Most vegetarians return to eating meat

[DavidDvorkin]

It appears that for the vast majority of vegetarians, abstaining from meat is only a phase rather than a permanent life choice.

According to Psychology Today, roughly 75% of vegetarians eventually return to eating meat with 9 years being the average length of time of abstinence.

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/2011/06/most-vegetarians-return-to-eating-meat/

[krispos42]

1. Damn.

That leaves less meat for me. *sigh*

[sudopod]

2. Interesting study!

As an on-and-off veggie myself, I wonder what the split would be between religious or ethically motivated vegetarians versus the others (people being health conscious, etc). I lift weights, and while I didn't have the hunger and weakness problems lots of people had, I also did eggs and dairy (especially whey protein).

I also wonder what role family pressure has in falling off the wagon. It's really tough around the holidays.

[Dorian Gray]

39. I think a lot

of people are pressured by families and friends who don't understand their food choices. I've never been a vegetarian, but I have eaten healthfully for the last three years (losing weight), and I can't count the times my parents or in laws have been like: "Just have these fries this once. Go on, have that piece of cake! A little ice cream won't hurt! You don't do it every day!"

Well, yeah, but if I did it every time you told me to, I'd be eating a lot of shit!

With something like vegetarianism or veganism, it's a whole lifestyle they don't understand.

[Codeine]

3. Going on a quarter-century of veganism for me.

At this point I can't even comprehend changing back.

[Aerows]

74. How do you function without dairy?

Seriously. I would starve to death without cheese, and I need at least a glass of milk a day. I've tried soy milk and it's horrible - I won't even go into my thoughts on soy cheese. How on earth do you even eat pasta without parmesan cheese LOL. I can go stretches of time without eating meat without even realizing it because I like red beans and rice (no sausage) and things like that, but no cheese? OMG.

[marions ghost]

86. Americans eat far too much dairy

especially cheese. Soy is not really a good substitute. It's best to just watch consumption of dairy IMO. Sounds like you don't eat too much meat. :)

[Dr Fate]

125. Almond milk and almond ice cream is wonderful.

Coconut creamer is also great in coffee.

I have to agree with you on the cheese- vegan cheese stinks.

Why not just try cutting down a little, or only buying cheese from local, organic dairies? Try this and you will eat less dairy by default.

[cmkramer]

157. Almond milk is great!

I just found unsweetened almond milk which is only 35-40 calories per serving. Even the sweetened kind is only 90 calories which is the same as nonfat/skim milk. I love it.

[w8liftinglady]

202. I'm going to get some today-I've never tried it.

[Codeine]

145. Don't miss it at all.

The newest vegan cheeses (Daiya brand especially) are great -- my omnivorous fiancee and her kids love them. Soymilk, almond milk, rice milk, and oat milk all taste great to me (hemp milk is, however, vile.)

It's like anything else -- heart patients think they can't give up salt and diabetics sweets, but in a few months they barely notice the absence.

[a la izquierda]

152. Haven't had milk in months.

Cheese is next, and then I'll be a vegan. It's really not that hard- and I live in Oklahoma, where there are some slim pickin's in terms of veggie options.

[LeftyMom]

174. I don't want to breastfeed a cow, I doubt they want to breastfeed me either.

Really, the whole idea of dairy is just unspeakably gross. And it smells.

[flvegan]

183. HOW DO YOU FUNKSHUN!!?? I HAVE NO CLUE??111???

:eyes:

[LeftyMom]

185. So far the pins are holding my bones together.

Now be a nice young man and fetch me my walker and my pill caddy, would you?

[flvegan]

186. I'd like to, but

suspicious folks are among us, and they think veg*ns are weak and anemic and can't function.

I'm waiting on responses that I don't think I'll get. I'm old but *curls right arm in* I think I got this. LMAO!

[LeftyMom]

187. I am skeptical of your assertion and insist on photographic proof.

You know my email address. ;)

[Aerows]

199. I'm a suspicious person?

Oh good. It's nice to keep folks wondering :D.

I lived with a vegan, my friend, and I've done the "barbecue ribs" made with peanut butter and other questionable ingredients. It's a very healthy lifestyle, but I was serious when I said that I could not function without dairy. I drink my coffee black no sugar, so it's a lot more than just missing my creamer.

[Codeine]

237. I just made that recipe!

Wasn't bad despite my use of bottled BBQ sauce. After mixing the seitan and stuff I was way too lazy to make a batch of my own.

[CreekDog]

206. you should like dairy milk and have it delivered unless you don't want Americans to have jobs

:rofl:

(okay, that logic was used to try to get me to keep having the phone book(s) delivered to my house) :shrug:

[LeftyMom]

208. I saw! That was... special. nt

[XemaSab]

211. I saqw you eat teh butter!

:o

[LeftyMom]

213. That's what I get for not waterboarding the waitstaff before ordering.

That other Indian place has me spoiled.

[XemaSab]

215. But you ate the butter!

Youre previously vegan body is TAINTED! TAIIIIIIINTED! :o

You broke edge. You have no edge now. :cry:

[6000eliot]

4. I've been vegetarian since 1998.

I will NEVER eat meat again knowingly.

[RaleighNCDUer]

27. Don't worry - you will if you get hungry enough. nt

[Capitalocracy]

126. Funnily enough, as a vegetarian, that's pretty close to my philosophy.

There are so many other things we can eat that it's not necessary to eat meat. And I would produce everything else I eat, but I wouldn't feel comfortable killing an animal for food, given other options.

But if there was no other food, then I would definitely eat meat. I'd probably eat you.

[FLPanhandle]

141. We are all cannibals if we get hungry enough

I would be.

[Codeine]

146. Even after so many years a vegan

if I get stranded and starving in the woods and a cute fuzzy bunny gets too close it'll be Codeine - 1, Nature - 0.

[Dr Fate]

127. Eat a plate of butter beans, black eyed peas,corn bread, yams, collards, a side salad

Top it off with a peach cobbler and some almond ice cream.

If you still need meat (or more food of ANY kind) after all of that, then you are probably just a fat dude who eats too much anyway.

[Aerows]

201. Oh god...

... my mouth just watered. I need to stay out of this thread until I've had some lunch. I'd prefer a biscuit, however, instead of the corn bread.

[Ignis]

217. YUM! If you ever make it to Oakland, CA...

http://souleyvegan.com/

[Manifestor_of_Light]

5. I did a modified version some years ago, and felt better.

Over 30 years ago I decided to stop eating beef, pork, and chicken, because of the grease.

I love milk, eggs and cheese, and eat a lot of those.

I still ate bony fish and turkey. It wasn't really a major change.

I felt lighter because I did that for about a year. I also noticed revulsion at hamburgers, which I guess means I was feeling like a vegetarian.

I eat meat now, not a whole lot. I should probably do that regimen again.

[kestrel91316]

6. I'm a lacto-ovo-occasional-meat vegetarian, lol. I couldn't give it up

altogether. I'd never be able to continue. So I figure a little here and there is no better or worse than none for a while, and then plenty for a while.

[Ken Burch]

12. For a second, I thought you were going to quote the line from "Tales Of The City"

in which a character says he's ovo-lacto during the week and ovo-lacto-porkchoppo on the weekends.

[Lost-in-FL]

7. Have been a vegan for 3 months...

and somehow I don't miss meat. I do miss dairy at times but overall I quite alright. I guess just feeling a lot better is incentive enough for me.

[Fuzz]

8. Mmmm, bacon. Mmmmm, pot. Mmmm, pot then bacon.

;)

[Ken Burch]

10. How about a bacon bong?

n/t.

[Fuzz]

13. No mixing of the good things like that. Each is good in it's own way.

;)

[onehandle]

9. Those 75% are not vegetarians. Probably a passing fad for them. nt

[JI7]

15. it says 9 years is the average they stay vegetarians, how is 9 years a passing fad

it has to be more than that if they last that long.

[fishwax]

234. the 9 years and the 75% don't really have anything to do w/ one another

The article misrepresents the Psychology Today article, which got the 75% number based on some 2005 CBS report. The nine year average was of the responses they got to a website survey.

[provis99]

24. No True Scotsman.

[anneboleyn]

190. The Bruce!

[RaleighNCDUer]

28. No TRUE Scotsman... nt

[Blue-Jay]

122. I was going to post a similar comment.

But I was also going to phrase it in such a way so the sarcasm would be obvious.

[Ken Burch]

11. And this matters why, exactly?

Is there some reason you want to discourage people from embracing vegetarianism? It's not as if ceasing to eat meat threatens the country's survival or anything.

[DavidDvorkin]

18. Why do you assume I want to discourage people from embracing vegetarianism?

I found the study interesting and very surprising. I thought other people would find it interesting and surprising, as well.

[Quantess]

58. How does this study "discourage" vegetarianism?

looks pretty neutral to me. A lot of people are vegetarians for an indefinite period of time. There's nothing wrong with that. Some people choose to just reduce their meat intake. There's nothing wrong with that either.

[Nye Bevan]

14. Bacon beats tofu (nt)

[Codeine]

30. As a certified lover of all things tofu I disagree. nt

[Maine-ah]

54. wrap the tofu in bacon

:evilgrin:

[Javaman]

59. +1000 nt

[Dr Fate]

128. As a carcinogen, there is no doubt that bacon "wins" when compared to soy and other plants. n/t

n/t

[Hawkowl]

214. For heart disease, yes. nt

[Philippine expat]

228. Yes it does, but

I've had some good tofu also

[JI7]

16. maybe they mostly eat bread and pasta and gain a lot of weight

[AndyTiedye]

33. Some of Us are Constantly Hungry if We Try to Do Without Meat

If I don't get at least some meat, I'm constantly hungry and my energy level craters.
Not a good combination. I certainly would gain weight if I did that for a while.

Your mileage may vary. I suspect that the ability to assemble "complementary" proteins into
complete protein may not be universal, particularly among those whose ancestors came from
pretty far north.

[handmade34]

17. not a very impressive study...

"...Over the next week or so, seventy-seven former vegetarians took our survey. As is true of vegetarians generally, the majority of the participants were women. Their average age was 28..."

and one of the reasons was "Hassles and Social Stigmas"... for goodness sake, these people were not real vegetarians...


http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animals-and-us/201106/why-do-most-vegetarians-go-back-eating-meat

[DavidDvorkin]

19. Not real vegetarians? See Post #15.

[ET Awful]

43. Why do I get the feeling that if a study with only 77 people were on any other topic

such as gay marriage, abortion, political candidates or any other topic, you'd say it wasn't a valid sampling?

[DavidDvorkin]

79. I don't know why. You tell me: what hasty assumptions have you made about me?

[ET Awful]

143. So are you saying you'd take any so-called study that only had 77 respondents

and accept its so-called findings as legit?

[DavidDvorkin]

153. Whether I found the study interesting and worth posting about

would depend on the study.

But that's not the question. The question is, why are you assuming that I had an ulterior motive?

[ET Awful]

154. I never said that. Why would you post a so-called "study" with only 77 respondents

and present it as anything other than a flawed non-scientific poll of the authors acquaintances?

[DavidDvorkin]

155. Look at your post #43

Quite clearly, it accuses me of having had an ulterior motive.

[ET Awful]

160. No, that's what you are reading into it.

I never said any such thing, you simply chose to read it that way.

[ET Awful]

42. WOW, a sampling group of 77 people . . . now THERE's a study.

I'd venture a guess that the number of Hindu and Buddhist people in that sampling group was pretty low.

Sorry but 77 isn't a valid sampling of anything.

[Gormy Cuss]

113. It wasn't a sample based study. It was self-reporting anecdotes by self-selected respondents

IOW, not even close to a quantitative scientific study.

[ET Awful]

144. That's kind of the point. n/t

[yewberry]

20. Meh, people make the choices that are best for them.

Veg*n for 24 - no, wait, 25 - years now, and can't imagine eating flesh.

[Liquorice]

21. I've never even met a vegetarian who returned to eating meat. I've been

a vegetarian since I was a teenager (20+ years) and a vegan for the last few years. Some members of my family including my husband and a couple of friends are also vegetarians/vegans and have been for many years. That article is bunk.

Most of the most influential thinkers throughout history have been vegetarians and they didn't go back to eating meat... Einstein, Socrates, Plato, Pythagoras, Tolstoy, Da Vinci, Susan B. Anthony, etc., etc. Have you ever wondered why all of those people were vegetarians?? It's not a coincidence. And no, Hitler wasn't a vegetarian. That is a myth.

[RaleighNCDUer]

29. And your source for Socrates, Plato, and Pythagoras being vegetarian is...?

[Orrex]

32. Pythagoras could also bilocate

Was that his own special power, or can all vegetarians do that?

[ieoeja]

63. As to Socrates: hemlock is definitely not meat. n/t

[RaleighNCDUer]

112. And I guess he did make a life-long committment to it. nt

[ieoeja]

133. "Build a man a fire, and he'll have fire for a day."

"Set a man on fire, and he'll have fire for life."

I saw that quote somewhere on DU.

:)

[ChromeFoundry]

173. They are all dead...

so they don't eat meat anymore. They don't eat broccoli anymore either.

[druidity33]

51. I started eating meat last year

after 19 years of being a vegetarian. My body has been telling me i need it for a couple of years now and i finally decided to stop ignoring it. I consider myself a localvore, in that i won't eat anything that isn't organic and comes from far away (in my case i use 100 miles away as aradius limit). I end up eating meat once or twice a month. I live in a rural area with lots of small farms, so it's real easy for me to source everything and view farm conditions. Otherwise, i'm not sure i would've converted back to a carnivorousness so easily. I started as a veggie not because of an ethical stand against killing animals for food, but torturing them while they're alive... the still HORRIFIC conditions on those massive, industrial farms that process thousands of "units" a day.



:shrug:

[NeedleCast]

65. I Think That's a Great Plan

I haven't gone as far as you have but have tried to be better about buying meats from local sources. I've gone from basically not caring to trying to get 50% of my meat (including seafood) from local sources instead of "the store." A thriving farmers/green market community in and around Baltimore helps a lot.

[LynneSin]

136. I know alot of 'vegetraians' that endup doing something like that

A few went with local, organic meat. I've also heard of 'no-red meat' or 'fish-only'

One person I know modified it that they could have one meat dish a week - which said helped for both social situations and holidays. She wanted to enjoy Turkey on Thanksgiving and Hamburgers at family picnics but felt for most of her day-to-day eating she simply did not have need for meat.

If I don't think I could ever go true vegetarism, I don't have enough veggies I like to eat and I hate beans. But I have thought of doing a modified form of it where I would still eat fish and would allow myself meat at one meal per week. I could never EVER give up fish - I love it too much but I could do without other meat products for the most part.

[JuniperLea]

83. Nice to meet you...

I went back.

[MattSh]

109. Einstein a vegetarian?

According to this, for one year, then he died...

The latest indications we have suggest that Einstein was vegetarian only for the last year or so of his life, though he appears to have supported the idea for many years before practising it himself.

"So I am living without fats, without meat, without fish, but am feeling quite well this way. It always seems to me that man was not born to be a carnivore."

This was from a letter written to Hans Muehsam, and dated March 30, 1954, which was about 1 year before Einstein died. This indicates he adopted a vegetarian diet at the end of his life. Previously, on August 3, 1953 Einstein had written the following in a letter to Max Kariel, suggesting that he was still eating meat at that time:

"I have always eaten animal flesh with a somewhat guilty conscience."
- Einstein Archive 60-058

The above quotes are from: The Expanded Quotable Einstein, collected and edited by Alice Calaprice. The book flap of Ms. Calaprice's book says: "Alice Calaprice is a Senior Editor at Princeton University Press, where she has specialized in the sciences and worked with the Einstein Papers for over twenty years."

http://www.ivu.org/history/northam20a/einstein.html

[provis99]

162. Hitler was a vegetarian.

But why would that make any difference? The fact that Hitler was a vegetarian does not condemn vegetarianism. I think Seventh Day Adventists are bizarre and extremist religious nuts, but I think their vegetarian healthstyle is nonetheless a healthy one.

[flvegan]

184. Thank the Gods of Tofu we got that bullhsit out of the way.

(if you detect sarcasm, your sarcasm meter is working)

[still_one]

22. I have been a vegetarian since 1995, I guess they didn't ask me /nt

[Orrex]

23. I suppose you didn't see the part about 75%

Is it just maybe possible that you're part of the other 25?

[Liquorice]

25. Sorry, I'm not buying it. nt

[Orrex]

34. Don't be sorry. It doesn't bother me in the least.

:shrug:

[Javaman]

61. +1

I always get a kick out of people who say, "I'm sorry, but..."

I guess they are self loathers? LOL They hate themselves for their own opinions!

:rofl:

[still_one]

178. I wonder how this poll was conducted? I can bet if they called most households whose demographic is

Indian, they would have not had many converts

On the other hand, in the U.S. most people are NOT vegetarian, so I would like to see how they conducted this poll. Did they solicit their readers to call in?

Frankly, I don't really care whether someone chooses to eat meat or not, that is their personal business

[dionysus]

26. i'm in a wierd category. i nver stopped eating meat but i love an assortment of

vegetarian food like veggie burgers, "chicken nuggets", veggie corn dogs, sausage, all kinds of stuff...

and i eat it for the taste. i love em.

the next day i'll eat chicken or steak but it doesnt matter to me.

[nomorenomore08]

37. Sort of on the same page. I'm a meat-eater but a flexible one.

A lot of vegetarian/vegan food really is delicious. Don't know why some are so afraid of it. :shrug:

[Dorian Gray]

41. I'm like that too

I love veggie burgers and tofu, though I do also eat meat. I'll often choose vegetarian options for meals, though.

[eShirl]

44. I like some of that stuff, but steer clear if it's based on soy

soy tends to make me feel bloated and itchy; not sure it it's a mild allergy or what

soy sauce is fine, maybe because it's so small an amount per serving

[marions ghost]

100. Same here! Soy should be limited

I avoid all soy foods except for the fermented soy sauce, miso etc. (A Chinese medicine doctor told me this was OK, after I'd already figured it out). I don't eat soy flour, soy oil, soy milk--NONE of that. The problem is the soy isoflavones. They have been associated with fibroids and also thyroid insufficiency in women. I have a friend who was a vegetarian (lots of soy) in her 20's and 30's and by age 42 she had to begin taking thyroid hormones. Tho a vegetarian, I was fortunate not to have been such a big eater of soy. I don't think vegetariansism is the problem--it's the OVER-consumption of soy. Soy is a phytoestrogen. It's not great in large quantities for men either.

http://www.thyroid-info.com/articles/soydangers.htm

[flvegan]

189. (facepalm)

[DevonRex]

89. I love veggie corn dogs and black bean burgers.

They're in my freezer at all times. And veggie sausage patties, too. For me it's more that I don't like real meat that's been ground up. God only knows what's in there.

[Historic NY]

31. Ah, the lure of BBQ & other burning meats.

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. We are not vegetarians

lord knows the conure would kill me if we stopped eating meat... (Yes the bird loves steak, and steak day is his favorite day... he actually does a birdie dance when it starts sizzling...)

BUT, we have lowered our consumption to making meat (or other sources of animal protein) a garnish, not the main deal.

Hey, they other day I was so happy. We had a really good cut of meat, about 9 oz, for the two adults and two conures... that comes to about three and a half ounces per human and about an oz for the two birds, for less than five bucks... less than three in fact... sales, I love them.

We feel much better, and blood chemistries are that much better and all that.

By the way... what is the recommended serving? Oh about 4 oz of meat, the palm of your hand, and a finger thick.

The recommendation of the UN is that other people around the developed world should do the same. It does help with energy consumption and global weather change. Oh and yes going partially vegetarian, aka having a meatless day, is also recommended. We manage, every so often Did I mention the conure who loves steak don't like days like that? It is actually funny to watch. That bird begs, and it is hilarious.


Oh forgot weights are after cooking...

[Raine]

36. I've been a vegetarian since I was 7 years old

which means I've been a vegetarian for 50 years and I don't see myself changing. :-)

[Tiggeroshii]

38. Eh. Most people don't start out at it. On my birthday, I will have been veggie for 26 years.

And I will be 26. Maybe being raised that way is different from just randomly deciding to be vegetarian?

[laundry_queen]

119. Probably

At my dd's home based daycare, the owner has been veggie all her life as well. That's just how she was raised. And that's what she serves at the daycare. She said she's never really been tempted by meat except maybe as a teen as a form of rebellion.

[Tiggeroshii]

226. Rebellion. I feel the same way!

The teenage years were the only time I was considering eating meat. My brother was the same way, except he actually became a meat eater. That's something I definitely can relate to.

[mucifer]

40. I've been a vegetarian for almost 30 years tho I've never

been a vegan. Lots more meatless choices when you are out and about now a days. Socially, I think it's easier to be Jewish and vegetarian. People are used to dietary restrictions to begin with.

[eShirl]

45. I know a kid who's refused all meat since he was old enough to communicate

somewhere between weaning and before 2 years old, not sure exactly
(he's 10 or 11 now)

he loves milk and cheese though

edited to add: his parents are VERY MUCH omnivores, so he didn't get it from them

[Warren Stupidity]

46. Y'all should join my Universal and Catholic Vegetarian Church

You eat da meat, you come to my church, you put your money in the box and go to confession. You get absolved of your sinful pleasure and resume your vegetarian ways with the grace and blessing of the flying prima vera spaghetti monster.

[WolverineDG]

47. So? nt

[MineralMan]

48. What does it matter, really?

Some people do one thing. Others do another. Vegetarianism is a choice people make. Some do it for a lifetime. Others do not. It's a choice.

I don't see the relevance of this at all. Dietary choices are just that.

[laruemtt]

49. i've been a vegetarian for 35 years this last April.

i cannot imagine the circumstances that would allow me to put an animal carcass in my mouth again without violently retching.

[chrisa]

50. This is because,

being a vegetarian in a meat-centric culture such as ours is extremely difficult. I could only imagine being a vegan. :o

[Bragi]

52. Makes sense to me

I eat much less meat now than I used to, which seems to be a natural trend as you grow older (I'm 61). I've no desire to eliminate it entirely from my diet, however, sine I enjoy it on occasion.

Having said that, I do think we need to reduce the amount of meat we eat, especially beef, because it is just too damn hard on the environment. I find it unconscionable to waste the resources we do producing massive amounts of beef protein in such a grossly inefficient manner.

Anyway, I have a hunch that the coming climate-change induced environmental collapse will produce a lot of floods, droughts, crop failures and food shortages that will limit our future food choices, and beef will become a very rare luxury food consumed by a few overlords.

[justiceischeap]

53. I've been mostly a vegetarian for 24 years

I have periods within that time where I "fall of the wagon" and will eat meat for a few months then go back to not eating meat. I think in that time, I've been a meat eater for a total of 9-12 months.

[HopeHoops]

55. Gross.

My wife and I quit eating meat in '89 and even the thought of it makes me feel like puking. My daughters are 16, almost 18, and 20 and life-long vegetarians. The eldest two sampled it out of curiosity when they were young (pre-school) but I don't think the youngest has ever tried it. We had a simple rule - if they knew what they were eating, it was their choice. They've chosen to be vegetarian.

We eat eggs and dairy, so we aren't vegan, but we don't do fish. Meat just isn't "food". It's an ass volume supplement and nothing more.

[snooper2]

56. This is a conspiracy by the meat industry

[GoneOffShore]

67. uh - Okay - Yeah - Sure

:eyes:

[snooper2]

78. It is, along with the food coloring industry

I read about it in the dungeon :rofl:

[Codeine]

147. Big Meat.

Wait -- that was my high school nickname. Nevermind.

[graywarrior]

57. 40 years vegetarian here

5 years vegan....couldn't handle that

[FLPanhandle]

60. I tried the vegetarian thing for about 6 months

Never lost the craving for meat. When I started to dream about hamburgers, I decided enough is enough. I'll never go back to a vegetarian diet. Best of luck to those who can do it though.

[Karmadillo]

62. LOL. 77 self-selected "former vegetarians." Great comments, too.

For example, one wrote, "I was very weak and sickly. I felt horrible even though I ate a good variety of foods like PETA said to."

Sounds a little more like the "People Eating Tasty Animals" contingent one finds on DU animal rights or vegetarian threads than a former vegetarian.

[JanMichael]

150. I agree that a fucking joke study. I don't eat meat and bench more per pound that most meat eaters..

...in my gym.

I don't feel weak or sickly and don't look it either.

[slackmaster]

64. I haven't had a bite of meat in almost 12 hours

But it hasn't affected my appetite.

[WatsonT]

80. That's getting dangerous

do you have any jerky or perhaps fried bacon handy? Your blood-meat levels must be crashing right now.

Get a cheeseburger stat!

[GoneOffShore]

66. Omnivore here who eats a lot of vegetables - 85%

I'd rather eat a bloody beet steak than tofu though (No misspelling there - B E E T - being served at a local omnivore restaurant).

Very pick about the meat we eat though. So we don't eat a lot. That that we do eat is expensive - grass fed, pastured, organic. But we're lucky that we can get it. If we couldn't we'd be even closer to vegetarian.

I'll echo Michael Pollan here - Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

[Renew Deal]

68. Vegetarianism is a fad amongst many.

And it eventually passes.

[azul]

98. Like driving pickup trucks and SUV's?

Actions have consequences and count up sometimes. There are choices to be made and prices to pay.

[edbermac]

69. Been eating a lot of hummus for lunch lately.

Cut down a lot on red meat, chicken usually for dinner.

[Aerows]

70. I could *maybe*

Go vegetarian - I really don't care for eggs at all, so that wouldn't be an issue for me, but no dairy? I'd starve to death. I don't think I've had a meal in recent memory that didn't include cheese in some shape or form. I certainly can't really start the day without a decent sized glass of milk (1% or 2%).

I lived with a vegan. I absolutely drew the line at drinking soy milk or eating soy cheese. Hell no.

[Avalux]

71. Interesting. I've been an on again, off again vegetarian for about 20 years.

What I've learned is that I FEEL BETTER if I don't eat meat, so tend to not eat it. For 10 years was very strict ovo-lacto; now, I don't prepare meat at home but will eat it given no other options. No red meat though. I find my body doesn't like to digest it.

I also don't agree with mass breeding and raising of animals (factory farming)for the sole purpose of human consumption for pleasure. Humans do not need to consume meat to survive and be healthy.

[Shagbark Hickory]

72. Doesn't surprise me. I went veg in college and didn't do well on it.

OR I might say that I did a little too well, I lost so much weight. I ended up going to a couple of doctors over it and to quote one of them, " There's a Wendy's two blocks away. RUN, Don't Walk to Wendys."

[Aerows]

73. That happened to my vegan friend

She was skin and bones. I can't do without dairy for that very same reason. I lose weight at the drop of a hat - I *need* a glass of milk every day.

[Shagbark Hickory]

75. What happened was there was an gland or something that was sticking out. I thought it might have

been a tumor or something. So that's when I went to the doctors.

[rusty fender]

76. I've been an ovo-lacto vegetarian since 1978

and meat still grosses me out! :puke:

[RebelOne]

77. I have been and still am a vegetarian

since the middle '90s. And now just the thought of going back to eating meat turns my stomach.

[WatsonT]

81. If they could only find a way to make celery taste like filet-mignon

it really isn't fair competition.

There's a reason you have to force kids to eat their vegetables, but generally not their steak.

[marions ghost]

97. Kids--well it depends how they're raised

My sister raised her son to be a vegetarian from birth. Now she's gone back to eating some meat, but he is strictly vegetarian (in his 20's). I'm sure he never will eat meat. That guy gets into a groove and stays there. I'm not an advocate for vegetarianism, but I disagree that children automatically go for meat over vegetables & dairy. Depends how it's introduced to them.

[WatsonT]

102. So she only gave him vegetables

rather than letting him choose.

Think about that for a moment. To become a lifelong vegetarian in that scenario he had to be denied the option of having meat.

Whereas we don't have to force kids to only eat meat throughout their entire childhood to get them to enjoy it.

[cemaphonic]

138. My 4-year-old prefers vegetables to meat most of the time.

Of course, he'd eat nothing but bread and rice if he could, but it's usually easier to get him to eat some vegetables than meat.

[JuniperLea]

82. I did after five years...

I was anemic, had lost half my hair, my nails peeled to the point of pain and infection, had insomnia, my skin was like tissue paper, my joints ached, I had almost constant headaches and backaches... and this all under the guidance of nutritionists and doctors. Proper food balances, close watch on protein intake, vitamin supplements, etc.

It took three years to get sick, and I suffered for two more.

All better now. I don't eat much beef, but I eat chicken, fish, eggs, yogurt and cheese.

[nomb]

88. ouch n/t

[Hydra]

96. Mmm...yoghurt...

That's pretty a pretty harsh reaction of your body, but I'm glad you're doing better. It is, however, a good example of how we're not all the same and don't all have the same needs. Apparently some of us can do the meatless thing, and some of us like me and you can't do without it.

Kinda funny how we're supposed to embrace diversity, but we're supposed to all be carbon copies of each other biologically :p

[JuniperLea]

103. "we're supposed to embrace diversity"

Now THAT is hitting the nail squarely on the head!

We are all different. You wouldn't think of giving sugary meals to a diabetic, or mass breads, pastas and grains to someone intolerant to gluten, but we should all be able to do without meat? Doesn't make even the slightest bit of sense, now does it?

[ecstatic]

84. I no longer feel safe eating raw veggies

I love fruit, but I'm wary of the safety of fruit as well. Basically, I feel slightly safer cooking everything.

[craigmatic]

85. I've beein without it since 1996.

[nomb]

87. Three years. n/t

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

90. I was a vegetarian for many years, but was very unhealthy. Severely anemic.

I started slowly incorporating meat back into my diet, but in very moderate amounts.

[RebelOne]

140. I found that taking a B-12 vitamin supplies a lot of protein,

at least in my case it does.

[JanMichael]

151. It was only "unhealthy" because you didn't know what you were doing. nt.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

164. Hmmm... you seem to know a lot about me, huh?

[RyanPsych]

91. Three years and counting

my meat loving (perhaps poor choice of words) boyfriend hates it. haha. Everytime we go out, he tried to get me to eat turkey or chicken.

[Xithras]

92. Pretty much my experience.

I'll go vegetarian for short periods, but I can't last more than a month. The longest stretch I had ended horribly the first time I went for a BBQ at the lake. Couldn't resist the tri-tip.

My youngest sister is a better vegetarian, and has gone years without eating meat...but she always eventually caves. She'll go a few years without meat, go omnivore for a few months, complain about her ass getting fat, and go vegetarian again.

I have a few other vegetarian friends and family members. Every one of them has gone back to eating meat, at least briefly, several times since doing so.

[uppityperson]

93. I have nothing to add but needed to post and tell you that and talk about my diet so all you will

know exactly what I eat, for how long, my health and emotional reasons for doing so and add in a pre-defensive snark against everyone else. If I feel I can one-up anyone that scores more points for me also.

That said, interesting article and funny replies.

[FLPanhandle]

94. Post a poll here and we'll probably get more participants than the study

[KamaAina]

95. Does that mean I can have butter on my

:popcorn: ?

[toddwv]

99. This wasn't a study, it was survey.

The entire "75%" seems to be based on the concluding line:

"And among those groceries there is likely to be plenty of meat; only 2 percent of Americans consider themselves vegetarians. Another 6 percent say they once were, but no longer are vegetarian."

I've known quite a few people who went "vegetarian" but had no idea how to cook for themselves which inevitably ends in reverting to an omnivore lifestyle.

[tblue37]

101. My son went 6 years as a vegan. My daughter is an ovo-lacto-pesco

vegetarian, but she became a vegetarian because she is a doctor and has had naturally high cholesterol problems since she was about 21. She didn't want to take cholesterol meds for the rest of her life, so she follows a very strict low-cholesterol diet and controls her cholesterol very well that way.

She also gave up most meat because she doesn't like to eat anything that looks like what she was always cutting up in lab classes! Hers was a medical and psychological choice, not a values choice.

My son was very cause-oriented as a teen, which he why he became vegan and committed for years to the Food Not Bombs movement. (He no longer is as far left as I am, though.)

When he was in the grocery store one day at age 20, he was looking at the cost of many of the products he bought to make sure he was getting sufficient nutrition, and he compared their price to that of a 45-cent can of tuna. That's when he decided to start eating some fish.

Then, as a waiter, he decided one day to have the cook at work prepare him a small breakfast steak, just as an experiment. The cook misunderstood his request and prepared a nice dinner steak instead.

My son later said it tasted sooooooo good, but what really struck him was how he felt the rest of the day. He had more energy than he'd had in years. "Mom," he said, "I felt like I could run two miles--and then come back and pain the house!"

So he started eating meat, milk, and eggs again. All of a sudden he needed less sleep and his minor boo-boos healed much faster than they had been doing when he was a vegan. He also had more free time because he didn't have to eat all darned day! (I always called it grazing.)

I know vegans and vegetarians can get proper nutrition, but they have to be very diligent about what they eat and when they eat, and they do need to eat frequently during the day. A teenager I tutor who is a vegetarian is always so tired and draggy that his vegetarian parents have started giving him a little bit of chicken each day, just to make sure he gets sufficient protein during his teenage growing years. He doesn't actually like the chicken, because he's been raised a vegetarian, but he says it does make him feel stronger and more energetic.

We are evolved to be omnivores. Eating meat is one of the ways our early ancestors provided sufficient nutrients to their oversized brains without ahving to spend so much time feeding that they could not do anything else.

Modern life is much less demanding in that sense, so a vegetarian can get by without meat, but it really is easier to get what we need if we ingest a certain amount of animal protein each day--though the amount the body actually needs is much smaller than what most Americans consume at any given meal!

[flvegan]

192. What utter crap. n/t

[jimlup]

104. I am exhibit 1 of this study...

Though I don't ever eat Beef, Pork or Lamb. Just chicken and fish, life is just so much easier that way. I agree with a lot of what vegetarians say about meat and I eat as low on the food chain as I can given the realities of my life.

[petronius]

105. I thought this LA Times article on Tal Ronnen was pretty interesting,

despite a somewhat uncritical division of vegifolk into 'militants' and the 'new breed.' I suspect the all-or-nothing perspective drives a lot of people away from veg-leaning diets, and the 75% in the OP may still be pretty low on meat eating...

"Be a 'vegan' who eats bacon." :)

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-tal-ronnen-20110623,0,1072713.story

[MattSh]

106. Well see, there's this thing called EVOLUTION...

Meat has been a part of the human diet for as long as there have been humans. While I don't doubt that some people can minimize or eliminate meat without a problem, a large number of people will not function properly without meat and diary in their diet.

As far as I'm concerned, if you say you believe in evolution, and don't believe this, then you don't really believe in evolution. Or you don't understand the concept. Sorry, but that's how I see things!

[Gregorian]

107. Stop making sense.

I am very unhappy about corporate animal farming. But that's the result of overpopulation. Meat is what we lived on for all of our history. You kill an animal, and it's food for a week. This is before cars were invented. You had to work to live. Dairy, on the other hand we don't need. We were not running after animals to milk them. That just didn't happen, except for maybe goats. Dairy is something to avoid. But meat is crucial in our diet. Not the meat we buy today. Lean, wild meat.

It's sad to see people so out of touch. Processed death. Commercially raised death. And we wonder why we're sick.


I forgot to say my biggest point is that people who are vegetarians because they don't like how animals are raised are actually not clear that the issue they're talking about is population of the human. I always get denier replies to this. I don't know why it's so hard for most people to see.

[FLPanhandle]

110. +1

The issue with factory farms is a direct function of overpopulation. If someone really wants to have an impact on the environment, then they would give up having children instead of giving up meat.

[frogmarch]

116. No one knows when, why or how

early humans began to eat meat. They may have started out as scavengers, taking what lions jackals left behind. When humans began to hunt, they may have cooked meat for the purpose of tenderizing it, or maybe they preferred the taste of cooked meat to raw meat. I think if we're going to use the "our primitive ancestors ate meat" reason for eating meat, we should eat it raw.

[Dr Fate]

131. All true- but you only give us half the story.

You are right that we have evolved to crave sugar and fat, and we are programmed to eat as much of it as we can get in one sitting.

Back in the Cave man days you had to chase your meat for 5 miles before you got to eat it, assuming you even got your kill.

The earliest man did not eat meat on a daily basis, and when he did, is was only after hours if not days of strenous tracking and hunting (exercise).

Same with sugar- it was only during certain seasons that fruit was ripe and available- but when it was, we chowed down on it b/c our bodies did not know when we would get it again.

Compare this to now-a-days- where we can and do eat as much sugar and fat as we can afford, 24/7.

Our bodies may not have evolved too much since those days, but our knowledge of nutrition certainly has.

If we were eating the same amount of fat and sugar as did ancient man under the same strenous do-or-die survival conditons, your point would be stronger. An ancient hunting party vs. stopping by McDonalds 3 times a week is not comparable.

[flvegan]

177. Laughable. n/t

[FreeJoe]

108. I love vegetarians

They let me have their bacon.

[fascisthunter]

111. culture war

personally... I love eating meat, but I think this issue has become a political football game... dumb.

[GoneOffShore]

114. It has - there are fundamentalist carnivores and fundamentalist vegans.

[guardian]

115. Time for a KFC Double Down "Sandwich"

[Dr Fate]

132. Ironic food is FUNNY! Eating garbage is HILARIOUS!

Extra mayo please! LOL! Look at me, I eat crap- and it's FUNNY!

LOL!

[Hun Joro]

117. I think the reason people go veg determines staying power.

I've been veg since 1961 and the very thought of animal flesh is abhorrent to me. People who go veg for health reasons are likely to go back, just like with any dietary changes people make for health. People who do it for ethical reasons, who do it because they see other creatures as sentient, feeling beings who want to live as much as we do, will generally never eat meat.

[erickregger]

118. Been a vegetarian for about 12 years now.

I became a vegetarian primarily because I found putting dead flesh in my mouth to be pretty disgusting. Seafood is the worse. I can't eat anything around seafood. Pork smells like wet dog. Beef is so fatty it's gross. And poultry is so full of chemicals that you can taste it.

Why would anyone eat corporate meat? I say if you're going to eat meat, eat organic. Hunt your own. Me, I'd rather stick with my tofu.

I've been working a lot lately, and lifting weights. A standard vegetarian diet doesn't give you enough protein for that. And vegan? Forget it. Thankfully there's always whey protein powder. If it wasn't for that I would have to go back to eating meat, and I really don't want to shove dead things in my face.

[Romulox]

120. My experience among vegetarians is that weakness and a general malaise eventually set in. nt

[Codeine]

148. Then you don't know many. nt

[Romulox]

204. Straight-edge vegetarian who is into '90s "slowcore" (read: opiate inspired) music?

You sound like a BLAST at parties, dude! :party: :toast:

[Codeine]

236. LMAO!

I'll be with the nerds in the corner playing D&D and conspicuously Not Drinking. :D

[flvegan]

180. Really?

Meet you at the gym. We can test that "experience" out firsthand.

[LeftyMom]

181. Weakness and malaise!

Remind me to tell vegan 2.0 about that in the morning, he'll have a good laugh.

[Romulox]

205. I know, that's a big word, right? I guess I should've said "tired all the time".

Better? :silly:

[LeftyMom]

210. Let's just say that my experience doesn't match with yours.

And of course I know what the word means, for heaven's sake.

[Romulox]

222. OK, but why bring hostility into it?

:hi:

"And of course I know what the word means, for heaven's sake."

It's called "snark". I was pretending as if my word choice had caused you offense, rather than the content of my post (but I knew it was the content all along!). Well, you know what they say about a joke that has to be explained...

[LeftyMom]

223. What hostility?

I was laughing with flvegan at the "weakness and malaise" bit because it's one hundred and eighty degrees from observable reality, and because jokes about his weakness and poor physical condition due to his veganism are a running joke between he and I.

[Romulox]

203. Yuh-huh. Interesting that you take my anecdotal experience as a personal affront.

"Meet you at the gym. We can test that "experience" out firsthand."

Yes, yes. I get that you're a macho vegetarian. The half-dozen or so vegetarians I've known over the years have all abandoned the diet after experiencing, among other things, noticeable loss of muscle mass.

That doesn't mean you can't effectively train your muscles while eating a vegetarian diet--just that it appears to be considerably harder to do so, especially over the medium long term.

"We can test that 'experience' out firsthand."

No matter the result, new anecdotal evidence doesn't have the capability of refuting old anecdotal evidence. It just becomes additional anecdotal evidence. Do you see why? :silly:

[Obamanaut]

121. I don't blame them. nt

[charlie and algernon]

123. I would imagine that most of them became a vegetarian b/c it's become trendy

It seems lately that it's become the trendy thing to eat only locally-grown, organic, grass fed, free range, artisan, etc food. But if you've ever been to whole foods, that stuff is damn expensive. How many chic 20 somethings became a vegetarian/vegan just because "its the thing to do", then realized they couldn't afford that lifestyle.

[Dr Fate]

124. Probably true. My guess is their health does not improve much as a result.

It would be interesting to do a b/f and after as to weight, cholesterol, back pain, energy levels, skin, etc. and see in which era they enjoyed better health.

[Capitalocracy]

129. You can be vegetarian and be fat

and you can be not vegetarian and be healthy. Neither option is inherently healthier. I don't think health is the best reason to become a vegetarian (and I am one)

[Dr Fate]

130. I was fat and in poor health before I started eating less meat,

So while you might be right, I cant say it worked out that way for me. What you are saying seems to be the opposite of what we have heard our whole lives- that you are what you eat.

I'd say that for me, eating less meat was CERTAINLY healthier- cholesteral is at healthy levels WITHOUT the use of drugs, energy level is back to how it was when I was in my 20's, no more gut, no more fat neck & chin, no more back pains. Another weird thing that happened is my eye sight improved to the point where I had to get new glasses.

I think health is great reason to switch to a more plant based diet- it certainly worked for me.

We will both agree that if people just watched what they ate and put more thought into it, they would be healthier.

[Capitalocracy]

137. Well, it's true that an all-meat diet would be extremely unhealthy

and it's also true that a no-meat diet can be very healthy. But if you like to eat meat, you can do so in moderation and still be healthy. For me, I just don't want to support the industry, and I have a hard time justifying eating something I wouldn't produce myself, and I can't see myself killing something for food, given other options.

[Dr Fate]

158. I was unhealthy b/c I ate meat daily, not b/c I ate nothing but meat.

other than that, I agree with your last post.

[Abq_Sarah]

232. And I was the opposite

Sky high cholesterol and excess weight on a mostly plant and grain based diet. When I ditched the grains, ate more animal fat and protein and stuck to dark green veggies, the weight melted off and my health improved immeasurably.

We're not all the same. If you're on the large side, it may not be that little meat patty but the flour in the buns that's packing on the pounds.

[ej510]

134. Being a vegetarian is expensive. I quit the first time for financial reasons.

I have been a vegetarian for 3.5 months now.

[LeftyMom]

165. Huh?

I guess maybe it is if you're buying a ton of processed crap or dairy. I've been vegan for almost a decade, it's a running joke among my friends that I pinch pennies until they bleed, and my kid and I eat damned well. One thing I do is that I make a point of making one big thing ahead every weekend to freeze. A few weeks ago I made lasagna, because noodles, tomatoes and spinach had all been on sale. I froze the extra and am thawing it out as needed. This past weekend I made seitan, the ingredients cost $5ish and I have tasty mockmeat for days. I bought a soymilk maker and now I get organic soymilk for pennies- I make plain for cooking but I still spring for the chocolate kind to drink because I like it.

[ej510]

168. Where do you live?

[LeftyMom]

169. Sacramento.

:shrug:

[ej510]

195. I live in the bay area it costs more.

[LeftyMom]

212. Veg stuff is mostly cheaper there.

I make a point of stopping at Rainbow Grocery when I'm over that direction, and the 99 Ranch was another favorite of mine before we got one out here in the provinces.

[Ignis]

218. What? There are incredibly cheap Indian veg buffets all over the Bay

:freak:

[Codeine]

171. So glad I started making my own seitan.

Easy as heck and vital gluten is shockingly inexpensive.

[LeftyMom]

172. It tastes so much better too.

I mix a little nutritional yeast into the mix so I figure mine's probably more nutritious than the stuff in those overpriced little tubs at the store.

I think tempeh might be my next project.

[Codeine]

170. Vegetables are quite inexpensive. Lentils, beans, and rice

are so cheap as to be essentially free. Processed veggie burgers and such are often a bit pricey, but they're hardly a necessity.

[Ignis]

135. Oh look, another study on vegetarianism that completely ignores India.

Shall I bother to feign surprise?

[Codeine]

149. Snap!

Well played, sir.

[Ignis]

220. Well, it's true that 30% of the Indian population is a very, very small number.

:rofl:

[War Horse]

139. Kudos to those who make a choice and manage to stick with it

If I were to ever become a vegetarian, or vegan, it would have to be for ethical reasons. Much about industrial agriculture bothers me (a lot), for example.

As for health reasons - there are healthy and unhealthy vegetarians and carnivores, people are perfectly able to each like crap regardless. I see nothing inherently unhealthy about eating quality meat as part of a sound eating scheme.

Not sure I could go vegetarian/vegan myself.

I'm kind of nuts about protein intake, for example (I'm a lifter too)... Although I'm sure it can be done (and it has - google Bill Pearl).

[FLPanhandle]

142. Life is too short to deny myself key pleasures

Eating a nice grilled bone-in ribeye with a quality glass of wine is one of my life pleasures.

I do make sure I buy non-factory farmed meat though.

No surprise people start down the vegetarian route and find the sacrifice too much.

[Dr Fate]

159. Life is even shorter if you eat too much unhealthy food.

But I'm with you on the family farm raised meat, in moderation, of course.

[FLPanhandle]

197. Exercise.

I run 20+ miles each week and have completed 8 marathons. Moderation and exercise.

[flvegan]

191. YOUR life is too (sic) short

I give you credit. At least you admit it.

If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go evaluate what key pleasures I'm missing out on based on...oh, nevermind. It won't matter. Suffering isn't mine, so who cares, right?

[LeftyMom]

156. More plants for me!

I'm coming up on a decade of being vegan, and you can definitely put me down in the "permanent life choice" camp.

[Wetzelbill]

166. alert

Sounds a little too much like "pro-life", nice try troll.

[LeftyMom]

167. Is fetus helper vegan?

I'm going to have to call up flvegan for a ruling.

[Wetzelbill]

175. I fully expect him to rule in my favor

Unless you go outside the rules of war and use your feminine wiles on him.

[LeftyMom]

176. Feminine wiles? I don't know that I have any.

I guess I could try bribing him with food- I'm pretty sure my hold over him is largely gluten-based.

[flvegan]

188. *gavel*

Seitan has it.

Sorry dude, you'd understand. It's sooooooooo tasty!

[Wetzelbill]

193. damn I didn't even put up a fight nt

[Gormy Cuss]

230. Typical arrogant vegan response.

I keed! I keed!

[eridani]

161. Betting that most still try to keep the percent of their diets as vegetarian high.

Most of the examples I know of stick with grass fed meat or wild caught fish, the expense tending to make them use smaller amounts.

[Wetzelbill]

163. I heard something similar about lesbians

but I think my fiance' lostinva might be an effing liar on that one.

[flvegan]

182. .

:rofl:

[Wetzelbill]

194. ohh now you laugh after you rule against me

:)

[flvegan]

179. Thank the sweet Lord that DU is still DU on this fine Friday morning.

"The most common reason former vegetarians cited as the reason they returned to meat was declining health."

Okay, we get it. Nutrition isn't something you have a studied grasp on. In America, I'm not surprised.

"Other former vegetarians cited persistent physical weakness despite eating a whole foods, PETA recommended diet while others returned to meat at the recommendation of their doctor."

So we're back to a lack of education followed by adhering to a website's suggestions and the recommendation of yet another person that likely knows little about nutrition.

But then:

“I just felt hungry all the time and that hunger would not be satisfied unless I ate meat.” and "Starving college student + First night back home with the folks + Fifty or so blazin’ buffalo wings waiting in the kitchen = Surrender." That's science. No really, somewhere it is.

The downward spiral ends with input from the "author's" take on something from Weston Price. Hey, the 1940's called and they want their incorrect nutrition info back, chilly. Thanks.

But hey, I'll take 9 years over nothing any day. That's a lot of animals spared, environment not fucked up and health of the gobbler not hurt. Win/win/win.

[robcon]

198. Humans are by nature omnivores.

I think coming back to meat is the default for many people.

[Ignis]

219. You DO realize that means we can survive w/o meat, right?

Omnivores are not obligate carnivores.

[GoneOffShore]

224. I'll happily be somewhat vegetarian. Just as long as I can get bacon.

Not eating the tofu though. Even if it's bacon flavored.

[kornovol]

196. here yea

I feel there's a place for meat & fish, just look at monkeys, they'll eat anything

[RoryK]

200. Resistence is futile.

I've never even THOUGHT of giving up the barb. ;-)

[Warren DeMontague]

207. It's interesting that so many vegans/vegetarians get mad when they read this.

I mean, who cares? No one is going to force YOU to eat meat.


Why the obsession- the endless obsession- over what other people put on their forks?

[Ignis]

221. We are nagged about our dietary choices constantly.

You don't think that leads to defensiveness? Just a little? Well, OK then.

[Mendocino]

229. You got it.

When someone tells me how much they like to eat meat, I nod my head. When I tell them I'm vegan they go ballistic.

[kentauros]

231. "When I tell them I'm vegan they go ballistic."

That's it, exactly. It's like an affront to them that anyone could even conceive of the idea not to eat meat, but to do so voluntarily is as bad as telling them that you just killed their family pet. And I don't really understand that reaction, either. I'm like, "What did I say?"

I'm not vegan, but when anyone has asked if I was, they react like they are relieved I haven't gone "that far." :eyes:

And, inevitably, one of them must point out how much they love their meat. Next time someone does that, I'm going to ask them what's their technique for grappling the cow and then rendering it dead with their front and lateral incisors :P

[Raine]

225. Because others always seem to be obsessed about what we don't put on our forks

continually putting us down. I think some actually would like to force meat down us if it was possible for them to do so. I am defensive about being a vegetarian because it seems I'm continually put in the position of defending my choice.

[propagandagirl]

209. Not this one!

19 years and counting! My twin girls, who have never eaten red meat, gave up chicken and turkey a few years ago. One is vegetarian and one is vegan.

[Hawkowl]

216. 15 years +

I will never go back. It is moral choice for me. I really can not bear to eat another being that experiences, joy, sadness, fear, love, etc.

[kwassa]

227. If you want a heart-healthy diet, become a vegan.

75 - 80% of the cholesterol in our body is manufactured in the liver from saturated fats. All saturated fats come from animals, animal byproducts like milk and cheese, and a few tropical vegetable oils. Avoid those, reduce cholesterol.

[fishwax]

233. it isn't a psychology today study that said 75%

If you check the sources at the bottom of the article, the psychology today article actually gets that number from a CBS report from 2005 which said that three times as many people admit to being ex-vegetarians as vegetarian, and so PT concluded that 75% of vegetarians return to meat. Not exactly scientific, of course.

[Ilsa]

235. In some places, like Texas, there are times when staying vegetarian

can be difficult. Most restaurants don't have vegetarian alternatives here, and if a veg is traveling with nonveg friends and family, you hate to be the one constantly fussing about where you can/can't eat. I'm in Texas and alot of places, especially in smaller towns, don't have many alternatives at all, meaning you never get much of a break out of the kitchen.