Why do people say a vegetarian diet is unhealthy?

They say its unhealthy and then say if you want to eat healthy you have to eat like more vegetables and stuff. It makes no sense really. I just do not get it. Maybe someone can explain this to me?Why do people say a vegetarian diet is unhealthy?
Any type of diet can be unhealthy. For example some vegetarians eat a lot of fried foods like french fries, fried zucchini, potato chips, junk food. Other vegetarians eat only steamed vegetables and no junk food. So it all depends and it's ignorant to label someone without analyzing the meals they eat! A health conscious vegetarian is healthier than the average person because they make sure they are getting all the nutrients their body needs, for example they'll have cheese and milk and legumes and nuts for protein in the right proportions, and take vitamins for anything they might be missing because usually people turn vegetarian BECAUSE they are health conscious and don't want to have all the saturated fats and hormones that come with meat. Some people have this weird impression that vegetarians eat only lettuce and carrots like a rabbit and have boring diets that lack protein but that's far from true. Maybe those who are not educated in diet and nutrition but it takes a lot of knowledge to be a healthy vegetarian and those who are shouldn't be judged against the ones who unknowlingly turn into vegetarians with poor diets. A lot of people are vegetarians these days strictly for animal rights moreso than for health reasons, so they are the ones prone to be eating unhealthy actually. I do it for health reasons but the side effects happen to include saving the environment and animal rights so that's good too.
I think there's two reasons why someone would think the vegetarian lifestyle is unhealthy:

1- they've never experienced it for themselves and only go by what they've been told and

2- if they did try it, they did it incorrectly and became sick as a result.



To elaborate:

1- I find that biggest opponents of the vegetarian lifestyle are those who have never personally tried it before. They only know what they've been told and have NO iota as to what the diet and lifestyle is all about. That's like me telling you it's not a good idea to be in the NFL. I'm a 5'2" female. WTF do I know about playing professional football??!! lol. I'm a huge fan, but seriously- I've not played.



2- Vegetarianism also gets a bad wrap from former veggies who might have tried the diet but were unsuccessful b/c they didn't eat right. Being a veggie is not hard. Eating the right foods is not only cheaper than being an omni, but overall, one should feel healthier as the intake of fibre, whole grains, vitamins and minerals (from natural sources) should go up just be default.



Those are the two reasons I think vegetarianism is looked upon as "unhealthy". The real troopers know what's up! :-)Why do people say a vegetarian diet is unhealthy?
You must of course live the highest truth you personally can. The fact that until 100 years ago most humans on the planet were vegetarian, and many top level atheletes today are still vegetarian shows clearly you can get more than sufficient proteins from eating a balanced healthy vegetarian diet. Perhaps you should read and show your parents The China Study. It is the largest nutritional study ever conducted in the world and it proves conclusively how the vegetarian diet is far healthier than a meat eating one.



In order to get sufficient protein with vegan food you need to ensure that you have sufficient legumes (beans and lentils) along with either nuts or grains. This gives you all the same amino acids that are in meat without the hormones, decaying energies and risk of immune system compromise. Dairy products can also be a good supplement also so long as you have a strong digestive system. If your ill or have thin intestinal walls you will want to minimize dairy even until you are healthy.
It can be unhealthy if you don't do your research and make the effort to have a balanced diet. If all you do is remove the meat from your diet you will be seriously lacking in protein, iron and other minerals and vitamins.



And while there are other foods that contain protein, meat is still by far the most readily available.



The people that say it is unhealthy don't quite envision a complete change in diet, they just see it as removing the meat from their existing diet. And this would be a very poor diet.Why do people say a vegetarian diet is unhealthy?
Meat is not supposed to be eaten by humans. If you see animals they eat meat RAW without any cooking. So, if humans want to eat meat they have eat it raw. Also animals' teeth are designed to eat meat but human teeth are different from the animals; they are designed to eat only vegetables.

All the meat eaters will ignore this and say its all crap but THIS IS A FACT. As you are a vegetarian I'm telling you about this. And I'm a vegetarian too. In that case veg diets are not always healthy unless and until you eat them the right way. All those who tell they are vegetarians might be fat too because they might be eating chips, french fries, and deep fried veggies. This is all unhealthy. So if you want to be healthy eat steamed veggies and no junk food with fruits, lentils and wholemeal bread.
Although eating vegetables and stuff might seem to be healthy, all the food we have currently is needed in our body just the right amounts. In our day and age these amounts are constantly abused. Our bodys need a small amount of fat but we eat huge 6 dollar burgers filled with god knows what. Although tons of people say carbs and stuff are bad our body still asks for them but we continue to abuse the amounts we eat turning them into such things as fat. We also need to eat meat in order to gain protein in our bodies. Milk as well provides calcium. Even though, most vegetarians don't really go vegetarian for health (although in our day and age it could really be better than regular eating) but rather to prove a point in protest towards inhumane doings to animals. Becoming a vegetarian could be healthy now because you would be watching what your eating instead of eating tons of meat which could have hormones which made the animals grow faster.
Because a lot of people think they are experts in nutrition, even if they have no education.
Because they've never been on a vegetarian diet so they don't know! I've been a lacto- vegetarian my whole life and I'm perfectly healthy!
they say a vegetarian diet is unhealthy because you need protein in your body, and meat carries the best protein around.
because theyre ignorant.





and they think that protein only comes from meat.





it drives me crazy!
because it is, you need protein.