Reintroducing Meat to Vegetarian Diet?

and also concerned step mom, all of the answers before yours were not judgemental and were very informative. actually the only person "pushing" what to eat on anyone was you. and why do you care what someone else's reasoning is for their diet that doesn't affect you? she just wanted a little advice for her friend, not to basically be called an idiot by you. why don;t you do research before you make post the are uneducated.

sorry, concerned stepmom, plants don;t have feelings as they have no central nervous system.

Of course, what a person eats is a matter of personal choice. What should not be confused, however, is that medical research has shown that a plant-based diet is superior to an omniverous diet in several important respects. The greatest killers today are heart disease and cancer. Research has clearly shown that meat & dairy products contribute substantially to these diseases. It is also important to realize that animal food production has other serious consequences for the health of our species and the planet. Animal food production is extremely wasteful because the same amounts of plant-based foods that it takes to raise food animals can feed many more people than the animals which the food is used to grow. Further, the United Nations has released a report stating that gases produced by the world's supply of food animals causes more global warming than exhaust from all cars and trucks together. It is not hard to eat a healthy plant-based diet, but some research is necessary to insure that all nutritional needs are met. Every nutritional need a person has can be satisfied on a plant-based diet. The only exception is vitamin B-12 which is produced by a bacteria that lives in dirt and is transmitted through animal products. This can be supplied by taking a supplement or by adding nutritional yeast to one's diet. I recommend the book "Becoming Vegan" by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina. They are both highly respected dietitians. Their book explains what is necessary to have a healthy plant-based diet.

I am confused when vegans speak of animals lives as being a reason to not eat meat.  That can be true for all vegitation.  Do plants not turn toward sunlight or reach out to something to be able to grow up or out.  You reasoning behind animals have feelings so you shouldnt eat them, well news flash plants have feelings then as well.  There are plants that are meat eaters as well, so take a note from nature.  EAT MEAT AND VEGITATION AND LIVE YOUR LIFE.  YOU are not living forever you are not prolonging life either.  You should only be a vegitarian because you enjoy it and stop trying to convince others to become one or telling them they are horrible people for eating what they choose to eat.  My step-daughter is now a Type II diabetic because she watched a stupid video on you tube about slaughtering animals.  Her mother is a nurse and didnt care to explain to the child that she had to incorporate special items into this choice and that she couldnt live off of baked potatoes and french fries from fast food restaurants.  She is now living with me and she has lost 15lbs and is eating fish along with more vegitables.  So before you judge or push your beliefs on others make sure you know your audience and at least add education to your belief.

 

If your friend wants to eat meat again, that is her choice.

I decided to eat meat once about 20 years ago, after having been a raw vegan for about 8 years, and, so, after deliberating for a while,  I went to a specialty hamburger restaurant and ate a hamburger.   I did not die (duh), and I did not notice any untoward health issues (okay, granted, I was very young and very healthy).  I did go right back to my normal raw vegan diet, simply because that is what I wanted to do.  Meanwhile, I began to believe that all that talk about having physical problems if you eat meat after not having done so for a while is a bunch of guff.  I do not know why people keep promoting that concept.   At the same time, some people who decide to eat meat after following a vegan diet for a while have problems with dairy products (I have never been able to consume dairy products, and when I have tried to, I have had some "interesting" digestive experiences.  Once, when I decided to go off vegan, and ate some ice cream, I did suffer, and once, when I was cooked vegan, I ate some supposedly vegan cheesem and had trouble - first, it tasted like milk, and second, because I am allergic to milk *protein*, i.e, casein, I had some ill effects)

If your friend is healthy and has no fish/shellfish, lactose, or casein allergies, the only *physical* issue she might experience, if anything, would be a "heavy" feeling after eating meat.  Any other "symptom" would, most likely, be psychological (guilt, fear, belief system).

Choosing to eat meat works well for most people. If a vegetarian/vegan decides to go SAD, if it is her or his own decision, and it is what she or he  wants to do,  there will be no problem.  Our bodies are pretty efficinetly designed to handle just about anything we put into them (think alcohol).  If you choose to eat meat, your body will handle it.  If you choose to eat a vegetarian, vegan, or raw vegan diet, your body may handle it better (as we are told)

Margaret

prettysmartrawfoodideas.wordpress.com 

I think before she adds meat back into her diet, she needs to really examine all the problems with eating meat! This breaks my heart to know she is taking a step backwards in terms of her health and ummm....animals lives. She (and everyone else in the world) should listen to the following podcast:

Vegetarian Food for Thought by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

I am very curious why your friend wants to eat meat but if she does, then I'd suggest that she decide how often she wants to eat it and eat moderate portions of 4 ounces of less the first time that she does.

If your friend feels like she needs more protein, she can add good sources of vegetarian protein and see how she feels. I'd try that before I'd eat meat and fish, but everyone makes their own food choices.