mandabear
11-19-2007, 01:09 AM
I would consider myself mostly vegetarian. I eat fish and turkey every once in a while,like once or twice every two months if that. I was a vegetarian for four years before that. I'm currently in college and living in the dorms, and really don't feel very healthy. I feel like all I am eating is carbs and I don't think I'm getting enough protein and other nutrients. I'm trying to figure out what else I can do to feel better? Should I really try to eat meat? I'll be honest, I'm kind of disgusted by most meat and don't like how the packaged meat looks in the cafeteria. I'm just not sure what I should do in order to look/feel/be healthier.
Any advice? Would just eating a better variety of carbs even help me feel better?
Any advice? Would just eating a better variety of carbs even help me feel better?
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rheanna
11-19-2007, 03:23 AM
mandabear,
It is indeed possible to eat a nutritious vegetarian diet. It might be difficult to do so at a college cafeteria, however. Just leaving meat out of the diet does nothing to replace the protein in your diet. If all that is left to you is to choose the starches from the selections, then you are not getting enough protein as well as certain B vitamins. Protein sources include eggs and milk products, if you have no problems eating from the animal family. Plant sources of proteins include beans, seeds, and nuts, to name a few. Is there a nutrition department at your college that can provide you with some tips on eating healthy on a vegetarian diet?
You might keep a selection of nuts and seeds in your dorm. When you order a salad from the cafeteria, you can sprinkle nuts and seeds on the salad to get more protein. You can spread peanut butter on whole grain crackers. These can be kept in your dorm room.
And I suggest you look at ways to get lots of veggies in your diet. They will provide lots of vitamins and minerals as well as antioxidents to keep you healthy.
Perhaps other posters can suggest some more options.
Good for you for looking for ways to improve your diet!
--Rheanna
It is indeed possible to eat a nutritious vegetarian diet. It might be difficult to do so at a college cafeteria, however. Just leaving meat out of the diet does nothing to replace the protein in your diet. If all that is left to you is to choose the starches from the selections, then you are not getting enough protein as well as certain B vitamins. Protein sources include eggs and milk products, if you have no problems eating from the animal family. Plant sources of proteins include beans, seeds, and nuts, to name a few. Is there a nutrition department at your college that can provide you with some tips on eating healthy on a vegetarian diet?
You might keep a selection of nuts and seeds in your dorm. When you order a salad from the cafeteria, you can sprinkle nuts and seeds on the salad to get more protein. You can spread peanut butter on whole grain crackers. These can be kept in your dorm room.
And I suggest you look at ways to get lots of veggies in your diet. They will provide lots of vitamins and minerals as well as antioxidents to keep you healthy.
Perhaps other posters can suggest some more options.
Good for you for looking for ways to improve your diet!
--Rheanna
claudia80
11-19-2007, 05:10 PM
My sister has been cutting back on the meat in her diet and bought a few vegetarian cookbooks to give her ideas of how to get the protein through other things. One that she seems to really like is the new cookbook from Mark Bittman (he wrote How to Cook Everything). Go to your local bookstore and start looking thrugh different books to find the right one for you. Being stuck with the college cafeteria will definitely be your biggest challenge but I am sure you can learn some good tricks with the right research!
bvigorda
12-06-2007, 08:28 PM
I also am on a mostly vegetarian diet and have had the same concern about not getting enough protein. I've started taking a high quality whey protein. I <removed> learned that if you go this route, you may want to get a brand that comes from cows that are grass fed and not given antibiotics or hormones. It is also good for the whey protein to 1) be non-denatured, 2) not be a by-product of cheese, 3) come from raw milk and 4) be processed at low temperatures. This way the whey retains all or most of its benefits. I also prefer it to be unflavored as flavored usually means some kind of sweetener has been added to it. I just add it to a smoothy and I can't taste it. I understand hemp powder is a good source of protein if you prefer to not have your protein come from cows. I believe hemp is always organic, but you may want to check on that. <removed>