Vegetarianism

No, there are many other iron rich foods you can eat to get enough of this mineral. It is true that the form of iron found in meat (haem iron) is easier to absorb than the iron found in plants (non-haem iron). However, the absorption rate of non-haem iron is increased 3-4 times by adding vitamin C to a meal. In this way, you will get enough iron from plants.

The meat industry in its advertising in Australia has suggested that women who feel tired may well be iron deficient and should therefore eat more meat. The industry's claim that 70% of women are low in iron is based on a 1983 dietary survey, in which people were asked what they ate yesterday. On the basis of what they wrote down, 70% of pre-menopausal women were estimated to be eating less than the Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) for iron. This result doesn't show that these women were iron deficient because:

the written records are not necessarily accurate. People forget and women, in particular, underestimate what they ate (see ref 1. for an example).
the RDI isn't a bare minimum of what is required to avoid deficiency - there is an in-built safety margin.
when a person has lower iron stores they actually absorb a greater percentage of the iron from their food than when they have high iron stores (2).

The accurate way to find out if someone is iron deficient is not to analyse diets, especially not self-reported diets, but to do blood tests. An Australian study using blood tests found that 7.5% of women had low iron stores (3). This is a far cry from 70% touted by the meat industry!

Several studies have shown that vegetarians, including vegans, have iron levels within the normal range (1, 4-7). Some of these studies have commented that, while on paper vegetarians may appear not to be eating enough iron, because they absorb more, their iron status is adequate. While vegetarians often have lower iron stores than meat eaters, their haemoglobin in the blood is normal and there is no sign of any effect on bodily functions (8).

One study (9) found that new vegetarians had low iron stores, which may have been because they were still adapting to their new diet or because they were still learning about the range of food to eat.

The American Dietetic Association has stated: " Vegetarians are not at greater risk of iron deficiency than non-vegetarians " (10). Everyone, whether vegetarian or not, should regularly include iron rich foods in their diet.

Iron is found in legumes (lentils, chickpeas, soy beans, etc), nuts and seeds, whole grains, dried fruits (figs, raisins , apricots, etc), and leafy green vegetables. Many breakfast cereals are fortified with iron.

It is a good idea to eat vegetables, salad, fruit or fruit juice with a meal, because iron absorption with vitamin C will be 3-4 times higher. Also, it is a good idea not to drink tea with meals, because the tannin in tea inhibits iron absorption.

How can you get enough calcium without dairy products?

There are many foods apart from dairy products that can provide calcium. There are also some good reasons why it is actually better to get calcium from plant sources.

A 12-year study of a pool of over 120,000 nurses in the USA found that dairy products didn't protect women against bone fractures due to weak bones. In fact, those women who ate more dairy products were slightly more likely to have fractures (11). The same was true when only women over 60 were considered.

Other researchers gathered studies from 16 countries on hip fractures in women over 50. Women in rich, industrialised countries have more such fractures than women in less industrialised countries (12). As in the previous study, women who had a high calcium intake didn't have fewer hip fractures. However, foods high in calcium are often also high in protein, and in the case of milk this is animal protein.

The researchers found a strong association between hip fractures and intake of animal protein. In other words, as women ate more animal protein, their risk of hip fracture increased. The reason may be that animal protein, but not plant protein, increases metabolic acid in the system, which increases bone loss.

The alternative is to get both calcium and protein from plant sources. Useful foods include nuts (eg almonds), seeds (eg sesame, sunflower), beans (eg soy beans, baked beans, chickpeas), green vegetables (eg broccoli), tofu made with calcium sulphate, and fortified soy milk. The amount of calcium absorbed from kale, a leafy green member of the cabbage family, is greater than from milk (13).

Dairy products have been linked to increased risk of breast cancer (14). Some studies have shown that even low fat dairy products have this effect, so presumably the risk factor isn't the fat. One theory is that Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF-1) may be responsible. It is intended for fast growing young calves. In humans it has the effect of initiating and stimulating the growth of breast cancer cells.

Since cows are nearly always pregnant, the milk also contains oestrogens, which cause breast cancer cells to multiply. Women with breast cancer are given the drug Tamoxifen to suppress their body's production of oestrogens, but milk has the opposite effect of increasing this hormone (15).

On the other hand, soy protein reduces the risk of breast cancer (16). A study of Chinese women in Singapore found that women who regularly ate soy protein were less likely to suffer from this disease, possibly because the phyto-oestrogens in soy beans reduce the effects of natural oestrogens in the body.

Finally, milk in infancy has been linked to insulin-dependent diabetes. Some people are genetically susceptible to this disease, but it still takes an environmental trigger for the disease to develop. An immune response to cow's milk in infancy can lead to the pancreatic damage that results in diabetes (17).

The American Academy of Pediatrics has stated (18): " Early exposure of infants to cow's milk protein may be an important factor in the initiation of the ß-cell destructive process in some individuals ". They recommend that infants shouldn't be given milk in their first year of life if there is any family history of diabetes.

So, how do you get strong bones with dairy products?

do regular weight-bearing exercise such as walking;
get short, regular exposure to sunlight to produce the vitamin D which is necessary to deposit calcium in the bones;
get protein from plant sources, since animal protein increases bone loss;
include plant foods in the daily diet that are rich in calcium.

Isn't animal protein better quality than plant protein?

You can get all the protein you need entirely from plants. In fact, there are some advantages to eating plant rather than animal protein.

The quality of a protein depends on the amino acids it is made up of, and whether it can supply the right quantities of each of the 8 essential amino acids.

Soy protein is a complete protein because it is able to supply all of these amino acids. It promotes adequate growth at all ages and maintains positive nitrogen balance, even when it is the only source of protein in the diet (19).

Other sources of plant protein are low in at least 1 essential amino acid. For example, wheat protein is low in lysine. However, other foods such as beans are higher in lysine, so this isn't a problem in the overall diet.

Plants can provide all the essential amino acids you need, provided that you eat a variety of foods in the course of the day. Worldwide, about 65% of protein in the human diet comes from plants (20).

Advantages of plant protein over animal protein include:

If you eat plants for protein, you will be getting no cholesterol. High cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease. You will also be getting more fibre, which is essential for the health of the bowel.
Soy protein decreases the risk of breast cancer, whereas meat increases the risk (16).
You will be producing less metabolic acid - increased acid leads to bone loss. You will excrete less calcium (12).

Is it true that vegetarians are healthier than meat eaters?

Yes. Many studies have shown that, compared to groups of meat eaters:

Vegetarians have lower blood pressure, and are less likely to suffer from high blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for stroke.
Vegetarians have lower cholesterol levels and less heart disease.
Vegetarians have less cancer, especially of the colon and the reproductive system (breast, ovary, prostate).
Vegetarians have a lower Body Mass Index and are less likely to be overweight. Obesity is associated with many health problems, such as mature onset diabetes.
Vegetarians are less likely to develop diabetes.
Vegetarians are less likely to have gall stones and gall bladder disease.

These points relate to vegetarians, and apply to an even greater extent to vegans.

One study has estimated that between $28 billion and $56 billion of national medical expenditure in the USA in 1992 could be attributed to meat eating. The calculation was made on the basis of money spent on specific diseases, and the difference between vegetarians and meat eaters for these diseases (21).

The Australian Institute of Health estimated the medical costs of diet-related diseases at $1.5 billion in 1988 (3). Many of these diseases, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancers, are precisely those that vegetarians are less likely to have.

Unfortunately, health authorities are not prepared to publicise the health advantages of vegetarian diets.

Can you be a vegetarian if you are an athlete?

Yes, there are many athletes who are vegetarian, especially endurance athletes. One famous example is Dave Scott, who has several times won the gruelling Hawaii Ironman Triathlon (2.4 mile ocean swim, 112 mile cycle, 26.2 mile run). Apparently he trains for 8 hours a day, and gets the energy to do so from large quantities of brown rice, tofu, fruit, vegetables and low-fat dairy food (22).

The Tarahumara Indians of Mexico are another example of people with extraordinary physical fitness. They not only work hard ploughing their fields and carting water, but they also practise a sport called kickball, where competitors run up to 200 miles while kicking a wooden ball.

They eat mainly corn and beans, plus some greens and squash, few eggs and very little meat - 94% of their protein comes from plants. This diet not only gives them a lot of energy plus all the nutrients they need, it also produces low blood pressure, low cholesterol, and few people who are overweight (23-24)

For endurance, about 70% of calories in the diet should come from carbohydrates. This is easily achieved in a vegetarian diet by eating grains (bread, cereals, pasta, rice), starchy vegetables (potatoes) and legumes (lentils, baked beans). Not surprisingly, a survey of top triathletes in the USA found that most ate near-vegetarian diets to support their demanding training schedule (22).

All athletes need to make sure they eat enough calories, protein and iron to make up for what is lost through exercise. A vegetarian diet can supply these needs. As one researcher has concluded (22): " For most vegetarian athletes the including of fortified breakfast cereals, dried fruit, legumes and tofu in the diet should be adequate. Vitamin C with each meal is recommended to enhance non-heme iron intake ".

Shouldn't you eat fish to reduce the risk of heart disease?

No. First of all, if you eat a vegan diet you will have a much lower risk of heart disease anyway. Secondly, the relationship between fish and heart disease is far from clear.

A study in the UK estimated that lifelong vegetarians were 24% less likely to suffer from heart disease, and vegans were 57% less likely (25). Vegans have lower total cholesterol, lower LDL cholesterol and lower triglycerides (26). In other words, vegans already have a healthy blood profile and a low risk of heart disease.

Heart disease, however, is a major cause of death in the meat eating population. Those not wishing to make the required changes to their diet continue to look for a magic "cure", like eating fish. Some studies show a beneficial effect of fish, and some do not. In one large study, involving over 40,000 men over 6 years, those who ate the most fish were slightly more likely to have heart surgery and to die of a heart attack than those men who ate little fish. However, men who ate no fish were more likely to die of heart disease than men who ate some fish (27).

In another study, men who ate more than 30gr of fish a day were more than twice as likely to suffer a heart attack and to die of heart disease than men who ate less than this amount (28). The authors hypothesised that the result may be due to the high mercury contamination of some fish, as a result of environmental pollution.

In contrast to this mixed bag, soy protein is very effective in reducing cholesterol, which is a major risk factor for heart disease. An analysis of 38 studies found that in 34 of these, substituting soy protein for animal protein reduced total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. In the remaining 4 studies participants already had low levels of cholesterol (29). A soy protein diet reduced the high cholesterol levels of patients by 21% after 3 weeks, whereas a low-fat animal protein diet was ineffective (30).

A person wishing to reduce their risk of heart disease would be better advised to eat a low fat vegan diet than to eat fish.

At what age can you become vegetarian?

It is never too early, or too late, to become vegetarian. Children raised as vegans from birth develop in a normal way. Several studies in the UK (31) and in the USA (32-33) have shown that vegan children are healthy, but slightly shorter and/or lighter than meat eaters. The difference is small - in the largest study the vegan children were 0.7cm and 1.1kg less by age 10 (33).

For adults, a low fat/high fibre diet helps to control weight and reduces the risk of diet-related diseases such as heart attack and high blood pressure. However, growing children have different needs. They have only small stomachs, and to ensure that they get enough energy and nutrients, their diet has to be more calorie-dense. They should eat less high fibre fruit and vegetables, and more grains, nuts and beans. Like adults, vegan children need a B12 supplement.

Whether vegetarian or not, there are certain times when people need more nutrients, for example, women who are pregnant or breast feeding, and young people who are still growing. These groups in particular should make sure they are getting enough energy - don't go on crash diets or skip breakfast. They should also make sure that their diet includes foods that are rich in the important nutrients of calcium, iron and protein. See Vegetarian Nutrition for more information.

Are there vegetarians who eat chicken?

No. A vegetarian doesn't eat any animals. A person who says: "I'm a vegetarian but I just eat a bit of chicken (or fish or seafood)", isn't a vegetarian.

Strict vegetarians (vegans) eat only plants (grains, nuts and seeds, legumes, fruit and vegetables). Less strict vegetarians also eat dairy products and/or eggs. However, a person who wishes to be a vegetarian definitely doesn't eat the bodies of any animals.

What's wrong with eating meat?

The question is: do you care whether or not you cause harm to others? Like humans, animals have feelings and can enjoy their lives when kept in good conditions. They don't want to be slaughtered, and they suffer on the way to someone's dinner plate. Eating animals causes harm.

Many farm animals are kept in crowded and polluted sheds where they can't exercise or carry out their normal behaviour. This applies particularly to pigs and chickens.

It is very stressful for animals to be crowded onto trucks for transport to slaughter. Sheep and cattle transported from isolated areas of Australia spend long periods in trucks without food and water, even though temperatures can be extreme. Chickens suffer broken bones during transport.

Chickens are hung upside down by the feet before their throat is cut. Fish slowly suffocate when they are hauled out of water. Anyone who has ever been unable to breathe will know how terrifying this feeling is.

Whichever way you look at it, meat production causes widespread suffering. There is a range of cruelty-free food available, which will actually keep us healthier than a meat-based diet. There is no need to eat meat, so it wrong to inflict suffering and death on millions of animals just because some people like the taste of their bodies.

So you like eating meat? That is no excuse for the suffering it causes. It would be like saying that a fire bug should be allowed to continue lighting fires because it gives him/her pleasure. Pleasure is no excuse when an action causes harm to others. Eating meat definitely causes harm.

It is also no excuse to say that other animals kill for food, so why shouldn't we? We don't normally imitate the behaviour of animals. For example, we don't imitate the behaviour of male lions who they take over a new pride and kill all the existing cubs. There is no more reason to imitate their hunting behaviour. They have evolved as carnivores and have no choice as to their diet. They are also incapable of deciding whether their actions are right or wrong. We, on the other hand, can eat a wide variety of foods and can evaluate the ethics of our behaviour.

What's wrong with eating milk or eggs?

On the surface, it may seem that eating dairy products (milk, cheese, yoghurt, butter, cream) or eggs doesn't cause any harm to animals. After all, it isn't like the meat industry where animals are trucked to slaughterhouses. Or is it?

When eggs are hatched, half the chicks will be male. Since only females lay eggs, males are useless to the industry. They are killed, usually by gassing, when they are only a day or two old.

Although hens lay eggs for many years, they are lay the most in their first season. Because they are more profitable in this first season most hens, regardless of whether they are caged or free range, are sent to slaughter when they are 12-18 months old. Some farmers keep them for a second season, but that just delays their death for a year. Their bodies are made into pet food or stock cubes.

Like humans, cows only produce milk to feed their young. Dairy cows have to be kept pregnant to keep producing milk.

However, the industry doesn't want all these calves. It also doesn't want calves to drink the milk the cows are producing for them. Calves are taken away from their mothers, often as young as 1 day old. This separation is extremely traumatic for both the cows and their babies.

Most of the male calves are slaughtered for veal, some as young as 1 week old. Some of the females are raised to replace their mothers in the herd. Cows are slaughtered if they are not producing enough milk, don't get pregnant easily or are in poor condition.

Both the egg and the dairy industry are slaughterhouse industries. This is why people who want to eliminate death and suffering from their diet don't eat eggs and dairy products.

What about plants and their feelings?

This is one of the silliest questions vegetarians are asked, usually by meat eaters trying to change the subject. First of all, there is no scientific evidence that plants have any way of feeling pain and fear (they have no nervous system). The claims from time to time that plants have feelings are not based on scientific fact.

In addition, even if it could be shown that plants have feelings, it would still be better not to eat meat. Think of how many plants a cow eats before she is slaughtered. Not all of these plants are turned into meat because the cow also uses food for energy, to make hair, hooves, guts etc which people can't eat; these parts are wasted as food. So it is actually not very efficient turning plants into meat, and we would be destroying fewer plants if we ate them directly rather than processing them through an animal. If someone asks you this stupid question, tell them if they are so concerned about plants, they should stop eating animals!

Don't you need animals to produce enough food for the world?

More food is produced by using land to grow crops than by feeding animals. Why this is the case is described very clearly in the book Diet for a Small Planet by Frances Moore Lappe. These days it takes about 2kg of feed to product a 1 kg weight gain in chickens, and about 7kg of feed to produce a 1 kg weight gain in feedlot cattle. The feed includes grain and legumes that could be eaten by people, and would provide more nutrients than eating the animals.

As one more piece of evidence, consider the following figures, calculated from the U.S. Department of Agriculture data, showing the quantity of nutrients which can be produced from one acre of land.

	Oats	Broccoli	Pork	Milk	Poultry	Beef
Calories (1000 kcal)	2750	1220	470	410	330	110
Protein (kg)	110	137	29	22	54	14
Calcium (grams)	400	3900	13	750	20	6
Iron (mg)	29,000	42,000	3760	246	2343	1760
Vitamin A (1000 IU)	0	9500	0	920	100	10
Thiamine (mg)	3700	3780	658	205	99	44
Riboflavin (mg)	1300	8736	282	1066	429	110
Niacin (mg)	20,000	34,000	5781	656	22,000	3014

(Table from "A Vegetarian Sourcebook" by Keith Akars)

As you can see in the chart, by far the most calories, protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A and B vitamins are produced by using land to grow crops for humans (oats and broccoli) rather than growing food to feed animals for meat, milk and eggs. The best strategy for people who don't have enough food is to grow nutritious crops, not to raise animals for meat.

Isn't it boring just eating vegetables?

Some people seem to think that vegetarians live on lettuce leaves ("rabbit food") or brown rice. Some think that vegetarians are all "health freaks". Neither is true - you can care about animals and enjoy good food. Vegetarians don't eat just vegetables!

There are many good vegetarian cookbooks now available. There is a huge range of vegetarian food that eaters of "meat-&-2-veg" may not even know about. The key is to experiment to find the food and recipes you enjoy. Vegetarian cooking certainly need not be dull; if it is, the cook is lacking information or imagination! Go to our Recipes section for some tasty vegetarian recipes. Also see the Veggies Unite web site.

What if I miss things like burgers when I become vegetarian?

Many vegetarians don't miss meaty things at all, in fact they feel revolted by them. However, if you're one of those people who wishes you could get meat without slaughtering animals, try out the various meat substitutes that are available. Linda McCartney, a well-known vegetarian, uses a lot of Textured Vegetable Protein when cooking for people who really like meat. Try using TVP in recipes where you'd normally use mince. Also try out the Sanitarium range of vegetable protein products (eg Rediburger in tins) and the frozen Longa Life products such as Notdogs, Notbacon and Notburgers.

Does it really matter whether or not I'm vegetarian?

Often when you do something positive, like plant trees, recycle or become vegetarian, there is a doubting Thomas who says that your little bit won't make any difference. But it does - every person has the power to make the world that much better or worse (how else has the world ever changed?).

Meat eaters in their lifetime will eat a whole farm yard of animals. By not eating meat, you are directly reducing demand, and fewer animals will be bred for slaughter. After all, there's no point in breeding and killing animals unless there are meat eaters to buy their bodies. The drawing makes the point of how many animals a meat-eater will eat in a lifetime.

The figures in the diagram are from England. It is estimated that the average Australian will consume in a lifetime around 17 beef cattle, 92 sheep, 15 pigs, 1000 fish and 1171 chickens. You can see that your bit, by becoming vegetarian, makes a big difference! Thousands of animals won't suffer and die because of your decision.

What would happen to all the animals if everyone became vegetarian?

People who ask this question probably assume that the world would be overrun with animals if they weren't killed for meat. But remember that farmers only breed animals because there is a demand for their meat. As more and more people become vegetarian, there will be less and less demand for meat, so fewer animals will be bred. The number of animals will naturally go down over time without killing, simply because there is less breeding.

I would like to see References for this section on Vegetarian Questions and Answers.

Back to first page of Vegetarian Guide
Go to Vegetarian Health
Go to Vegetarianism and Heart Disease
Go to Vegetarianism and Cancer
Go to Vegetarianism and Colon Cancer
Go to Vegetarian Nutrition
Go to Meat Eating and the Environment
Go to Quotes from Famous Vegetarians
Go to Vegetarian Recipes