Any vegetarian Prius owners here?

Never really looked into what the difference between a vegan, a vegetarian, and a fruitarian was, I just eat food that comes from the ground. Fruits, nuts, vegetables. No dairy, no meat, nothing with flour, sugar, oil. Love my V-8 juice, frozen, canned, and fresh vegetables. I lost 75 lbs about 9 years ago doing this, and best of all BEAT rheumatoid arthritis.

 

Some people are just so brainwashed into thinking you need meat for protein, milk for calcium, and the four food groups, it's a waste of time trying to get through to them. I never try to push my way of eating on anyone, but when they ask me about how I eat, they're the ones that want to argue. Most of the time they are fat, smoke, and are coughing constantly, but I'M the one that has a weird diet?? Sometimes I guess you're just not cool if you don't start off the day with a huge coffee, a box of Donuts, and a couple cigarettes...

 

You don't find it challenging to get complete proteins as a vegetarian? DW and I eat no red meat, and eat vegetarian some meals - but it's certainly not as simple as not eating meat if you want to remain healthy long term. We all need protein, carbs and fats at every meal if possible. I'd like to hear suggestions on getting proteins in a vegetarian diet without eating soy/tofu at every sitting.

 

Ugh. I'm out of this thread.

 

Well I understand that eating meat can be unhealthy if you are eating steaks, other red meats that are slathered with fat. But I only eat lean white meat on occassion and I think it's easier to get protein and iron "naturally" vs. taking dietary supplements that aren't even good for you. But to back up my assumptions, not only from personal experience in my family where everyone has lived long and healthy lives, but also from a book I recently read called, "Blue Zones," by Dan Buetner.

In three years of research, Buettner found four Blue Zones, places where people have up to a three times better chance of living to 100 than we do: Okinawa in Japan, a mountainous region in Sardinia in Italy, the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, and Loma Linda, Calif. He joined with the National Institute on Aging to come up with a methodology to understand each region's culture of longevity and then backed it up with epidemiology studies.

"The longest-lived people in the world eat meat less than four times a month," he said. That means they DO eat meat but not as a pure carnivore. This is backed by centuries and centuries of real people practicing these food habits.

This was from an article in Time Magazine, “There's a big, beautiful plant kingdom out there; you ought to be able to dine healthily on this botanical bounty. With perfect knowledge, you can indeed eat like a king from the vegetable world. But ordinary people are not nutrition professionals. While some vegetarians have the full skinny on how to watch their riboflavin and vitamins D and B12, many more haven't a clue. This is one reason that vegetarians, in a study of overall nutrition, scored significantly lower than nonvegetarians on the USDA's Healthy Eating Index.”

SO yes it CAN be unhealthy to eat meat like most Americans do but, I'm not like most. I think meat can be a part of a healthy diet, along with fruits and vegetables. And FYI, I'm thin, have a BMI of 18, and according to several doctors quite healthy. So I would beg to differ.

 

Not sure what you mean when you say "complete", but as far as I'm concerned, I get all the protein I need out of nuts and green leaf vegetables. I think that for the most part, it's not what you eat anymore, it's what you DON'T eat. Just for comparisons sake, yesterday, I ate roughly 2000 calories: of V-8, Sundried tomatoes, and close to 3lbs of broccoli and cauliflower, about 56 ounces of water throughout the day.

Some of the folks I work with will have an Egg Mcmuffin, Hash Browns, a donut, and coffee/cigarettes for breakfast. Lunch will be more of the same garbage, maybe some pizza, a burger, fries, milkshake etc. Snacks will be candy, chips or pretzels. For dinner, probably some meat, who knows what dessert, more fries, Wings, Chinese food......Some of them aren't overweight, but the look older than they are, and they routinely get sick.

Now you tell me who is eating better. Their main argument with me, is that "the vegetables I eat, have been cooked, therefore all the vitamins are gone......." The only vegetable the average people I know eat, is the brown shards of "lettuce" that was on their Big Mac.

I haven't even had so much as the common cold since 3/2001, and prior to that, I would get the stomach flu twice a year, like clockwork.

As for you Radioprius1, it's sarcastic remarks like yours that confirm you're one of the brainwashed...but still, have a good Christmas, even if you don't celebrate it.

 

This is absolutely ridiculous and laughable. I love that I come to a car website and get insulted because I eat meat. Between you guys and the global warming people, I can't decide which group is more self-righteous and down right delusional.

Edit: I just read the rest of your post, where you think you have some perfect immune system now. It's honestly more than a waste of time to reply to someone like you.

 

I thought you were leaving?? Never said my immune system was perfect. I never insulted anyone that eats meat. I said I haven't been sick in almost 9 years, and I said some people think you have to eat meat for protein. Why you chose to duck in to a thread that was for something you don't believe in, then run like a wuss is beyond me.

 

So you haven't insulted me, but you said I was brainwashed and then that I ran like a ... something chivalry forbids me from repeating.

 

Thanks for the informative links. I am not trying to pick a fight with you, Tony or anyone either. We eat vegetarian some and we don't eat large quantities of meat, 4-6 ounces of chicken or fish at a sitting usually. To your question re: complete:

Protein is essential, and not all protein is created equal. "Eight amino acids are generally regarded as essential for humans: phenylalanine, valine, threonine, tryptophan, isoleucine, methionine, leucine, and lysine. Foodstuffs that lack essential amino acids are poor sources of protein equivalents, as the body tends to deaminate the amino acids obtained, converting proteins into fats and carbohydrates. Complete proteins contain a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans. Animal sources such as meat, poultry, eggs, fish, milk, and cheese provide all of the essential amino acids. Near-complete proteins are also found in some plant sources such as quinoa, buckwheat, hempseed, and amaranth, among others. Soya appears as lower in sulfur-containing amino acids (methionine and cysteine), which instead are abundant in many other plant protein sources. It is not necessary to consume plant foods containing complete proteins as long as a reasonably varied diet is maintained. By consuming a wide variety of plant foods, a full set of essential amino acids will be supplied and the human body can convert the amino acids into proteins."

To use Tony's link to the 10 vegetarian sources of protein, it is absolutely essential that a vegetarian/vegan eats a variety from these 10 sources. In other words, we can't be healthy long term literally eating from just one or even two of most of these sources (unless dairy, soy or eggs - many vegetarians avoid dairy and eggs as I understand it) - ie, you can't literally do well on just vegetables despite a variety. That is all I was getting at. I have known people who have "gone vegetarian" thinking they could literally just eat fruits and vegetables and they ran into problems. They lost muscle mass, lost color and became less healthy although lighter. It takes a little more knowledge to be a successful healthy vegetarian.

Again, I'm here to learn on this one.

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_amino_acid"]Essential amino acid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

 

Feel free to participate in another forum where people all eat meat. I eat meat but I'm listening to Triumph1, all you add is noise.

 

This is the OP. Seems simple enough. Interesting how a thread can go on different tangents. I have been vegetarian for several years. I don't try to argue with anyone or put them down about their diet. I became vegetarian for ethical reasons after I learned about the horrible conditions in slaughter houses/ factory farms. I try to eat as nutritionally as I can. Best wishes to everyone. If you are so inclined try googling "factory farms". :grouphug:

 

If you avoid candy and desserts, it is damn near impossible *NOT* to get enough 'complete' protein with a varied diet of grains, beans, and legumes. Sure, you may have some amino acids left over that become energy rather than polypeptide chains, but that is hardly a problem.

 

Original OP

Black Bean and Brown Rice Salad
For Trader Joe Shopper this is easy:
1 pkg frozen brown rice
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
1/2 ea chopped yellow, red and or orange peppers
1/2 c frozen sweet corn
juice and grated rind of 1/2 orange, 1 lime
olive oil to preference 1-2 tbls
1/2 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp chipolte chili powder, 1/2 - 1 tsp salt
Cook the rice according to directions, add the rest toss and enjoy. This is a very complete and pretty meal and is satisfying. You can add shelled frozen edemame if you would like more protein.
High levels of protein are also bad for the kidneys. We have a high level of renal failure here but Dialysis Centers are a great business to invest in as there are multiple contributors for this disease including diabetes and high blood pressure. I am not a pure vegetarian but often eat no meat. My daughter is a vegan. Let's try to just return to the original poster's idea.....

 

Not a vegetarian but eating a lot less meat than I used to as a kid. I'm not a big fan of red meat so mainly I just eat poultry or fish. I do need to find some good veggie dishes however so I can bring my husband over from the dark side.

 

Here, try this recipe. I just made this chili this weekend. DH says it's some of the best he's ever had. I topped it with shredded sharp cheddar cheese and crumbled up blue corn tortilla chips. Yummy.

 

That chili recipe looks good!! It's supposed to be cold this weekend so that would make a perfect dish!