How do I go about eatting meat again?

September 16, 2009 7:39 PM

I've been a vegetarian for over five years. After being belittled by Tony Bourdain for years, I think I'm ready to eat some meat again. Advice?

I've found it to be about time to start weening myself back to meat. To elaborate a bit i'm looking to start back with chicken and seafood, not red meat.

So, for those of you who have done this and/or know what to expect, can you give me some advice? I'm concerned about getting sick because my stomach no longer has the enzymes needed to break down meat...right?

Fried chicken awaits. Tell me how to get there.

posted by deacon_blues to food & drink (35 comments total)

my stomach no longer has the enzymes needed to break down meat...right?
Horseshit. My first meal after 7 years of not eating any meat was a big greasy French Dip. I did just fine. You probably will too.
posted by piedmont at 7:46 PM on September 16 [5 favorites]

FWIW I abandoned 8 years of hard core vegetarianism over a quarter pound of bacon* and suffered no upset stomach.

*to be fair, the bacon was cooking over a fire on the 3rd day of a camping trip. That's just plain unfair.
posted by jamaro at 7:46 PM on September 16 [1 favorite]

My ex-husband did this with no ill effects. I think you probably shouldn't eat a pound of hamburger, but if you want to eat some chicken soup or shrimp cocktail, do that.

If you don't find yourself experiencing the horror of Wooze, try a tuna sandwich the next day.

Day after that, you've got a date with KFC.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 7:51 PM on September 16 [1 favorite]

I've been a vegetarian for ten years, but I've had to bend the rules now and then to avoid being a pain in the ass. The hamburger I ate five years in made me pretty damn sick for the rest of the day. Since then, I've gotten sick a few times eating things cooked in chicken stock, or with the tiniest bits of bacon mixed in. (I seem to be touchiest with pork products, followed closely by red meat.) Just make sure you're near a bathroom for the rest of the day and you'll be fine.

Also, the enzymes in your stomach that you need to break down meat reaccumulate within 24 hours such that their levels will be identical to those in a stomach that's eaten meat at every meal all it's life. So if you're sick after 24 hours, it's purely psychological.

(Do not, however, discount the power of your brain to make you quite sick indeed.)
posted by adiabat at 7:59 PM on September 16

I also gave up a six year streak of vegetarianism with a big block of peppered smokehouse bacon slice after oh so delicious slice followed shortly thereafter with a rib eye.

I say if you're gonna do it, really go all out. Go get yourself a family size bucket and dig in.
posted by at the crossroads at 8:00 PM on September 16

Agree with all the others. I was vegetarian for 10 years and gave it up with a delicious plate of chicken wings. Then a steak the next day. No digestive issues.
posted by gyroscope at 8:00 PM on September 16

I went back to meat after three years strict veg and was fine. I also had mono pretty bad at the time, and my body still didn't freak out.
posted by ishotjr at 8:07 PM on September 16

I did three or four years of vegetarianism, and then I ate a boar burger. And a plate of fries done up in duck fat. I suffered zero effects, because I wanted the burger. If it's food and not gross in your brain, then I think you'll do fine.
posted by Netzapper at 8:16 PM on September 16

I've never had a problem with going back to meat after various bouts of vegetarianism, but if it makes you feel better, you can pick up some papaya enzyme tablets at a health food store beforehand. Papaya enzymes are used in meat tenderizer, so they should help break down protein.
posted by corey flood at 8:31 PM on September 16

Just eat meat. Didn't bother me when I started eating it again.
posted by Ironmouth at 8:33 PM on September 16

Your "some seafood and chicken" idea makes sense (I eat seafood occasionally and once every few months do a burger or kosher hot dog, myself, while staying mostly vegetarian otherwise). Ignore the folks who tell you to pig out; start gentle and stay gentle. There's really no need to go from one extreme to another.

Also, I feel a lot better when I go organic for any meat and dairy. It's worth it.
posted by mediareport at 8:33 PM on September 16 [2 favorites]

Similarly to mediareport's advice, a friend of mine who has repeatedly crossed and re-crossed the vegetarian line over the years maintains that it's the quality of the meat that matters - a good steak is fine to come off a veggie streak with, but most hamburgers are are better saved for later. I had some minor issues with pork and red meat when I reintroduced them into my diet, but I think that might've been largely psychological. It might be more comfortable to start yourself off with some leaner poultry initially - the richness of fried chicken, even more than the meat, might cause your stomach some issues.
posted by EvaDestruction at 8:55 PM on September 16

I went back to red meat after 15 years of abstinence by eating steaks for 5 nights in a row - I was fine.

YMMV.

I would recommend staying away from processed meats, maybe, right away, and sticking with fresh, organic chicken or beef.
posted by tristeza at 8:58 PM on September 16

I was a veg for 7 years. One day I walked into a nearby cafe and ordered a chicken sandwich. I never looked back. I was FINE. Those, "Oh I ate meat and THREW UP EVERYWHERE" stories are bull. You'll be fine, just don't overdo it like I did. If anything, I gained a more balanced diet in the end.
posted by GilloD at 9:08 PM on September 16

Going back to meat* isn't going to cause you any trouble. The one thing I would add here is:

* focus on quality. Unless you really like it, reintroducing yourself to meat via KFC seems like a disaster waiting to happen (or a disappointment, at least). Once a year I have a bite of a $50 steak and it is absolutely outstanding. Gross fried chicken / fast food isn't worth it.
posted by pkingdesign at 9:10 PM on September 16

I was vegetarian for +10 years and started eating fish and poultry this year with no problems at all. I have had issues with eating shell fish, it seems like I'm super sensitive to it after not having it for so long.
posted by pluckysparrow at 9:21 PM on September 16

I was a vegetarian for several years before I went back to eating meat. I never had a problem, but I agree with others above that it is probably wise to go for good quality meat, and that pork and/or fatty meats may be harder on your digestion than leaner meats and poultry. I've been back to eating meat for several years now, but going overboard with the animal fats does make me feel ill.

Fish and seafood were no problem at all, and were in fact the first meats I reincorporated into my diet.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 9:48 PM on September 16

Here is what you will notice...

While you were away, factory farming has somehow rendered (yes. I just did that.) the flavor and quality of regular meat to a realm that is truly disgusting. Your mouth and stomach will revolt if you attempt KFC - fond as our memories of those extra crispy goodies are!

Rule #1 - only eat things that eat good things!

I like the grass fed beef from Whole Foods. Recently (Labor Day) found a green tumor on the underside of a free range Bristol Farm's chicken breast. So be discerning when buying meats as you can never tell these days. I've never had bad meat from Whole Foods, but I don't buy their pork, for some reason I can't identify for you. Just my gut...

You might start by mail ordering free range organic red wattle heritage pork from these guys.

If I was going to break an 11 year long meat fast, I would definitely start with yummy yummy pig!

Next stop - sushi. After that, the best pastrami sandwich I could lay my hands on!

(Pastrami is brisket that is first "corned" (cured & brined) then smoked. I reckon the process overall makes for easier digestion, FWIW.)

On a final note, beware of most farm raised fish. They swim in their own poop, eat seafood by-product fish pellets, and they're crazy medicated (antibiotics.) Yuck.

DISCLAIMER: I've been vegetarian, I totally eat meat these days, and I try my hardest to adhere to Rule #1, above. Not adhering to Rule #1 often disrupts my suspension of disbelief and interrupts my enjoyment of a nice juicy burger. YMMV.
posted by jbenben at 9:51 PM on September 16

On the other hand, after my heart attack, I gave up my voracious carnivorism with three weeks of vegetarianism and had some of the worst lower GI trauma you can possibly imagine, which disappeared slowly as I added animal protein back into my diet.
posted by luriete at 10:02 PM on September 16

GilloD> Those, "Oh I ate meat and THREW UP EVERYWHERE" stories are bull.

GilloD, let me introduce you to adiabat:

adiabat> The hamburger I ate five years in made me pretty damn sick for the rest of the day. Since then, I've gotten sick a few times eating things cooked in chicken stock, or with the tiniest bits of bacon mixed in.

Look, if you've been a vegetarian for over 5 years, what's the rush and why risk getting sick? Especially given that a bad GI reaction will do nothing for your enjoyment of animal flesh. Nthing the folks above, have a little bit of good quality meat the first day, check your gut response to it, then you can savor the fried chicken the next if everything's fine.
posted by UrineSoakedRube at 10:18 PM on September 16

My six years of vegetarianism ended on the steps of a Roman statue with a giant stack of freshly, and thinly sliced, greasy, hot salami from a local deli. Vote number 3,000 for just do it.

As for ill-effects, I found the opposite. I have to say that after a few weeks of eating red meat again I suddenly realised I had been really lacking energy and vitality those 6 years. YMMV, but I was a new person with tons of energy.
posted by lottie at 10:33 PM on September 16

My experience coming off of a stint of vegetarianism has been this:

I handled meat just fine. I didn't really get sick, and no throwing up or the like. You don't lose any enzymes, that's a load of crapola.

What I *did* notice, however, was that I was not all used to the heavy, gurgly feeling of having a whole lot of fat floating around in my stomach. My diet as a vegetarian had been relatively low in fat, and the first meaty meal I had was 2 lbs of fatty BBQ brisket.

I turned green, and my stomach rolled and rolled, until all that fat started to pass through and get digested. I think a lot of lapsing vegetarians probably mistake this rediscovery of what it feels like to be full of fat for some sort of "meat sickness", but it's really just you remembering how all that feels.
posted by kaseijin at 10:35 PM on September 16

Yeah, go slow and don't worry about it. You'll be fine, and there's lots of good animal-based food out there so you should definitely not waste your time eating crap.

On the other hand, don't let that Bourdain jerk get under your skin. He's a cool cat with a travel show and all, but I personally find his attitude re vegetarianism (and some other things) to be nothing but pure unadulterated assholery.
posted by Aquaman at 11:07 PM on September 16 [2 favorites]

Unless you really like it, reintroducing yourself to meat via KFC seems like a disaster waiting to happen (or a disappointment, at least). Once a year I have a bite of a $50 steak and it is absolutely outstanding. Gross fried chicken / fast food isn't worth it.

I stopped going to fast food joints like that years ago and while not a vegetarian, back this up. Once after a couple of years in, I decided I really missed Chik-Fil-A's chicken sandwiches (still miss those tasty motherfuckers) and went with the work gang to CFA for lunch. Lunch was great, but the rest of the day was not.

If you went vegetarian Fo Reals, you probably haven't touched "real" fast food in a long time. Don't get back into the meat groove by starting there, or your body is going to hate you.
posted by Mikey-San at 12:01 AM on September 17

I was a vegetarian from age 14 to 36. The first meat I had after that was probably an In-n-Out burger. Not sick at all, but very full.

But one thing about making the transition to omnivorism -- meat safety. Storing, preparing, and cooking meat was a whole new thing for me, and I was a little frightened by all I didn't know, but I knew I didn't want internal pets. Make sure you know what you're supposed to do. Asking meat-eaters won't necessarily get you good info -- either meat safety is second nature and they don't know what they do, or they maybe aren't following best practices themselves.
posted by Methylviolet at 12:03 AM on September 17

What I *did* notice, however, was that I was not all used to the heavy, gurgly feeling of having a whole lot of fat floating around in my stomach. My diet as a vegetarian had been relatively low in fat, and the first meaty meal I had was 2 lbs of fatty BBQ brisket.

Dude. Carnivore here. 2lbs of beef brisket would make anyone feel grody.

I just wanted to chime in and say I'd think you be best off if you wait until you're truly tempted, here. If you have some sort of ceremonial, I-am-returning-to-meat meal, you'll wig yourself out focusing on every bite and going scatty for hours afterward with every tummy gurgle. The good experience people here seem to have one thing in common --- they were really hungry, something smelled delicious, and they went, "ah, fuck it." So just wait until that happens, with whatever food it happens with, and don't gorge yourself. And if it never does, then that's fine too. Fuck Anthony Bourdain.
posted by Diablevert at 4:27 AM on September 17 [1 favorite]

I personally find [Bourdain's] attitude re vegetarianism (and some other things) to be nothing but pure unadulterated assholery.

Yeah, coming back to reinforce that part. I love some of Bourdain's adventures (big fan of his style in general, actually) but his anti-vegetarian stance is pure kneejerk playing to the cheap seats and I just roll my eyes and overlook it like I overlook a really stupid habit in a good friend or roommate. Seriously: don't let any TV star dictate what you do with your eating habits - certainly not one who makes a living playing a bad boy.
posted by mediareport at 5:45 AM on September 17

I was a vegetarian born and raised until age 27. A few mysterious cases of "food poisoning" as a child were related to my eating meat unknowingly, but since I began eating meat as an adult I have never been sick. The enzyme thing isn't true, but it is true that vegetarians can get sick from eating meat.

I started with chicken and turkey, and a little bit of seafood. I still have no interest in red meat whatsoever, but part of that is mental--I believe it will make me sick, so it probably will. Whatever you're interested in eating, do so slowly, stop when you're full, and eat other foods with it to help your brain comprehend what you're doing. You probably won't have as much of a problem since you used to eat meat.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 6:11 AM on September 17

Get high with your sister-in-law before going to a TGIFriday's. Order chicken strips.

Isn't that how everyone does it?
posted by codswallop at 7:50 AM on September 17 [1 favorite]

An alternative perspective: perhaps your desire for meat is actually just a desire for protein? As a vegan, I know when I neglect my protein needs, meat starts to look pretty tasty, but when I have met my protein needs for the day, meat looks like what it is. Namely, the dead flesh of an animal which suffered monumentally in its life.

Before you do anything drastic, here are a couple of quotes from a recent cohort study on vegetarianism. I know you didn't ask for this information, but it might provide some guidance nonetheless. Quotes 2, 3 and 4 are particularly interesting given your position.

"The dominant components of the Mediterranean diet score as a predictor of lower mortality are moderate consumption of ethanol, low consumption of meat and meat products, and high consumption of vegetables, fruits and nuts, olive oil, and legumes. Minimal contributions were found for cereals and dairy products...and for fish and seafood, the intake of which is low in this population."1

"...this study suggests that the incidence of all malignant neoplasms combined may be lower among both fish eaters and vegetarians than among meat eaters. The most striking finding was the relatively low risk for cancers of the lymphatic and haematopoietic tissues among vegetarians."2

"In this large prospective cohort with a wide range of intakes, dietary fat of animal origin was associated with increased pancreatic cancer risk"3

And finally, vindication for Veggies everywhere -
"The American Dietetic Association has released a paper updating their position on vegetarian diets. The paper concludes that vegetarian diets(including total vegetarian or vegan diets) if well-planned, are healthful and nutritious for adults, infants, children and adolescents and can help prevent and treat chronic diseases including heart disease, cancer, obesity and diabetes."4

(All quotes pulled from a piece by Dr. Phillip Bickley, published in "The Vegan")

1. Trichopoulou A. Barnia C. et al Anatomy of health effects of Mediterranean diet: Greek Epic prospective cohort study. British medical Journal 2009;338;b2337

2. Key TJ. Appleby PN. et al. Cancer incidence in British vegetarians. British Journal of Cancer 2009; 101: 192-197

3. Thiebaut ACM. Jiao L. et al. Dietary Fatty Acids and Pancreatic Cancer in the NIH- AARP Diet and Health Study. Journal of the national cancer institute 2009; 202: 1001-1011

4. American Dietetic Association. Appropriate PLanned Vegetarioan Diets are healthful, may help in disease prevention and treatment, Says American Dietetic Association.
Http://www.eatright.org/cps/rde/xchg/ada/hs.xsl/media_22003_ENU_HTML.htm
posted by satori_movement at 7:54 AM on September 17 [3 favorites]

I'm concerned about getting sick because my stomach no longer has the enzymes needed to break down meat...right?

Nah. I was a vegetarian for 12 or 14 years, dove head-first into chicken-and-seafood eating, no problem.
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:06 AM on September 17

Thank you all so much for the answers - I really can't choose one that's best because most of the comments were great.

Satori_movement: I will certainly take that into consideration and I admit I never thought of it quite like that before. This is a very big deal for me because it's something I've been proud of myself for sticking with for this long.

So yes, before I do anything "drastic" I'll ponder my decisions a little longer.

Again guys and gals, thanks for all the great answers.
posted by deacon_blues at 10:49 AM on September 17

Oh, and to clarify: I'm a very big fan of Bourdain and his no-holds-barred approach to travel but in all honestly he really isn't the reason I've decided maybe it's time to go back to meat. :-)

Now...what to eat first??? Cooking is a hobby of mine so I imagine that plays a bit into my yearning for the flesh so to speak.
posted by deacon_blues at 10:55 AM on September 17 [1 favorite]

There's cooking and there's eating though. What you want to cook might not be what you want to eat.

I would go with chicken wings, but they're really easy so that might not satisfy the cooking desire. Vegetarians usually moon over bacon. But if you want the full meat experience I'd think a grilled steak with a little Gorgonzola butter on top would be a good start.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 11:16 PM on September 17 [1 favorite]

Just an update: I went for it with some chicken wings and homemade roast beef. Mmmmm
posted by deacon_blues at 6:24 PM on September 18 [1 favorite]