[rakgirl]

Originally Posted by Ainsley

I'm a vegetarian: I do eat cage-free eggs and dairy products. I became a vegetarian for ethical rather than dietary reasons, but I never talk about it. For me, it's a personal choice about my impact on the world, and I don't believe that preaching does any good. If anything, it just gives people a negative impression of vegetarians/vegans and vegetarianism, as Shira pointed out (And I'm sorry you had those experiences! It's really terrible to have someone criticize your meal.).

I've been a lot healthier and been sick much less often since I switched to a vegetarian diet. I think the best impression I can make on others is to be an example of a healthy vegetarian and to let them make their own choices.

That said, I do get the "that sounds unhealthy" criticism a lot. I've always been thin (not skinny), but now everyone, even my family, assumes it's because I'm vegetarian. On a related note, it also drives me crazy that people associate being vegetarian with being on a diet, so they assume that I must eat abnormally small portions in addition to not eating meat. Not so! I'm a huge eater, and, unlike you, I pretty much live on carbs (in addition to salad).

The worst is when I ask for vegan meals when I travel, and the airline serves me some tiny portion of something with fruit for dessert. I need to eat! And where's my big honking piece of chocolate soy cake? :-)

One question for other vegetarians out there: what do you do to get Omega 3's and 6's? My grandmother has Alzheimer's. I really don't want to develop it, so I know I need my Omegas. I was taking flax oil, but I read that the Omegas in flax are absorbed well by internal organs with the exception of the brain, which is where I really need them. So at the moment I'm on fish oil, which I'm not really happy with. Any suggestions? I really don't know very much about nutrition.

I just take the flax supplements. I don't know anymore about that but you should ask Dr. Sunyatta Amen. You can e-mail her from one of her websites. she's an naprapath, a raw vegan and a dancer.
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