Re: New Vegetarian for Hillary/CA

Hi Hillary:-) While I am not a vegetarian and do not pretend to be an expert on the subject, my two girls were vegetarians for a long time. They have both recently started to eat chicken again. My biggest concern when they became vegetarians was whether or not they would get enough protein and iron in their diets. Since they were both teenagers when they decided to become vegetarians, I had them talk to their doctor about it. She was supportive of their decision but did tell them that the one thing we need in our bodies that you cannot get from a vegetarian diet is vitamin B12 which is only found in meat so she advised them to take a daily multiple vitamin which they were very good about. This helped with their iron intake too. With time, I worked out some recipes and discovered some new products along the way. I can happily report that they are both now in their 20's and seem to be healthy. I tried to combine beans and rice often since the two, served together make a complete protein. I would suggest that you get a couple of vegetarian cookbooks to get you started. Also there are vegetarian recipes at this site and new ones are posted from time to time. Good luck with your vegetarian diet, Hillary :-) !!