So you want to eat green?

Vegetarians, dieticians urge taking on special diet with friends

By: Tara Bannow

Posted: 5/5/08

What started out as an average Sunday back in the '90s turned out to be life-changing for assistant professor of communication and journalism Ellen Mahaffy. Sitting on her front porch reading the paper, she came across an article that provided the gory details behind the butchering process of chickens.

And so began her vegetarian lifestyle.

"They just let all the juices stew in a vat," she said. "It leads to an unhealthy product." Living with another vegetarian at the time, she said, made the transition much easier.

The vegetarian movement has been picking up steam, with many adopting the lifestyle for health or moral reasons. But those who are considering such a diet change, some say, should do it with friends.

Strength in numbers
"One of the hardest things is to live with someone who isn't a vegetarian," said senior Katie Lebrun, a vegetarian for over four years. "Find other people who support you."

Growing up in a farming family, Lebrun said she was raised on meat and potatoes. However, a week-long trip to Georgia with a group of vegetarians and vegans prompted her lifestyle shift.

"Part of me just wanted to see if I could do it," she said. "And its come to the point now that my bodies become so accustomed to not eating the meat, eventually you don't create the correct enzymes to digest it anymore. I accidently trained myself not to digest meat."

Lebrun said it's a good thing most of her friends are vegetarian, because they get together and cook large, meat-free feasts.

Shirley Shelley, registered dietitian at Luther Midelfort, Clairemont Campus, 733 W. Clairemont Ave, said it is very important people educate themselves before pursuing such a diet.

"Simply not eating red meat or other animal products does not make a healthy diet," she said.

Susan Miller, clinical dietician at Sacred Heart Hospital, 900 W. Clairemont Ave., agreed.

"If you're on a vegetarian diet and eat junky stuff, you're not necessarily going to be well nourished," she said. "It just depends on the food choices; it really comes down to that. If you're eating Doritos, you're not going to be very healthy."

In order to make sure a person is getting adequate calcium, protein and other necessities, vegetarians should check with their physician to see if there is a dietician on staff, Shelley said, adding a registered dietician can help put together a menu plan and deal with specific needs. She recommended "Vrg.org" as a great resource with information written by registered dieticians.

Junior Mitch Hustad said he became a vegetarian two years ago, when he and his roommate decided to try it together.

"I had some other friends that were vegetarians too, so we'd go eat together," he said. "It wasn't bad."

It does the body good
"I think a lot of people would benefit from being a vegetarian," Miller said. "Theoretically, you'd cut out a lot of saturated fat from your diet. Meat has lots of saturated fat."

Miller added if one does not make good food choices, however, the health benefits of vegetarianism are going to be overshadowed.

In any case, she said, people are not missing out on anything health wise by not eating meat. Many vegetables provide amino acids to get the complete essential amino acids that our body cannot manufacture, she said, adding vegetarians generally learn to mix and match vegetable proteins.

"The trick when you're a vegetarian is learning what essential amino acids are in what," she said. "Beans are healthy by themselves, but if you eat them with rice, you will get the full compliment."

A vegetarian diet is ideal for people with high cholesterol, Miller said, adding such a diet will eliminate a lot of fat and raise one's high density lipoproteins, or good cholesterol.

In addition to those benefits, Shelley said being a vegetarian can lower the risk of heart disease and cancer, as well as add fiber to the diet.

Hustad said the diet affected his health as well.

"I just felt better," he said. "I had more energy. I felt healthier."

Miller said vitamins are not important for vegetarians.

"If you're following the rules, you don't really need to worry about taking any type of supplement because you'll be getting everything you need from the things you're eating," she said, adding those on a vegan diet, eating no meat, poultry or dairy products, should take Vitamin B12 as they will not receive it through their diet.

Shelley agreed, saying vegans need to have a fortified source, supplemental source of B12.

For vegetarians, however, she said it is not an absolute necessity to take vitamins.

"But like all things, if you're not eating enough variety and foods from all the food groups and so on, a dietary supplement can be a good baseline for someone to take," she said. "I wouldn't say across the board that people have to take a supplement. A dietician can help someone determine if they need that or not."

Hustad said he takes a couple vitamins, though his iron levels are still high.

Lebrun said she usually does not take vitamins, unless she has been eating particularly bad.

"Vitamins and nutrients you get from meat can be found everywhere else."

Finish your veggies
Lebrun said she makes home cooked meals every night, experimenting with different spices and pasta and rich dishes. She said there are many different types of beans, legumes, vegetables and soy products.

"I can just go on the Internet and say 'I have these ingredients, what can I make?'" she said. "You eventually learn to be creative with what you have."

Hustad said anything that normally has meat in it can probably be made without it.

"There are still a lot of options in what you can eat," he said. "You've just got to think outside the box, it doesn't get boring at all."

Lebrun said Eau Claire has become a lot more supportive of vegetarians.

"Menus and restaurants have been opening up and have a lot more options than they used to," she said. "It's easier to be a be a vegetarian today than it was ten years ago."