- #1
ehrenfest
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Does it make sense to be a vegetarian purely for health reasons?
cristo said:You could google what a cup is, no?
cristo said:One could, if one knows the conversion, convert the info in cups into info in grams.
ehrenfest said:We don't live in a universe where there is a universal conversion factor between the two. It would be insane to look up conversion factors between mass and volume for every type of food I might eat.
Evo said:This site has everything, including a conversion chart in the bottom right hand corner.
http://www.nutritiondata.com/
Moonbear said:This isn't really all that difficult, it's a simple conversion process. You know now what a cup is in terms of milliliters, so if you do not have cups available where you are, you can measure out the food in milliliters based on that conversion factor. If you're basing your measures on weights, you must already have a kitchen scale to know how much you're eating of a certain weight, so just dump the volume on the scale...instant conversion. Or, just use the nutrition label itself to determine what's in the food...it tells you already what is a serving and how much of many nutrients are in that serving. It's just a little practically applied knowledge that any science student ought to be able to handle.
The assumption is that most of the fluids you drink are mostly water: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluid_ounceehrenfest said:I don't understand how that site is converting cups (volume) into grams (mass) without saying what the substance is.
Oh good lord, you look up whatever food you want information on. Ever try reading?ehrenfest said:I don't understand how that site is converting cups (volume) into grams (mass) without saying what the substance is.
ehrenfest said:No, I don't have a kitchen scale. I usually only eat at places that post their nutrition facts online.
The website I furnished shows weight in grams and ounces and even has a converter.TheStatutoryApe said:I'm having trouble understanding how exactly you translate cups into grams myself. I mean unless everything you are measuring in cups is wet and liquid. Perhaps nonliquids measure out nearly the same so long as they are wet but what about dry and semi dry substances or particularly dense substances?
Evo said:Seriously, this isn't rocket surgery.![]()
Evo said:The website I furnished shows weight in grams and ounces and even has a converter.
In answer to your question http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_grams_are_in_a_cup
The conversion site they recommend is http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/cookingconversions.asp
Seriously, this isn't rocket surgery.![]()
Yes, I stole it from you. I read your explanation of where your name came from and loved it!RocketSurgery said:Good one
But,
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Evo said:Yes, I stole it from you. I read your explanation of where your name came from and loved it!
Moonbear said:Here's a hint...if you're only eating at places that post nutritional info online, you're eating crap. And only vegetarian from those places? What are you getting, fast food fries and salad?
RocketSurgery said:Be careful though. I tried going veg for a Month. I ate salads/fruitcuts/pancakes and had a multivitamin everyday. After about a month though I was always wide awake and could only sleep 4hrs everynight. When I started eating meat every few days I stopped having this problem.
ehrenfest said:Subway is not crap either.
If you want to eat out and expect a vegetarian menu, don't go to sandwich shops that specialize in meat sandwiches. Either find vegetarian restaurants or make your own.ehrenfest said:Interesting. I have not had that problem. The main problem with being a vegetarian for me is that there ARE SO FEW options when I go out to eat. When I go to a place like Subway, almost 95% of the things on their menu have meat in them. And a lot of times restaurants load their few vegetarian items with fat or sodium or both to "make up" for the lack of meat, which makes me furious. Thus, it is very difficult to eat a balanced diet. I end up eating way too many bagels and way too many cups of Panera's "black bean" or "garden vegetable" soup. I imagine it would be easier if I lived in an apartment and not a dorm so that cooking would be more feasible.
Evo said:Can I ask how you can be of college age and not know the simplest, most basic things that most elementary school children would know? No insult meant, I am just really curious how you can not be aware of so many basic things. Were you home schooled?
ehrenfest said:Interesting. I have not had that problem. The main problem with being a vegetarian for me is that there ARE SO FEW options when I go out to eat. When I go to a place like Subway, almost 95% of the things on their menu have meat in them. And a lot of times restaurants load their few vegetarian items with fat or sodium or both to "make up" for the lack of meat, which makes me furious. Thus, it is very difficult to eat a balanced diet. I end up eating way too many bagels and way too many cups of Panera's "black bean" or "garden vegetable" soup. I imagine it would be easier if I lived in an apartment and not a dorm so that cooking would be more feasible. But I still continue to be a vegetarian:
1) because I think even my restricted herbivorous diet is healthier than the carnivorous diet I ate beforehand
2) because my role model Kiran Kedlaya (http://math.mit.edu/~kedlaya/) is a vegetarian
3) because I don't think eating meat is environmentally sustainable for the entire world population
I really need to read a book about healthy dieting since it means so much to me and yet I am so badly versed in it. Anyone have any suggestions? Has anyone seen a nutritionist? Is that helpful?
Moonbear said:This is seriously simple stuff that you should have learned in elementary school.
I'm referring to all of your recent threads. From a sociological aspect it appears that you were sequestered until you went to college.ehrenfest said:I was not home-schooled. They definitely do not teach you how to be a vegetarian in elementary school. Maybe I should know what a cup is...but what else are referring to? I go to subway because it is one of the few places nearby (in walking distance).
They are taught it, they choose to ignore it later. You certainly should be taught about basic weights and measures...ounces, cups, pints, quarts, milliliters, liters, etc. sufficient to follow nutrition recommendations you find online. No, you won't be taught how to have a vegetarian diet, because the recommendations for a balanced diet include meat and dairy products, but you should have the basic knowledge to be able to read a nutrition label and understand it.ehrenfest said:Considering the fact that such a high percentage of the American population is obese, overweight, or whatever, I think this is NOT something most people learn in elementary school (or in higher grade levels for that matter).
Evo said:I'm referring to all of your recent threads. From a sociological aspect it appears that you were sequestered until you went to college.
Moonbear said:A lot of people completely misunderstand the current recommendations for a healthy diet (yes, this is a MAJOR flaw in the design of the Food Pyramid that nobody knows how to "read" it) and are completely overeating breads/grains.