Health question for vegetarians

[LongingForLight]

I saw the other thread on vegetarianism, and thought I would post a few questions. I’m interested in vegetarianism both to lower my carbon footprint and because I believe it is ethical but supererogatory (i.e., above-and-beyond the call of duty) to eat lower in the ranks of intelligence in creatures.

My questions are:

1. I have heard that if you go long enough without eating meat at all, you quit being able to process meat properly (your body quits producing some enzyme needed for digestion of meat) and need to re-introduce meat into your diet gradually. Is this true?

It is important because I have had twins once and am relatively likely to have twins again. During a twin pregnancy, women are supposed to aim for 175 g of protein daily, or almost 3 times the normal RDA. I also was highly lactose intolerant and couldn’t stomach more than a smidgen of soy during my pregnancy (but not a problem normally), plus eggs were very hard to choke down (just very unappetizing for some reason). Because of these factors, I would want to be able to return to eating meat if I became pregnant - but would need to be able to start eating it again immediately, rather than re-introducing it while my body adjusted.

If it is true, I could still cut back significantly on meat, just couldn’t stop eating it altogether.

1. Any good resources on eating (and absorbing) lots of iron from a vegetarian diet?

I have low iron, and just cutting back on red meat has caused me problems in the past. I’ve been at my healthiest when eating a hamburger a day. I only just learned that my iron tends to be too low about six months ago, and am taking supplements now - so cutting back on meat might be easier now. Links to web pages are ideal, I don’t mind doing a bit of reading to get a more thorough answer. I’ve done a little research, but not really sure where the best sites are for this kind of info.

Thanks for any information you have to share!

 

[ahollars]

God gave us dominion over the earth. There is no moral difference between eating a plant or animal. The only rule is that you shouldn’t kill anything unless it is eaten in it’s entirety. Having said that, there are obvious reasons to choose green over red. As far as iron goes, your best bet is your dark vegetables, especially the root kind: beets, radishes, sweet potatoes, and most important… carrots. But do not cut out meat completely. From a creation standpoint, if God didn’t want man to be an omnivore, He wouldn’t have given us canine teeth.

 

[stringbeanduck]

How does not eating meat lower ones carbon foot print. Yes cow and animals produce gas, but it makes virtual no difference. So you, especially after eating plant type foods. IMO you should re-think not eating meat. Becoming a vegetarian is great, but come on, lets be reasonable. If you want to reduce your foot print start planting trees, use less electricity, support eco friendly transportation, ect if you haven’t already.

 

[pentecostbaby]

My questions are:

1. I have heard that if you go long enough without eating meat at all, you quit being able to process meat properly (your body quits producing some enzyme needed for digestion of meat) and need to re-introduce meat into your diet gradually. Is this true?

It is important because I have had twins once and am relatively likely to have twins again. During a twin pregnancy, women are supposed to aim for 175 g of protein daily, or almost 3 times the normal RDA.

Yes, if you cut out ALL meat for a good period of time, then this is the case. But with your history, why cut all of it out? You can significantly reduce your carbon footprint, still save lots of money, and avoid the side effects if you just go to eating meat, say, every three to four days. Then your body will continue to keep the enzymes around, and you’ll still accomplish your goal.

With the iron issue - I suffer from the same thing . It’s one of the reasons I’m not a total veggie. You can always eat lots of root veggies and spinach, but I prefer eating a big ol’ medium-rare steak around the time I get my period .

 

[Calliso]

Ok I am not a vegetarian but I will attempt to answer your questions.

1. While I can;t say for sure on this…it sounds like that isn;t quite true. Though it depends on the person. veggieboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=99680&highlight=digest+meat This is a large vegetarian/vegan forum and might be a good source for you in general. But according to that thread some people have had friends return to meat with no issues or have themselves eaten meat with no issues.
2. As for iron this article is for vegans but I thought it would be useful for you too. veganhealth.org/articles/iron The site in general it comes from is a good source too.

 

[LongingForLight]

How does not eating meat lower ones carbon foot print. Yes cow and animals produce gas, but it makes virtual no difference. So you, especially after eating plant type foods. I

Hey stringbeanduck,

It’s not about their gas. It’s about the greater amount of plants needing to be grown to feed that cow to produce the same amount of calories and nutrition for us, and the carbon footprint involved in growing those plants. And it’s not just carbon footprint, it’s also using up our arable land to feed animals instead of feeding ourselves directly, which is much more efficient. Basically, the higher on the food chain that we eat, the less efficiently we are using our environmental resources.

I’m not quite up to Googling articles on this right now, but the information is out there. And we already do a fair amount of the other things - rarely drive, limit electrical use, limit water use, etc.

 

[LongingForLight]

God gave us dominion over the earth. . . .From a creation standpoint, if God didn’t want man to be an omnivore, He wouldn’t have given us canine teeth.

I tend to believe that God sees nothing wrong with us eating animals, but also appreciates us choosing to love them more than we need to. After all, doesn’t He choose to love us more than we deserve? Why shouldn’t we reflect that same love onto our fellow creastures? Of course, this should never happen at the expense of our necessary duties, like loving our human neighbor (yes, I’m thinking of PETA here . . . GRR!!).

Having canine teeth can just mean that He is fine with us eating meat and wants us to be able to do it, not that He actually desires us to. Like I said, I think vegetarianism is supererogatory, and totally unnecessary to living a good and holy life. It’s a fine distinction, but I think it explains the great love some saints have had for animals. I have yet to hear about a saint being known for healing plants for the plants’ sake, yet there are saints who sought healing for animals for the sake of the animal itself (as opposed to the human who owned it and perhaps needed it for food or livelihood). God calls us to a multitude of paths to holiness, and I think vegetarianism can be a part of that. Of course, so could any dietary restrictions that increase self-discipline and save money

 

[LongingForLight]

Ok I am not a vegetarian but I will attempt to answer your questions.
…

Thanks, Calliso. These are pretty helpful. The iron article has a number of things I didn’t know. I’m going to have to go get a cast-iron skillet and buy a bunch of small doses of Vitamin C Those things will be helpful whether or not I reduce meat at some point.

I think people are right in saying that totally giving it up probably isn’t the wisest thing for our circumstances. Well, I’ve had fun researching it anyways, so no loss!

This thread may now devolve into a discussion of whether or not vegetarianism is good, bad, supererogatory, indifferent, necessary for holiness, or the main cause of spontaneous human transformations into spined fish with tentacles Have fun, y’all!

 

[mesurman]

I saw the other thread on vegetarianism, and thought I would post a few questions. I’m interested in vegetarianism both to lower my carbon footprint and because I believe it is ethical but supererogatory (i.e., above-and-beyond the call of duty) to eat lower in the ranks of intelligence in creatures.

My questions are:

1. I have heard that if you go long enough without eating meat at all, you quit being able to process meat properly (your body quits producing some enzyme needed for digestion of meat) and need to re-introduce meat into your diet gradually. Is this true?

It is important because I have had twins once and am relatively likely to have twins again. During a twin pregnancy, women are supposed to aim for 175 g of protein daily, or almost 3 times the normal RDA. I also was highly lactose intolerant and couldn’t stomach more than a smidgen of soy during my pregnancy (but not a problem normally), plus eggs were very hard to choke down (just very unappetizing for some reason). Because of these factors, I would want to be able to return to eating meat if I became pregnant - but would need to be able to start eating it again immediately, rather than re-introducing it while my body adjusted.

If it is true, I could still cut back significantly on meat, just couldn’t stop eating it altogether.

1. Any good resources on eating (and absorbing) lots of iron from a vegetarian diet?

I have low iron, and just cutting back on red meat has caused me problems in the past. I’ve been at my healthiest when eating a hamburger a day. I only just learned that my iron tends to be too low about six months ago, and am taking supplements now - so cutting back on meat might be easier now. Links to web pages are ideal, I don’t mind doing a bit of reading to get a more thorough answer. I’ve done a little research, but not really sure where the best sites are for this kind of info.

Thanks for any information you have to share!

 

[mesurman]

I saw the other thread on vegetarianism, and thought I would post a few questions. I’m interested in vegetarianism both to lower my carbon footprint and because I believe it is ethical but supererogatory (i.e., above-and-beyond the call of duty) to eat lower in the ranks of intelligence in creatures.

My questions are:

1. I have heard that if you go long enough without eating meat at all, you quit being able to process meat properly (your body quits producing some enzyme needed for digestion of meat) and need to re-introduce meat into your diet gradually. Is this true?

It is important because I have had twins once and am relatively likely to have twins again. During a twin pregnancy, women are supposed to aim for 175 g of protein daily, or almost 3 times the normal RDA. I also was highly lactose intolerant and couldn’t stomach more than a smidgen of soy during my pregnancy (but not a problem normally), plus eggs were very hard to choke down (just very unappetizing for some reason). Because of these factors, I would want to be able to return to eating meat if I became pregnant - but would need to be able to start eating it again immediately, rather than re-introducing it while my body adjusted.

If it is true, I could still cut back significantly on meat, just couldn’t stop eating it altogether.

1. Any good resources on eating (and absorbing) lots of iron from a vegetarian diet?

I have low iron, and just cutting back on red meat has caused me problems in the past. I’ve been at my healthiest when eating a hamburger a day. I only just learned that my iron tends to be too low about six months ago, and am taking supplements now - so cutting back on meat might be easier now. Links to web pages are ideal, I don’t mind doing a bit of reading to get a more thorough answer. I’ve done a little research, but not really sure where the best sites are for this kind of info.

Thanks for any information you have to share!

Spinich is very high in Iron. Green Leafy vegetables. But they do not have enough just eat meat (good meat) and be happy without all the guilt of eating lower creatures. God gave us those loser creatures for us to use. Use them. Get on with it.

 

[kage_ar]

My best advice is to speak to your doctor who may refer you to to a qualified nutritionist.

 

[Guitar]

Good advice. Even some doctors and nurses are still giving dietary advice re vegetarian diets that is just plain wrong.

I’ve been vegetarian for about 20 years and I am still able to eat meat here and there (which I end up doing 2 or 3 times a year rather than embarrass a host who has forgotten I don’t eat meat, or starve at some work function where they’ve ignored special dietary requests) and it doesn’t cause me any digestive problems or discomfort.

Spinach, olives, chick peas and a bunch of other foods like that are good for iron. I had a history of low iron before I became vegetarian but funnily enough there’s never been an issue with it since. I’ve never been knocked back as a blood donor, either.

 

[LongingForLight]

I had a history of low iron before I became vegetarian but funnily enough there’s never been an issue with it since. I’ve never been knocked back as a blood donor, either.

Apparently this runs in my family - of course, no one told me until I had been donating for about a year and was having some severe side effects. I was pretty bummed about it. I wasn’t even donating that often - only once every three months. I seem to be one of those people who just can’t donate at all. I started supplementing with iron and Vitamin C per doctor’s order, and things got better pretty quickly. :aok:

I’ll ask my doctor next chance I get, but I’ve often found I get equally good advice off the web, as long as I follow through with research to find the sources. There have been some things I’ve learned that the doctor just didn’t know. Not sure if we can afford a nutritionist for a while, though.