Any vegetarians here?

[[os...]]

I am thinking of becoming a vegetarian, are there any here?

 

My main concern is protein, i have been going off meat for a long time but i do eat chicken all the time for protein.

 

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Oscar

[[ih...]]

Hi Oscar,

I have read some of your progress log & am a little concerned that you are not meeting your nutritional needs with your existing diet. I haven't posted you because I am assuming that this diet suits your system at the moment & also you report doing pretty well otherwise.

 

However, since you have asked, I think you are probably already short on protein & your total intake is very low in calories which makes it harder to meet your macro nutrient needs.

 

Just my thoughts.

[[...]]

Hi Oscar, how ya doin'?

 

I've been an ova-lacto vegetarian essentially my whole life. I eat no meat or fish. I don't drink milk or eat eggs but I may eat some foods that contain them (like cookies). Sometimes I eat non fat cheese products but that is about it. Protein has never been issue including when I was into bodybuilding and eating 200+ grams a day. Where I live grocery stores carry a pretty good selection of meat substitute products that taste pretty good. They're soy and gluten based. Also, any combination of beans and grains provides a complete protein. Here in benzo withdrawal I eat a little higher protein in my diet to be sure and have plenty of glutamine and cysteine available for GABA and receptor synthesis. I just throw a scoop or two of protein powder on my oatmeal in the morning  and sometimes take more with juice at night. This provides an additional 20 grams of protein per scoop. 40-50 grams of proteinn per day is probably adequate for most people and I get a lot more than this as I've also taken up weight lifting again. Whey protein is arguably the best one. I tried immunocal for a month but could not tell any difference between it and whey. Spiru-teen is another one I like because it is loaded with all the basic vitamins and has no cholesterol. On the other hand, when getting off benzos the stress on your body is already substantial and significant dietary changes can just add more stress. Unless you have a really unhealthy diet it may be best to make any changes really gradual or maybe wait until the taper is over and you are feeling better.

[[os...]]

Hi Oscar,

I have read some of your progress log & am a little concerned that you are not meeting your nutritional needs with your existing diet.

 

Hi ihope,

 

I am intrigued now.

 

I thought my diet was pretty healthy although i admit it is pretty much the same and often.

 

Basically, my diet is essentially this:

 

Scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast

Brazil nuts (2 per day for selenium)

Almonds

Natural Yogurt

 

Normally for dinner i would have either chicken or poached salmon

Vegetables are usually peas, carrots, sweetcorn, potatoes (i avoid cruciferous as they clear benzo´s faster)

 

Sometimes i make salads and when i do these are:

 

Waldorf Salad (apple, celery, walnuts, raisins, grapes)

 

Three bean salad (Kidney beans, white beans, chickpeas, red bell pepper, onion, olive oil)

 

Sometimes i buy avocado, i eat brown rice with the bean salad and maybe have chicken thrown in.

 

I eat porridge every night before bed.

 

 

I thought my diet was pretty healthy what with the nuts, fish, chicken and salads, yogurt, bananas etc???

 

 

 

I would be interested to hear what you recommend by way of adding more if you think i am lacking certain nutrients, i know i am not too adventurous but i would add broccoli, tomatoes, spinach etc but i am careful with the green leafy veg but apart from that, i am open to suggestions to make my eating healthier.

 

I have only got stuck into a food routine because i have just become used to what foods i think are OK to eat, i could probably spice things up a bit now and start to be more flexible.

 

In the summer i make smoothies with fruit but again, i am not so sure too much fruit is good so i tend to stick with just banana´s at the moment.

 

Oscar

 

PS: Maybe i should make my salads more often, the thing is i get tired often and it´s winter so sometimes it is an effort to keep this up and tomatoes have high naturally occurring MSG in them and i swear these made me feel bad recently.

 

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m16/VillaLeon/dinner4002.jpg

 

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m16/VillaLeon/169912_472022289515210_360111045_o.jpg

 

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m16/VillaLeon/dinner003.jpg

 

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m16/VillaLeon/salad2010.jpg

 

[Guest [Ce...]]

Hi Oscar,

 

Maybe, while withdrawing, you might want to consider becoming a vegetarian in stages.  Whilst still in withdrawal, you might want to cut out meat but still eat fish (fish contains protein).  And supplement your diet with soya products.  Then, once you had finished your taper, you might want to consider cutting out the fish too (or you might decide to keep fish in your diet for health reasons).

 

Ensure that you get enough iron because meat contains iron.  Oily fish contains iron too.  Bear in mind that iron in animal foods such as red meat and oily fish is more easily absorbed and used by the body than the iron in plant foods such as vegetables and bread.

 

Good luck, Oscar!

 

Celeste

[[os...]]

Thanks Celeste   

[[Da...]]

Oscar,

 

Your diet looks pretty neat to me. What is the reason to go vegetarian? if, I were you I would just cut down on the meat protein but not completely, stay with the fish. You might like to add tofu, if you can get it.

 

BTW, I have printed out part of your signature about what to expect when going through w/d, it's helps when the seas get choppy!

 

All the best

 

David

 

[[ih...]]

Hi Oscar, what you describe is certainly healthy & my impression was based not so much on what you were eating but on what seemed to be a very low calorie intake on some days. I may have been hasty as I haven't looked at more than a few days so they may not be representative.

 

In general, I think having high quality protein intake every day is very important to restoring neurotransmitter health but if you are having yoghurt & fish or chicken most days, you would meeting this need.  To meet daily protein needs with vege diet alone takes a fair bit of planning & food prep. It's past my bed time now but will post the recommended allowance of protein & how foods stack up tomorrow.

 

Bart's suggestions are certainly an alternative, although I am not convinced that processed soy & high gluten products are a great healthy choice compared with unprocessed protein options.  A whey based smoothie is a good way to increase your protein intake but some BBers seem to be sensitive to the glutamine in the whey.

 

The foods you have created look simply delicious.

[[ho...]]

This food looks great. Thanks for the pics . I eat mostly veg and some chicken thrown in or fish. I know I feel better when I eat vegetables and rice or potatoes only. Meat I do eat, but only if its a high quality. But not very often. I try to eat an orange and a banana a day. I just cant eat a lot in one sitting . Which is good . Thx