorbed as well or better than the calcium from cow's milk. Some soy milks are also fortified with calcium. Other calcium rich foods include black molasses, edible seaweeds, watercress, parsley and dried figs.

Amounts of various foods that provide 100mg calcium:
Almonds - 42g
Brazil nuts - 59g
Soy flour - 44g
Oatmeal - 192g
Wholemeal bread - 185g
Black molasses - 20g
Dried figs - 40g
Parsley - 50g

-Try a multi-vitamin so all your bases are covered. There are 13 vitamins that are necessary to human health and they come in two groups. Water soluble and Fat soluble. Vitamin C and eight of the B vitamins are water soluble so any excess can be excreted through sweat or urine. Vitamins B12, A, D, K and E are fat soluble and our bodies store the excess so any excess will be kept in our bodies for some time, and we can overdose on them if we take too much.Fat soluble vitamins are called that because they need dietary fat to be absorbed by the body. A diet low in fat makes it difficult to use these vitamins.With a good variety of food and recipes you won't need to worry about not enough or too much of any of them. The one to be aware of though is B12. B12 is created by microorganisms that exist in the air, water and soil. Animals, including humans, have it in their bodies. We get B12 by eating the flesh of animals who pass it along, or by consuming animal products like eggs, milk, cheese and yogurt so Lacto-ovo vegetarians get all the B12 they need. If you decide to cut out eggs and dairy, you will be embarking on a vegan diet. The only other sure way to add B12 to your diet is through fortified food products and vitamin supplements.

Buy a food processor- Almost every recipe on our site is easily prepared with common kitchen tools, but a food processor or Vitamixer opens up a whole new world of recipe options. You can often find second hand food processors at thrift stores, yard sales or by placing a wanted add.

Have fun! Check out vegetarian restaurants and go to vegetarian events. You'll find lists of them in the free magazines that are available at you're closest health food store. Enjoy this new experience and feel good about this change you are making, you doing a great thing for your body and the for planet.