What nutrients/vitamins does meat give you that your body needs? Do we need meat in our diets to be healthy?..?

I have been thinking for a while of becoming a vegetarian (still drinking milk and eating eggs). But I have heard both being a veg is healthy and that being a veg is not. Health is very important to me. I am 18 going to school I have litlle $ to spend on food. Also I don't really know how to cook well. Like I eat a lot of healthy choice dinners, lean cuisine etc.



This is something I want to do. What should I be eating as a substitue for meat? I have tried morningstar farms and boca and like them. But what else can give me the some nutrients meat does?

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Also if you are a vegetarian did you have trouble w/ it at first? Did you feel better and have more energy after 5 or 6 days?What nutrients/vitamins does meat give you that your body needs? Do we need meat in our diets to be healthy?..?
Anything you get from animal products [meat, eggs, dairy etc.] you can get from a balanced vegan / vegetarian diet. The only supplement vegans in particular cannot get from their diet is b12, something that is only found in meat, although you can take a supplement. Vegans obtain calcium from leafy greens, protein from beans etc.
Simone is wrong, you are not eliminating an entire food group from your diet if you turn veg*n, if you look once more at a food pyramid you will see that meat is categorized alongside beans and eggs. so taking away the meat (or meat AND eggs if you are vegan) you are not depriving yourself of anything. those who say that vegetarianism isn't healthy are misinformed. it's been proven that the diet is healthier if done right.



http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/protein.htm here's a list of foods with good amount of protein you will need. as for the rest of the vitamins, you will find them in the fruits and vegetables you eat (as well as the grains, pulses, seeds, nuts, legumes, beans...). just make sure to eat a variety of them and dont just stick to one or two choices.



and no, I did not have trouble with it at all, it was easy for me, I quit meat in an instant and don't have cravings at all. and yes I felt better mentally as well as physically. I no longer felt so bloated and fatigued when I did eat meat.What nutrients/vitamins does meat give you that your body needs? Do we need meat in our diets to be healthy?..?
I agree with what Lautrec said, but I would like to add that now that B vitamins can be found in fortified foods such as cereals, juices, and non-dairy milks, it can rightly be said that B vitamins can be found in a vegan diet.



A vegan diet is perfectly healthy, and easy to transition into. I have been vegan for three years and I have never had any problems despite living an active injury prone lifestyle. Protein is so easy to get it鈥檚 a joke. I can鈥檛 believe that foolish people still treat it as the chink in the vegan diet鈥檚 armor. Here鈥檚 one bit of advice; be sure not to ignore iodine. It鈥檚 an essential element that is found in seafood and dairy products that a lot of people seem to overlook. It鈥檚 easy enough to get using iodized salt, sea weeds such as kelp, or supplements.



This is what the experts have to say.

http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/advocacy_933_ENU_HTML.htm



Get your starter kit today. You鈥檒l be glad you did.

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While I think excluding a whole category of foods from your cuisine is both unheathy and detracts from the pleasure of eating, I understand that some feel that meat does not have a place in their diets. Protein is the main nutrient missing in a vegetable diet, and some of the essential amino acids that the animal proteins contain, that the vegetable proteins do not. Eggs are the perfect protein, but they are an animal product.

Why do you want to be vegetarian? If it is for your health, remember that you must substitute carefully to compensate or you risk making your health worse. If it is for ethical reasons, you still need a balanced diet.What nutrients/vitamins does meat give you that your body needs? Do we need meat in our diets to be healthy?..?
Meat is not a crucial part of the diet, but it's typically the leading source of fat and protein; however, due to our increasingly sedentary lifestyles, this energy is often unnecessary and even detrimental to health.



The human diet is incredibly diverse. Some people, like the Jain, refrain from eating any animal products, whereas others, like the Maasai, live almost entirely on milk, meat and blood. The Western Diet is directly linked to increased rates of "Western diseases" (obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease... ) Meat has significant amounts of vitamin B, iron, thiamin, niacin, phosphorus, and selenium, to name a few, but fruits and vegetables contain nutrients that meat often lacks.



With the exception of tarsiers, there are no primates that are completely carnivorous. Modern chimps, whose diet may reflect those of our ancestors, are mostly vegetarian. More females fish for termites and males engage more often in organized hunts for small primates and rodents. Our primate ancestors, Ardipithecus, Australopithecus, and all in the Homo genus followed similar dietary behavior. However, Paranthropus, a cousin species, may have been completely vegetarian.



I only eat meat if I know that the animal was humanely raised and slaughtered. Today, there's more than just protein and iron in meat, but synthetic growth hormones and nitrates. I feel good eating the way I do, psychologically and physiologically. I feel like I'm supporting a good cause, and I have enough energy to run at least four miles every day. If you want to become vegetarian, you have to make dishes that taste good and don't leave you wishing for a chicken drumstick.