4 ms·

The vegan/vegetarian diet problem is very real, and it is not just protein. You can very easily miss out pretty severely on a lot of things just by cutting mea

by leif 16y ago

The vegan/vegetarian diet problem is very real, and it is not just protein. You can very easily miss out pretty severely on a lot of things just by cutting meat out of your diet (iron, for example), and you do have to work hard to make sure you maintain a balanced diet. I don't see this as a problem for MREs, as composition has been pretty well solved, and I doubt it makes it any harder to solve the perishable problem.

silentbicycle 16y ago
Eating a balanced diet isn't hard as long as you don't eat the same thing basically every day (i.e. fast food). I think it's probably a non-issue, except for (say) naive teenage vegetarians - it's only a problem if you cut out meat but don't replace it with anything. I've done my research - if you have specific examples to the contrary, I'm all ears. I ate a vegetarian diet for seven or eight years, a vegan diet for a few months* along the way, and have had a primarily* * vegetarian diet for years since then. I give blood regularly (I'm AB+, a rare donor blood type), and I've never, ever, ever had a problem with low iron - it's usually been quite high. While that's only one data point, it seems consistent with what I've read about nutrition - problems mostly occur when people give up meat but still eat a rather monotonous diet. ("In other news: Eating nothing but twinkies and whiskey is bad for you...Film at eleven.") * I'm a cooking geek, and was interesting where those constraints would lead me. * * same, plus fish and occasional Italian and French/Vietnamese charcuterie (Bánh mì!), but I cook/eat vegetarian by default.
- leif 16y ago
  > I'm a cooking geek hence, you should have no trouble. :)
  - silentbicycle 16y ago
    I wonder how many people downvoting me even know what charcuterie is, let alone have done it. :) Besides: Lentils, spinach, and broccoli have iron. How many vegetarians don't eat at least one of those regularly? (Other cliches: vitamin B-12 - Vegans might have a problem, vegetarians are fine. Calcium - "Dark green leafy vegetables". Do vegetarians eat those? Oh. Wait...do carnivores eat those?)
- sliverstorm 16y ago
  A vegetarian who eats fish is no problem at all. Impossible for the army, because fish is so finicky, but in terms of nutrition ANYBODY could rock a vegetarian + fish diet. This is, of course, because fish is just a specific kind of meat, so nutritionally it's not vegetarian in the slightest. For years I was a vegetarian + fish guy. I hate pork, my family boycotts lamb, and I didn't have a taste for beef. Nowadays I eat the token hamburger every few weeks, because I've noticed I feel a lot better for it.
  - leif 16y ago
    We call you a "pescatarian".

by leif 16y ago

silentbicycle 16y ago

Eating a balanced diet isn't hard as long as you don't eat the same thing basically every day (i.e. fast food). I think it's probably a non-issue, except for (say) naive teenage vegetarians - it's only a problem if you cut out meat but don't replace it with anything. I've done my research - if you have specific examples to the contrary, I'm all ears. I ate a vegetarian diet for seven or eight years, a vegan diet for a few months* along the way, and have had a primarily* * vegetarian diet for years since then. I give blood regularly (I'm AB+, a rare donor blood type), and I've never, ever, ever had a problem with low iron - it's usually been quite high. While that's only one data point, it seems consistent with what I've read about nutrition - problems mostly occur when people give up meat but still eat a rather monotonous diet. ("In other news: Eating nothing but twinkies and whiskey is bad for you...Film at eleven.") * I'm a cooking geek, and was interesting where those constraints would lead me. * * same, plus fish and occasional Italian and French/Vietnamese charcuterie (Bánh mì!), but I cook/eat vegetarian by default.

leif 16y ago
> I'm a cooking geek hence, you should have no trouble. :)
- silentbicycle 16y ago
  I wonder how many people downvoting me even know what charcuterie is, let alone have done it. :) Besides: Lentils, spinach, and broccoli have iron. How many vegetarians don't eat at least one of those regularly? (Other cliches: vitamin B-12 - Vegans might have a problem, vegetarians are fine. Calcium - "Dark green leafy vegetables". Do vegetarians eat those? Oh. Wait...do carnivores eat those?)
sliverstorm 16y ago
A vegetarian who eats fish is no problem at all. Impossible for the army, because fish is so finicky, but in terms of nutrition ANYBODY could rock a vegetarian + fish diet. This is, of course, because fish is just a specific kind of meat, so nutritionally it's not vegetarian in the slightest. For years I was a vegetarian + fish guy. I hate pork, my family boycotts lamb, and I didn't have a taste for beef. Nowadays I eat the token hamburger every few weeks, because I've noticed I feel a lot better for it.
- leif 16y ago
  We call you a "pescatarian".