my son is wanting to be a vegetarian!?

[ducksarecool12]

My son has started his research but is having a hard time finding out what he needs to eat every day to get his protein so if any of yall know of any good websites please post them! thanks for all of your replies!!!

 

[KristyHall]

Quote:
I'll try to dig up some of the sources in the morning, but one thing I was taught was, if all else fails, pair a legume (beans, lentils, peas) with whole grains ( amaranth, quinua, corn, oats brown and wild rice) And vary your diet as much as possible.
Nuts are a great source of fatty acids and proteins as well. I often eat oatmeal with sliced fruit and chopped nuts every morning for breakfast when I know I'll be in the garden all day, the slow releasing complex carbs mixed with the fiber in the fruits and oats as well as the quick sugars from the fruits) and proteins from the nuts sustain me most of the day.

Mind you I am not a vegetarian, But i grew up very poor and meat has, at times, been a luxury in our house, and beans, corn, squash, and other southern staples have been a large portion of our diets here. So I have learned from experience and research what does and does not work, especially when working hard.

Even now when I have plenty of meat in my freezer, we still only add small amounts to our meals since protein from meat isn't as necessary as Americans often think. Meat is a luxury food made available in quantity fairly recently in history and mainly in wealthier countries. Most cultures have largely gotten the majority of their proteins from plan sources throughout history.

So As I have said before, check out some cultural food groups as a jumping off points. Also look up " Vegetarian for beginners" in the search engines. Meanwhile i'll dig through my stacks and stacks of books on nutrition to try and find the info on food pairings for complete proteins and fatty acids

 

[MyKidLuvsGreenEgz]

When searching for alternate sources of protein for my kid who doesn't like much meat, I just googled "vegan sources of protein" and "vegetarian sources of protein" ... lots of sites come up with charts of foods, usually in descending order of grams of protein per serving.

While he's at it, he should find out exactly how much he needs at his age and size. It will be surprisingly less than what he might have thought.

 

[welsummerchicks]

Cool article on teenagers and vegetarian nutrition from the Vegetarian resources group - http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/teennutrition.htm

From that site:

North American vegetarian teens eating varied diets rarely have any difficulty getting enough protein as long as their diet contains enough energy (calories) to support growth. Cow's milk and lowfat cheese are protein sources; however, beans, breads, cereals, nuts, peanut butter, tofu, and soy milk are also some foods that are especially good sources of protein. Only fruits, fats, and alcohol do not provide much protein, and so a diet based only on these foods would have a good chance of being too low in protein.

It is not necessary to plan combinations of foods to obtain enough protein or amino acids (components of protein). A mixture of plant proteins eaten throughout the day will provide enough essential amino acids.

Nemour's Teen Vegetarian Nutrition info: http://kidshealth.org/teen/food_fitness/nutrition/vegetarian.html

USDA's Food and Nutrition Information Center site - http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_displa...r=4&tax_level=2&tax_subject=257&topic_id=1359

 

[AquaEyes]

To be a successful/healthy vegetarian, you can't just subtract meat from the typical American diet (which, with or without meat, isn't healthy anyway). You must also add. When you start to pay attention to what you eat, you can learn that there's a whole new world of food out there that you might not have ever tried. Check out this cookbook:
http://www.amazon.com/Passionate-Vegetarian-Crescent-Dragonwagon/dp/1563057115/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1
There is a lot of background information on the foods used in there, and it's very enjoyable reading. I've actually bought that book several times, because it seems I'm so often lending it out and forgetting to ask for it back.

If your son broadens his food list and eats a varied diet including grains, legumes, vegetables and fruit every day, you probably won't have to worry much about the protein part. If you want to have a little safety-net, find some protein powder for making smoothies. It's really not difficult.



~Christopher

 

[rebel-rousing-at-night]

One of my sons almost became a vegetarian.

This was after he had inhaled 2 huge bowls of my chili beans and his twin brother informed him the meat was goat burger.

It's been over 20 yrs. and we still laugh about it. We are mean,I know.

 

[cowdogcadillac]

Vegetarian or Sad-eye-aterian. I work with people who claim to be veggies but they eat meat from chicken and fish. I guess if it doesn't have sad eyes they have no trouble eating it.Oh yeah apparently pigs don't have sad eyes either i'm told

 

[EweSheep]

Quote:
He has been eating this type of diet for almost forty years, he will be 48 years old. Mood swings, yes, he does but not like an emotional roller coaster. If he does not get anything to eat, he IS hungry and gets a little rough, needing to eat. He does not hardly eat at work, so he gets his first meal of the day around four am, two sandwiches and glass of water. Drinks water at work or half Gatorade if it is hot like in the summer and rest of the time, water to drink. And when he gets home, he quickly eats a sandwich at five pm and have two more sandwiches at suppertime when we all sit down to eat. After he relaxes, just before bedtime, he would have another sandwich and more water. If there is any dessert, more often than not, he would have a couple of sugar cookies. When under alot of stress, he gets terrible headaches. No, he does not take any pain killers at all nor does he believe in them (includes medications for colds, fevers, etc. and "I'll ride it out by sweating it out".

He always complains of muscle pains, joint pains but once he keeps going, he would be OK. Once he relaxes, his muscles would cramp up on him. He gets very tired from work, which he does heavy lifting of CAT parts into shipping boxes and assemble the parts, doing alot of pushing, tugging, lifting, pulling parts that weighs nearly from a 100 lbs to 100,000 lbs (with crane assistance). He weights 180 lbs and 5' 7 inches tall. Never been heavier than ten lbs either way.

His favorite peanut butter is Kroger's brand, those LARGE tubs. He would go thru two tubs a week. He does not eat eggs by itself.

I did some 'mean' things to him because I think most of it is psychological. He won't eat anything with fruits and veggies inside a cake or anything. There was a spice cake that requires pumpkin puree but it tasted like spice cake. Well I made this wonderful cake and told him its spice cake. He said it was pretty good!

I've tried to get him to eat a bit healthier and he simply refused. He hates beans, never did like them. Even real cheese instead of that Kraft processed cheese slices for his grilled cheese, he refused them as well. His pizza only consist of pizza crust and cheese, no tomato sauce or any other sauce of any kind. Cheese Whiz kind of thing or Velveeta cheese, nope. Won't touch wheat bread. He loves chocolate milk, has to be 100 percent whole milk. 2 percent chocolate milk, forget it, he won't drink it. Only once a week he will have his chocolate milk, one glass.

Not sure of what kind of warning signs his body will have when it is really LOW on or lack of greens that you normally DONT get from packaged items. Any greens remotely close would be the garlic breads (parsley flakes) which he would try to pick as much as he can or the oregano sometimes be found in those breadsticks as well.

 

[KristyHall]

I have the books that talk about nutritional pairings packed away.

Sorry hun.

 

[desertdarlene]

Wow, Ewe Sheep, but if that works for him and he's fine with it, then I guess it's not a problem. I hope he stays in good health. I would be a little concerned about the tiredness, though, especially since he doesn't take any medication that would make him sleepy. Often when we age, what used to not affect us starts to affect us once we get over a certain age.