Vegetarian equivalent of non-vegetarian foods

[realdemigod]

Dear all,
I realised that the reason I eat non-veg food is I used to believe that non-veg foods give a lot of proteins compared to vegetarian foods and lately I'm convinced with veg food alone you can be equally healthy, strong and less passionate :D . So I'm just curious if anyone here ever came across anything a site or article which shows the vegetarian equivalent of non-veg foods like same amount of protein, carbs etc., so that I can start eating those veg foods and slowly stop eating non-veg foods.

[Eastern Mind]

Vannakkam realdemigod: It's really a lot easier than many people think. We're pretty much overconsumers of protein. Sites like this: http://vegetarian.about.com/od/healthnutrition/tp/protein.htm

will help, and there are lots more.

Best wishes.

Aum Namasivaya

[Jainarayan]

Namaste.


Dear all,
I realised that the reason I eat non-veg food is I used to believe that non-veg foods give a lot of proteins compared to vegetarian foods and lately I'm convinced with veg food alone you can be equally healthy, strong and less passionate :D . So I'm just curious if anyone here ever came across anything a site or article which shows the vegetarian equivalent of non-veg foods like same amount of protein, carbs etc., so that I can start eating those veg foods and slowly stop eating non-veg foods.

Bill Pearl, former competitive and professional bodybuilder of yesteryear was vegetarian. He got enough protein.

http://tnation.t-nation.com/forum_images/8/8/885577.1137417299807.bp16.jpg

Just be careful you do not replace non-veg. foods with an over-consumption of starchy carbs... rice, pasta, potatoes. etc.

[realdemigod]

Thanks EMji, but it's not easier at least for me as I have been eating non-veg ever since I was kid.

Jainarayan - thanks and even the great Dara Singhji who recently passed away was also pure vegetarian :)

[Eastern Mind]

Thanks EMji, but it's not easier at least for me as I have been eating non-veg ever since I was kid.



Vannakkam realdg: I had forgotten you were in Bangalore. I find it really ironic that it is far easier in the west to become vegetarian that in the India, perhaps the birthplace of vegetarianism, but in may cases it's true. Here in the west, many of us as kids ate what our parents ate (this is true more in a bit older people like me) but then when we moved out, suddenly we were exposed to ridiculously large varieties of food. Greek, Italian, Ukrainian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Mexican, French, etc. are easy to obtain all over any large city. Each of those cuisines have portions that are veg. In contrast, Indian people for the most part, eat Indian food. On a recent trip, I shared some Mexican salsa with my Tamil friends, and called it jokingly 'tomato chutney'. Lo and behold, at the next store, they bought a jar for themselves.
Besides that, there is the whole healthy vegetarian market started in the 60s. You can fine healthy vegetarian anywhere. There is a rise in organic markets, and foods as well. I can eat all of the above, and for variety, I do.

An on-line useful site is HappyCow.com which lists vegetarian restaurants. So when I travel, I take a look at that site first. But there is something about the subconscious acting here, I think, because I see what you're saying also in my Tamil friends. Those who eat meat seemed really hooked on it, and hide it from me like some teenager hiding smoking cigarettes from his mother.

So that other site I gave you probably doesn't work. Tofu, quinoa, even brown rice, are probably all difficult, if not impossible to fine in Bangalore.

But best wishes on it anyway. Go slow perhaps is the best advice.

Aum Namasivaya

[Seeker]

You can soak soy nuggets in water and cook the same way you cook meat. It has meaty texture and is high in protein.

[R Gitananda]

namaste

For those that live in the United States there is a wide range of "fake meat" convenience foods which cater
to vegetarians and vegans. As you are in India you will probably have to cook your own vegetarian foods.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has a free veg starter kit available online to
explain to you how to do it it step by step while making sure you get all of your necessary nutrients:
http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/vsk/vegetarian-starter-kit

Once you read or download that and understand it you can check out their Indian recipes: http://www.pcrm.org/search/?cid=3387

Hari Aum

[R Gitananda]

...Tofu, quinoa, even brown rice, are probably all difficult, if not impossible to fine in Bangalore. ...

namaste

I remember they loved brown rice in Kerala so there may be a way to procure some in a major city like Bangalore.
Also, if soybeans can be found then tofu can be made at home following recipes on Youtube.

Hari Aum

[R Gitananda]

Namaste.
Bill Pearl, former competitive and professional bodybuilder of yesteryear was vegetarian. He got enough protein.


namaste

Bill Pearl was certainly impressive and there are even bodybuilding and strength athletes who find they do better without
any animal protein at all - not even dairy. Also Avi Lehyani (who is a world class strength athlete) doesn't even like soy.

Robert Cheeke
http://veganbodybuilding.com/?page=bio_robert

Ryan Wilson
http://veganbodybuilding.com/?page=bio_ryan

Bill McCarthy
http://veganbodybuilding.com/?page=bio_bill

Avi Lehyani
http://veganbodybuilding.com/?page=bio_avi

Hari Aum

[realdemigod]

Thanks everyone,
EMji - You are true our subconscious gets in the way as it's pure addiction to the taste buds and aroma of the non-veg foods. You need to control your mind to not to eat non-veg foods but that again requires less or zero passionate foods like vegetarian..one has to break the vicious circle at some point. I'm work in progress :)

[Eastern Mind]

Thanks everyone,
EMji - You are true our subconscious gets in the way as it's pure addiction to the taste buds and aroma of the non-veg foods. You need to control your mind to not to eat non-veg foods but that again requires less or zero passionate foods like vegetarian..one has to break the vicious circle at some point. I'm work in progress :)

Vannakkam: I was raised on a western mixed farm, and didn't even hear of vegetarianism until I was 17 or so ... maybe older. So I too was addicted to meat. Mostly beef, but everything else too. So perhaps my testimony will help. I have no doubt that I ate more meat then than you do now. It was very much a staple, and some people would eat only meat at some meals ... like nothing more than a steak ... push the veggies to the side.

Some friends were experimenting with it, so being an experimenter myself, and not that stupid about metabolic rates, time it takes for medicine to take full effect, etc., I took a personal vow ... just as an experiment ... for one month. (This was a couple of years before I encountered Hinduism) I tried to watch how I felt. And guess what? I felt a lot better ... lighter, my digestive system was less clogged, more spiritual, and less moody. So from personal experimentation, I became a vegetarian. Only later did my wife and I read a lot of books on it. So why don't you try it for a month? See how you feel.

As far as substitutes go, beans and dals are your best bet, given you're already on an Indian diet, and some of the substitute things most likely aren't available there. So just make sure you eat more of those.

Another subconscious trick it to always substitute the word 'flesh' for meat.

Aum Namasivaya

[realdemigod]

Thanks EMji for the tips. I will start with one week and then go to one month and see :D

[Caltha]

My husband and I tapered off from meat but it took us a long time to stop eating meat altogether. We started tapering off not from a spiritual reason, but because we had found out about factory farming and were horrified by it. We ate less and less meat -- we planned meals with no meat and eventually we didn't notice how long it had been since we had eaten meat. Finally, a few years ago, we said "No more meat." At that point it wasn't so difficult to stop. I was surprised, though, that when we went from a little meat to no meat, that our tastes seemed to change. Vegetables became much more flavorful and satisfying. And then we found that a lot of meat dishes with sauces work really well with fried paneer instead of meat. So we have our favorite dishes back, but this time without meat.:)

[ShriBala]

Deleted...

[Adhvagat]

He's an advice from a bodybuilder who does not even practice vegetarianism for the sake of ahimsa: http://scoobysworkshop.com/vegetarianism/

[Sahasranama]

Namaskar. Many Keralite/Malayali owned shops in bangalore, have an unpolished rice called the red rice/rosematta rice. The grains are short, fat and pinkish in colour. And, they are extremely healthy. Obviously, their GI levels are low. Way lower than polished white rice.
Tests have shown that red rice has 10 times as many anti-oxidants as brown rice and around three times as much as black rice. In Ayurveda raktashila (red rice) is also praised as the best.

I have tried some Thai red cargo rice with dahl and cauliflower and it is quite good. I am going to switch over to eating red rice instead of brown from now on.