Making up for lost time - the Vegetarian Experiment

Woah! I missed a few days worth of updates here. No, I have not fallen off of the wagon and abandoned my experiment. I have been busy the past few days and have not made the time to make an update to my journal here.

This dietary shift has been an absolutely fascinating experience for me. I am climbing over the first small foothill - my body is detoxifying and this will take some time. My severe meat-eating ways surely must have built up a large store of toxins in my body! Already I am starting to feel more energetic and clear-minded.

I have to say that after a little over a week on this diet, I have consumed very little tofu. Most people think that by eating vegetarian, your only source of protein is tofu. This is patently untrue, as I have come to find out. Virtually every plant or fruit found in nature provides at least some small amount of protein. As it happens, the FDA guidelines provide for a very small amount of protein indeed. From their website:

Whatever the calorie level, DRVs for the energy-producing nutrients are always calculated as follows:

• fat based on 30 percent of calories
• saturated fat based on 10 percent of calories
• carbohydrate based on 60 percent of calories
• protein based on 10 percent of calories. (The DRV for protein applies only to adults and children over 4. RDIs for protein for special groups have been established.)
• fiber based on 11.5 g of fiber per 1,000 calories

Source: http://www.fda.gov/fdac/special/foodlabel/dvs.html

Let's extrapolate that into a real-world scenario. Let's say your daily calorie intake is approximately 2000 calories. This means you should only need a maximum of 200 calories from protein. One gram of protein provides four calories, therefore you need at most 50 grams of protein on a 2000 calorie diet. The FDA recommended daily value of protein provides quite a large buffer.

Another interesting thing I've learned is the importance of vitamin B12 - it is needed for blood cell production, heart health, and brain function. Here is some information about B12 so you can read up about it.

I've been interrupted about a hundred times while I've been writing this, so I'm going to take that as my cue to wrap up.

Wishes for a wonderful day,
Charles