vegetarian supplements

Question
Hi!  I have been a vegetarian for 12 years and I will never eat meat again.  I was wondering if there is a protein supplement I can take so I can get more protein in my diet.  I used to eat a lot of soy protein from the imitation meat, but I don't eat them much anymore because they seem to be so high in sodium.  I love veggies (salads, steamed veggies) and fruit is okay.  I do eat dairy products.  I rarely have time to cook, nor do I have too much expertise in that area besides pastas and casseroles!  My daily routine diet is whole grain cereal for breakfast, two lean cuisine-type foods throughout the day, and when I get home at night (normally around 8pm) I either eat a salad, another lean cuisine, or whatever happens to be there.  I have a very low fat diet, but I do seem to eat a lot of carbs (I try to get them in the whole grain form as much as I can, but it can be difficult).  Do you have any advice for me?  Also, I was wondering if I could benefit from taking pre-natal vitamins.  I have kind of thin hair (possibly from lack of protein?!)  and I heard they can help with that.  Thank you for your time!

Answer
Hi Katie,

Based on what you've told me, it does sound like your diet could be low in protein, as well as some other nutrients like zinc and iron (a deficiency in either of these could be responsible for your thinning hair). The best source of these nutrients is the meat alternatives group.

You need to make sure you are getting 2-3 servings a day of meat alternatives (this includes nuts/seeds/nut butters, legumes like chickpeas, black beans, lentils etc, tofu, and eggs, as well as the vegetarian imitation meat products). Some easy ways to do this: have peanut butter or other nut butter on crackers or bagels, have trail mix or nuts for a snack, sprinkle nuts or seeds on your salad, add some chickpeas or other beans  (you can use canned, just drain and rinse) or preseasoned tofu cubes (like the Thai flavoured one) to your salads, add beans or preseasoned tofu to your lean cuisines (I'm guessing these are mostly vegetable-and-pasta type things, since I don't think lean cuisine makes too many vegetarian entrees). Omelettes, French toast or scrambled eggs are quick if you eat eggs.

You should also be aiming for 5-10 servings a day of fruits and vegetables for overall good nutrition. I would highly recommend that you read (or reread, if you've already read it) _Becoming Vegetarian_ by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis. This book should be available at your local library and should help you get your diet a bit more well-balanced.

A multivitamin is not a bad idea while you working on making some changes to your diet. You don't necessarily need a prenatal one, just a broad spectrum multivitamin/mineral (like Centrum Forte - your drugstore may have another brand with comparable nutrients that is less expensive).

Hope that helps!

Karen
www.getfitwithkaren.com

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