Has anyone suddenly stopped developed an aversion to meat...?

So I'm having sort of a weird mental/dietary shift going on.

I've always been a true omnivore. I will, quite literally, eat just about anything and I will usually enjoy it. I can count on one hand the foods I don't like, with fingers to spare.

My natural diet, as in the one I've always just found myself following because that's what I want, is pretty light on meat. I'm sort of an accidental pescatarian, but I would eat other meats from time to time. While I do have problems with factory farming, I've never had any ethical qualms about eating meat in and of itself. Humans have always eaten meat.

And all of a sudden, I've developed a really strong aversion to all meats.

It's happened sometime over the past month or two. The first time I really noticed it was actually on Thanksgiving. I was just having a really hard time, mentally, wanting to eat turkey. I kept thinking, it's... a dead thing. That I'm picking pieces off of.

Today, I ate shrimp. Seafood is normally the type of meat I eat the most of. I like shrimp. A lot.

But I had to actually force myself to finish. I kept thinking in my head that it's this dead thing. And I can feel the pieces of it, its body parts, in my teeth.

Meat suddenly doesn't seem like food to me. It's just... not food. Which is weird, considering the time of year. I usually want meat more when it starts to get cold.

I dunno what's going on. Like I said, I've never had any problems with eating meat. This has just suddenly popped up for me. Anyone ever had something like this?

SmokeAndMirrors said:

So I'm having sort of a weird mental/dietary shift going on.

I've always been a true omnivore. I will, quite literally, eat just about anything and I will usually enjoy it. I can count on one hand the foods I don't like, with fingers to spare.

My natural diet, as in the one I've always just found myself following because that's what I want, is pretty light on meat. I'm sort of an accidental pescatarian, but I would eat other meats from time to time. While I do have problems with factory farming, I've never had any ethical qualms about eating meat in and of itself. Humans have always eaten meat.

And all of a sudden, I've developed a really strong aversion to all meats.

It's happened sometime over the past month or two. The first time I really noticed it was actually on Thanksgiving. I was just having a really hard time, mentally, wanting to eat turkey. I kept thinking, it's... a dead thing. That I'm picking pieces off of.

Today, I ate shrimp. Seafood is normally the type of meat I eat the most of. I like shrimp. A lot.

But I had to actually force myself to finish. I kept thinking in my head that it's this dead thing. And I can feel the pieces of it, its body parts, in my teeth.

Meat suddenly doesn't seem like food to me. It's just... not food. Which is weird, considering the time of year. I usually want meat more when it starts to get cold.

I dunno what's going on. Like I said, I've never had any problems with eating meat. This has just suddenly popped up for me. Anyone ever had something like this?

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I am having the exact same issue........did you ever find out a cause?

Thanks!

Ksmith said:

I am having the exact same issue........did you ever find out a cause?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

Whoa, forgot I even made this thread!

No, I didn't. It seemed to kind of dissipate on its own after a couple months. But I've never been a huge meat-eater to begin with.

SmokeAndMirrors said:

Whoa, forgot I even made this thread!

No, I didn't. It seemed to kind of dissipate on its own after a couple months. But I've never been a huge meat-eater to begin with.

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Just out of curioisty what was happening in that time of your life? I'm thinking that it could have been psycological. Perhaps a death of a family member or some loved one? Maybe even just a passing acquaintence?

something similar happens to me from time to time. i might eventually go vegetarian, but honestly, i'm not sure it would be the best choice for me. to maintain a healthy BMI, i have to stay well below the weight my body wants to be. if i cut out meat, i start feeling more frail. maybe it's psychological; i'm not sure.

either way, plants used to be alive, too. at this point in the technology, it's pretty much impossible to not eat something that was once alive. i'm an omnivore, so for now, i'll probably remain one. meat substitutes are getting pretty awesome lately, though. morning star farms has fake meat that i often prefer over the real thing. if they ever make fake cold cuts, i'm there.

my fantasy has always been to get a place out in the country and to keep a couple cows as pets to make up for it. just let them live their natural lives free and with no ugliness at the end. i think that would be pretty awesome.

Kal'Stang said:

Just out of curioisty what was happening in that time of your life? I'm thinking that it could have been psycological. Perhaps a death of a family member or some loved one? Maybe even just a passing acquaintence?

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Nothing particularly special, if I recall.

Helix said:

something similar happens to me from time to time. i might eventually go vegetarian, but honestly, i'm not sure it would be the best choice for me. to maintain a healthy BMI, i have to stay well below the weight my body wants to be. if i cut out meat, i start feeling more frail. maybe it's psychological; i'm not sure.

either way, plants used to be alive, too. at this point in the technology, it's pretty much impossible to not eat something that was once alive. i'm an omnivore, so for now, i'll probably remain one. meat substitutes are getting pretty awesome lately, though. morning star farms has fake meat that i often prefer over the real thing. if they ever make fake cold cuts, i'm there.

my fantasy has always been to get a place out in the country and to keep a couple cows as pets to make up for it. just let them live their natural lives free and with no ugliness at the end. i think that would be pretty awesome.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I totally get what you mean. Even though I'm pretty "low meat," I do feel compromised if I cut it out entirely. And I'm really a pretty healthy eater -- my body is more likely to tell me to eat an avocado than french fries.

There are also different gut types, depending on the dominant flora that make a living in your GI tract. Some gut types actually give people a much higher desire, and possibly need, for meat.

I don't even necessarily mind eating things that were once alive, and that isn't what I minded then. It was more that... it just didn't feel like food. I don't know how else to describe it. Not like it was "wrong," but more like it was "waste." Maybe my body was just in intense need of some kind of plant food.

I was actually reading something interesting a while ago (I can try to dig it up again if you want) that said, assuming you're still sourcing your food from any kind of substantial agriculture, being vegan/vegetarian actually kills a lot more animals than if everyone lived on nothing but cows, and it's probably not any better than the ominvorous diet of most people. Keep in mind, making a field means destroying the homes of lots and lots of animals, or killing them with farming equipment.

I've had similar thoughts. A couple goats, a nice bunny hutch, some chickens. Just go fishing for my meat, since I seem to be able to get away with that just fine. But it's so hard to give up my city comforts!

SmokeAndMirrors said:

Yeah, I totally get what you mean. Even though I'm pretty "low meat," I do feel compromised if I cut it out entirely. And I'm really a pretty healthy eater -- my body is more likely to tell me to eat an avocado than french fries.

There are also different gut types, depending on the dominant flora that make a living in your GI tract. Some gut types actually give people a much higher desire, and possibly need, for meat.

I don't even necessarily mind eating things that were once alive, and that isn't what I minded then. It wasn't that I had a problem with it being a dead thing. It was more that... it just didn't feel like food. I don't know how else to describe it. Not like it was "wrong," but more like it was "waste." Maybe my body was just in intense need of some kind of plant food.

I was actually reading something interesting a while ago (I can try to dig it up again if you want) that said, assuming you're still sourcing your food from any kind of substantial agriculture, being vegan/vegetarian actually kills a lot more animals than if everyone lived on nothing but cows, and it's probably not any better than the ominvorous diet of most people. Keep in mind, making a field means destroying the homes of lots and lots of animals, or killing them with farming equipment.

I've had similar thoughts. A couple goats, a nice bunny hutch, some chickens. Just go fishing for my meat, since I seem to be able to get away with that just fine. But it's so hard to give up my city comforts!

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i miss fishing. used to really enjoy it as a kid. when i was 14, i caught a big catfish, and was preparing to toss it back when i noticed four other hook marks in its mouth. just didn't seem like a fair fight. after that, i just couldn't do it anymore. i still eat fish, but now i keep myself as far from the process as possible.

I've had this happen to me too and currently I am not desiring meat. I am very much the same in that I do not prefer meat.

When I was a kid we toured a dairy factory, it smelled bad (due to animals) and we went to see where the cows got pumped. I was about 8-9 years old and was pretty disgusted to see a machine sucking on dirty utters on another animal. The tour guide explained that milk was a glandular secretion by mammary glands and how cows make it to feed their young. Everyone else thought it was amazing, I wasn't necessarily disgusted with the process but since then I did not want to drink milk after realizing where it came from. To this day I do not drink milk. I'll eat dairy products like yogurt or ice cream, but I won't drink milk or even eat cereal with milk in it. It just feels odd to me to eat the mammary secretions of another animal.

I also don't like meat. I never liked eating chicken legs or un-breaded shrimp because I felt like they looked too "alive." I still don't like eating meat with bone in it. I also do not have a personal taste for beef or ham and tend to avoid eating them. I'll eat a burger, steak, or pineapple ham but it's not my first pick. I do like seafood and sushi, but even then I don't eat much of it. Mainly for me meat is not my first choice. I'll eat it, but if I do I only eat a little bit. I'm a big carb/fruit/veggie person.

Helix said:

i miss fishing. used to really enjoy it as a kid. when i was 14, i caught a big catfish, and was preparing to toss it back when i noticed four other hook marks in its mouth. just didn't seem like a fair fight. after that, i just couldn't do it anymore. i still eat fish, but now i keep myself as far from the process as possible.

Click to expand...

digsbe said:

I've had this happen to me too and currently I am not desiring meat. I am very much the same in that I do not prefer meat.

When I was a kid we toured a dairy factory, it smelled bad (due to animals) and we went to see where the cows got pumped. I was about 8-9 years old and was pretty disgusted to see a machine sucking on dirty utters on another animal. The tour guide explained that milk was a glandular secretion by mammary glands and how cows make it to feed their young. Everyone else thought it was amazing, I wasn't necessarily disgusted with the process but since then I did not want to drink milk after realizing where it came from. To this day I do not drink milk. I'll eat dairy products like yogurt or ice cream, but I won't drink milk or even eat cereal with milk in it. It just feels odd to me to eat the mammary secretions of another animal.

I also don't like meat. I never liked eating chicken legs or un-breaded shrimp because I felt like the looked too "alive." I still don't like eating meat with bone in it. I also do not have a personal taste for beef or ham and tend to avoid eating them. I'll eat a burger, steak, or pineapple ham but it's not my first pick. I do like seafood and sushi, but even then I don't eat much of it. Mainly for me meat is not my first choice. I'll eat it, but if I do I only eat a little bit. I'm a big carb/fruit/veggie person.

Click to expand...

I see a thread here. I've actually thought I should get closer to the animals I consume. I need a better appreciation of what it means to eat meat. I don't feel ok that I kind of brush it under the table and when it gets to me, it's a neatly carved fillet with no signs of once having been attached to an animal.

I've started getting my fish from the counter, where it's just taken off a big ole fish, scales, head, and everything. It was uncomfortable at first, but I need to understand what I'm doing. Not because it's wrong, but because our food industry treats animals with so little respect. Hunters used to have a lot of reverence for the animals they killed, and I know some who still do.

I've seen the milking machines too, and it does disgust me. Not really because of what milk is, but more because of how they're doing it. They've got this big, gentle animal hooked up to a machine so they can just ignore it. Never give her any kind touch. Never develop a relationship with it of relieving it of pressure, rather than just sucking her dry.

I've also seen farmers milk manually, and that doesn't bother me anywhere near as much.

I've seen chickens in factory farms, and I didn't know whether to vomit or cry.

But I've also seen farmers with nice coops just go in every morning and fetch the eggs they leave behind, and that doesn't bother me.

The way we go about treating the animals we live on really impacts how I feel about it. And I think it'd be to my benefit to have more up-close experience with where my food comes from.

could be that i'm a flexitarian. i'd never heard the term previously.

Semi-vegetarianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

i really love the fake meat products that i've tried. just did some searching online, and there actually are cold cuts for sandwiches which are vegetarian. i will have to give them a shot.

SmokeAndMirrors said:

I see a thread here. I've actually thought I should get closer to the animals I consume. I need a better appreciation of what it means to eat meat. I don't feel ok that I kind of brush it under the table and when it gets to me, it's a neatly carved fillet with no signs of once having been attached to an animal.

I've started getting my fish from the counter, where it's just taken off a big ole fish, scales, head, and everything. It was uncomfortable at first, but I need to understand what I'm doing. Not because it's wrong, but because our food industry treats animals with so little respect. Hunters used to have a lot of reverence for the animals they killed, and I know some who still do.

I've seen the milking machines too, and it does disgust me. Not really because of what milk is, but more because of how they're doing it. They've got this big, gentle animal hooked up to a machine so they can just ignore it. Never give her any kind touch. Never develop a relationship with it of relieving it of pressure, rather than just sucking her dry.

I've also seen farmers milk manually, and that doesn't bother me anywhere near as much.

I've seen chickens in factory farms, and I didn't know whether to vomit or cry.

But I've also seen farmers with nice coops just go in every morning and fetch the eggs they leave behind, and that doesn't bother me.

The way we go about treating the animals we live on really impacts how I feel about it. And I think it'd be to my benefit to have more up-close experience with where my food comes from.

Click to expand...

I think there is similar sentiment. Thinking about it I don't have as much of a problem with a farmer hand milking a cow over the cows being hooked up to machines and pumped. I've also seen the factory farms and how they treat chickens and other livestock. It just disgusted me. I saw how they load the chickens up with hormones and fatty foods to make them gain weight quickly to the point where they cannot walk and suffer from organ failure before they are slaughtered with feathers and feces all over the coup. I remember seeing dead chickens on the floor being pecked at and walked over and felt disgusted by the whole thing. I also felt the same way about the pig farms and feel disgusted by how we pump animals full or antibiotics and hormones/bad foods to get them to grow as fast as possible while minimizing losses due to them dying from infections (which can also breed antibiotic resistance which is a separate issue). From an economic standpoint it's efficient, but to me I think it's disgusting.

I think the lack of respect that was shown to the animals and their living conditions is what got to me. Everything was dirty and unnatural. I have no problem with slaughtering animals for food or with the idea of eating another living thing, but the way they were treated, raised, and killed (hanging with blood and stuff dripping everywhere and onto the floor) made me feel sick and not want to eat it. I feel the same way about meat lockers where they have entire skinned animals hanging around in a refrigerator.

Personally, gore and guts do not bother me. But when it comes to ingesting something like that into my own body that's where I have reservations. It's almost partially subconscious because it makes me feel disgusted without actually thinking about it.

Helix said:

could be that i'm a flexitarian. i'd never heard the term previously.

Semi-vegetarianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

i really love the fake meat products that i've tried. just did some searching online, and there actually are cold cuts for sandwiches which are vegetarian. i will have to give them a shot.

Click to expand...

Interesting. I sound a lot like the "Mediterranean diet" they mention as a variant. Genetic, maybe? I am predominantly Italian and Greek. I don't know whether our gut types are genetically inherited or environmental, but either way, seems like it could be from my family, since I assume I had a lot of exposure to the flora of my mother.

No one ever feels bad for the plants yes you cant hear them scream or squeal they just writher and die slowly sort of like suffocation but no one cares

SmokeAndMirrors said:

Whoa, forgot I even made this thread!

No, I didn't. It seemed to kind of dissipate on its own after a couple months. But I've never been a huge meat-eater to begin with.

Click to expand...

From what you describe, sounds like you saw something that stuck in your craw mentally. Maybe one of those animal abuse commercials that keep Sarah Mclaughlin's music alive.

SmokeAndMirrors said:

Interesting. I sound a lot like the "Mediterranean diet" they mention as a variant. Genetic, maybe? I am predominantly Italian and Greek. I don't know whether our gut types are genetically inherited or environmental, but either way, seems like it could be from my family, since I assume I had a lot of exposure to the flora of my mother.

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possibly genetic and cultural.

SmokeAndMirrors said:

So I'm having sort of a weird mental/dietary shift going on.

I've always been a true omnivore. I will, quite literally, eat just about anything and I will usually enjoy it. I can count on one hand the foods I don't like, with fingers to spare.

My natural diet, as in the one I've always just found myself following because that's what I want, is pretty light on meat. I'm sort of an accidental pescatarian, but I would eat other meats from time to time. While I do have problems with factory farming, I've never had any ethical qualms about eating meat in and of itself. Humans have always eaten meat.

And all of a sudden, I've developed a really strong aversion to all meats.

It's happened sometime over the past month or two. The first time I really noticed it was actually on Thanksgiving. I was just having a really hard time, mentally, wanting to eat turkey. I kept thinking, it's... a dead thing. That I'm picking pieces off of.

Today, I ate shrimp. Seafood is normally the type of meat I eat the most of. I like shrimp. A lot.

But I had to actually force myself to finish. I kept thinking in my head that it's this dead thing. And I can feel the pieces of it, its body parts, in my teeth.

Meat suddenly doesn't seem like food to me. It's just... not food. Which is weird, considering the time of year. I usually want meat more when it starts to get cold.

I dunno what's going on. Like I said, I've never had any problems with eating meat. This has just suddenly popped up for me. Anyone ever had something like this?

Click to expand...

You may be realizing that store bought meat sucks. It is tasteless crap fed full of hormones and I don't blame you for getting sick of it. Try buying some real meat raised free range by a local farmer.

I sometimes find meat revolting when my allergies/sinuses are on overdrive or if I have become ill just after eating meat even if the illness is not food related, especially seafood.