Should I start eating meat again? Will it make me more healthy?

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  • angelexperiment
    angelexperiment Posts: 1,917 Member
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    If you have been pescatarian for 18 years you cannot just start eating meat. You will get sick as your stomach will have a hard time to digest it and meat is hard to digest anyway.

    My suggestion would be to take a complete range of b vitamins a Whole Foods multi. On top of that if you are deficient in other vitamins a iron, zinc, folate, and folic acid. For your immune system I'd take echinacea zinc astragalus.

    It may be you have a compromised immune system and need to build that up
  • littlechiaseed
    littlechiaseed Posts: 489 Member
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    angelexperiment wrote: »
    If you have been pescatarian for 18 years you cannot just start eating meat. You will get sick as your stomach will have a hard time to digest it and meat is hard to digest anyway.

    My suggestion would be to take a complete range of b vitamins a Whole Foods multi. On top of that if you are deficient in other vitamins a iron, zinc, folate, and folic acid. For your immune system I'd take echinacea zinc astragalus.

    It may be you have a compromised immune system and need to build that up

    You don't get from eating meat after not eating it awhile that's a myth.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    littlechiaseed wrote: »
    angelexperiment wrote: »
    If you have been pescatarian for 18 years you cannot just start eating meat. You will get sick as your stomach will have a hard time to digest it and meat is hard to digest anyway.

    My suggestion would be to take a complete range of b vitamins a Whole Foods multi. On top of that if you are deficient in other vitamins a iron, zinc, folate, and folic acid. For your immune system I'd take echinacea zinc astragalus.

    It may be you have a compromised immune system and need to build that up

    You don't get from eating meat after not eating it awhile that's a myth.

    I have 2 relatives who went vegetarian for over 5 years, both decided to eat meat again and got some severe stomach issues for the first few attempts at eating it. This is obviously not scientific but I have heard the same from others.
  • littlechiaseed
    littlechiaseed Posts: 489 Member
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    trigden1991 wrote: »
    littlechiaseed wrote: »
    angelexperiment wrote: »
    If you have been pescatarian for 18 years you cannot just start eating meat. You will get sick as your stomach will have a hard time to digest it and meat is hard to digest anyway.

    My suggestion would be to take a complete range of b vitamins a Whole Foods multi. On top of that if you are deficient in other vitamins a iron, zinc, folate, and folic acid. For your immune system I'd take echinacea zinc astragalus.

    It may be you have a compromised immune system and need to build that up

    You don't get from eating meat after not eating it awhile that's a myth.

    I have 2 relatives who went vegetarian for over 5 years, both decided to eat meat again and got some severe stomach issues for the first few attempts at eating it. This is obviously not scientific but I have heard the same from others.

    The human body doesn't forget how to digest food, maybe it's mental.
  • dustedwithsugar
    dustedwithsugar Posts: 179 Member
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    trigden1991 wrote: »
    littlechiaseed wrote: »
    angelexperiment wrote: »
    If you have been pescatarian for 18 years you cannot just start eating meat. You will get sick as your stomach will have a hard time to digest it and meat is hard to digest anyway.

    My suggestion would be to take a complete range of b vitamins a Whole Foods multi. On top of that if you are deficient in other vitamins a iron, zinc, folate, and folic acid. For your immune system I'd take echinacea zinc astragalus.

    It may be you have a compromised immune system and need to build that up

    You don't get from eating meat after not eating it awhile that's a myth.

    I have 2 relatives who went vegetarian for over 5 years, both decided to eat meat again and got some severe stomach issues for the first few attempts at eating it. This is obviously not scientific but I have heard the same from others.

    My friend is lifelong vegetarian and tried to taste meat few times. Got sick every time.
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
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    wstephens87 wrote: »
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    wstephens87 wrote: »
    I am a pescetarian. I eat seafood as much as possible. I also have always taken multi vitamins and eaten as much greens etc that I can. I also use some homeopathic teas and such.

    I found out I was anemic at the beginning of the year, so I take iron as well.

    I try to be healthy but I keep getting sick.

    My husband keeps telling me to eat meat. He says if I eat red meat, or meat in general I won't get sick so much as he never gets sick.

    Is he correct?

    I've been on the pescetarian diet for 18 years. Part of me thinks he just wants to win our debate. However I am tired of being ill with sinus infections and bronchits. Part of this I can blame my town on. I live in an old railroad town with lots of factories which doesn't help breathing conditions here. But still.. I get sick more than others who live here.

    Thanks.

    You are different people. You should probably be talking to your doctor about whether a change in diet could improve your health. Have you done allergy testing at all?
    If you have mainly respiratory problems I would think changing your environment would help more than changing diet unless you are allergic to a food you currently eat.
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6239577

    Yea I've thought about doing that as well. I went to an ENT and he has suggested surgery. But he didn't even look into my ears or do an allergy test to rule that out. So I'm thinking of having a second opinion before going under the needle. Thanks.

    We had always labeled my daughter 'sickly' because she was having constant ear and sinus infections, along with other issues (speech problems etc). We thought it was allergies and started at an allergist who ended up referring us to an ENT. After several CT scans we discovered her entire sinus cavity area wasn't formed correctly. It took two surgeries to reconstruct her sinus area plus ear tubes, and she's totally fine now-not one sinus or ear infection since :) Also an ENT does not do allergy testing, you have to go to an allergist for that. An ENT focuses on ear, throat and sinus issues.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    littlechiaseed wrote: »
    trigden1991 wrote: »
    littlechiaseed wrote: »
    angelexperiment wrote: »
    If you have been pescatarian for 18 years you cannot just start eating meat. You will get sick as your stomach will have a hard time to digest it and meat is hard to digest anyway.

    My suggestion would be to take a complete range of b vitamins a Whole Foods multi. On top of that if you are deficient in other vitamins a iron, zinc, folate, and folic acid. For your immune system I'd take echinacea zinc astragalus.

    It may be you have a compromised immune system and need to build that up

    You don't get from eating meat after not eating it awhile that's a myth.

    I have 2 relatives who went vegetarian for over 5 years, both decided to eat meat again and got some severe stomach issues for the first few attempts at eating it. This is obviously not scientific but I have heard the same from others.

    The human body doesn't forget how to digest food, maybe it's mental.

    I am not arguing if it is physical or mental, I stated an anecdote to support a theory that others had suggested.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    edited November 2016
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    littlechiaseed wrote: »
    trigden1991 wrote: »
    littlechiaseed wrote: »
    angelexperiment wrote: »
    If you have been pescatarian for 18 years you cannot just start eating meat. You will get sick as your stomach will have a hard time to digest it and meat is hard to digest anyway.

    My suggestion would be to take a complete range of b vitamins a Whole Foods multi. On top of that if you are deficient in other vitamins a iron, zinc, folate, and folic acid. For your immune system I'd take echinacea zinc astragalus.

    It may be you have a compromised immune system and need to build that up

    You don't get from eating meat after not eating it awhile that's a myth.

    I have 2 relatives who went vegetarian for over 5 years, both decided to eat meat again and got some severe stomach issues for the first few attempts at eating it. This is obviously not scientific but I have heard the same from others.

    The human body doesn't forget how to digest food, maybe it's mental.

    No, it doesn't, but when people add meat back in, they may also reduce fiber or increase fats. Either can cause digestive upset.

    I was put on a very low fat, high protein diet (for performance, not weight loss). My meals were almost exclusively grilled chicken, fish, steamed vegetables, fruit, bread, oatmeal. No butter, minimal oil, etc. When I was done with competition, I tried to add things like steak and hamburger back in. Butter on my bread, etc. I had horrible digestive issues. Took a couple of weeks for most things to get back to normal, but it was nearly a year before I managed to eat a McDonald's single hamburger (i.e. small) without repercussions, and even longer for a 1/4 lb hamburger.

    ETA: It just occurred to me. This is the first issue I've come across IRL where the intestinal microbiome changing would actually make sense as a causal effect. :lol:
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I agree that it can be different things. First, try to focus on non meat sources of iron... fish, beans, lentils. Find a cereal with iron maybe (cheerios? I seem to remember a thread about that...).

    Also (stealing from Wedmd) 'To absorb the most iron from the foods you eat, avoid drinking coffee or tea or consuming calcium-rich foods or drinks with meals containing iron-rich foods. To improve your absorption of iron, eat it along with a good source of vitamin C -- such as orange juice, broccoli, or strawberries -- or eat nonheme iron foods with a food from the meat, fish, and poultry group.'


    For the sickness part, what are your symptoms when you are sick? Why did the ENT suggest surgery? I had septoplasty for a deviated septum and it's the best thing I've done (and I was crazy to wait so long to do it), I wasn't getting sick much though, just having my nose clogged pretty much non stop in Winter. I have allergies too so it made it worse.. but yes you'll have to find a specialist to have those diagnosed (and in my experience, you can use over the counter stuff but it doesn't always make the symptoms go away).
  • siraphine
    siraphine Posts: 185 Member
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    Nope. You can get all the vitamins and nutrients you need from many different sources. How you get them is up to you.
  • Hamsibian
    Hamsibian Posts: 1,388 Member
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    How are your B12 levels? Vit D? Also, liquid iron might be easier to digest than tablets.

    It's up to you if you want to eat meat or not. If you can handle iron from plant sources, then keep eating them. But There is some reason you are not absorbing iron well if you have anemia, and the best sources of iron come from animal sources. Google Dr. Terry Wahls. I am not endorsing her diet, but she had similar experiences treating her MS after changing her diet from vegetarian to omnivore. Just something to think about, anemia really sucks.

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