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Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat â" red meat, poultry, seafood and the flesh of any other animal; it may also include abstention from by-products of animal slaughter, such as animal-derived rennet and gelatin.

http://www.vegsoc.org/FAQs/:

The Vegetarian Society defines a vegetarian as: "Someone who lives on a diet of grains, pulses, nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruits with, or without, the use of dairy products and eggs. A vegetarian does not eat any meat, poultry, game, fish, shellfish* or by-products of slaughter."

So, where do I need to look to find anything supporting your "entire lifestyle" view?

Human beings can survive perfectly fine on a diet of just vegetables as a matter of biology

No, they can't. Vitamin B12 is only available in meat, dairy, and eggs. Period. Citation. Quote:

The only reliable unfortified sources of vitamin B12 are meat, dairy products and eggs. There has been considerable research into possible plant food sources of B12. Fermented soya products, seaweeds and algae have all been proposed as possible sources of B12. However, analysis of fermented soya products, including tempeh, miso, shoyu and tamari, found no significant B12.

Most importantly, brew your own beer. It costs around 10p a pint and can even taste nice if you get a good recipe. Checkout a brewing shop for what you'll need to get to start yourself off.

One of the problems that I have seen over and over again with vegetarians/vegans is that their nutrition research has been anemic, or rife with dis/misinformation. Fortunately, my wife (she turned vegan at a very young age, 13) had parents that demanded she do the research in order to maintain a healthy diet. She did. And without a derogatory ping to mention, she is slightly overweight. It wasn't a health/weight issue with her, but rather a moral one, and she eats plenty. You see, being underweight has nearly nothing to do with being vegetarian: it is the result of an unhealthy diet, and your friends should take note of that. Unfortunately, as I stated previously, our society doesn't serve the proper vegetarian diet in a convenient way, and therefore much work has to be done on the individual level. Research, consult a nutritionist, etc... whatever you need to do, because just eating salads is going to produce an extremely unhealthy result, and I see it constantly to my dismay.

The health benefits (links with references to the studies done) are hard to ignore, and are readily available to peruse. I found those in one minute of googling. I can provide more in depth studies if one wishes.

Just to reiterate, an unhealthy vegetarian, just as an unhealthy meat eater is the result of a bad nutritional intake, but research over the last 30 years has shown that an all veggie diet can in fact reduce many common modern health risks (diabetes, heart disease, colon cancer, among others).

Kindly,
eclectic

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/b12.html

Define strict vegan? All of the vegans I know (counting myself) will eat synthetic sources of B12. Nothing about being vegan ties you to eating an organic or non-supplemented diet. More importantly, I will agree that your claim that a true vegan diet has no B12 source is bullshit. Evidence: http://www.silkissoy.com/index.php

My (former) doctor told me that I'd lose too much weight and be unhealthy if I went vegan. 7 years later and I'm healthier than ever - mentally and physically (though one could argue one perceived positive lifestyle change will lead to others - power of internal suggestion, if you will). Just because one Rn teaching one course tells you something is true doesn't make it fact. If you don't agree, go try to find those WMD that exist

So, where do they get vitamin B12? Presumably from pills or foods that have been artificially fortified - plant food alone isn't enough, and would lead to irreversible neurological damage outside of a technologically advanced society.