The world today is a convenient heap of information regarding health and diet concerns across the board. It’s not difficult to locate facts and tips on how to modify your eating habits in almost any way imaginable, whether you want to cut fat, eliminate carbs or go vegetarian.
That was mine. A few years ago, I decided to stop eating meat. It didn’t even begin as a moral or political issue with me; it was a health issue. I suddenly found myself getting sick more frequently and even developed an ulcer, which, given how I was a pretty healthy eater, was remarkable to me.
As I set out to investigate this biological baffle, I learned that my lean meat-heavy diet was making my body an over-acidic wonderland. I’m a problem solver so I quickly went into alkaline overdrive in an attempt to regain some balance. So long, burgers. I couldn’t believe how much better I felt when I eliminated meat from my diet. I got hooked on it.
Not to mention that during the course of reading about meat and your body, I ended up coming across a vast amount of info about the industry of meat in America: the cruelty, the hormones, the corporate immorality. Apparently, my notions about burgers coming from lovingly cared for cows on a quaint country farm were a bit antiquated. And that’s the thing about knowing something…once you know it, you can’t un-know it. And for me, once I knew it, I couldn’t let my money or my body participate in it anymore.
(Brief interjection: I’m not lecturing here. This isn’t an article about why it’s so awful to eat meat. I’m just saying this is my experience. I’ve never been one of those militant vegetarians who will judge you and throw blood on you and stuff. Ick. Not my scene.)
Knowing that I was going to have to make up for a lot nutritionally, I quickly amassed all the information I could get my hands on about various tips and tricks for being the healthiest veggie out there. It took a few years, a few bouts of anemia, and a whole lot of ill-fated attempts at homemade fake meat, but I finally got the hang of it. Hallelujah!
Now fast-forward a few more years. Oh man, I missed meat. Yup, I thought I was over it, was sure I had said farewell for good, but there I was. More than anything, I felt being a vegetarian had gone from being something that made me feel healthier to be something that was draining my body of what it needed. Don’t get me wrong, veggies can be some of the healthiest, most nutritionally complete people around but when you eliminate meat from your diet, being nutritionally complete takes a lot more time and attention. And I simply didn’t have the time anymore. As a result, my health was suffering.
So how to start eating meat again? It’s never a good plan to bombard your body with too much of something it’s not used it, so I knew that just diving back into the meat pool deep end (ew, bad mental image) wasn’t the healthiest course of action. Remember that vast world of dietary information I was talking about earlier? Yeah, not nearly so much when you want to go back to eating meat. But through research about the nature of various meats and how our bodies respond to them, plus some trial and error, here are some tips I’ve learned, from me to you, Oh Future Carnivore:
1. Start slow – small portions are your friend.
2. Stick with fish in the beginning.
3. After you're used to seafood, sneak in little bits of poultry. For example, try substituting chicken broth for vegetable broth in recipes.
4. Build up to more turkey and chicken from there but again, go slowly. Reintroducing meat is a bit of a shock to your system.
5. Eventually, go for a bit of red meat, if you want. Some choose to keep this out of their diet completely but if you want to, just wait until you’re already back in the swing of easier meats.
As remains universally true, education is vital. The more you know, the better off you are. Was life simpler before I knew what I knew about the business and moral ramifications of eating meat? Duh, obviously. Do I wish I was still in the dark about it? Absolutely not. Maybe that’s just me but I think it’s indisputably wise to empower ourselves with the information necessary to make fully conscious choices in our lives regarding where we put our mental and monetary support.
And there absolutely are ways to eat meat (and eat anything, for that matter) in a way that doesn’t lend to an industry that perhaps you don’t agree with. Buy local. Support small farms. Purchase hormone-free and free-range animal products. Not only are these options better for you physically, but also you’ll be supporting your small enterprising neighbors and happy animals.
