Study of the Week: Being vegetarian does not = healthy!!

Newsflash: If you think becoming a vegetarian is going to help you lose weight, think again. The logic is simple, really. New vegetarians only eat carbs. I was ALWAYS tired during my first 10 years as a vegetarian because I only ate bread and pasta (Cheesecake Factory was the kick-it spot for real). It wasn't until college, when I started reading more about health and nutrition, that I realized I had to make a conscious effort to get protein into my diet. Instead of eating the usual bagel for breakfast, I began to eat eggs and oatmeal. A couple hours after breakfast, I would eat a snack (or breakfast 2, as I like to call it) that consisted of a carb and protein. (Examples: fruit and low fat string cheese or nuts and yogurt). I lost a couple of pounds (although I was probably just shedding the freshman 15) and discovered that when I ate that way - 6 smaller well balanced meals a day - I had so much more energy.

Come to my house for breakfast 1, breakfast 2, lunch 1, lunch 2, dinner 1 or dinner 2 and you will never catch me cooking a meal that doesn't have a carb, protein and a veggie. It becomes second nature. What I eat when I don't have time to cook, on the other hand, is another story....

Which leads me to my point (sorry got a little sidetracked there). Recently the Journal of the American Dietetic Association released a study that puts adolescent and young adult vegetarians risk leaping into the life of a binge eater.

The Participants: 2,516 males and females, ages 15-23 years.

The Analysis: Tested for significant differences between current, former, and never vegetarians within the younger and older cohort.

The Results: Adolescent and young adult current vegetarians were more likely to report binge eating with loss of control when compared to nonvegetarians. Among adolescents, former vegetarians were more likely than never vegetarians to engage in extreme unhealthful weight-control behaviors. Among young adults, former vegetarians were more likely than current and never vegetarians to engage in extreme unhealthful weight-control behaviors.