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'Good 'Vegetarians what do you eat on a daily basis?

30 replies

Beauregard · 24/09/2011 14:05

I am a terrible vegetarian partly due to me having food phobias but also because i am so pushed for time and cant preparemany meals from scratch. Because of this i tend to eat shite processed ready meals a lot of the time.I work late so dont get in until 8.30 ish and i am too tired to bother cooking and have school lunches etc to do. I have been unwell for some time and it is now clear following many blood tests that i have low b12 and folate levels.I cannot continue to eat boring crap food anymore especially now i feel so shit.
Anyone ?

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stressedHEmum · 26/09/2011 08:43

Pelvic, the intrinsic factor test is quite a specialised one that can't be done at a lot of blood labs (Mine had to go to the big lab in Glasgow, for instance, my local hospital couldn't do it,) so I think that your doctor would probably have mentioned that it was being done. It takes a lot longer to come back than the normal blood count type results as well. Perhaps that's what your doctor wants to talk to you about?

I really would speak to GP about B12 injections, to be honest, so that you at least have an even keel to start from. In the mean time, you need to look at your diet. I know how hard it is, especially when you feel absolutely rubbish, but there are ways round it.

Try bulk cooking at the weekend and the putting portions of things in the fridge or freezer, also cook extra when you don't feel too bad, then you can just heat it up. Quick meals are things like:
avocado salad,
toasted cheese and beans,
butterbean and spinach soup (use tinned beans),
cheese omelette with spinach salad,
lentil and potato curry, cooked in coconut milk,
pasta with pesto, cream and asparagus or pasta genovese (you need to check that the pesto is veggie),
spinach, feta and watermelon salad with crusty bread,
macaroni cheese (make a sauce by melting equal amounts of creme fraiche and sharp cheese together)
baked eggs with mushrooms and cream on toast
toast and marmite
cheesy scrambled eggs
pasta dressed with curried yoghurt and served with dark green salad, tomatoes and peppers
cheese and potato chowder
creamed spinach on wholemeal toast.

You have to make sure that you include plenty of dairy products and eggs in your diet. Fortified nutritional yeast flakes are also good, you can sprinkle them over the top of things like eggs, pasta, soup, stew to boost the b vitamins. You also need to eat plenty dark greens like spinach, chard and brocolli and things like beans and pulses. Sosmix mixes are fortified with b vits, I think, and can be made into things like sausages, burgers and meatless loaves. Nuts are good, as well. You can make a nut roast with finely chopped hazel/cashew nuts and sunflower seeds that you can slice and freeze. It's a but time consuming to make but, once it's done, it will keep for a few days in the fridge and you can eat it in sandwiches for a quick bite, cold with salad, reheated with anything.

I also know how hard it is when you have fears around food. I have 3 AS boys and food can cause major issues but we just really, really persevere because it's so important that their diet is good and over time things get a bit easier, for me and for them. For me personally, I really, really hate eggs, the thought of eating them makes me queasy and the texture of them actually makes me puke, I can't bring myself to put boiled egg in my mouth, for example, but I know that I have to eat them. So I've found a way that is less offensive than others. I cook rice, then I fry a chopped onion with garlic, chuck in the cooked rice, plenty salt, pepper and soy sauce and then I mix through a beaten egg and stir until it cooks. You don't notice the egg so much, there is no evil egg white texture and I can manage to get it down.

I'm not in any way comparing that to your food issues but you might have to do something similar and try to find ways around some of your issues at least until you feel well enough to get some therapy.

Beauregard · 28/09/2011 13:44

Hi sorry i'm late replying StressedHEmum

I spoke to the G.P who said that despite my b12 being low i am not anemic,she said that because of that my symptoms cannot be caused by lack of b12.She has however asked me to go back for another blood test to identify why i am low on b12,so possibly the test you suggested?

Thankyou again for your incredibly informative posts
It is greatly appreciated and i am trying to put it into use. I have been good today and eaten porridge for breakfast and have just had 2 wholemeal pittas filled with lettuce,cucumber,falafels,cheese and coleslaw.

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stressedHEmum · 28/09/2011 18:20

Pelvic it's quite generally accepted nowadays that you can be seriously symptomatic of B12 def well before actual anaemia sets in (or the accompanying megaloblasty - cell enlargement) I'm not anaemic (actually have a really, really healthy iron count) and yet have pernicious anaemia because I can't absorb B12 from food and this affects my body's ability to make or sustain red cells. All my symptoms come solely from the B12 problems. Anaemia is one of the last things to develop with a B12 deficiency and, by the time it sets in, some of the other things may well be irreversible.

It may well be the intrinsic factor test that your GP wants to carry out next. It will tell you whether your body is able to absorb B12 from your diet and, therefore, whether your low B12 is caused by poor diet/traumatic illness etc. or whether it's actually an autoimmune problem. If it's the latter, you get a lifetime of B12 injections, if not the likely outcome is an initial course of B12 injections coupled with a look at improving your eating habits.

You've done well, today, keep up the good work Grin

fatlazymummy · 28/09/2011 21:47

My staple meals at the moment are -
cheese omelette with new pots and salad
falafel, salad and tatziki
nut roast and ratatouille [I use a packet mix from Asda for nut roast and falafel as I have to cook twice as my kids eat meat. They are easy to make from scratch if you wish though]
chilli rice
veg and lentil curry
egg fried rice
stuffed courgettes with new potatoes.
I am watching the calories at the moment, otherwise I would be eating things like macaroni cheese and egg and chips.

Beauregard · 29/09/2011 10:34

StressedHEmum-Smile
That is interesting re the symptoms of b12

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