No, Geos, it's vegans who need to take B12 supplements. Vegetarians who get enough eggs &/or dairy don't need to.

http://www.vanguardonline.f9.co.uk/00509.htm

Vegetarianism is a religion for some people. They believe it because they want to believe it. If vege is so natural why do you have to supplement with B12? Animal protein is the best source of B12 and Q10. Without animal fat and protein early humans could not have gotten enough calories. Roots, shoots, tubers & berries aren't enough. The brain is very energy intensive. Animal fat and protein fueled human brain growth. There is virtually no evidence of cavities before the high carb agricultural revolution 10k years ago. Grain is NOT a natural food for humans pre-agriculture. ALL the archaeological evidence suggests humans were omnivores with significant quantities of animal protein but it seems most vegetarians are not interested in science just dogma. http://www.beyondveg.com/billings-t/comp-anat/comp-anat-3a.shtml http://www.nature.com/ejcn/journal/v56/n12/full/1601646a.html

Rebecca -

You're welcome!

It was great to stop thinking about how much protein I was eating after reading "the China Study" - which introduces the possibility that less protein actually protects us from some diseases.

I'm so relaxed!

Not so long ago, a vegetarian diet used to be associated with a nutritionally deficient diet. I am so glad people nowadays associate a vegetarian diet with a healthy diet and are not buying into the "you need your protein" nonsense that has been manufactured by the meat industry and sometimes perpetuated by Medicine also. While, of course, you need protein, a well-balanced vegetarian diet provides us with healthy plant based protein, in addition to everything else we need to thrive.

What's wrong with vegetarian steak and vegetarian turkey?

Sorry, I don't buy the fake meat is somehow inherently yucky meme. Asia and even Europe have been making some versions of meat analogs for centuries.

If people are biased and closed-minded about tofu or seitan, than they are just biased and closed-minded. These foods have rich cultural backgrounds, they aren't recent inventions. Sure, they have been refined with new techniques, but what hasn't?

Many American's eat McDonald's McRibs and McNuggets and the scale of production nastiness is far more heavily skewed with factory-farmed animal products. Non-vegetarians can’t honestly complain about some ground up grains or beans to make mock meats. It's not much different from bread-baking or pasta-making really. People think Italian foods with tomato sauce or “meat and potatoes” European diets are ancient, but we know that tomatoes and potatoes are New World foods while “wheat meats” and tofu are older by a culinary metric.

If people are expecting an exact duplicate for meat, then sure, prepare to be disappointed. But vegetarians meats can certainly be appreciated for their own sake, and yes, just like everything, there are well prepared varieties, and not so well prepared.

And of course there are pressing reasons to vegetarian meats for factory-farmed meats. Maybe not everyone is going to be vegetarian overnight, but if a veggie burger is an easy swap for a hamburger for someone, than what's the problem? It's a positive substitution.

Dear Brenda: For your slowcooker, try beans! Dried beans are excellent in the slowcooker because they do not break down and offer that fullness to a meal that carnivores tend to miss when turning to a vegetarian meal. Cooked with sturdy vegetables such as peppers, kale, kohlrabi, green beans, corn, and carrots for starters (these I listed because they will do better in the slow cooker), they take up classic meat seasonings very well. And remember, beans are also an excellent source of vegetarian protein, among many other essential nutrients. They is a wide variety of beans out there with distinct tastes and fabulous colors--and they are cheap!

As with the other commentators, I was surprised to hear the idea that vegetarians need to approach their diets almost with a scientific method in order to get proper nutrition. Totally untrue. There are whole societies around the world that have vegetable or lacto-vegetable based or focused diets that are not nutrition deficient. A 37-yr old friend grew up in El Salvador at a time and in a community where meat was only for special occasions because it was expensive. It was local vegetables made up deliciously with fresh cheese everyday to eat, as well as eggs. He eats like that to this day. He has perfect teeth (no refined sugar, no candy eating in childhood, only fruit), no cholesterol/blood pressure issues, and he and his family were perfectly healthy. Perhaps ideas of a third-world El Salvador made you think he was super skinny with a bloated belly: NO! They ate simply, locally, and creatively. Has anyone ever ate pupusas? No meat and delicious!

This cookbook sounds so incredibly outdated. She introduces the idea of not eating meat twice a week as some kind of revolution, and then suggests recipes with eggs and cheese and then advocates using a microwave. Really? I think there are way more creative ways to cook vegetarian than this. What about Indian food for one? This is typical Leonard Lopate.. he cannot seem to imagine that people can be full time vegetarians, eat well and be healthy in the process.

Rah, thank you for backing me up. I haven't seen Forks over Knives yet, but it's in my Netflix queue.

Ditto- I am *so* sick of the 'vegetarians need to be totally worried about getting all their nutrients' thing. Completely ridiculous.

I'm upset when people say that vegetarians need to be careful to get the right nutrition. EVERYONE needs to make sure to get the right nutrition. I've been a vegetarian most of my life and I'm perfectly healthy. Most of my adult family members are on blood pressure medicine, but I don't need it. Most Americans eat too much saturated fat, simple sugars, and processed food. A good vegetarian diet can be very healthy for everyone.

I've turned to my slowcooker for the winter, does she have any vegetarian ideas for slowcooking? Often times the veggies breakdown in the cooking and the only recipes out there are soup.

Correction!

Vegetarians do not have to be more careful than meat-eaters.
Silly and dated ideas.

Read "The China Study" or watch "Forks over Knives".