Vegan or Vegetarian?
Okay so for Lent I gave up meat. I don't know when Easter but so far I haven't eaten any meat. I want to completely eliminated meat intake from my diet. I'm 17 years old. I guess i'm still a growing girl. Anyhow is there such thing as a vegan vegetarian. I eat cheese and i eat fish. What can I eat to substitute for all the meat I plan to not eat for the rest of my life? Furthermore, am I too young to become a vegan or vegetarian? I DON'T LIKE SOY at all so what can i eat substitute for other nutrients I am loose from distancing myself from meat. Can I eat white bread or wheat bread? My ideal diet is eating beans, rice, broccoli, fried bananas or plaintains, nuts (almonds, peanuts, cashews, etc), and eating other foods. Will my bones become brittle? Am I at risk of osteoporosis (however you spell it)? I heard osteoporosis is a disease that effects people of European & Asian descent. I'm not mixed with either.
There is no age limit to being/becoming a vegetarian. I was a complete vegetarian (not vegan, my family and I still ate eggs, meat, cheese, and honey), until I was 15 and my family decided to add poultry and fish to our diet. That being said, as a vegetarian, you do have to be more in tune with your nutritional intake. Even more so as if you decide to go vegan.
Sources of protein and B vitamins will be the biggest challenge to your new vegetarian-ness, so beans, nuts, eggs, and dairy products like yogurt and cheese will become your go-to protein sources. I would also suggest getting a B vitamin shot from your doctor just to make sure that you are getting those very important nutrients. (Note that the B vitamins and calcium are particularly important for women in child-bearing years.)
Commercial white and wheat breads should be fine, once again, if your don't go vegan. But be careful of the lure of the carbs as it is way to easy to fill up your newly-veg-head diet with pasta, breads, and rice and loose site of getting the protein your body so desperately needs while you are growing.
Check out this link to compare and contrast vegetarian and vegan food pyramids:
http://www.vegsource.com/nutrition/pyramid.htm
I would probably stear clear of vegan-ism until you have stopped growing and have a few years of practice balancing a vegetarian diet successfully under you belt.
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