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Comment by strict9 | Hacker News Reader

Ethical and environmental debates aside, I chose to be a vegetarian 10 years ago as a way of forcing myself to have diversity in what I consume. It was too easy to fall into the trap of eating junk.

Giving up meat doesn't ensure health by any stretch, but it does force you to consider and plan what you eat. It's worked out well for me.

aside: dietary preferences aren't an affront to someone else's lifestyle or eating decisions. I don't judge meat eaters, I hope you won't judge those who choose not to.

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I found the same thing when switching to a vegetarian (now vegan) diet--you experience a whole new universe of cuisine you never had before. For example, I'd never even heard of nutritional yeast, but it's absolutely delicious and now always readily available in my pantry.

It's easier, in my personal experience, to live on a repetitive diet largely consisting of rotating meats. But when you're constrained to fruits/vegetables/grains/seeds, it becomes very boring quickly and forces you to be creative. Then you suddenly have a lot more interesting culinary experiences.

My religion(I'm a recent convert) has frequent fasts of vegan, or nearly vegan eating, and it's HUGELY expanded my culinary repertoire.

Why would that work? Pringles aren't made from meat.

#1 - ham and other processed meats are in a lot of "real" meals. Easy to avoid by simply convincing yourself you can't eat those foods and can only eat veggies.

#2 - pringles/chips are easier to avoid because they're snacks. Just avoid all snack food.

I've gone almost the opposite direction... I seem to have a negative reaction to so many foods. When I gave up all heavy carbs, I've done much better and lost about 60# (I'm still fat and diabetic, but still working on it). But just about any foods with any significant carbohydrate I seem to respond negatively to. When sticking to mostly meet and greens, I feel significantly better.

It's worth noting that I seem to be allergic to legumes (and cranberries). So that precludes complete protein from non-animal sources. My biggest issue is actually eating the more fatty meats. I've also never cared for organ meat of any kind. I'm getting more used to it now, but it isn't always easy to swallow so to speak.

You may want to look into leaky gut syndrome and how it (may) cause allergies.

> eating the more fatty meats

Try cooking with duck fat. That stuff is amazing.

Leaky gut syndrome appears to be mostly bullshit.

https://www.badgut.org/information-centre/a-z-digestive-topi...

Foie gras is absolutely delicious.

If you're ever in Madison, WI, you should visit the restaurant 'Pig in a Fur Coat'. They have this foie gras mousse thing: a dollop of foie gras on a cream puff smeared with fig preserve [0].

[0] http://www.apiginafurcoat.com/menu.html

I recently started preferring the vegetarian option over the non-veg one. And what you say exactly is the same problem I am facing, having to come up with what to eat. With meat its really easy to come up with what to eat, but whenever I try to think of something vegetarian it gets hard.

Do you have any tips for someone starting to switch to a vegetarian diet? Especially when it comes to variety and how I can do this a bit easier?

Not vegetarian, but have some related experience.

The problem isn't vegetarian vs. non-vegetarian, the problem is moving away from whatever diet you grew up in. There is a ton of "a meal looks like this" knowledge you don't really know you've absorbed, but changing it means you have to learn new things. This is especially true about achieving overall reasonable balance.

Two suggestions. 1) Look at major international vegetarian cuisines (e.g. Buddist, various Indian regions, some middle eastern) and learn some basics, practice until they are easy. 2) Find a broad range cookbook like "How to cook everything vegetarian" pitched and your comfort/skill level with cooking.

If you are really worried or confused about dietary balance, read something like "becoming vegetarian" or the like, a nutrition book rather than cook book. Actually, read a few, it will help you avoid the diet fad issues that plague food & nutrition. Question anything you feel sounds extreme.

> "Whenever I try to think of something vegetarian it gets hard. Do you have any tips for someone starting to switch to a vegetarian diet? Especially when it comes to variety and how I can do this a bit easier?"

Having the raw ingredients available is like knowing syntax/functions to a programming language but not having the experience to structure it. There are so many frameworks/libraries/tutorials (recipes) that already exist so you don't have to spend copious amounts of time with trial and error.

What I do is I'll sit down and search the web for vegetarian recipes that look good and commit to making them on certain days.

Also I never thought I'd be recommending anything Buzzfeed related to anyone, but actually a good source is "Tasty Vegetarian" (https://www.facebook.com/tastyvegetarian/) which posts random vegetarian recipes that are really easy to make (I've had really good ones and also some kind of bad ones. If it's bad, usually the comments will be full of people complaining)

Look at Indian cuisine. They have a ton of vegetarian options.

Look into Indian cooking. They've lots of delecious vegetarian cuisines.

This is certainly true, but Indian cooking is a commitment. You need to have several spices on hand (turmeric, cumin seeds, mustard seed, both coriander seed and powder, fenugreek, kashmiri chili, cinnamon bark, asafoetida, a decent garam masala, fresh or frozen curry leaves); you will need to understand how to grind these spices and then temper them in oil or ghee; you will need to have a variety of legumes (split dried chickpeas, split dried mung bean, red lentils); you will also need basmati rice and yogurt; you might like to have tamarind and mango pickle; you will need the ability to constantly mash together ginger, garlic, and fresh chili; you must have the capacity to finely chop onions.

Indian food has subtleties, and it's not easy for the beginner.

South indian food is super simple at the core level - heat oil, add mustard seeds, when they pop, add asefoteda/fenugreek & curry / spices (I buy them at a local Indian store - usu. curry + cayenne), then whatever veggies you want (green beans or potatoes are nice)

You forgot cumin seeds. Add some coconut milk and you get an excellent dish.

It's really not that difficult if you take a few classes.

To extend the aside a bit: everyone's body (and microbiome) is different. We should really never judge dietary choices made for personal health/lifestyle reasons. Because what works for our body won't necessarily work for anyone else's. They have different metabolisms, different microbiomes, different allergies and sensitivities, they're going to react differently to different diets.

I mean, I guess one could quibble with where others get their food (sustainable vs non-sustainable sources, for instance), but beyond that, if it's just a personal choice for personal reasons - it's really not debatable.

It's when people start proselytizing their diet choices that they become fair game. Or if they publicly advertise that these choices were made for reasons of ethics or sustainability (which are thoroughly debatable and really should be continuously re-examined).

In my experience it's not the orientation in pretty much any situation or choice, it's the zealotry that seems to accompany new converts. I'm not sure if this trait mellows with age (and experience) or ossifies...

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