How to Eat Meat: Transitioning Away from Vegetarianism
As you all know, I have a number of vegetarians in my life, and there are many present and active in our MDA community. I empathize with the thinking that goes into their commitment, but I choose to eat meat and obviously encourage others to do the same for the sake of optimum health. I get a fair amount of emails from vegetarian readers who want to reintroduce meat into their diets. Although they see the health benefits of reclaiming omnivorism, they’re hesitant about the transition itself. Have they been herbivores too long? Will they really be able to follow through? The Primal mind is willing, but the flesh remains unsure. I’ve found their concerns generally fall into four areas that I’ll label taste, digestion, morality, and psychology. For all the vegetarians out there interested in rejoining the omnivorous side, let me take up your concerns and offer some Primal-minded suggestions.
Taste
Some vegetarians after many years are still nostalgic for certain meats (bacon seems to be the most common), while others have entirely lost any semblance of craving. Maybe they’ve managed to satisfy their taste for umami so well, they learned to live happily without any meat source. Alternatively, they may have vehemently talked themselves out of the taste long ago.
Faced with the interest in reclaiming meats’ nutritional benefit, they wonder how to rebuild a positive relationship with their estranged fare. We are, all of us, creatures of habit, and we tend to lean toward the familiar. As hard as it may be for meat lovers to understand, giving up a food group for years (and in some cases decades) means wholly disengaging from it. One’s associations with meat may become apathetic at best and full-on revulsion at worst. One reader worried because he’d come to hate the smell of grilled meat that wafted through his neighborhood from the corner restaurant. “If I can’t even take the smell,” he said, “I wonder how I’m ever going to stand the taste again.”
Readers will undoubtedly have good advice on the subject, but let me offer a few suggestions to ease the taste transition. It goes without saying (except I’m saying it) to take it slowly. Use small bits of meat (shredded or ground) as filler in what are already favorite dishes. Add a bit of shredded lamb to a ratatouille. Include small bites of chicken or shrimp in a Greek salad. Throw a little ground beef in a veggie stew.
Alternatively, let someone else do the cooking for a while. Make your first forays in a restaurant. Look around the room and see what other people are eating. Go with a visually appealing dish or something that just sounds good on the menu. Bring an experimental mindset. If the restaurant thing doesn’t do it for you, ask some meat-eating friends to share a couple of their best dishes. Host a potluck. Aim to try as many things as you can. Who knows, Mikey might like it.
Digestion
Beyond the scope of mere aesthetic appreciation, many vegetarian readers share a trickier concern. They worry – either because they’ve heard they should or (in some cases) they’ve experienced trouble in the past – that their bodies can’t digest meat anymore. Let me say there’s a lot hooey thrown around on this issue.
Do I suggest a 10-year vegetarian reignite his meat-eating lifestyle with a large t-bone steak or a blood sausage? No. But I think there’s a way for just about anybody (there’s probably some random outlier somewhere) to integrate meat again if they take it slowly enough.
Most of the clamor revolves around stomach enzymes. People declare their stomachs simply don’t produce meat digesting enzymes anymore, and they’re forever confined to a plant-based diet. Most of the time I hear this claim coming from people who’ve been vegetarians for five years or less.
This is one of the those times when I wish I could point to a group of studies and say, “See, there’s really no need to worry that a few years has selectively demolished your digestive profile.” Unfortunately, I have yet to come across any particular study with this focus. (If you know of one, please send it my way.) Nonetheless, reason and experience can often tell us what scientific research can’t. While long-term, strict vegetarianism or veganism can possibly lower the production of certain protein-directed enzymes, it shouldn’t be enough to halt it, let alone undo the genetic potential one has to produce them.
That said, I can see why people don’t want to jump in the deep end of the pool right away. Some people, particularly if they’ve been vegans or vegetarians for many years, do experience digestive upset during the first few days or weeks of including meat again. (Similar in some way to a sugar-burner turning fat-burner during the low carb flu period.) Rest assured it doesn’t mean you’ll always be plagued with nausea. In my experience, most people who take it slowly say they have little to no digestive issues during the transition.
Nonetheless, here’s a modest proposal for easing back into efficient meat digestion:
- Start with good gut bacteria. Incorporate fermented foods, and go with a probiotic supplement for at least a few weeks before and after starting meat again. A healthy gut environment sets the stage for optimum digestion (among other benefits of course).
- If you’ve had digestive issues with meat before, try broth, particularly bone broth, for the first week. It’s good nutrition, and it might be easier to handle. Continue broth until you’re ready to move on to solid meat.
- Eat meat or fish alone, and don’t eat again for a few hours. (Be sure to eat it earlier in the day rather than at night.) Allow plenty of time for digestion and stomach emptying if you want to gauge how it will make you feel.
- Use a marinade that contains an acid like vinegar or a natural meat tenderizer like the bromelain in pineapple.
- If you experience ongoing problems, try a short-term course of HCL or enzyme supplement.
Morality
I’ll admit there’s no sugar coating the basics. Yes, it was an animal and – unless you forage for roadkill – it died to become food. As bad as a person may feel about this act, it’s the way of life of course. Nature isn’t a gentle, magnanimous force. We evolved to eat both meat and plants, regardless of what some people say. Meat eating (particularly after cooking was added to the mix) was a significant boon to our species. Yes, we can live without it, but we live better with it.
All that said, I can understand many people’s discomfort with the modern meat industry. In a fitting correlation, the livestock practices that produce the healthiest meat also tend to be more humane and less environmentally destructive overall. It’s not a perfect scenario, but it’s a better one.
These days it’s possible for most people to find more humanely raised, pastured meat either within driving distance, through local co-ops and buying clubs, or by direct mail. If local stores don’t offer what you’re looking for, research the area farms and natural buying clubs available to you, and check out direct farm to consumer mail order options. You should be able to find out how the animals are raised, what their diet is, and even what facility handles the slaughter and processing. Consider the facts, weigh the financials, and choose the best you can.
Then there’s always the do-it-yourself approach. As unappealing as killing an animal must sound, the option provides the best chance to ensure an animal has had as natural a life (and humane a death) as possible. Some people fish for their dinners or raise their own chickens for this exact reason. Raising a small herd of cattle or sheep is obviously more complicated, but I’ve known a few folks who do it. People also hunt, of course, for this among many other reasons. I’ll admit that I’ve done a mental 180 in recent years around the hunting issue. There are of course hunters who are cruel and irresponsible, but friends and MDA readers (among others) have helped me see how hunting – when done with respect and skill – offers a humane and even reverent way to relate to the animals we eat.
Last, take a look at opposing views on the ethics of eating meat. As Denise Minger recommended in her Ancestral Health Symposium talk, Let Them Eat Meat puts forth some interesting arguments. And Lierre Keith’s The Vegetarian Myth is highly recommended.
Psychology
Oftentimes, people’s emotional reservations are caught up primarily in the previous factor. Sometimes, however, there’s another level to the aversion – a heebie-jeebies kind of feeling. It’s more common in people who have been vegetarians/vegans for many years or who focused on the “repulsive” fleshly aspect of carne to maintain their commitment.
At some point, of course, you just have gird up your loins and sink your teeth into some. Some vegetarian readers have told me they try to ignore the meat in the dish. They tell themselves – in vain – that it’s just another ingredient. Their efforts to disconnect thought from sensory experience ends up making the situation worse. The flesh is all they can think about.
Although I can see why they would want to put it out of their minds and just do the deed with as little thought as possible, maybe the opposite approach is in order. Fire up the grill or, better yet, campfire. Give the occasion its primal due. Make a ceremony out of it. Think about that animal and all it offers to you now. Think about your ancestors and what they sacrificed through the ages to achieve basic survival. Toast them all. Celebrate the choice you have to indulge today. Eat with your hands. Feel the meat’s life-giving energy, and relish its connection to what’s essential and wild. After all, we’re all animals at the end of the day.
Thanks for reading today, everyone. Have you made the meat-eating transition? Know someone who has? What’s helped (or not)? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Grab The Primal Blueprint Cookbook Today and Receive Free S&H and a Free Primal Blueprint Poster
Posted By: Mark Sisson
Went to paleo from 10 years of full vegetarianism overnight.. I did not have any stomach issues..
http://www.sancarloscrossfit.com/2011/08/my-paleo-experiment/
It has been awesome…
I was once cooking some goat liver at a party, and a bunch of people lined up to get a taste. Three of them told me afterwards, “Man, that’s pretty good, it doesn’t taste like meat! We’re vegetarians, but we just had to try it.” It was one of my proudest moments, and I really respected those people for being adventurous and open minded.
“Man, I love vegetarians. They’re all I eat.. with the exception of the occasional mountain lion steak.”
~The Nuge.
Hey, I just had to. It’s bowhuntin’ season in much of the West, don’tcha know.
I was a vegetarian for 16 1/2 years before I started eating animals again, this past spring. Two years ago I started developing iron-deficiency anemia, and I finally refused to put up with the fatigue, constant cold, and general feelings of ill health.
Yes, the first few bites of fish were tough. But I never had any digestive problems. Liver was next–it’s so gosh-darn healthy! Finally my body said that it wanted to try some grass-fed beef, and the rest is history. Fortunately I live where I can get all my meat from local, pasture-based ranches.
The clincher that this new way is best for me? Last Friday I was able to donate blood for the first time in seven years. Years of anemia cured by five months of a predominantly-primal lifestyle. I feel vital.
LIVER was second? WOW! Most lifelong meat-eaters won’t touch liver, so I’m surprised.
One of my first post-vegetarian meals was a whole Cornish game hen. I laughed, it seemed so absurd to eschew meats for years and years, then eat a whole animal right off the bat.
I’ve never been a vegetarian, never wanted to be. Grew up on a potato farm in Northern Maine. We had meat three times a day, and here we have it twice a day. I have had no problems giving up certain veggies and no problems whatsoever giving up grains. I have no intention of eating insects – when my favorite animal is steak! Here in Montana we call them “Slow Elk” and they are mostly grass fed.
I grew up in a modern hunter-gatherer/small farm family. We didn’t have much money, so my family raised or hunted our own food. At only 6 years old I would help my dad butcher rabbits. He taught me the ways of nature. Animals eat other animals. He was reverent and grateful. I became a vegetarian as a teenager and remained so until I started running with a troupe of Irish Dancers. (Remember that scene in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” where the groom tells the mother that he’s a vegetarian and she offers him lamb? The Irish are sort of like that! HA) Anyhow, I went on a vegetable fast for two weeks and felt so great that I gave up meat. I didn’t think that perhaps it was bread and other grains that were making me feel so terrible. Anyhow, thanks to the Irish, I got back into real foods, but it took me many years to talk myself into giving up grains as well.
I was one of those bleeding heart kids who never could get past the idea of killing animals, so I became a vegetarian as a teenager and continued for over 20 years, being vegan for part of that. After struggling with many health concerns including severe anemia and thyroid disease (imagine my shock when my endocrinologist advised me not to eat soy and my doctor begged me to start eating meat), I eventually began to include meat in my diet.
Really, it was spending some time in Africa that spelled the beginning of the end of my vegetarianism. I think we are often so removed from the natural order of things, we forget that animals eat other animals, and it’s neither humane nor pretty when they do so. We are animals, no more and no less.
Over time, I transitioned to raising our own chickens for eggs, and buying local humanely raised pastured meat that I’ve looked in the eye. Reading The Vegetarian Myth was like looking in the mirror for me, and it really helped me to see the reality of the fact that there is no life without death, and that we cannot eat without killing something. Acknowledging that was key for me. Now, I can honor what I kill and ensure that it’s environmentally as local and responsible as I can make it.
This post is as thoughtful and helpful as everything Mark writes! For myself, I had very little difficulty transitioning, though it was several months before I could handle and cook the raw meat myself. Now, no problem!
I was vegetarian for 8 years. I managed to stick to my diet despite living with meat-eaters, and ironically when I moved out on my own I started eating more meat than I ever had in my life. I cooked my own meals or ate selectively when I lived at home, but I moved in with my meat-loving boyfriend and it just plain became easier to eat meat. I wasn’t going to make two meals to satisfy both of us.
I started with poultry and fish since it would be less likely to upset my stomach, then after about two years I started introducing red meat. Now my favorite foods are steak and bacon.
To be honest I’m not sure why I was vegetarian to begin with. I think some videos from PETA pushed me towards that direction, along with some religious beliefs, but I think I stuck with it out of habit long after those things were relevant to me. (Obviously animal welfare will always be relevant to me, but it never occurred to me that I should eat humanely raised meats.)
Great Article! I made the jump. Was a Vegetarian for 22 years, (poor) husband was too. Our Children never had meat either until recently.
I had big concerns about being able to digest, did miss bacon so I guess textbook. We started out with a Christmas Turkey, then Chicken, Bacon and eventually red meat. We started out with one meal a week with meat incorporated now we are almost an every meal meat family after about two years.
One big note is we only bought good, grain fed or organic meat…There are so many options in markets now, much more so that in 1989-
For me, I’ve given up all meat and junk food. Not saying meat is junk food though. I have absolutely no craving for junk food or meat whenever I see people eat them. I’ve also learned to get protein from limited fruit, limited roots, limited grains, limited legumes (fermented only), nuts, and a lot of vegetables. I do eat eggs as well, and some plain yoghurt when I have the chance to. Fat and protein, I have them all.
I’ve been reading Mark’s Daily Apple for a month now. I’ve had Type 1 diabetes for almost 22 years (since I was 2 years old) and been vegan for 5.
Recently, I’ve developed some extensive food allergies and intolerance (dairy, wheat/rye/barley, soy, peanuts/peas/lentils/legumes, corn, coffee, alcohol, vinegar, citrus, fake sugars, spicy foods, and seafood/shellfish. Whew!) These food makes me nauseous and vomit.
Naturally, I need to start eating meat again (I’ve been re-introducing eggs slowly into my diet, but nothing else so far). A former personal trainer told me about the Paleo diet and Mark’s Daily Apple, so I’ve been reading about both.
The problem with meat for me is less to do with morality, and more to do with psychology. I’m terrified of those gross hormones and fillers (often corn or soy) that are put into animals nowadays, as well as the toxins that factory-farming and poor storage can introduce into meat. Even when faced with supposedly organic meat and eggs, I am skeptical and scared of not knowing what I’m putting in my body. I realize that the same problems can be found with “organic” vegetables and non-animal products as well, but I have more experience growing these myself, or finding local products that I know are good. I don’t think I’m quite up for raising or slaughtering my own animals just yet!
Does anyone have any suggestions for getting around these psychological blocks, as well as tips for finding untainted meat products? I’ve already googled some farms in my area, and am planning on touring one in the next month or so, but other ideas would be appreciated.
I’m vegan and I just stumbled upon this blog via a post about too much cardio being bad (which was very interesting btw!)
I’ve just read this whole comment thread totally fascinated!
What has all these vegetarians and vegans running back to meat after 12-20 years? I’m used to reading the vegan forums where the comment threads say all the same things, just in favor of veganism
So what’s the deal?
Do some people just need meat and others don’t? Is a change as good as a holiday? Is meat supposed to be better for all people? If so, what is it about meat that makes it better e.g. what am I missing by eating a vegan diet that includes the same levels of iron, B12, etc.?
I’m not looking to start a flame war here although I know it’s a sensitive topic. All I can say is most of my friends are omnivores and I love and respect them and their decisions as much as my vegan friends.
I have tried going veggie twice..first time I lasted a little over a year,this time around 3 months (I had chicken today)..even though I drank a nutritional shake daily I always felt tired.I must say both times when I went back to eating meat ,I attacked it like a werewolf.I craved it, so I am thinking our bodies may need it.
Well, I don’t think we need a guide for vegetarians to transition back to meat.
The priority should always be SAD eaters who need to ditch their processed meat and eat real meat, ditch their sugar and eat real vegetables.
And for vegetarians who follow an unhealthy diet to ditch processed fake meat, excess starch, unfermented soy and etc.
I prefer to Live on road-kills and SPCA Puppies and Kitties…It is alot better for the planet to not have to raise them for food…There are so many pets that are put to sleep and are wasted…well took me a little bit of time to get over the killing and cleaning of the baby puppies and all, but now I gotta admit they make a mean stir fry…all my friends think don’t even know. In fact, I am roasting a little weiner dog right now! Yum! who says you can’t be both green and a meat eater!
Thanks for writing this, Mark. I have been mostly veggie for about 4.5 years and was vegan for 2 of those years. I have been sick lately with anemia and other fatigue-causing illness. My doctor actually told me my cholesterol was too low – I didn’t even think that was possible. As committed as I have been to my lifestyle, I’ve decided that I need to do this for my own health. Your Primal theory interests me, and I am excited to give it a try, although every one of the concerns you list above is on my mind. Wish me luck.