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im 15 and at the moment the only type of meat i eat is chicken, mainly because i dislike the taste of steak and pork and all that. but despite that i like chicken id refer not to eat it because it means it had to be killed. im just curious as to whether i can become vegetarian without any problems occuring. i take iron tablets and vitamin tablets at the moment, but could i cut out meat all together? thanx =D
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Yes, you can! I became a vegetarian at 12 and it was the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. Well, now I’m 17 and endevouring to start a Raw Vegan diet too, so we’ll see if that tops it.
I did wean myself slowly off meat, which it sounds like you’ve more or less done, and as long as you take note of the fact that ‘vegetarian’ doesn’t mean that you just eat a normal meal, minus the meat, you should be good. You need to make up for that meat in your diet by eating as a vegetarian, not as a non-meat eater.
Learn to cook. Seriously, it makes that dimension of it so much easier, and then when you leave home, life gets easier, too, because you already know some self sufficiency skills.
Just make sure you get enough protein, zinc, and iron. They sell supplements if that’s a problem.
If you wish to cut out meat then you may.
I wouldn’t recommend Vitamin or Mineral supplement tablets. They are bad for your health in the long run as you can easily exceed the recommended daily allowance for vitamins and minerals.
It is a myth that people with a vegetarian diet do not consume enough Iron, Protein etc. The only vitamin hard to come by on a vegetarian diet is vitamin B12, but your body doesn’t actually use this, it recycles it – storing enough to last 30 years.
It is not bad for you to stop eating meat but its good that you take protein iron and stuff like that and do not stop right away or your body will not be used to it without.
i actually became a vegetarian at the age of 12 and im now 15 the only problems i had was becoming anemic but iron tablets help treat it…. make sure you take vitamins and exerice once in a while because you will gain some wieght
good luc
Protein is important for growing children (including 15 year olds), but vegetarian people know that vegetable proteins can be just as just as beneficial to the body as those coming from meat. A varied menu of grains, beans, vegetables, and fruits supplies sufficient protein, so protein deficiency isn’t a problem as long as the vegetarian diet encompasses a nice variety of these healthy foods. Meat also provides folate, iron, zinc, thiamin, vitamin B12, and essential fatty acids – vegetarians must be sure that the foods they choose contain sufficient quantities of these elements to ensure optimal health. Most vegetarian parents believe that the effort to select a complete diet based in plant based foods is well worth the planning since studies confirm that meat consumption has considerable drawbacks, the most important being that saturated fats and cholesterol that can clog arteries and contribute to heart disease.
While meat does contain some elements necessary to growth and development, these same nutrients can be found in plant based foods, too. Iron from meat is more easily absorbed than iron coming from other sources, but by adding a sufficient amount of foods rich in vitamin C, which helps in the absorption of iron, the body will get all of the iron that it needs. Iron fortified cereal, readily available at major markets, is recommended for the first two years of life. And since children need to consume more fat than adults, vegetarian children should be encouraged to eat nut butters, avocados, and assorted soy based products. Several manufacturers make a tasty variety of soy based "chicken nuggets" and "hot dogs" which are very appealing to children. Since vitamins D and B12 may be lacking in a typical vegetarian diet, many pediatric dieticians recommend supplementing the diet with a daily multi-vitamin tablet.
So yes you can become a Vegetarian without problems you just need to think about what’s in your food.. Good Luck
You are not a vegetarian if you eat chicken. Chicken is animal meat. You need to make sure you get plenty of protein and b vitamins. Other then that you should be fine if you eat correctly.
i became veggie at 12 an i’m now 13 and ‘m healthy
of course you could! im a 12 year old vegetarian and i just take "one daily" vitamins every morning and im just as healthy as i was 8 months ago as a meat eater. going veg is a great choice and i hope you do it! good luck!
People make it sound as if a vegetarian diet is inferior to that of an omnivore. The opposite is true: if you eat more fresh fruit and vegetables instead of meat, you get more anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals and fiber, plus the right type of protein (which is abundant in veggies, beans and nuts!). You also cut out animal protein, which has recently been connected with cancer, and animal fats, a cause of heart disease.
There is no age at which humans won’t benefit from a vegetarian lifestyle. This is what dietitians say:
The American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada state in their Position Statement on Vegetarian Diets:
"It is the position of the American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada that appropriately planned vegetarian diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. … Well-planned vegan and other types of vegetarian diets are appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including during pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Vegetarian diets offer a number of nutritional benefits, including lower levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein as well as higher levels of carbohydrates, fibre, magnesium, potassium, folate, and antioxidants such as vitamins C and E and phytochemicals." http://www.vnv.org.au/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=55
And what Einstein said:
‘Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances of survival on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet.’
~Albert Einstein~
Vegetarian turned vegan
No sweat, she’ll be apples. I became a vegetarian (overnight – no transition period) when I was 14, and that was over 34 years ago. I didn’t (and still don’t) take any tablets either.
Vitamin tablets are only useful if your diet is lacking in something.
Protein is a non-issue. Vegetarians get more than enough in their diets, without resorting to protein supplements.
Iron tablets are more likely to constipate you than help you. Better to get iron naturally in your food – things like broccoli, spinach, molasses, yeast and yeast extracts (like Marmite, Vegemite, etc.) contain good amounts of iron. Vitamin C, amongst its other myriad benefits, helps you to absorb iron – so make sure you get plenty of that (in your diet, not in tablets). Caffeine hinders the absorption of iron, so avoid coffee, cola and "energy" drinks.
Like me, you’re living in the Lucky Country, so you should have no problem getting a good variety of fruits, vegetables, fungi, seaweed, legumes, nuts, seeds and grains (choose the wholegrain varieties) – and, therefore, you should also have no problem getting all the nutrients you need from your food.
EDIT: I’d like to reiterate what Sarah said. Learn to cook. Get hold of some vegetarian and/or vegan cookbooks. Either borrow them from the library or buy them (you can sometimes even find some of the older classics, like the Vikki the Vego ones, in second-hand bookshops). See if you can find some books on nutrition too. The internet, while occasionally useful as a source of information, is also prone to deliberate misinformation campaigns from vested interests.
Yes, absolutely. My son is 13 and has never eaten any type of meat and is very healthy
yes as long as you dont totally pig out. i did it at 14 and it didnt hurt me.
I tuned veggie when I was 13. Now I’m 16, an no problems so far. It’s all about the balance- I have to plan out everything i eat to make sure i get enough protein and iron etc. but i think it’s worth it.
lentils and chickpeas make a great meat substitute for most things, plus lots of grated vegetables go great in bulking out a filling for something. Spinach is a godsend, especially combined with some cheese for taste, and if you eat whole-meal bread and pastas this should fill you up.
Eating out is a pain in the butt though.
Still, so long as everything is balanced, you should be fine.
here’s a vegetarian food pyramid to give you an idea of the balance:
http://lesleehorner.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/vegetarian-food-pyramid.jpg