Vegetarians help please!!!

Question

ive decided i want to try to become a vegetarian. ive researched everything about what i need to eat to get the nutrition im loosing from giving up meat. i was wondering if there are any vegetarians who eat fish. considering that its possible that they do not feel pain because the part of their brain that is supposed to tell them if they are feeling pain is so small that they might not feel any pain. but then again you are still taking their life away. so what do you do. what do you recommend i do. (ive only been a vegetarian since 8-5-08) thank you very much!!

Answer 1

Im a "Vegitarian", but i eat white meat (such as chicken and fish).

It's an easy way to get protein and iron :)

Answer 2

Vegetarians who eat fish are called Pescetarians.

So really they aren't vegetarians at all. Coz fish are animals. And vegetarians DON'T eat animals.

Answer 3

Vegetarians do not eat fish.

Fish have a nervous system and thus feel pain no matter what size their brain is.

I am now vegan but when I first started trying vegetarianism I would have some chicken and some tuna and then suddenly it hit me that cruelty isn't limited and then I could not bare to eat any animal.

Good luck!

Answer 4

I have been a vegetarian for a long time, and I am also studying to be a holistic nutritionist.  First of all, the rumor that fish can't feel pain is total bull.  They can feel pain and like you said, it is still eating another animal's flesh.  Yes, there are some vegetarians who eat fish, but you don't have to worry about the label.  Eat what you feel morally and physically that you should eat.   You don't lose anything from not eating meat that you can't easily replace with good plant foods.  One thing you should look out for however, is getting too much protein.  That is a common mistake made by people who become a vegetarian without a solid knowledge of nutrition.  Don't overcompensate.  If you are thinking about learning about nutrition.  DON'T go straight for the brightly colored books written by doctors (especially male doctors).  Instead, look for the books that talk about the perspectives of holistic nutrition by other countries such as Asia.  They will give you the best information about everything having to do with nutrition.  I also recommend the book Waistland.  It was amazing!

congradulations on being a vegetarian!

good luck!

Answer 5

1st of all if it has a face i do not eat it or if it has a Mother or red blood like me, i will not eat it.    and if you combine beans/legumes with any grain you get a complete protein, which is what our body's need.  which you know cuz you did research.  congrats for trying to eat consciously.

Answer 6

It doesn't matter whether fish feel pain or not--and by the way, research has shown they certainly do--if you eat fish, you are not a vegetarian.  Pure and simple.  Okay, yes, it does matter that fish feel pain. Vegetarians do not eat the flesh of other animals, and fish are most certainly animals.

Since you are just beginning your vegetarian journey--and I wish you much luck--here are a few websites which might help:

www.vrg.org for nutritional information

www.happycow.net and www.vegdining.com to find vegetarian and veg-friendly restaurants all over the world.  They also list health food stores.

www.vegweb.com for recipes.  While not a strictly vegetarian site, www.recipezaar.com has a pretty good vegetarian section.

There are a number of vegan shopping sites:  www.veganessentials.com, www.veganstore.com, www.vegangoods.com, and www.cosmosveganshoppe.com.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

Answer 7

There is no such thing as a vegetarian that eats fish. If someone eats fish, they are not vegetarian.

Vegetarians do not eat animals.

Fish, shrimp and clams are animals whether it is believed that they feel pain or not.

http://www.veganhealth.org/sh

http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo

Answer 8

Vegetarians don't eat fish.

Answer 9

I'm pretty sure fish feel pain. That said, there are lots of people who do only eat fish (pescetarian is the term, I think), and it might be a first step towards going completely veg.

You shouldn't have any trouble getting complete protein from non-meat sources. Beans, tofu, dairy products, and eggs (most commercially available eggs are unfertilized so you're not taking a life, although you may have issued with how the battery hens are treated) can provide you with all the protein you need and more.  

Answer 10

I don't know if you're still considered vegetarian if you eat fish. I don't eat any meat, but I do eat fish. They probably do feel pain, but depending on how they are caught and killed or if they are factory farmed the pain may be less or more. I eat wild fish only if I can help it, it's better for the fish population. Wild salmon, for instance, are caught after they have laid their eggs. so they are caught right before they are about to die anyway.

It really depends on how you feel personally, if you don't want to eat fish, then don't if you do, chow down. It's a personal choice, so don't let others try and tell you what to do, consider their advice, but really it's how you feel.

Answer 11

alright, first of all people who comment need to learn the definition of a vegetarian, or vegetarianism. Vegetarianism is the voluntary abstinence from eating meat. Meat is red meat. Simple, cows, pigs, etc. Eating fish is considered being a pescatarian, i am one, i would know. people who say because i eat fish, im not a vegetarian are wrong because fish, is shell fish, or seafood, not meat.

hope this helps

Answer 12

Vegetarians don't eat fish, but if you want fish that don't feel pain eat only shell fish like clams and oysters. They have no central nervous systems. All other fish do, including lobsters and crabs.  

Answer 13

Well, I'm not a vegan, but I can tell you that nuts can give the you protein that meat doesn't. Tofu can too, but it doesn't really have a taste.

Answer 14

You're not a vegetarian if you eat fish. It's a clear cut no. When people tell me they're vegetarians but they eat fish I find it annoying. If saying you're a vegetarian is always followed with a "but" I think they know the truth.  It's as weird as saying you're a vegan but you drink milk. You're not a vegan, you just don't eat eggs. As to fish not feeling pain, I don't know the science of it. All I know is they look pretty uncomfortable to me flapping around on a boat suffocating with their mouths torn and bleeding from a hook.

Here's how vegetarian is defined in pretty much all dictionaries.

Dictionary.com

"a person who does not eat or does not believe in eating meat, fish, fowl, or, in some cases, any food derived from animals, as eggs or cheese, but subsists on vegetables, fruits, nuts, grain, etc."

Dictionary Encarta-

" Somebody not eating meat or fish: somebody who eats vegetables, fruits, grains, seeds, and usually eggs and dairy products, but not meat or fish"

Wikipedia

"Vegetarianism is the practice of a diet that excludes all meat, including poultry, game, fish, shellfish or crustacea, and slaughter by-products"

Answer 15

Fish definitely feel pain. They have central nervous systems. All you need to feel pain is a cerebral cortex and complete nerve connections. Fish have them. So do bugs. In terms of pain, I think fish is the worst of all in terms of cruel deaths. There's no nice way to kill a fish. It simply can't happen instantly or without the fish seeing it coming.  

Answer 16

vegetarian means..

NO MEAT  and NO DAIRY.

simple as that.. matter of fact vegetarian diets are the simplest.

more simple than the vegan diet.

Answer 17

I'm a vegetarian, and i do not eat fish. But i have veggie friends that do. What your doing is great and if you feel like you should eat fish, its fine with me.

Some vegetarians give other vegetarians a hard time for eating fish or wearing leather and fur. But i say your helping great. We need all the help we can get right? The last thing we want is to scare someone away from being a vegetarian because the thought they wernt doing it right.