A video explaining the essential amino acids and proteins needed by a Vegetarian. This video is prepared by a registered dietitian.

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an omega 3 fatty acid. DHA is produced from eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in your body.One naturally ocurring vegetarian source of DHA can be obtained from seaweed. DHA plays an important role in the proper functioning of the brain in adults and development of nervous system in first 6 months of our life. DHA also helps in prevention of heart disease. DHA is especially important for infants because it helps in the development and growth of central nervous system and visual functioning. DHA is now recommended as a supplement for pregnant women.

DHA is also present in breast milk and is vital for child growth. Scientific study has shown that lack of DHA results in poor retina development, poor cognitive development and low visual accuracy. A society called ISSFAL (International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids) recommended 300mg/day of DHA for pregnant and lactating women. DHA is now an ingredient in several brands of infant formula.

Some study also show that vegetarians have low stores of DHA. DHA level in vegetarian may not rise even with high level of linolenic acid input (helps in production of DHA in body). There are some DHA supplements available in the market for vegetarians.

DHA can be found in cold water fatty fish along with salmon, blufin tuna, mackerel, shellfish, sardines and herring. But being vegetarian you don’t make these products as a part of your diet. You have to search for the supplements for these foods. Before buying any supplements you have to carefully find the product which has quality DHA supplements. You can consult with your doctor for good DHA supplements. Once the child is born you have to choose a good infant formula which has DHA. Carefully reading the labels will certainly tell you if the product has DHA or not.

You can get a good amount of DHA form foods like carrot, Peas, Brown rice, Flour, Whole wheat flour, Whey, Tomato pasta, Onion powder and Egg Whites. Flax seed and flax seed supplements are also a great source of Omega 3 fatty acid which gets converted to DHA in our body. It’s a good alternative for vegetarians. You can get flax oil and eat it with cereal and salads. Flax seed oil capsules are also available if you prefer so.

Consuming a handful of Walnuts will increase the amount of Omega 3 fatty acids which will eventually increase your DHA amount. You can also eat green leafy vegetables to increase the amount of essential fatty acids. Eating a well balance diet is the key. Eat green, leafy vegetable, eggs, walnuts, flax seed and some supplements will ensure that you get essential amount of DHA.

This information is for general guide only and should never be replaced for professional Doctor Advice. I hope this information was helpful for you. Any comment and suggestions are welcome.

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Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an essential omega-3 fatty acid responsible for many physiological roles particularly  in early development.

The human body cannot synthesize DHA from fatty acid precursors and as a result must be obtained through the diet.

DHA is vital for brain development in fetal and infant stages as well as for the maintenance of normal brain function throughout life.

DHA is required for brain cells to communicate properly.

During fetal development, maternal DHA is preferentially transported across the placenta and into fetal circulation. DHA accrues rapidly in the human brain during the third trimester of preganancy and during the early postnatal period. Maternal omega-III fatty acid stores are the sole source of DHA for the fetus as well as for exclusively breast-fed infants. DHA is the most abundant omega-III fatty acid in human breast milk. Due primarily to the less-than-average consumption of seafood and coldwater fish, American women have among the lowest levels of DHA in breast milk. Hence the recommendation for fish oil supplementation for pregnant and nursing mothers.

In the United States, infant formulas do not require supplementation with DHA. But, In Japan and most of Europe, infant formulas are supplemented with DHA.  Some premium infant formulas in the United States do contain DHA. These formulas typically contain 8-17 mg of DHA per 100 kilocalories of formula.

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Most vegetarians who stop eating meat for ethical
reasons also take measures to avoid contributing to the
suffering and death of animals (and even insects) . For example, a number of vegetarians refuse to
wear leather and silk because they see it as an ethical
violation of their respect for all living things.

Vegetarians who refuse to wear silk argue that the process
involves unnecessary cruelty to moth larvae. Rather than
allowing the moth to grow and leave the cocoon, silk
manufacturers boil the larvae alive, causing them to suffer
and writhe, in order to obtain longer strands of silk.

Leather, by contrast, does not directly contribute to the
suffering of animals in most cases. In most cases, leather
is made from the byproducts of animals that would be
slaughtered for meat, rennet, and other animal
products.

This is precisely why many vegetarians who have an ethical
dilemma with meat have no problem wearing leather: because
they do not see it as the primary reason for killing the
animals, but instead a byproduct of the slaughter.

However, certain groups of vegans oppose wearing leather
on the grounds that it indirectly contributes to the
suffering of animals.

These vegans argue that contributing money to the companies
that own the slaughterhouses (and sell the byproducts for
leather, etc.) is just as bad as actually purchasing and
eating meat yourself because you are still contributing
money to the continuation of institutionalized animal
suffering.

This is certainly something to consider if you are
currently a vegan or a vegetarian for ethical reasons.
It may have been tough to give up meat in the first place,
but if you are truly committed to the cause and you
believe the arguments are strong-enough, you may want
to avoid clothing purchases that will aid institutions
that cause animal suffering.

If you are a prospective vegetarian for ethical reasons,
but aren’t sure whether or not a vegetarian lifestyle is
truly a more ethical choice, here are some statistics
from EarthSave to help you make your choice (for
or against):

1. Over 1.3 billion human beings could be fed each year
from the grain and soybeans that go to livestock in the
United States.

This means that the entire population of the United States
could be fed (without losing any nutritional value) and there
would still be enough food left over to feed one billion
people.

In a world where millions of people die each year of
starvation, that type of food excess and inefficiency
could be considered unethical.

2. Livestock in the US produces roughly 30 times more
excrement than human beings. While humans in the US have
complex sewage systems to collect and treat human waste,
there are no such systems on feedlots. As a result, most
of this waste leeches into water.

This means that large-scale, massive production and
slaughter of animals is not only unethical, but it also
causes serious environmental degradation.

3. It takes 7.5 pounds of protein feed to create 1 pound of
consumable hog protein; and it takes 5 pounds of protein
feed to create 1 pound of consumable chicken protein. Close
to 90% of protein from wheat and beans is lost to feed
cycling.

This means that an enormous amount of resources are
dedicated to producing wheat and soy just for the purpose
of feeding it to animals, which will be slaughtered as “a
source of protein”–even though they only provide about
1/5 of the amount they consume.

Not only can the production of meat be considered an
injustice against animals, but it can also be considered an
injustice against human beings, as well as the environment
in general.

Most vegetarians became a vegetarian for
one of three reasons.

The first reason, is that
they have ethical problems with eating meat. Most disagree
with how chickens are debeaked, forced to live in small
cages, and are then slaughtered when they do not produce
eggs fast enough. The treatment of calves for veal production would dishearten even the most hardened of carnivores.

Most vegetarians also disagree with the crowded and
stressful environments animals are forced into; and
the hormone-laden feed used to make them grow faster
and produce more. Even if one isn’t compassionate towards the treatment of animals the health effects of consuming these hormones have been increasingly proven to be dangerous for humans

People who become vegetarians for this purpose often
draw ethical boundaries in different spots, depending on
their personal beliefs. For instance, some staunch vegans
wont consume yeast, wear wool, or even eat certain
vegetables, such as carrots, that require killing the
plant to harvest.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, some vegetarians–
sometimes referred to as pseudo-vegetarians, but more accurately called pescaterians or ovo-lacto vegetarians, will actually
eat fish and eggs on a regular basis.

The second biggest reason vegetarians claim for not eating
meat is that it conflicts with their dietary preferences.
Some of these vegetarians simply do not like the texture
and taste of meat; others do not eat it because it is high
in cholesterol and often contains high concentrations
of hormones and preservatives.

The third and smallest group of vegetarians cite
environmental reasons for not consuming meat. They complain
that consumption of meat causes farmers to continually
deforest land to create grazing land for cattle.

In addition to these three major groups, there are a number
of other smaller groups of vegetarians who stopped eating
meat for entirely different reasons.