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As everyone else said, there is no disease that is caused by vegetarianism. Some vegetarians do develop vitamin or mineral deficiences, but those can happen to anyone, vegan, vegetarian, or not. The best way to be healthy is to go to a nutritionist if you can, and if you cannot, educate yourself on vegetarian nutrition.

These are two sites that can help you with vegetarian nutrition:

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

http://www.vegparadise.com/basics.html

As long as you eat a varied diet of whole grains, legumes (beans, lentils), fruits, vegetables, and nuts and seeds if you aren't allergic, you will be healthy. But here are some things you may want to know...

-Vitamin B12 is the only vitamin not present in plant foods in significant enough amounts to fulfill our daily requirements. Vitamin B12 is only a concern for vegans, because it is in meat, dairy, and eggs, but it isn't difficult to get in a vegan diet. Some vegans take supplements, others get their requirement from fortified food like non-dairy milks and nutritional yeast.

-Fish is touted for omega-3's, but there are omega-3 fatty acids in lots of vegetarian foods like flax seeds, flax oil, hemp seeds, hemp oil, canola oil, walnuts, leafy green veggies like broccoli, kale, and spinach, kidney beans, and pinto beans.

-Zinc can be of concern and is found in baked beans, chickpeas, pumpkin seeds, lentils, seasame seeds, quinoa, cashews, green peas, spinach, brown rice, and almonds.

-Iron can also be of concern as you seem to know and is found in significant amounts in soy, legumes (beans, lentils), whole grains like quinoa, seeds, and dried fruit.

-Calcium can also be of concern if you don't have a lot of dairy or any dairy, but can be found in collard greens, broccoli, soy, black eyed peas, baked beans, figs, snow peas, acorn squash, oranges, and almonds in good amounts.

As you can see, a lot of the healthy foods overlap. Just eat a healthy diet and you will be fine. If you take a multi-vitamin or an iron supplement already you can continue, but if you haven't been told by a doctor or nutritionist to take anything and you eat healthy, then you don't really need to.

There are actually many diseases where weakening the immune system is better for the patient. Right off the top of my head, I can think of two: psoriasis (the dry and flaky skin that both itches and hurts and never seems to go away completely), and rheumatoid arthritis (the most crippling and deformative type of arthritis). Others could be some types of cancer, especially during chemotherapy, to help the chemicals in the therapy fight the cancer cells. You may find other answers ... because even though doctors know a lot, there are many 'diseases' and dysfunctions still being studied to find cures. You never know what new 'discoveries' will be made, or how a medicine that 'seems to hurt people' may actually be the 'thing' that leads to finding a cure!

Well, I have never really heard of diseases that are caused solely on vegetarianism. You are actually decreasing your risk of disease by leaving the meat out of your diet.

Before taking any type of supplement.. you should consult a nutritionist that specializes in veg diets to be sure what's best for you. You may think you are depriving your body of vitamins.. on the other hand, you may be getting too much.

You may be referring to deficiencies when you talk about diseases..

All you really need to do is make sure your diet is balanced and includes vitamin rich foods..

This may help

http://www.mypyramid.gov/tips_resources/vegetarian...

Vegetarians are at a LOWER risk of getting diseases then those who eat meat. That being said we are ONLY at a lower risk if we get everything we need. If you are worried about not getting everything then yes, take vitamins. But as long as you eat (dark leafy) vegetables (you wont believe how many "vegetarians" i know who dont eat vegetables), fruits, beans/tofu, ect You'll be fine. It really isnt hard to get everything you need.

oh and there are no diseases that come from being veg. You cant even count any vitamin or iron deficiancy because that can come to ANYone veg or not (thats purely an eating right thing)

As I understand it, vegetarianism can only REDUCE your risk of illnesses. Statistically it's the people who eat meat that are at higher risk of diabetes, obesity, food-borne illnesses, and I think some types of cancers. If you eat wisely, you have nothing to worry about. Take supplements if you like but it's not always necessary because you can get all your nutrients directly from your food.

If you can afford it, get organic or home grown. If you're from the U.S. and it's not organic or home grown, try to at least get something grown in the U.S. and not shipped from someplace where the growers and shippers are allowed to put chemicals that the US does not allow commercial growers to spray in the States; this way you minimize the toxins you are eating. Also if you wash your vegetables and peel them if they are not homegrown or organic, even if the bag of salad says prewashed... You reduce the chances of contaminated vegetables (remember hearing there was contaminated peanut butter and spinach?), and you decrease the amount of cancer-causing herbicides and carcinogenic pesticides (we hope) on them. Even if it is home grown, clean it, and you reduce the chances of consuming parasites too. If it's corn, you can peel/shuck/boil.... If you're on a raw diet, rinse it off well.

I think you have a better chance of getting sick off meat and dairy products than vegetables. And the iron...When I lost my baby, I was given folic acid and iron supplements for a long time because I lost so much blood. There are foods that have iron in them too and you don't have to eat meat if you don't want. Here's one website that mentions the foods....http://pediatrics.about.com/od/nutrition/a/06_iron...

Well keep something in mind here...and this affects both vegetarians and omnivores...vegetables you buy in the supermarket were sprayed with pesticides before they got to you. Many of them aren't water soluble, so simply running the vegetable under the sink for 20 seconds isn't going to get rid of all of them.

Not all are carcinogenic, but some are. So keep that in mind.

For omnivores who probably eat a lower amount of vegetables, it's less of an issue, but for vegetarians you are getting higher amounts of those pesticides.

It is scientific fact that pesticides reduce fertility http://www.organicconsumers.org/foodsafety/fertili... http://www.chem-tox.com/infertility/ http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/471... http://www.ewire.com/display.cfm/Wire_ID/1646 http://connection.ebscohost.com/content/article/10...

Makes you wonder what else those pesticides do to the reproductive system?

Only you can decide if your commitment to the vegetarian lifestyle is worth it. It's literally impossible to only eat organic unless you never eat out, only shop at whole foods/farmers markets, and never eat prepared food.

Diseases from being a vegetarian? My friend, you are sadly misinformed. Vegetarianism PREVENTS most disease, not causes it. Eat a well-rounded diet and take a vegetarian-friendly multivitamin and your mineral needs should all be met.

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