Foood.

as I'm a vegetarian, well have been for nearly a year my mum's still pretty worried if I get ill. did any of you have to have tablets or something :]? like to still give me all the nutrition I need.

yes, I am a vegeterian as well I have to take iron supplements and I eat other stuff to maintain my protein such as cliff bars or slim fast bars.

my friend was a vegaterian and she had to take a suppliment for the protein she was missing by not eating meat!!! it was a vitamin thing that she bit and swallowed evry morning! I tried one and it tasted like strawberries!!

Nonsense, there is so much anti-vegetarian misinformation going around, it's getting a bit tiring.

IF you eat a balanced vegetarian diet that includes dairy products and maybe even eggs, with plenty of fresh vegetables (especially leafy green ones) and fruits, plus nuts and beans/lentils, you are basically covered. That is the way the great majority of the world's population live anyway, with at most very occasional meat dishes.

Protein needs are generally covered by beans (esp. in combination with corn and squash), eggs, and nuts. The veg and fruits - eaten raw wghen you can - provide vitamins. Dairy products give you necessary fats, and calcium. Whole-grain products (like good wholegrain bread or unsugared muesli) provide B vitamins.

The only thing that you mght be low on- and this varies greatly - is B12.

I'm afraid that most of the US public (and a lot of the rest of the Western world) has become convinced of two basically incorrect statements:
1. vegetarianism is unnatural and unhealthy
2. you need lots of artificial supplements and pills to have a 'healthy' diet.

And when everybody is telling you this, it's easy to start thinking, 'Gee, maybe I'm doing something wrong.'

You aren't.