It depends if you will be a strict vegetarian, or if you will allow yourself milk and eggs, and if you will allow yourself fish or not.
One issue is protein. If you will allow yourself fish, milk, and eggs then that is easy. Otherwise you are looking at tofu, beans, nuts, peanut butter, or soy milk.
A sub-issue with proteins is that meats supply all the amino acids (building blocks of proteins) that you need. Other sources of protein for example beans may not have the full range of amino acids that meats have. Certain amino acids are called essential amino acids, that means that your body cannot synthesize them and has to get them from dietary sources. You can avoid this problem by eating different protein sources each of which has the amino acids that the other is missing. It has been many years since I looked at this so you might want to check this information with a dietician.
Another issue with the vegetarian diet is iron. Meats are a good source of iron. Iron can be found in some vegetables (such as spinach) and some fruits. Women particularly may become iron deficient without meat in their diet. An iron supplement may be a good idea for women who are vegetarian.
Another issue is vitamins. Fruits and vegetables may be rich in certain vitamins. Other vitamins may be lacking in the vegetarian diet. For example vitamin B12 is mostly found in meat, milk and eggs. Vitamin D is found mostly in dairy products.
Overall if you are considering vegetarianism long term here is some advice:
1. See a dietician to help build a balanced diet plan.
2. Consider a once-a-day generic multivitamin.
3. Consider an iron supplement (Ferrous Sulfate 300 mg one tablet daily) if you are a female
4. Ask your doctor to check your hemoglobin and ferritin (a test of iron stores in your body) once a year if you are a female.
5. You will probably live longer and healthier than meat-eaters. This can have a downside because you will get depressed when you are 90 and all your friends have died when they were seventy.
Good luck.
|