I've had Quorn here, but it's Seattle. I enjoy it when I eat it but it makes me feel kinda funky.

My mom breaded tofu with brewers yeast before frying, claims everyone loved it, but that was before I was born... I can never get full when trying to be vegetarian, I need to figure out the protein, but have been too lazy... My dad and one brother are vegetarian, nothing like turkey loaf for Thanksgiving!

Strict vegetarians never eat meat but if you eat very little meat that is as effective as the reason for not eating meat, apart from the health issue, is the devastating impact it has on the food chain and on our wider environment.
Cutting down your meat intake is a big thing also, you don't have to be a purist on this issues as a little bit of what you fancy does you good.

I found it much easier than expected. Meat really isn't an essential part of the meal, and it makes you appreciate other foods that much the more.

The switch happened for me almost randomly, I initially just tried to see how long I could do it, but within a few weeks of that I knew I would probably just stay vegetarian. That was two and a half years ago, and I have the opposite of regrets. The benefits are remarkable.

Are you thinking of switching? I'm happy to give advice.

As to vitamins and nutrition, unless you are going vegan, it's really not a huge deal. Just know how to identify plant foods that contain protein, and make sure you eat them. But eggs contain all those vitamins and minerals you get from meat, so just have a few of those every once in a while and you should be fine.

By the way, going to the toilet will become a much more pleasant experience. One of the perks that not many non-vegetarians know about.

You'd have to eat about 15 eggs to get your DV of B12 from eggs.

I'd appreciate it if veggies would be honest about where nutritional deficiencies are possible. No need to minimize this. Especially for women, iron deficiency is a big deal.

Vegetarianism occurred to me after visiting some friends on vacation who have been vegetarians for many many years. I've adjusted my habits in many positive ways over the last few years; I'm not anti-meat but curious to see if vegetarianism would have any positive impact.

The B12 thing is good to know. They say that Swiss, Parmesan, Mozzarella and Feta cheeses have it. (They also say that the damage from a deficiency can take place for years before you notice it, which is worrying.)

I'll mull it over. I will *not* be checking in with progress reports though. If I happen to remain vegetarian for like 6 months at some point I might say something.

So does all of India have a B12 deficiency?

All of India isn't vegetarian. Only 20% of Hindus are, I think.

@tendmote: Yes, B12 deficiency is considered a major problem in India. Mainly because most people are staunch vegetarian and there is little awareness about proper nutrition.
Anyway, the main source of B 12 for Veg people is fermented dishes like dosa, uttapam, idli and many others.
PS: they are spicy and delicious. :)

@Putin: Almost all Hindus are vegetarian. IMO at least 80 percent.

^that is if you consider people who eat eggs as vegetarian. Otherwise the number would be around 50-60 percent.
Some Indians believe eggs to be non-veg and some believe the opposite to be true.

tendmote, I went vegetarian several years ago in stages. I cut out chicken altogether, but for a long time I ate vegetarian or mostly vegetarian at home, but ate meat when dining out. Depending on where you live and your lifestyle, that might work for you.

Protein isn't really a problem even for me, and I am a medium sized man of strong build. Beans, nuts, and Greek yogurt (the only thing that keeps me from being a vegan at home) do most of the work.

Re: b12: Lots of Hindus are vegetarian but not vegan, right? And milk products have B12.

egads - this vitamin b12 thing is a quandary. i don't 100% trust vitamin supplements to actually work; and in the absence of vitamin supplements, you end up with half your daily calories as cheese, just to get the recommended amount. that's a lot of cheese. there's fortified cereals too... but again, does dumping b12 into u corn flakes really work? perhaps we have not evolved to be vegetarians

You need to take all of the B vitamins together. If you just take B12, it won't get processed by your body.

We're omnivores, not herbivores, so yeah, not quite there yet.

There are lots of ethnic (e.g. India) recipe books and probably local community association cooking classes that can help the switch.

Hindus are vege not vegan. Chai tea has milk and it's a staple. Milk =/= killing.

My sympathies, CommanderByron, that your girlfriend is someone that demands that people around her have to be vegetarian too, at least when they are around her.

I was vegetarian for about two weeks before my then-girlfriend complained that it wasn't fair to her since I did most/all of the cooking and she hates beans, so instead I gave up red meat for about 18 months until I had a forkful of prime rib at my wedding, which led to a wonderfully tender and marinated London broil three weeks ago. God damn was it good.

In the end, though, even going vegetarian for two weeks turned me on to some great new food and approaches to eating. I eat chickpeas like a fiend, and luckily my wife likes them too, so now when I cook I will just simply eat less meat (on a weekly basis). I'll make two or three vegetarian dishes each week interspersed with chicken, pork, or ground turkey (usually in place of ground beef) with the occasional cut of beef. However, no more low quality or cheap meats just for the sake of eating meat. That was pointless and fairly unhealthy.

I'm sticking with meat. the vegetarian diet, with this b12 thing is too insidious. you see other people eating that way, you think "hey, that works" but if ypu do what you think you saw, you'd be in trouble. there should be a warning label!

As Nigee points out though, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. You can significantly cut down on meat and get all your needed nutrients while still helping your body and the planet.

yeah

@ckroberts: True that.

@Theo: There are in fact some Hindus who believe milk to be non-veg and hence remain vegan. But, their number is too small. And then, there is another religion, Jain, whose rules regarding the diet are quite strict. For example, they refrain from eating onion/garlic/carrot and many other things.

Really, Balrog, I find that surprising. I thought only Vaishnavists were vegetarian.

There are so many cults within the Hindu religion that even I get confused sometime. But, one things common is that they all recommend vegetarianism. So its upto the followers' discretion whether to follow it or not. Most people do.

*thing is

Anyone have any evidence that properly administered fortifications and supplementation doesn't work? Because I've never heard of that; only heard of improper usage (i.e. Taking vitamins without food, eating foods that absorb them with insolulable fiber).

As to vegetarianism generally, as far as the health of the human race and our place on this planet is considered, the less animal product you eat, the better. There are definitely some diminishing returns. The vegan fretting about rennet is doing a lot less than the average Joe who cuts his meat servings in half. Start where you can, build from there. The results may pleasantly surprise you.

http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1789253&resultClick=3

A short list, by the way, of some of the reasons I'm glad I've gone vegetarian:

-drastically cut back my participation in antibiotic use on animals
-drastically cut back my demand on limited agriculture land
-save plenty of money
-beat the "choice paradox" when eating out and enjoy myself more when I'm content to order whatever is vegetarian on the menu
-appreciated vegetables infinitely more, now that they moved from the side dish to the main dish (I hazard that if a vegetarian may lack some B vitamins, your average omnivore almost certainly lacks vitamin A and many others found in vegetables)
-learned significantly more about personal nutrition
-got better at cooking, and ate in more
-clean shits, and regular
-an interesting conversation piece at communal meals, often more pleasant than you might expect
-girls like it
-lower risk of cancer, obesity, heart attack, stroke
-when you meet another vegetarian you are instantly friends
-no more putting thoughts of crying, squealing, human-like screams out of your mind at the dinner table

That's just what I can think of right now. Downsides are sometimes old people glare at you, and I suppose I may not be as flabby and muscly as I would if I still ate nasty lunchmeat, and sure, I'll even allow I may not get as much B vitamins as I ought, but I am pretty careful about such things, owing to the increased awareness of nutrition than comes from switching diets.

So there you have it. My actual reason for doing it is ecological. The share of meat Americans eat, extrapolated to everyone, would necessitate 6 or 8 earths. The dead zone in the gulf that is fucking over the fishing industry on my beloved Gulf Coast is caused by fertilizers running off Midwestern fields into the Mississippi. Much of this is for use as animal feed and ethanol fuel, both of which are inefficient and unnecessary. The animal rights angle is less important to me, but certainly I can rest easier, especially with respect to pigs, which are so similar to humans in some eerie ways.

I'm glad you've changed your position on animal rights. The 'whales are dust' thing was pretty...terrible.

Putin, that's a very interesting article, but it seems to be addressing a slightly different question, of healthy people with no deficiencies. I can believe that someone with a rounded diet can't use supplements of folic acid (or whatever( to avoid cancer (or whatever). But as the article mentions with regards to vitamin D, it seems to be a different question for people with nutritional deficiencies.

I guess I should add that I eat oyster, which has an ass ton of zinc and other minerals, and oyster farming is (usually) actually good for the environment. So maybe that's why the micronutrient thing doesn't freak me out so much.

If I remember what you mean Putin, my essential position on that is unchanged. You appear to have severely misinterpreted it then and now though. Everything is dust.