Is It Possible to Be A Vegetarian PA Person?

Cindy,

I used to be a "vegetarian" but did eat eggs, milk, and fish. These days, since I am still nursing Patricia, vegetarianism is mostly out of my grasp. I eat ehicken, fish, and legumes (except peanuts). I can't eat eggs or milk, since Patricia is allergic to them. But I have almost totally eliminated red meat because of the mad cow problem.

I think a liberally defined vegetarian diet would be possible if you allowed fish and could eat eggs and some legumes such as peas and beans and soy. I just try to eat healthy these days. I seem to feel best if I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables and little or no red meat (even though I love steak).

Amy

I am a veggie. My 2 yr old has pa, and my 4 month old had a milk allergy (I am nursing). It has been so hard. I cut milk and peanut butter out of my diet, and I never realized that I truly lived on the stuff. On the flip side, I have lost all of my pregnancy weight and then some. I feel like I am starving half the time.
I am thinking of taking a veggie cooking class, maybe that will help, but who has the time.
Deanna G.

Deanna, it was just over 20 years ago that I took a vegetarian cooking course, shortly after I moved out of my parents' home and out on my own. I truly believe this course gave me the basics for cooking anything - wonderful sauces, etc. that can be used in all types of cooking, not simply vegetarian.

I actually still have the cookbook typed out from that time in a folder as there were some wonderful recipes.

I would be more than pleased to share any/all of the recipes with you. As I said, they gave me the basis for not only a good assortment of vegetarian recipes, but just good recipes period. Please let me know. It is actually something I wouldn't mind having typed out on the computer. I did think about that recipe book the other day when I posted this question. I had wanted to go through it to see how many of the recipes contained peanuts/nuts. Again, please let me know.

Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

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WOW! I would love it! Thanks Cindy, your the best.
Deanna G.

Hi Cindy; I don't call myself a vegetarian because I will on ocassions drink milk, or eat an egg and I'll roll the meatballs out a speghetti sauce and eat the sauce. What I'm saying is I'm not a fanatic about it. I just don't eat meat. I did eat a lot of PB while I was pregnant and nursing my PA DD. That was one of my staples! I have 3 other kids so it was an easy to have a PB&J sandwich for protein without having to cook. My family on the other hand love meat! I just made a meatloaf last nite, chicken the nite before. But I admit I miss the PB. Now I mostly eat cooked greens, cheeses, pasta, brown rice, beans. I have a veggie cookbook but not being the Betty Crocker I'd like to be I wouldn't venture some of these recipes! I would love to have some simple easy ones!

I have been a vegetarian for years. I eat no fish or meat but I do eat soy and have no problems.

Hi everyone,

Reraising this because I am considering becoming a vegetarian...it's been on my mind for a while but I keep ignoring it because I don't want to stop eating meat because I love it...however, am seriously considering it at the moment.

Having looked at various websites, it turns out (surprise surprise) that they recommend getting protein from..nuts,seeds and legumes...Obviously, being PA the first is not an option, and I would be wary of eating too many seeds/legumes in case I developed an allergy to those too. The same goes for soy as I believe that overexposure to foods can cause allergies in people who have allergic tendencies...

Anyway, I'm in a quandary about this because obviously I don't want to endanger my health by becoming vegetarian; however, I also don't want to use PA as an excuse for not doing so. There are other issues to consider too such as wearing leather, drinking Guinness etc. Also, my boyfriend thinks I'm mad as I already have a restricted diet due to PA and doesn't see why I want to make things more difficult for myself.

I would appreciate any advice from PA vegetarians if there are any, or vegetarian parents of PA children or anyone at all.

By the way I would not be giving up eggs or dairy, only fish and meat.

Thanks,

Michelle

Michelle, I do think it's do-able.

Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

I've been a vegetarian for over a decade. I was diagnosed with soy and peanut allergies a bit over five years ago. I manage just fine and have managed to do pretty well, though eating out in public is relatively difficult. Soy and peanut are really quite easy for me to avoid, provided I cook all my own food.

I *do* have a worsening wheat allergy, however, which is causing me to reexamine my diet. Without the variety I had with wheat gluten, my protein options are limited to legumes, tree nuts (sparingly), eggs (also sparingly, cooked certain ways, I get nasty GI reactions), and whole grains. I can't eat spelt or wheat without allergic reactions (minor at this point, a couple different kinds of eczema).

ygg

I am also a veggie! No meat, no fish, only dairy I eat is pizza maybe once a week. Pizza is my weakness [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/rolleyes.gif[/img].

I have never been a big nut eater, though I do love my PB. My dd is pa/tna. She also had dairy allergies and few others. Her and I both went veggie 3 years ago. She has no problems with soymilk, I even make my own.
The few recipes with nuts in i've come across, the amount of nut is so small i just left it out and the recipe still turned out fine.

I can reccommend some good books...
The New Farm Vegetarian Cookbook...this one never leaves my kitchen! And any book from Joanne Stepaniak. She has a new book coming out this fall I believe for people with allergies! And she is a vegan too. She also has a message board over on the Vegesource boards.

Nancy

Hi Michelle,

I'm PA and been vegetarian over a year; I had my blood levels checked recently and all was fine. I do eat some form of legume at least once a week (usually black beans in a burrito - really tasty!), and get protein from many dairy sources - cow, sheep, and goat - cheese, milk, etc.

I would definitely recommend a good cook book or two, and even look online for some vegetarian websites (vegweb.com, etc.). I would try to include lots of rice, grains and of course veggies in your diet. I eat soy only very sparingly since my PA is adult-onset and I'm trying not to develop a soy allergy too. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/wink.gif[/img]

I would also recommend investigating ways to incorporate the grain quinoa in your diet; I'm told it's the one non-meat full-protein source (whereas rice needs to be teamed with beans to be a complete protein source...). You can find quinoa pasta, hot quinoa cereal, quinoa flakes, and even quinoa flour at health-food type stores. I use the flour in my home-made breads and it's quite yummy.

I hope this helps, whether you decide to move forward with the vegetarian diet or not. Exploring new foods and tastes is a good idea no matter what the reason! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

Best wishes,
Andromeda

Simply re-raising. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

There are a few old threads on the board re being a vegetarian with PA.

I really wish I could find my vegetarian cook book that I put together from a class I took 25 years ago. I know that we did not use a lot of nuts, if any and it was well balanced. We also, at that time, didn't use a lot of soy.

Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

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"That was Polanski. Nicholson got his nose cut."

Did you become a vegetarian? or Have you always been a vegetarian?

I'm vegetarian (not vegan though-- I do consume milk products, and occassionally things with eggs in them) and don't find it problematic. However, I have no problem with soy or beans or anything, which makes getting protein easy for me. There are a lot of really great dishes you can make nut safe and meat free.