Vegetarian diet?

Hi, I have been reading up on vegetarian diets recently and was hoping to know your thoughts in relation to health and fitness?

Appreciate your time.
Ricky.

Hi Ricky

nice to hear from you, and I appreciate you asking me

its a complex subject and in the end its a personal decision... I can only tell you my own thoughts on it

I am in favour to a degree of one type of vegetarianism.. but not all types.

Its true many old time strongmen/grapplers and combat men WERE veggie.. such as Hackenshmidt etc, but they were all Lacto-Ovan-Vegetarians

People often mention gorillas and other apes as being strong and veggie.. but in fact they arent, they eat grubs, insects and small mammals..so that argument doesnt hold water..

I can accept anyones lifetstyle on moral or religious grounds, but not ONLY on pure dietry/nutritional grounds.

I favour a 90% vegetarian lifestyle, with occassional extras from Dairy products and milk

although Hackenshmidt was a veggie per se, he drank a lot of whole milk, and loved eggs and cheese.. it was 'flesh' he didnt consume much of..

If you had say 4 smallish meals a day with three of them 'pure' veg/fruit, and one a day which included dairy/eggs, then you would easily cover your dietry/nutritional requirements.

but pure veg on its own.. I cant say I agree with it

others naturally will have their own thoughts, but you asked for mine mate, and those are they

thanks again for asking, I appreciate it

let me know your thoughts and/or decisions

Dave

Thankyou for your reply Dave.
You mentioned most of the old strongmen being some type of vegetarian and i've read your posts on 'The Great Gama' with him also i understand to eating a strictly Vegetarian diet. Were these personal choices by these strongmen to eat Vegetarian or was there something unhealthy with the meat back then?

I've turned vegetarian in the past but failed miserbaley with only lasting a month or so.
What made me turn vegetarian then was reading books and articles on how humans are not meat eaters and the classic arguments about the 'sharp front teeth' and etc. What are your thoughts on these arguments?

Finally Dave (sorry) what sort of diet would you reccommend to a person in their ealry twentys who would like to pack on some muscle?

Appreciate your time.
Ricky.

Not sure if you have read my last post or not, but would appreciate your thoughts very much.
Thankyou.

Hi Ricky .. sorry I did read your last post and fully intended answering you, then I got bogged down with admin work

Gama (and many of his ilk) were very strict Hindus, and they tended towards a veggie life style anyway.. remembering the Cow is a sacred animal in India, so beef wasnt on the menu.. Pork was forbidden, and sheep and goats arent as common in those parts of India, although there are plenty of goats around Afghanistan..
Fish was OK, but not really substantial enough for a wrestler of his level.

so the veggie diet was part religion. part cultural, part environmental and part traditional amongs wrestlers..


The 'teeth' thing is crap.. Man as a species is an OMNIVORE.. our teeth and digestive systems are designed to assimilate, flesh, fruits and vegs.. but not grasses like pure herbivores or ruminating animals.
Our molars are enough to 'grind veg, and our incisors are enough to eat most meats..
We can eat a mixed diet of fruit flesh and vegs without too many problems...


A good diet for muscle building would certainly keep you away from a veggie diet mate Ha Ha... not impossible to build muscle on vegs, but not easy either.

OK.. use personal choices in this but..
5 or 6 SMALLISH meals (no sunday roasts type dinners) each day
Use lots of poultry, turkey and chicken are very good, but peel the skin off..
Tuna is excellent, but there are some concerns about toxins in some tunas.

start the day with Oatmeal type with bananas or other fruit on top

mid morning, wholewheat bread with cheese or beans or both

Lunch chicken and pasta type meal

afternoon jackets spuds with cottage cheese/beans etc

later on .. lean meat and lots of veg

6 eggs a week hard boiled or as cheese omlettes


get a decent weight gain protein mix from the health food store and mix it in a blender, stick in the fridge and have a glass full every time you think about it

gets lots of vits/mins as these help in lots of ways... dont buy cheap supplements.
use semi skimmed milk not fully skimmed, you need some fat.. not a kilo of dripping like, but some

that'll do for now

Thankyou for your reply Dave, sorry for being slightly impatient.
Thats answered all my questions for now..lol.
Thanks once again. All the Best.
Ricky.