american dietetic association

I see a lot of vegans like to reference the ADA when talking about vegetarianism, but did you know they support eating meat? Actually, you are wrong Lyla. Taken directly from the ADA's website. "Lean beef is a complete recipe for better health: lean protein, essential vitamins and minerals and great taste."

Are they trying to make people sick? I thought that dietitians were experts on nutrition. http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/advocacy_933_ENU_HTML.htm No, it isn't at all difficult to consume enough balanced amino acids on a vegan diet. "but you have to eat everything you need. getting proteins, vitamins, iron." So does everyone else If it doesn't contain any B12, how can it be healthy? That doesn't make any sense. Der Lange - I think that it is quite hilarious that you failed to provide a source. What is even more amusing is that you are trying to say that vegan diets are devoid of fats or even healthy fats for that matter. Child abuse? Whatever you say "Dr. Lange", ROFLMAO "Dr Lange" - You are making a fool of yourself. Real vegan parents breastfeed their children. They don't give them soy milk or apple juice. Quit making me laugh.

The American Dietetic Association and the Dietetic Association of Canada state that vegetarians can get adequate nutrition with a balanced diet. They are recognized as the foremost authority on nutrition by the health care profession. So why are some people on YA still spreading misinformation about vegetarianism being unhealthy? If you want to eat meat that's your choice. I don't really want to debate the philosophical arguments--what motivates someone to make a certain choice is up to the individual. But I must admit it irritates me when people talk as if they are authorities on nutrition and they don't have their facts straight. I am a 50 year old male, lacto vegetarian for 23 years. I go to my doctor regularly. Why is my blood work within normal limits? Why isn't my doctor telling me I'd better start eating meat? If your answer is "he doesn't know anything"; are you a doctor or licensed dietitian? If you aren't, then you aren't qualified. Plain and simple. To foodtvfan: Thank you for the article, but being a vegetarian doesn't automatically mean one follows every ridiculous form of quackery that comes by. I feel the man who wrote it is biased. I work in mental health and I know of people who ate weird things like egg shells, shoes, and batteries. I could come out and say "look how these meat eaters are hurting themselves" but I don't do that. My wife is a Licensed Dietitian and she has patients who claim they are vegetarians and they have serious eating disorders but that doesn't prove all vegetarians have eating disorders. I could also come up with some phony statistics about how meat eaters are more likely to sexually abuse their children. If vegetaranism is just "trendy" how come Hindus, Jains and Buddhist have adopted it for thousands of years? That's a heck of a long trend. That's like calling Christianity a "passing fad." I didn't say anything about Animal Rights. Nor did I say anything about a diet without meat always being more heathly. Somebody could eat nothing but potato chips and Cool Whip and be a vegetarian. That wouldn't be a healthy diet, though. To: "The one with a tail." Yes, I do take nutrition seriously, but I'm married to a Licensed Dietitian and that kind of goes with the territory. I am not a dietitian but my wife and I are a team. I like humor a lot, but I know that sometimes people can't tell the difference between jokes and seriousness. I don't make fun of people on Y/A because of their religion, race, disability, sexual preference, etc. But did I make fun of the person who said "I think I might be a werewolf?" You bet I did. I saw comedian Ron White on TV once. He said "if you're a vegetarian, shut up." Then he told a story about a vegetarian who said "I feel sick, that soup must have had beef broth in it." Mr. White said "Well, you're a real manly man aren't you?" It might upset a few of my fellow vegetarians, but I laughed. But Mr. White's purpose was just to make people laugh; he wasn't trying to pretend he's an expert in nutrition or something. I'm okay with that. If somebody butts into a serious conversation just to make silly comments, that would be disruptive; regardless of how funny the person might perceive himself to be. Thanks Mountaingirl: I'm not that upset about it, I haven't heard anybody in real life make stupid comments about it for years. I just go to my job, etc., and hardly ever mention my vegetarianism to anybody unless I have to. Nobody makes a big deal out of it in real life. My wife's family are mostly vegetarians. I was just commenting about the negative comments and misinformation here on YA. One more comment to foodtvfan: Yes, opinions are fine, but some things aren't a matter of opinion when scientific evidence backs it up. You can have an opinion that "the earth is flat", but most people in this day in age aren't going to take you seriously.

USA, January 26, 2006: Cathie and Harold Winters like a good steak. "We're a meat eating family," Cathie said. But their 12-year-old son Dean is not interested. When mom and dad eat steak, he has a protein substitute. Dean has been a vegetarian since he was in first grade. "I love animals a whole lot, and I really don't care for meat that much," said the then 6-year-old Dean. The Winters, like many parents of vegetarian kids, worried at first that their son wouldn't get enough nutrients without that piece of meat on his plate. "At first, I kind of fought it and tried to get him to eat meat. But he was pretty solid about his convictions," said Dean's father Harold. According to the American Dietetic Association, vegetarian kids can be just as healthy as other children. "There is no need for concern. People can be very healthy eating a vegetarian lifestyle," said registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner, Having a vegetarian kid can be an adjustment, but Cathie says with all the protein substitutes out there, it's not that hard. As for Dean, "I really don't feel like I'm missing out on anything," admitted Dean. The ADA says the number of kids who are choosing vegetarianism is growing and many children may experiment with a partial vegetarian diet.