They say it's easy to become a vegetarian - stop eating meat and business in a hat. But, alas, the majority of those who did so, have already returned to their usual pasta and cutlet diet, because they quickly felt a shortage of not only protein and vitamins, but, in general, calories. If you ate chops with potatoes yesterday, and today, becoming a vegetarian, eating only potatoes, this does not mean that you have benefited your body.
The seemingly simple topic of how to become a vegetarian is actually a real dilemma when you face this problem not in theory, but in practice, in your own skin. Deciding to become a vegetarian, we must realize in advance that the transition will last from 3 to 6 months.
The Dangers of Vegetarianism
The diet of a "sudden" vegetarian (who decided to switch to "green" meals in a day) can not provide the body with a complete protein in sufficient quantities, iron, calcium , potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. This leads to the fact that most careless new vegetarians immediately begin to suffer from iron deficiency anemia, rheumatoid arthritis, and also feel a sharp decline in strength and mental abilities.
The lack of polyunsaturated fats (the main source of which is fish) is the impetus for the development of cardiovascular diseases, hypertension.
Since a vegetarian feels that without hunger he is constantly tormented by hunger, he begins to eat large portions, and that: potatoes, pasta, bread. Vegetarians say that among them there is no fat, but such a diet will soon stretch the walls of the stomach, and carbohydrates, of course, will be laid off in the form of fat.
In addition, switching to ovo-lacto-vegetarianism, you risk greatly raise the level of cholesterol. Of course, just be a vegetarian, eating five hard-boiled eggs a day, but eggs are cholesterol!
How to solve these problems?
Now, let's talk about what can be vegetarians, given the above complexities of life.
First, we need to make a plan, which will indicate the nutrients that are missing in the vegetarian diet. It is protein, calcium, iron, B vitamins, polyunsaturated fatty acids. Now we make a list of what the vegetarians eat, and look for a "non-meat" source of these nutrients.
It looks like this:
- iron - nuts, beans, mushrooms, buckwheat, soy;
- protein - dairy products, beans, seeds, nuts, whole grains, soybeans, eggs;
- calcium - dairy products, beets, broccoli, spinach;
- vitamins of group B - take multivitamin complexes with vitamin B12;
- polyunsaturated fatty acids - take on a variety of unrefined oils for salads.
Secondly, the task must be solved step by step. First, start with what you can not eat vegetarians. Make yourself a list of forbidden foods and set a time frame when and from which you will refuse:
- red meat - refuse first of all;
- bird - refuse a month from the beginning of the transition to a vegetarian diet, weekly reducing the number of meals with the bird;
- fish and seafood - refuse the last turn, 1.5 months after the refusal of the bird.
This is the simplest stage of vegetarianism, and there is no question of switching to veganism at once.
Excluding gradually first the meat, then the bird, and finally the fish,
To help in a smooth transition to vegetarianism can already experienced people who have gone through this. Sign up for a vegetarian club, so you get access not only to information on how to become a vegetarian, but also provide yourself with psychological support - "if they could, I can."
In addition, vegetarians should know where to buy high-quality soy products, what recipes to diversify their diet and how not to cause all this damage to their health.