What Happens When You Stop Eating Meat (2024)

FAQs

What Happens When You Stop Eating Meat? ›

You may feel tired and weak if you cut meat out of your diet. That's because you're missing an important source of protein and iron, both of which give you energy. The body absorbs more iron from meat than other foods, but it's not your only choice.

And people who don't eat meat, called vegetarians, generally eat fewer calories and less fat. They also tend to weigh less. And they have a lower risk of heart disease than nonvegetarians do. Research shows that people who eat red meat are at a higher risk of death from heart disease, stroke or diabetes.

A plant-based diet can provide your body with a wide range of vitamins and nutrients that are essential for healthy skin. Many people report that their skin looks brighter and clearer after giving up meat and animal products.

Even though meats provide certain nutrients that plants don't, eating meat isn't necessary for your health or survival. With appropriate planning and supplements, plant-based diets can provide the nutrients your body needs.

If humankind went vegan, animal cruelty would become less common — not just in industries where animals are killed for meat but also within the egg and dairy industries where animals experience overcrowding, inhumane treatment, poor hygiene, disease, and a lack of medical care.

High in fat, cholesterol, and sodium

Given that the carnivore diet consists solely of animal foods, it can be high in saturated fat and cholesterol. Saturated fat may raise your LDL (bad) cholesterol, which may increase your risk of heart disease.

A vegan diet does not automatically mean that you will age faster or slower than anyone else. A balanced plant-based diet is however protective against premature ageing. Plant foods have a beneficial influence on the main processes that promote ageing; oxidation, inflammation and glycation.

The research, which reviewed previous studies and was published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, showed particpants who cut meat out of their diets lost around 10lbs on average without monitoring their calorie intake or increasing the amount they exercised.

Interestingly, people eating plant-based diets make little or no TMAO after a meat-containing meal, because they have a totally different gut microbiome. It takes only a few days for our gut bacterial patterns to change – the benefits of a plant-based diet start quickly!

Eating a diet with no or limited meat may benefit your health and the environment. Cutting back on meat and eating a predominantly plant-based diet may help with weight management, protect against heart disease and certain cancers, and support a healthy gut.

What does the Bible say about eating meat? ›

Just as I gave you the green vegetation, I give them all to you. 4 Only flesh with its life—its blood—you must not eat. The Bible says that all foods are clean to eat, excepts those contaning blood. (Mark 7:19) (Acts 15:20) so animals must be properly bled, in order to be eaten.

Many Christians readily assert that Jesus ate meat. Yet there isn't one instance in which he ate meat recorded in the Bible or other historical texts. Historians have frequently noted that Jesus' brother James was a vegetarian and had been raised vegetarian.

The Bottom Line

Nutritional science has spoken, and it is clear that humans do not need to eat meat to be healthy. Nevertheless, the meat vs. plant debate will most likely continue until the end of time.

Fruits, green leafy parts of plants, shoots, seeds, nuts, roots and tubers are the fundamental components of the primate eating pattern – and common sense tells us that these foods should be the foods that humans eat, too.

Most simply, a pescatarian is someone who doesn't eat red meat or poultry, but does eat fish and other seafood. The term pescatarian was coined in the early 1990s and is a combination of the Italian word for fish, “pesce,” and the word “vegetarian.” Sometimes it's spelled “pescetarian,” but this means the same thing.

If you eat meat that has been contaminated with these bacteria, you'll probably end up with food poisoning. According to the Mayo Clinic, food poisoning symptoms include nausea, vomiting, fever, abdominal pain and other gastrointestinal issues. Certain strains of pathogenic bacteria are known to cause bloody diarrhea.

"If meat is simply removed and not substituted, the consumer is at risk of iron or B12 deficiency, anemia, and muscle wasting," Levy-Wollins explains.

If you stop eating meat, but the rest of your diet is unchanged, you are likely to be deficient in protein and vitamin B12. You will want to add other foods to your diet to make up for this, to avoid weakness, fatigue, loss of concentration, and possible increased risk of heart disease and Alzheimers.

This uses extra water and if you don't drink more to compensate, the dehydrating effect can result in constipation. But in a normal, omnivorous diet, the meat will complete its journey through your digestive system in 12 to 48 hours, along with everything else.