by Imogen French

Created on: January 27, 2009   Last Updated: September 09, 2011

Being a vegetarian is very much a personal choice, and you only have to examine your reasons for wanting to become a vegetarian to know whether it will be difficult or not. I think it is as easy as you want it to be, if you are committed to your choice, it can be a fun, interesting and healthy lifestyle decision.

I have been a vegetarian since I left home at the age of 17, when I decided that I did not want to contribute to the suffering of animals that were intensively farmed, and that as an omnivore I did not need to eat meat to be healthy - quite the reverse, in fact! That was more than 20 years ago, when it was much more difficult to find prepared vegetarian products in the supermarket, and you were treated like a social outcast in a restaurant if you asked what they had on the menu for vegetarians. However, I was determined, so I read a few books from the library to find out what I needed to eat to get enough protein, vitamins and minerals, and bought myself a couple of recipe books - my first and still most used book was "Not Just a Load of Old Lentils" by Rose Elliot, a prolific, well researched and easy to follow vegetarian writer. I worked as a chef in a vegetarian restaurant for a few years, where I picked up lots of new ideas and recipes, and met many like minded people, who did not treat me like a social outcast. And then, when I met my vegetarian partner and started a family, I brought up two healthy sons on a vegetarian diet. I have never looked back, never missed bacon sandwiches and never regretted it. So, in my opinion, no, vegetarianism is not at all difficult.

For the newcomer to a vegetarian diet I have the following advice:

1. Decide from the outset whether you will eat eggs and dairy products, or be semi-vegetarian only and still eat fish, that way you can know what foods are available to get your required nutrition, and will also help when friends or family want to know what to feed you.

2. Understand which nutrients you need to replace if you are giving up meat. Protein is the first concern, but this is abundant in dairy products and eggs, nuts, pulses, beans, and soya or quorn products, find out how much protein is actually required for somebody of your age, sex and size - you will probably be surprised at how little you actually need, I think for an average adult woman it's only about 40 grams per day, very easy to acheive on a standard vegetarian diet. Some people may be concerned about anaemia, and you need to ensure you get

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