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Even though they may be vegetarian in theory they are not totally vegetarian in actuality. Many vegetarians from India suffer from protein deficiency when leaving India. The crops in India aren't harvested and processed as strictly as in the "West" so the consumers get protein in the form of insects and other impurities in their food.
I wonder if this has more to do with eating a variety of whole grains in India versus more processed grains here (ie: removal of the bran and with it most of the nutrients)? Or is the cause of protein deficiency income related? I would assume that one of the results of poverty in vegetarians is the same as in meat eaters: malnutrition. I would love to see some studies of this issue if it is indeed a widespread problem? The people from India that I know, many of whom regularly make trips back home, have never suffered from protein deficiency here or in their home country. However, they are all middle and upper income. Although, I think that they would have noticed insects on their veggies just like people here do. If this is a true correlation, than people who eat strictly from their own gardens should have naturally higher protein.
I can tell you that DH spent several years as a child in Bangladesh as a vegan, returned to the states as a vegan and only turned vegetarian as an adult (adding in cheese/eggs). Never did he or anyone he grew up with who were vegetarians suffer from protein deficiency, he grew up around hundreds of vegetarians. His parents were very mindful of making sure that they were providing complete proteins, for example; beans and brown rice versus just beans. If you look at the traditional Indian diet, there is a lot of that type of food coupling happening.
To OP: sorry for the hijack!
Emzyy: make sure that you are combining your foods well, okay? Maybe do a bit of research into how to do this and ask your folks to pick up certain ingredients for you? Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. A good book is The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook, in addition to some fabulous recipes there is a nutrition section in the back with some good info. It's an old hippie book, but they raised many hundreds of healthy happy vegetarian kids there (a commune) so they were obviously doing something right.
It's okay! The thread is still talking about vegetarianism. I would rather this not simply spiral down into a debate, but for the time being it's all right. To all meat eaters who venture into this thread--keep in mind this was made for us vegetarians to discuss our side of things, not to argue about whether eating meat is beneficial or not. I'm not saying it's not okay to ask questions or be curious, but just stay respectful. We all have our own reasons for being vegetarian, and personally I would stay vegetarian even if it wasn't as healthy for me. I respect the lives of animals too much for me to ever eat them.
On a slightly random note, I want to add that there are a very few exceptions to me when it comes to me feeling eating meat is immoral. I'm not actually opposed to the eating of meat, but rather the killing of an animal to obtain the meat. If, for instance, an animal was already dying and suffering a great deal, and euthanasia is objectively the best option, if one can humanely euthanize the animal and make it so it can be eaten, I have no problems with that. The animal is already on the verge of death, it cuts their suffering short, and it does not waste the flesh of the animal.
I saw on National Geographic's Taboo, a man who eats meat, but the ONLY meat he eats is roadkill he scavenges from the side of the road. I thought that was really fascinating. He said he is opposed to factory farming, and sees people NOT eating the roadkill as a massive waste of food. He said he has a sensitive stomach, but he has yet to get food poisoning from the roadkill. Seeing as those animals are already dead, and in such a way that their death was accidental and essentially unavoidable, I have no problems with that. I personally wouldn't eat roadkill just because I've never eaten meat and don't want to, but...morally, I have no issues with it.
Just thought I'd throw that in there for the sake of discussion!