Does Anyone Feel Better Not Eating Meat?

[em2005]

Hello...

Just curious if anyone else out there finds themselves better off...er.... gastrointestinally when they don't eat meat. I was vegetarian for a period of about a year, last year, but eventually went back to eating beef/chicken/fish/seafood again because I felt horribly tired on the diet (I also don't eat any dairy and of course I am a gluten-free girl, so my diet was very limited). The interesting thing is that for the past week or so, my bf has gone back to trying the vegetarian stint again (for health reasons, not ethical ones; I also went veggie for the health benefits...so much guck in meat), and as we live together and cook for one another, we basically adopt the diet of the other person. I, of course, still eat meat but have really not eaten much meat since he started eating vegetarian again as it is a pain to cook things seperately. The amazing thing is (and I found this the first time I cut meat out of my diet) that I haven't had much in the way of tummy troubles at all since eating mostly veggie. Since about Jan. of this year (right around the time I went back to eating meat), I've had bouts of diarrhea several times a month...sometimes only once or no times a month, sometimes several times a month. I'm very careful about my diet so I have been suspcious since this has started happening. This past week, my stomach has been great! No cramps, very little bloating, no...erm.... awful gas (not trying to be graphic, but you know how it can be!), diarrhea...nothing!

Does anyone else here have experience with this? I have a friend who also has celiac disease, and I remember her saying that she also felt better when she didn't eat a lot of meat, and she has also been to a nutritionist who says it is common to hear of this complaint in people with Celiac Disease, due to the high fat content of meats and the difficulties involved in digesting heavy foods.

Any experiences or insight??

em

[nettiebeads]

Does anyone else here have experience with this?  I have a friend who also has celiac disease, and I remember her saying that she also felt better when she didn't eat a lot of meat, and she has also been to a nutritionist who says it is common to hear of this complaint in people with Celiac Disease, due to the high fat content of meats and the difficulties involved in digesting heavy foods.

Any experiences or insight??

em

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What do you do for protein? I thought my tummy upsets were do to my gallbladder acting up. You have given me something to think about. I think it is very possible for those with celiac disease to have problems digesting foods with high fat content or maybe even some fat content period. I know I feel much better when I go very lean in my foods.

[nettiebeads]

Does anyone else here have experience with this?  I have a friend who also has celiac disease, and I remember her saying that she also felt better when she didn't eat a lot of meat, and she has also been to a nutritionist who says it is common to hear of this complaint in people with Celiac Disease, due to the high fat content of meats and the difficulties involved in digesting heavy foods.

Any experiences or insight??

em

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What do you do for protein? I thought my tummy upsets were do to my gallbladder acting up. You have given me something to think about. I think it is very possible for those with celiac disease to have problems digesting foods with high fat content or maybe even some fat content period. I know I feel much better when I go very lean in my foods.

[tarnalberry]

Yes and no. It's not a fat thing, for me, 'cause if I'm not eating meat, my hypoglycemic tendencies have me eating plenty of fat. But sometimes, I'll just have very little meat and it works better. Varies on what my body needs. But some people do feel better sticking to a more vegetarian diet. It can also heavily depend on HOW you cook the meat you're eating. But whatever works for ya! :-)

[em2005]

Well, like I said I do still eat some meat every now and then because I am not a veggie, so I have gotten some protein during the week by way of lean turkey, tuna (yay tuna fish sandwiches!), rice powder protein (you can get it at a health food store), tofu, beans, and then the usual veggies/fruits/etc. when I was strictly vegetarian, I ate a lot of tofu and beans and nuts. I used to make these delicious bean burgers that had a LOT of protein in them, and consisted of chick peas, cashew nuts, red peppers...and something else, I can't remember, but they were so good! A bit crumbly, but still very tasty and good for you. I also found this really great pasta at a health food store, made of ground soybeans. Very high in protein and also very tasty. I used to supplement with B-complex vitamins, iron and a Cal/Mag. supplement...but i take supplements anyway even when I am eating meat, so that wasn't too much different. Anyway, it was actually a good diet because EVERYTHING I made at home was prepared and made from scratch, so there wasn't too much chance of contamination.

[VydorScope]

Well Im just the opsit. Being Amenic, without good oldfashion redmeat I would make it through the day. The iron supply in redmeat is far better then what you get from veggitables/pills.

BUT I might have some insight to this, some ppl have a FOOD ALERGY to meat, and/or the fats in meat. I dated a girl in Highschool (long time ago!) that was alergic to fat in most meast, but could eat chicken.

YOu might want to visit an alergist and get tested. They can do a scrtatch test, and it only takes 15 mins. When I went in for for allegery testing its one of the things I had them test me for.

[em2005]

It's interesting because I went for allergy testing last fall and got the scratch testing done for several foods..as well as other "allergens". The only thing that came up positive in terms of foods was hazelnuts??!?! It's strange because when I eat dairy, I break out in rashes, but that never came up on the allergy testing. The doctor who interpreted the results even said that allergy testing doesn't "diagnose" all allergies...it is only really a superficial test and that if it's something that's going on deeper inside, then it won't show up on the scratch test.

[VydorScope]

It's interesting because I went for allergy testing last fall and got the scratch testing done for several foods..as well as other "allergens".  The only thing that came up positive in terms of foods was hazelnuts??!?!  It's strange because when I eat dairy, I break out in rashes, but that never came up on the allergy testing. The doctor who interpreted the results even said that allergy testing doesn't "diagnose" all allergies...it is only really a superficial test and that if it's something that's going on deeper inside, then it won't show up on the scratch test.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Did you test for meat?

Allergy testing is not superfical, it just that it test for a specfic thing that may not be the case. For example a scratch test of wheat on most celiacs will no show an reaction, becuase there is no histimine (sp?) recation in celiac. Dairy is the same way, if your lactose intolerant, it not a histmine reaction... in short theres more then one way to have a food problem.

[aaascr]

I don't eat meat anymore - I am allergic to fish, chicken, shellfish and a lot of other proteins (dairy, eggs, nuts, beans etc.) and have always felt "bad" (stomach issues and fatigued) whenever I ate pork or beef.

I generally eat veggie items that have a higher protein count in them, shelled hemp seed being one that I can digest. And I take a sublingular B complex w/several other supplements.

You can have food sensitivites w/o being allergic. The other thing is (I found out the hard way on a retest) that if you don't eat something for quite awhile, at least 6 months or more, it won't show up in an allegy test (skin or blood). But just eat the offender (in my case 1 shrimp) and there will be itchy blisters/hives and gastro issues to pay.

Do I feel better? - absolutely, but I did have to make sure that I was

getting the balanced amount of nutrients so that I wouldn't "crash" at

the end of my day.