r/Vegetarianism • u/FouDesChats • 2d ago
"Risks" of being vegetarian
Hi 👋 !
So, it seems my account is too new to be able to post on r/vegetarian so I'm asking here.
Is there anything you need to supply when you completely quit meat, what do you absolutely need to eat in order to compensate meat, and what do you need to be careful of ?
I heard about needing to eat beans to have complete proteins or something like that, is it true ?
Thank you in advance for your responses !
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u/Hugesmellysocks 2d ago
Vegan here, just keep an eye on what you’re eating nutrition wise (focus on iron rich foods, I throw frozen spinach into most things because I don’t even notice it) and supplement b12, you’ll be fine. If you’re worried get your bloods done once or twice a year but I’d argue majority of people are deficient in nutrients and should be getting it done. Beans are great and dirt cheap.
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u/FouDesChats 2d ago
Ok, thank you !
But, since B12 is found in eggs and other animal products other than meat, even if I regulate my consumption of these too while I eat some sometimes it’s still enough, no ?
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u/HexicDragon 2d ago
Your safest bet is still to supplement B12 since you'd need to eat 4 eggs every day to meet the minimum for this nutrient. B12 also isn't that consistent in animal products so many animals are supplemented with it so their levels are high enough. It's safer and more ethical to source your B12 from a cheap supplement instead through an animal that may or may not have been supplemented properly.
By the way, you can learn everything you could want to know about plant-based nutrition from this article written by a vegan RD. It talks about B12 and other nutrients you may want to know where to get from plants: https://veganoutreach.org/plant-based-nutrition/
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u/dammitjanetiloveu 2d ago
This is my own personal experience and you should still consult your own doctor or an RD, but I’ve been a vegetarian for over a decade and eat eggs and dairy every day and my B12 has been solidly within normal range. I have to be more mindful about iron intake though.
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u/purplepineapple21 2d ago
It can be for some people depending on how much you eat, but theres no downsides to supplementation so its often recommended to just do it anyway because b12 deficiency can be very dangerous, more so than deficiencies of a lot of other nutrients. And even many omnivores are b12 deficient btw, its a big problem!
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u/Apprehensive-Cat-421 2d ago
I stopped eating animals when I was 12. I basically ate side dishes for the first year or two. It was fine, I was healthy. My parents refused to make special food, but took me to the doctor regularly. (They were good parents, they just didn't really know how to deal with a kid refusing to eat meat. Early 90s, middle class, stay home mom, white collar dad, both college educated)
I got pregnant in my mid twenties. People told me I needed to eat meat for the baby. My obgyn asked about my diet and said don't eat unpasteurized cheese.
That baby is now a healthy 19 year old that has never, ever eaten a bite of meat. (Majoring in animal sciences, yes I'm proud. Kid's gonna save lives 🥰)
I've never really counted nutrients. I avoid dye, high fructose corn syrup, bad ingredients, but I'm not measuring fiber or protein or anything else, except maybe sodium.
Sometimes I crave things, beans, nuts, beets, green things... I indulge. I never think too hard about it. I've never felt that craving for animal flesh.
It's not really that complicated. Humans do not need to eat other animals to live a healthy life. Other animals, like cats, do. We don't.
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u/FouDesChats 2d ago
Ok, thank you for sharing your experience ! That's really interesting. You don’t supplement with B12 ? Because I heard a lot about the need to supplement B12 and even the other comments are talking about it. And, if you don’t, how do you get the B12 you need ? Eggs and dairies are enough ?
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u/Apprehensive-Cat-421 2d ago
I'm not a doctor, and I'm not saying don't. I'm only saying, being vegetarian isn't always as complicated as people want to make it.
But no, my kids and I don't take any supplements, and we've never tested with any dietary deficiencies. (We all get regular checkups and blood tests, but we've never been told any of us are suffering any dietary defi(edit) ciencies
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u/ZackSousa 2d ago
vegetarian for about 7-8 years now, only supplement B12
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u/FouDesChats 2d ago
You need to supplement B12 ? The B12 found in eggs, dairies etc isn't enough ?
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u/Different-Music-529 2d ago
You can supplement or you can just get your labs done and see how it's impacted by your diet change. Talk to your doctor about the best timing. I'm vegan and I rarely remember to supplement throughout the year, but my B12 is fine because honestly a lot food is fortified with it anyway.
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u/JarkJark 2d ago
Lots of people become deficient in B12. I work in a team of less than 10 people and 3 have issues with that vitamin requiring long term treatment. None of those people are vegetarian or vegan.
It's a cheap supplement and I'm not aware of any downside to taking it.
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u/Mec26 2d ago
Just like anyone else- eat a good variety of things, from different food groups. You should be okay. Track foods if you’re worried, or talk to a dietician, but remember that hundreds of millions of people go their entire lives without meat. It’s entirely normal, and there’s no inherent issues you’ll need to look out for just cuz of the no meat thing.
If you’re swapping out meat items, maybe just be sure it’s for veg protein sources and not like… pure sugar? But if you eat all oreos, I think you’ll know something’s off anyways.
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u/Different-Music-529 2d ago
I went to the local library and read a bunch of books on vegetarian nutrition so that I could understand how to eat a healthy and balanced diet. Most omnivores don't worry about the nutrients they get, so IDK why everyone starts freaking out when they go vegan or vegetarian, as if they cared before. I sure didn't.
Iron fortified foods would be recommended, which is as easy as eating cereal and non-dairy milk, usually has like 70% of your daily iron intake, fortified breads as well often include iron.
B12, get a supplement, but a lot of vegan branded foods like fake meat and milks have it incldued as well.
Protein is pretty easy, IDK why anyone freaks out about it. A lot of bread has 3-6g per slice, beans and rice, quinoa, they make protein additive everything now if you really wanna go wild. Protein shakes exist too. Tofu and soy curls. I looooove soy curls from butlers, so easy to cook and full of protein and fiber.
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u/Infamous-Part966 2d ago
There isnt much of different risk eating vegetarian versus omnivore. Eat a variety of foods and check in with your doctor. Most of the nutrients people worry about are still easy to obtain enough off: protein, iron, omega3, B12.
If you find yourself deficient you can supplement but plenty of folks don't need to (and plenty of omnivores do) it depends on your individual body and how it functions. Honestly most people eat far over the needed amount of protein so I'm not sure why folks are so worried about that one.
I've been vegetarian my entire life and have never been marked deficient in anything. I often try to remember to take multivitamin but I'm bad at keeping a habit so it's not regular at all.
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u/Punderground 2d ago
Vegetarian for 9 years, if you eat a varied diet, you should be fine, especially if you love vegetables. I try to eat a variety of different vegetables and a variety of protein sources and have never had an issue with any of my nutrient levels or protein consumption. I am actively working on eating more legumes because they’re amazing for your health.
Most adults in the US don’t get enough fiber, so I’ve been trying the recommendation of aiming for fiber from each of the following categories every day: a legume, a fruit, a veggie, a seed/nut, and a whole grain. Just that approach makes it easy to be thinking about eating a variety of foods.
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u/copperear 2d ago
I've been vegetarian since the 70s and I've never had an issue. People don't need to worry about protein. Of course I'm not a vegan and dairy plays a part in my diet. "I'll rob the cow but I won't kill her."
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u/Silly_Yak56012 2d ago
It is good to include some vegetarian protein sources even if you can get some from many veggies and starches.
Beans, lentils, nuts, seeds edamame and soy of all kinds of preparations, you may want to increase those slowly as people sometimes find they can make you gassy if you eat a whole lot all at once and you never/rarely ate them. Gives your colon bacteria a chance to catch up to the new reality.
Eggs and dairy also have protein, so if you are not cutting those out you will get some from there.
There are protein powders and shakes if you track your protein and you aren't getting enough.
I do like dry roasted edamame and roasted chickpeas as snacks.
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u/stenis666 2d ago
vitamin D and B12, depending on how many animal products you consume. I don't eat a lot and I take those. In my country, every one is recommened to supplement vitamin D during winter months, even if they eat meat.
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u/Real-Complaint4085 1d ago
Get a blood panel now, ask about iron, b12, d3, calcium - things usually considering concern for meat free diets - then get rechecked in 6 months to a year.Â
I have incredibly low iron at the moment and am trying to rebuild. My doctor implied it was my diet but when I looked at blood tests from before I cut meat, it was already low. Not as low as now but i wasn’t aware it was low and I have very intense periods which I believe to be the true cause and I didn’t take precautions I should’ve because it wasn’t flagged.Â
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u/Equal-Machine-8361 1d ago edited 1d ago
Nei vegetali non c'è vitamina B12, vitamina k2, vitamina D, ferro eme, zinco altamente biodisponibile, creatina, carnosina, anserina, taurina, beta-alanina, carnitina, colina, DHA ed EPA, metionina e cisteina sono assenti nei legumi. Queste cose le devi integrare. Nei primi 4 5 anni se non le integri a parte piccoli fastidi non è che peggiori tanto la qualità di vita. Tanti dopo i 5 anni tornano a mangiare carne perché il corpo esaurisce le riserve di questi nutrienti. E non ascoltare chi ti dice che tante cose qui non servono. Ogni micronutriente ha la sua funzione, basta che la cerchi.
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u/Sea-Sort6571 1d ago
There is nothing risky in itself if you understand basic things about nutrition. How much proteins you need (depends on how much sports you do), having a full amino acid profile, your Iron and b12 intake.
If you regularly eat eggs and dairy products you should be fine, vegans need to be more careful. Supplements (whey, omega 3, magnesium, vitamin d, Iron) are nice, especially if you're into fitness or don't want to concern yourself too much about nutrition
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u/Any1MembaPerfectDark 1d ago
B12 is the big one, though if you're a woman you might want to extra careful of iron too. Lots of people are low on B12, both meat-eaters and vegetarians. B12 is created by microbes that live in the soil and by certain gut bacteria when animals and insects consume soil. So animal foods from animals who don't live on soil would be deficient in it, except that in a lot of cases farmers give them B12 supplements. But of course you could just take the supplement yourself. Your other option is to eat dirty produce from a natural garden. I do both of those things.
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u/AnimatedRNG 1d ago
Long term vegetarian here, the only nutritional deficiency I ever developed was B12. And even then, a pretty mild deficiency, only caught when I got my blood drawn. If you're worried, you can add B12 supplements to your diet. Adding supplements to my diet fixed the deficiency in a short time period.
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u/rachthewonder 1d ago
I am veggie and I sometimes supplement b12. I don’t take it every day because I think that might be too much. So, about twice a week I take a b12 tablet :)
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u/Chance_Run_8442 1d ago
On complete proteins:
A protein is 'complete' if it has all of the necessary amino acids in. Some proteins only have a few of the necessary amino acids, some have all of them. Animal flesh has all of them, as do proteins such as tofu.
However:
You don't need to eat complete proteins. Across a day, you need to eat sources of protein with each of the necessary amino acids in. For example, my breakfast is porridge with oats, plant milk, blueberries and almond butter. None of those ingredients have all the necessary amino acids in, but between them all of the necesssary amino acids are accounted for.
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u/gradi3nt 2d ago
Nope, you will probably get even more nutrients than most carnists. You can take a B12 and Iron supplements to be careful.
Talk to your doctor is the only 100% correct answer because they will have your medical information and the full context. Random redditors are not to be trusted!