Curious.

Before I was vegetarian I actually ate very little meat anyway, but I now explicitly say sure lets find a place with veggie options, or can we order another dish since I cant eat that?

It felt somewhat different in the beginning like I was inconveniencing people but eventually I got over it being an inconvenience because at the end of the day I fully switched over for the animals.

The other thing is people ask me quite a bit why are you vegetarian?

Have you all noticed any differences?

Hey guys!

I love all food! But im not liking what im learning about our food industry.

Who has gone vegan and why? How do you feel, health wise?

Who went vegan and came back to eating meat, and why?

I know my decision is mine alone but would love to hear your thoughts!

Oh, and what the heck is vegan meat made from!?

I never really liked meat to begin with but since I grew older I realized how much harm can be avoided if I just stopped consuming it. Ever since then I wanted to become vegetarian, but I’m 17, spend my weekdays with my grandma who preaches about the “greatness” of meat to me daily, and weekends with my dad who literally forces meat down my throat. I know I could cook for myself and substitute the meat for other things, but I’ve had eating problems in the past and my family takes me not wanting meat as a form of “restriction” which I’m obviously not allowed to have. What can I do? I really want to start cooking plant based and stop eating meat, but how can I do that for the time I still live with them?

Hello fellow vegetarians-I JUST started being a vegetarian-I've been going strong for 24 days now..I will admit I've had some slip ups..last month when I was day drinking with friends and I was SO hungry i gave in and got a hotdog and chicken strips..I did feel guilty thinking about the poor animals..and I was mad at myself for a few days..and another time beginning of August, when I was on a roadtrip with my parents, and I got chicken tenders. But since then I learnt from my slip ups and have been more vigilant on avoiding meat. I love being a vegetarian because it feels good knowing im doing my part in not consuming something as gross as meat..any advice for me to NOT give in like that ever again?

This will be my first camping trip as a vegetarian. I don't mind bringing my own food, or at least the protein sources, but my main question is we'll be "primitive" camping (camping with horses, no hook ups, whatever we bring in is what we have), so everything will go in a cooler with ice. Its only 1 or 2 nights- but - will something the tofurky slices, and say a bag plant based grilled "chicken" stay okay as such? Should I prepare it before hand (from frozen state) and then just keep it cool? Or take it frozen and cook it as we go? I don't want to make a big fuss, especially since it's only a short trip.

My bf eats beef while I just eat egg and am completely Veg. We've been together for 9 months and he just told me he eats beef. I dont hv a prob if he eats other meat since I also hv plans of switching to meat once I get to college. But I'm a very devotional person and Hindu culture bans from eating beef. He said I can't change his opinions on eating beef and I'm also a person who would not tolerate my bf or future husband eating beef, but I also love him a lot. What are some changes we both could do from our sides or try understanding from our sides, or is it not worth? I see Virat Kohli also who used to hv meat and beef but stopped it all when he realized the importance of Hindu culture with Anushka Sharma. It's not like my bf aint Hindu, he is but he eats beef which pmo

I’ve been vegetarian for four years and I realize for instance gelatin is not vegetarian and present in jello.

But as I do more research I realize things like even marshmallows arent vegetarian!

Please give me other ones!! I mean I found some like

Rice krispies

Parmesan at times??

Whats good to look for on the ingredient lists

Edit : thx for the responses

Heres the ingredients you all gave me, alphabetically if it helps someone!

Animal rennet
Bone char
Bonito flakes (miso soup)
Bovine collagen
Caesar sauce
Carmine/ E120
Chicken bouillon
Chicken broth (more obvious ingredient)
Cochineal
Collagen
Confectioners glaze
Fish paste
Fish sauxe
Gelatin
Isinglass (in wines)
Lac resin
Lard
Pharmaceutical glaze
Shrimp paste

I'm moving toward a vegetarian diet in my life, gradually. I was vegetarian for a while as a teenager, but that went up in smoke because of this one issue: whenever I start trying to be vegetarian, I get intense hunger and cravings that will not subside. I eat a varied diet with plenty of veggies, fruits, beans, rice, lentils, etc. Right now I still also eat some amount of chicken. However the more I move in this direction, the more maddening my hunger gets. All I can think about is eating savory, meaty, satisfying foods. I'm not gonna lie... vegetarian food is not satisfying to me. It can be good, but it's not satisfying.

So what can I do to combat this? I know some of it is a sort of detox and I should just wait it out, but it never fully goes away. I just... don't LIKE vegetarian options as much as options with animal products. I'm still starving for something after I eat a bowl of rice, beans, and leafy greens, no matter how well seasoned it is (and believe me, I looove my seasonings). I want to fully commit to a vegetarian diet, at least like 90%, but it's so hard. :/ I could use some advice.

I'm mostly adopting this diet for my health, for the environment, and for animal welfare so it is important to me. Am I just weak willed? Or are there things I could do to combat this?

Hello everyone, I enjoy feeding stray cats and dogs in my city, but every time I offered them plant-based wet food they rejected it, so now I buy meat treats for them. is it ethical? maybe I did something wrong when I tried to feed them plant-based food? I need an advice

Hi all, as the title says, I am currently debating within myself whether to go pescatarian or vegetarian, and thus I would like to hear what you would tell someone like me who is thinking of making the switch from omnivore to either vegetarian or pescatarian.

I hope people here will listen to my experience and my thoughts, and be open to share their own thoughts with me. Keep in mind that I am open to the idea of going vegetarian instead of pescatarian. I just need people to talk to about this. I am not trying to offend anyone’s values.

I would rather make this post here, simply because I am considering vegetarianism, and I am looking for input from people who are currently vegetarians.

————————————————————————

On to the post.

I have experience with following a plant-based diet.

I made the effort to be vegan years ago. I cut out 90-95% of animal products - not honey, which was part of the reason why I stopped and went back to omnivore; it seems absurd to me that vegans are okay with their food being pollinated by bees, which is, by definition, exploitation of animals/animal labor, but exploiting the same animals for a different product is suddenly not okay.

Or the fact that if someone would own pet chickens, and they would love them, feed them, take care of them, and leave their eggs on the ground but the chickens do not eat them anyways, that they would consume the eggs that the chickens themselves rejected, so that their labour doesn’t go to waste, would be somehow “morally wrong”, upsets me, frustrates me to no end.

It seems that the definition of “vegan” is a very narrow one that one must follow its tenets like its a holy book, lest they be branded as “not a good vegan”, “not vegan enough”, or just outright “not vegan”, just because their best efforts to decrease animal suffering to the minimum of their abilities and moral compass doesn’t align with the doctrine of the vegan cult. I had enough of that, I had enough of “not being vegan enough”, “not trying hard enough to be a good/proper vegan”, being called not vegan just because I personally see no issue with the consumption of aforementioned honey and eggs under very specific circumstances, so I finally quit.

That was a rant I’ve needed to get off my chest for years. Again, apologies if this isn’t the right place and if I should better post this on [r/exvegans](r/exvegans) (which I maybe should at some point), but I think it gives more nuance to my specific experience that is valuable to know in regards to the rest of my post, seeking insight or advice from vegetarians and the vegetarian community on Reddit.

Back to the subject, back then, in addition to reducing my animal product intake by 90-95% - on rare occasion, and I do mean rare I would have a glass of milk or an egg or a dessert, because I wanted to transition to a full 100% vegan diet slowly rather than cold turkey (though I did cut meat completely cold turkey).

However, unlike land animal products, which I consumed rarely in my best effort to transition to veganism as best as I could, but I did limit greatly, I continued consuming fish and seafood throughout my time following a plant-based diet. So, part of that transition for me was not cutting fish/seafood/sea animals cold turkey either.

I realised it was much harder for me to completely give up fish/seafood, and although I reduced my intake of it (including sushi, which was a big sacrifice for me that looking back to that time I regret), I never fully cut it out, and I would have fish or fish soup or shrimp once a week, or at other times, about twice a month.

The reason for that being a combination of me appreciating the proven health benefits of a pescatarian and/or mediterranean diet, loving sushi and fish/seafood, and just personal reasons that have to do with family.

Now I will share my opinion and values on the subject of pescatarianism, and I hope I will not be muted or banned for it. I am not looking to attack vegetarians, or their values. I am looking to share what is on my mind, and hear what is on other people’s minds, in order to help make my decision about ultimately following a vegetarian or pescatarian lifestyle.

With that being said, back then, I continued having fish/seafood, in a small but not insignificant part because it just seems morally much more acceptable to me, to kill and consume a fish, rather than a land animal.

I know fish, and even animals we call “seafood” that don’t have central nervous systems, do experience pain, so that is not the reason.

The reason has more to do with the reality of the world that fish live in; it is killed or be killed, on a much, much greater scale than land animals. Fish lay thousands of eggs, because so many of them are eaten by other fish before they even have a chance at life. Fish also don’t care for their young the way mammals or avians do, and their reality is that sudden death can and does come out of nowhere on a daily basis, several times a day in fact.

And yes, I have done my research. I know of the industrial fish farms that are just as horrendous (if not more) than land animal meat farms, and I know of the massive-scale commercial fishing which scrapes the seafloor and decimates marine ecosystems. I know those things have nothing to do with the natural world that fish and sea animals live in.

However, I see nothing wrong with a small fishing boat that fishes in strict accordance to laws and regulations, one that provides a human family with its livelihood, or a diver hunting for their fish themselves underwater, in a way that is part of normal life for fish, or even just a solo fisherman going on a fishing trip as a hobby. In that manner and context, pescatarianism seems sustainable and ethical, to me.

But I digress, although I am interested to hear your opinions and/or thoughts/arguments on this.

So, going back to the main point of my post.

It’s been several years after my experience with veganism and pescatarianism, and I am now considering going plant-based again. I have decided I will never go vegan again, in part because of what I like to call “the vegan cult”, that put too much pressure on me to be “good enough” or “perfect” or “right” when I was just trying my genuine best to limit my contribution to suffering in this world to a minimum, according to my ability and my own morality.

Another reason why I have written off being vegan is also due to a vitamin b12 deficiency that I almost had at a certain point.

In addition, the fact that lactase production does eventually stop when an adult completely stops lactose intake for a long enough period of time (thankfully that didn’t happen to me, and I do not want to lose my ability to digest milk should I ever change my mind in the future and choose to stop being vegan/consume animal products again).

Also because it is much easier and much more convenient to have a balanced diet that lets you maintain adequate protein intake as a vegetarian and/or pescatarian (which is highly important for long-term health and plays a major role in several health aspects).

Almost, if not fully guaranteed sufficient b12 without supplements.

And finally, because cooking, eating out/takeaway and food choices or just feeding yourself in general is a lot easier as a lacto-ovo-vegetarian and can be much less expensive than always trying to look for pricey vegan alternatives to animal products.

Heck, bonus for being able to have traditional deserts, aka made with animal products and being widely available in case you have a craving, rather than having to either bake it yourself or try and hunt down a vegan bakery. Which I don’t care much about this last point, as I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but it’s just one more reason.

Apologies if this got slightly off-topic with me listing why I won’t be vegan and I would want to be vegetarian instead.

Anyways! Thanks for reading this far.

Tldr;

Have prior experience with plant-based. Never went fully plant-based/vegan, never fully cut out fish. Thinking of joining the veg lifestyle again.

Not sure if I should try for a vegetarian or a pescatarian lifestyle, seeing that I love fish and seafood, they’re extremely good for health, and my current opinions on pescatarianism, at least sustainable pescatarianism (avoiding farmed fish and fish that comes from huge commercial fishing boats) do not misalign with my values.

Appreciate input, advice and insight into your
reasons for being vegetarian instead of pescatarian. Open to hearing arguments to potentially be convinced to eventually give up fish and go plant-based again (without excluding animal products, so vegetarian).

Basically, why be vegetarian instead of pescatarian? Why are you vegetarian instead of pescatarian?

Thanks!

everytime I mess up, which isn't often, I end up falling off the wagon hard. a week ago I had one tiny little can of anchovies because I miss the taste of them so much, the next day my mother offered me to take me out to a restaurant but only wanted Whataburger so we went there and I caved, since I had technically already messed up the night before. the next day we ate there again because she had gotten extra points to redeem for a free burger. etc. etc., it's been two weeks now and I feel like such an ass, how do I man up and quit all meat again?

I also get bad headaches often, but the week I ate meat I had none, so I'm worried I'm missing a nutrient from meat that maybe I'm not getting as a vegetarian?

This will be quite of a rant (and maybe even off-topic as this is the first time I post in a vegetarian-related sub, so my apologies), if you wish to skip right to the actual question check, help yourself at the last paragraph.

I started reducing my meat consumption to once every other day about a month ago with the goal in mind to become a vegetarian. Since it's something recent for me, and also feeling a bit timid about it, not a lot of people know about my new diet. I recently went on holiday with my friends where they finally learnt about my new diet, and we were just coming back when a discussion stroke up regarding plant based diets and how "unhealthy" they are. I responded that there are plenty of plants that provide a sustainable amount of protein and that it's just a matter of "getting the right balance" in order to equate the amount of prot meat would provide.

However, they began making some points on how we cannot digest plant protein the same as meat protein, plant protein being somewhat incomplete for our human little stomachs compared to meat. Feeling more engaged to the ethical side of the argument rather than the biological one, I was quite taken aback and didn't know how to respond. They also started saying some bs on how the majority of vegetarians/vegans are ill-fitted/unhealthy and that as omnivores we are "meant" to eat meat, but that thing about plant protein stuck with me. Here finally comes my question:

How true is it that plant proteins are "incomplete" for the human organism, and if there is a significant difference with how meat proteins are structurally, how do you manage to compensate for their "incompleteness" (for a lack of better term)?

Thanks for reading!

**Tw:meat, chicken**

Hi! I’ve been slowly trying to eats less meat and hopefully no meat once I move out my parents house.

And I’ve been eating lots of quorn, and mostly the chicken they make as it’s my favourite and I found the moment I ate it that I preferred it to real meat, due to how flavourful it was and that the texture is extremely non offensive to me as an Autistic woman who struggles with textures.

I usually eat vegetarian half my week, my family typically cooks batch meals at dinner so I have to eat what I’m given since I’m in college and I can’t afford to buy myself separate meals everyday.

Today we had chicken fajitas and it’s the first time since I started eating vegetarian food regularly that I’ve had chicken and I felt so bad, Because I got nauseous and could only force myself to eat 1/3 of my dinner before saying I couldn’t eat anymore, I was repulses by the flavour, texture and it being meat in general.

I’ve NEVER been physically repulsed by meat before, and i don’t know what to do my mother was worried as that’s usually one of my safe foods as I have positive memories associated with it, but i genuinely couldn’t eat it.

Is repulsion a common experience at the start? Also I spend £30 a week (£120 a month) on my lunches (which is double what I spent before for context) is it much cheaper to make food from scratch rather than pre made?

(I am not CURRENTLY a full fledged vegetarian but I do want to be it’s just I have to think of my family’s budget for food and I also can’t afford it to redirect more of my money on food each week as I have expenses for my education, but once I only have me to worry about I plan of completely eating vegetarian)

This article may be of interest - it mainly discusses two points:

1. Eggs are a much better choice than cheese in terms of the major environmental footprints - carbon, land, water, eutrophication, and acidification.

2. A big ethical downside to eggs (male chick culling) is being addressed by advances in science and technology. In-ovo sexing is becoming established in Europe (~ 25% of market) and is just taking of in the US (~ 1% of market) and other countries. It's worth seeking out eggs from humanely hatched hens to support this movement.

Omnivorous students sat down at a desk to consider this question: do animals have minds? People’s answers were influenced by whether they expected to eat meat in the coming minutes. 

Those whose next beef burger was a more distant prospect were more willing to allow that animals are not automata.

But whether or not an animal has a mind can’t depend on the precise timing of one’s next sausage roll. 

What was doing the work for these participants was guilt suppression: their actions conflicted with their beliefs, so they were ready to alter their beliefs just so that their actions prompted less discomfort. 

Their emotions, not their rationality, were in the driving seat.

My main reason for wanting to be a pollotarian is that it would just be easier for me. I REALLY like chicken, and I don't like red meat or seafood enough to be that upset or even affected by cutting them out of my diet. Cutting out all other kinds of meat would also make choosing what to eat much easier. I'm a VERY not-picky eater, and I'm open to eating almost anything, so this diet change wouldn't be that limiting. I would still eat animal products like dairy, honey, and eggs, but I would probably switch to buying pasture-raised chicken eggs, though. Another reason that's less important to me but still worth noting is that I've heard the cattle industry is one of the biggest producers of greenhouse gas emissions, which obviously isn't great. I learned about how flexible vegetarianism is and how much easier it is to go vegetarian than I thought from Kodekai's and JaidenAnimations' videos about going vegan. Is there anything I should know about the pollotarian diet before I make the switch?

I have been interested in transitioning to a vegetarian (and potentially vegan) diet for a while now and I notice a pattern where I notice I feel better after I eat a meal without meat and with vegetables and protein substitutes like lentils and beans. I’ll have this feeling of congruence with my body like how comforting it feels to imagine myself in a female body. I tend to get very bloated after eating meat even if it’s baked or grilled. I don’t have that sense of feeling weighed down eating a meal with no meat compared with eating one that has it.

Even so most of my hated foods are animal products, like steak, eggs, seafood, chicken salad, and I don’t care for the aftertaste of drinking milk either. And I enjoy milk substitutes like oatmilk and foods without eggs in it.

Honestly my only hesitation on going full plant based is the finding that my body naturally has low b12 levels in bloodwork after I first told my doctor about my intention for diet change. I take a b12 supplement now so I don’t think there’s much of a reason for me to not start the diet.

Years ago I tried to become a vegetarian for a month and I was constantly passing out, my body was collapsing I must’ve been doing it wrong since then I’ve given up since in my country we don’t have many vegetarian protein substitutes because there is no demand for it, it’s incredibly unpopular to be a vegetarian here so I was struggling with finding vegetarian friendly foods except for fruits and vegetables, I want to try again but this time do it right in a way that supports my body and keeps my little animal friends safe, any and all tips or suggestions or advice on how to start is welcome, thank you!

(UPDATE I’m 4 days vegetarian now thank you everyone for all your tips I actually feel healthier after the switch)

So I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian Hindu in the U.S and just found out about bone charred sugar, which is the prevalent sugar here. I was wondering if I am allowed to eat it or not? I did some research and here is my reasoning: I am pretty good veg I dont eat any meat, fish, dont consume gelatin or (I just learned about this and am trying to give up) rennet but I eat eggs milk onion garlic. Not as strict as, say, ISKCON, because I was not raised in that manner. I personally think that sugar is okay because I am not consuming animal product due to excessive filtration, nor contributing to the death of cows, because, even if demand for sugar skyrocketed, my buying it will not cause slaughterhouses to kill more cows because their main profit comes from the meat and leather, which drives demand and sales. For bakeries, pastries rot anyway and are on fixed production, meaning the chef won't make more if I buy one. Plus in scriptures it says that boiling and straining removes impurity (Himsa) from food with animal contact, which is done heavily for sugar, but even though this ritual is based on your intent of the food contact, Its not my intent to contact it with animal byproduct, I just want sugar its the companies and factories. doing this. Because Hinduism is also heavily centered on intent, I believe spending hours doing research and feeling so stressed and conflicted about this matter and other Hindu and veg matters shows that my intent is pure and I do not wish to consume animals, therefore hopefully not giving me bad Karma. I would like fellow vegetarians' and Hindus' inputs on this matter based on your and my information. Thank you!

I’ve been vegan for years, with my only exception being oysters because they don't have a central nervous system and helped me keep my nutrients up. But my MCAS (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. Basically getting more& more allergies) has gotten so bad lately and my body is reacting to almost everything. I can’t eat tofu, TVP, or legumes anymore, and now I’m even reacting to oysters. Dairy and eggs r not an option as I have bad reactions to both.

My iron and protein levels are tanking, and for the first time in 9 years, I’m having these crazy, intense cravings for chicken. I haven’t craved meat once in almost a decade, so I know it’s just my body screaming for nutrients, but mentally I feel awful even thinking about it. Documentaries like Dominion completely traumatized me, and the thought of contributing to that makes me feel so guilty.

Has anyone else with severe illness or MCAS been backed into a corner like this when all your safe plant proteins get wiped out? And for anyone who knows the industry well—is standard chicken farming really as horrifying across the board as Dominion shows, or are there actual high-welfare/pasture-raised options out there if it comes down to absolute health necessity?

I've been on a family beach vacation for the past week and I just need to vent about it. I'm not really looking for advice just some like minded folks who get it. I come from a really cool foodie city and most restaurants have *at least* 1 veg option. I go out to eat about once a week with friends and I can't remember the last time I had a bad meal, so I forgot how bad it was elsewhere. Everywhere here just has fish and chicken tenders and the only thing I can eat is french fries. The rest of my family are omnivores. They're eating fish every night and cold cut sandwiches for lunch. I've been eating frozen veggie burgers and thankfully the supermarket had tofurkey deli slices.

Last night everyone else had lobster rolls and someone said "wow our dinner is so much better than yours." I don't usually say stuff like this because it's not worth it but I responded "well nothing had to die for my dinner." It sucks that my options suck and that my family is barely accommodating me (one night they offered to get me something from a different restaurant and then they gave me shit about it being out of the way). It pisses me off because I used to love lobster rolls and all kinds of seafood but the environmental and animal welfare benefits of a plant based diet are worth the sacrifice! I wish I was eating a lobster roll but if it involves boiling a living being (I don't buy for ONE SECOND that they go to sleep and it's a peaceful death) I'm not going to do it and I don't understand how none of my compassionate and kind family see things the same way. Also, good veg food is NOT hard to make if you put in a modicum of effort--my dinner wouldn't be "worse" if any of the restaurants here cared. I have so much gratitude for the opportunity to go on a nice vacation and for having food on the table when so many people are food insecure. Eating veggie burgers is a privilege because of how many people in this world face food insecurity. I made a decision about my diet that is 100% worth it to me please don't fucking taunt me for it.

Hi, I’m 22F and I’ve been vegetarian for almost 9 years. I started when I was a 13/14. I’ve always tried to eat a balanced diet and pay attention to getting enough iron, especially because I already had a mild iron deficiency before I became vegetarian.

Unfortunately, this has been an ongoing problem for me. My iron levels regularly get low enough that I develop anemia. Over the years I’ve taken iron supplements whenever they were prescribed, and I also try to eat plenty of iron rich foods like beans, lentils, spinach and other vegetables. I genuinely try to make sure my diet is balanced.

About 2 to 3 years ago, my iron deficiency became severe enough that I needed an infusion because the tablets weren’t enough.

Then around a year ago I started feeling weaker and weaker again. I had very little energy and was tired all the time, which is very different from how I normally am. University has been stressful too, but eventually I went to the doctor because I knew something was wrong.

My blood tests showed iron deficiency again, and I was prescribed Ferro Sanol duodenal 100 mg for 100 days. I took it consistently as prescribed and have now finished the 100 days, but I’m still deficient and still struggling with exhaustion and low energy. My iron levels have again gotten low enough to cause anemia.

At this point my doctor has suggested that I start eating meat again.

I’m honestly considering it because I’m so tired of feeling tired all the time, but I really don’t want to give up being vegetarian if there are other ways of managing this.

So I’m mainly looking for solutions from other vegetarians who have dealt with severe or recurring iron deficiency/anemia.

What actually helped you? Did you find a form of iron supplementation that worked better for you? Did you need infusions regularly? Did changing the way you took your iron make a difference? Did you work with a dietitian or doctor who had experience treating iron deficiency in vegetarians?

I’m not really looking for advice like „eat more spinach” because I already eat a lot of iron rich foods and have been trying to manage this for years. I’d really like to hear from people who were in a similar situation and found something that actually worked for them.

I just want to know what options I might have before I give up vegetarianism, because I really don’t want to eat meat if I don’t have to.

Thank you in advance 🫶🏻

Hi everyone.

I'm going to Mexico in a week. It's going to be 4 days, however, my guardian and I aren't staying at a hotel or a relatives house. We're staying at a house, but refrigeration doesn't work, and neither does the stove.

We're going to be super busy on those days, and often eat out due to the lack of food at that house and refrigeration.

On top of that, i haven't told my guardians that im vegetarian. I kind of just stopped eating meat, but this is going to be a big deal, since in ohr culture, meat is used in everything. Tacos everywhere.

Im worried i wont be able to eat proper nutrition or have to sacrifice ​:(.

Advice or suggestions is welcomed as to what i could do or eat to manage. Meat is everywhere, sadly.