I want to be a vegetarian

[Tadeog]

Due to some changes in my life, i been wanted to become a vegetarian...You know, the normal vegetarian. So basically i want to have a vegetables-based diet but with dairy products too (milk,egg,cheese,etc)...I'm a Type 1 diabetic and i'm 14 years old, my dad says it's a bad idea because i'm passing trought adolescence and that i have to eat meat bla bla bla..on the other side my mom supports it So i'd want to now if there are some risks. By the way, sorry for my english, i'm from Argentina. Well, i hope someone can give me an answer, i'm going to talk about this with my endocrinologist (or whatever you call it in UK/USA)Thanks, see ya :mrgreen:

 

[anniep]

Hi I'm T2 and a long time vegetarian, there is no reason why you have to eat meat, but you do need to be careful to eat a balanced diet to get all you nutrients. It would helop if you did some research and then you could explain to your dad where you are going to get everything you need from. It might put his mind at rest.

 

[copepod]

Bienvenida Tadeog. (I'll stick to English from now on, for benefit of other readers on this UK site )

Well, being vegetarian is going to be more of a challenge in Argentina than in UK! having travelled there myself, plus more time in Chile, Ecuador, Central America etc, I know that most meals include excellent beef! Personally, I do eat meat, but try to eat only meat from animals which have lived good lives. In many places I've worked in Latin America, it would be virtually anti-social to refuse meat as it is offered in most meals, particularly to guests. As long as you can match your short-acting insulin doses to the carbohydrate content of your meals / snacks, there's no reason why you shouldn't be vegetarian for as long as you want, regardless of diabetes. It's definitely easier to keep a good diet if you're prepared to eat eggs & dairy products; also worth eating as wide a range of vegetables as possible, particularly beans, peas, pulses for protein as well as fibre & vitamins. I can't remember seeing tins of baked beans in Argentina, mainly because they were too heavy to consider for backpacking, but if you have these, then remember that tomato sauce has relatively high sugar content, unlike other vegetables.

 

[sugar2]

HI, I have been vegi ( well demi vegi I do eat fish) since I was 14.....over 20 years ago. For me, it is the "eatring fish" part that allowed me to continue with a healthy diet, although I know that some people say that this is not vgetarian at all!

Sadly, I have never been to South America, but I guess teh same principle will apply, in that at home, it is not difficult, however, eeating out can sometimes be difficult..especially if, lieke me, you don't like goats cheese. I guess it depends on teh reason for your choice. I would say, that sometimes, doing something 90% ofteh time is good enough, if you can live with that choice...ie, allow yourself teh occasional meat dish as a treat??? This is easy for me to say, but I was similar to yourself. My Dad said, "you will never do it" when I announced i was going to be vegetarian....and at that point, I set out to prove him wrong! Here I am, never having eaten meat in 25 years. I wish that I had not tried so hard to prve himm wrong...but I am a stubborn sort of person.

best of luck!