I've become Vegitarian by accident.

danotroy

Having devoured meat at every meal from since before I can even remember i've recently (12/01/14) gone vegetarian more by accident than by design. I am doing pretty well and I think that I have a somewhat balanced diet. I am trying to get eat a variety of seeds, nuts and other protein sources. I have more energy and I am having to go to the toilet much more regularly bot of which were anticipated.

However over the last number of days I have felt thirsty all the time, i do drink adequate water but now i'm drinking in excess of 3 liters a day and still feeling thristy/dry mouth. I am also having trouble sleeping, sometimes I will lie awake until 6 am before I get off to sleep, however I think this is stress unrelated to the diet and more to due to with family and personal issues.

Can anyone shed some light on thirst? and give me some points on starting out as a vegetarian.

celica00

how can this happen by accident? (just curious)

are u eating more wheat/grain products instead?
I would observe it for another few days, if it wont get better, you might ask your GP (to be sure)

danotroy

I have recently returned home from overseas and I haven't cooked since my college days due to having lots of disposable income and free food at my place of work when I was away. I used to have quiet a few vegan and vegetarian friends over seas and could not fathom how they could pass up beautifully made meals that had meat in them. I admired them but could not bring myself to choose a non meat dish on a regular basis.

Since coming home to live in my mothers house it shocked me how bad her diet is. She never was a cook, I grew up on frozen pizzas and frozen chips. I started cooking when I got home in December and bought a food processor it was then I quickly began questioning why I buy shop made hummus and store made pesto etc when I can make them at home. This also set me off on home made soups. Money was extremely tight so I started bulk making root vegetable based soups and buying as much veg as I could carry home from Aldi. I had planned to go to the butchers later in the week but ended up spending the money on a few drinks with my mam. I survived until the next aldi trip a week later and bought much the same groceries. I again planned to go to the butchers the next day but made a soup for dinner with some home made soda bread and thought to myself I am really enjoying this last week cooking, learning and slowly realising being a vegetarian is not the gargantuan challenge I has thought it would be. So I went another week without meat and today with this post I am finally identifying as a vegetarian. I do not know how long it will last but I have no desire to eat meat again. Also I have realized after looking back at my aldi receipts that bar eggs and 2 yoghourts I have also completely cut out all animal products/dairy.

I am eating brown linseed, quinoa, sesame seeds and almonds. I have never eaten these before so maybe these are making my body adjust.

I have read online that my symptoms point to diabetes but I am pretty sure I do not have diabetes. I am 26 and in good physical condition I have an active lifestyle, I exercise regularly, I rarely eat chocolate or other sugar trap foods and nobody in my family has diabetes. Maybe it could be Diabetes but i'll leave it play out for another few days before I rush down to the GP.

roweeeeena

Interesting story, that you're not missing it! It is still relatively recently that your eating habits have changed, so your body will still be adjusting to the different fuel which you are giving it. Side effects like these are to be expected. Start keeping detailed note of your symptoms and if they don't go in another week or two it would be good to check it out with your doctor. They are not necessarily negative, and no negative side effects could come from this, but as you said it may be unrelated to your new diet so best to check it out.

danotroy

I did have it in my head for the last few years that I would like to cut down on my meat due to factors relating to environment and growing population trends. I never gave it much serious thought as I was provided with all my food and I just consumed it. Now that i'm purchasing groceries and cooking all my own food I have fallen into being a vegetarian. In addition to this I never knew what certain greens/vegetables were and if I did i did not know that they tasted so nice when cooked the correct way. My mother would of been someone who would of boiled carrots for 30 minutes then covered them in cooking oil and put them in the over for another 30 minutes.

roweeeeena

haha that's a sure way to take the joy out of a carrot! :P

dipdip

Dry mouth is a symptom of diabetes. No harm getting a quick blood check just to confirm everything is in good order.

danotroy

dipdip wrote: »

Dry mouth is a symptom of diabetes. No harm getting a quick blood check just to confirm everything is in good order.

That's what i was fearing. However over the last few weeks I have realised that I get dry mouth the day after having a few beers. If i have 3-4 pints/cans my mouth is very very dry the next day. This has started happening recently but I will get it checked out at the doctors soon.

dipdip

Dry mouth after alcohol is very common. When you drink alcohol you get dehydrated. Drink plenty of water and it should help.

But no harm in having a quick blood test in any case.

FouxDaFaFa

danotroy wrote: »

That's what i was fearing. However over the last few weeks I have realised that I get dry mouth the day after having a few beers. If i have 3-4 pints/cans my mouth is very very dry the next day. This has started happening recently but I will get it checked out at the doctors soon.

When you come in from a night out, try to drink a decent amount of water before you go to bed and then when you wake up. It helps reduce the likliehood of a hangover and dehydration.

Anyway, glad to hear you're enjoying trying new things. My diet was pretty alright before I went vegetarian but it's definitely gotten better since. Switched from white bread/pasta/rice to the wholegrain equivalents, not even consciously. Better quality salads and grains, trying new vegetables and beans that I wouldn't have when a meat eater. It's great. There are lots of veggie food blogs with great, creative ideas.

danotroy

Thanks for the suggestions. I understand the fact that dehydration occurs when alcohol is consumed, it's just the fact that since i've turned vegetarian the dehydration has become exacerbated to the extent I drink a pint of water and my mouth still feels like sandpaper.

--LOS--

well I don't have any experience with that and it could be a number of things, but firstly you might be drinking a lot of water but if you're also going to the toilet more often, that will make you dehyrated! Maybe avoid diuretics like alcohol, fizzy drinks and coffee. It could be a food sensitivity, so while you're eating a balanced diet also make sure it is varied, don't go nuts on the nuts for example. Other simple sources of protein to try; kidney beans, chickpeas, whatever other beans they have, you said you shop in aldi, they are also very cheap for those things. Dry mouth can also be a sign of a vitamin deficiency like iron or B12, you're not necessarily at risk for those though since you're new to this. You mentioned stress, anxiety also causes dehydration. Could be anything, easier for you to figure out than us, how are you getting on with it since?

danotroy

I forgot about this thread... I still find that after a night on the beer i'm substantially more dehydrated than I was after a night on the beer when I ate meat. I had a health check recently that included a diabetes test which came back negative. I don't drink any fizzy drinks but I do drink a lot of coffee during the week and beer at the weekends. I do drink a lot of water though on an average day in the office i'll drink one pint every 2 hours.