I remember the day I stopped eating meat a few years ago. We were at a pizza place that some friends had told us about. They let you come up with your own set of toppings from a number of interesting and somewhat unconventional options. You sat at a long table with a bunch of strangers and ate whatever it is that you came up with. I recall distinctly that my toppings were seafood and vegetables and I loved how it turned out. But something happened that day, that meal that made me not want to eat any meat for the next three or four years. I don't know what it was about the place but that was the effect on me.
As someone who never had any dietary restrictions, this was a big change to cope with. When traveling, it limited options for a common, shared meal. Most importantly, I wasn't sure how to make up for the lost protein and found myself eating more carbs than I needed to. It was with concerted effort over a long period of time that I was able to start eating meat, even if small portions - it was no longer off the table and my body learned to tolerate meat once again.
If anything, it's the sudden consumption of large amounts of fibre after a long hiatus that could cause digestive problems. It's better to ease into such dietary changes. "Depending on the fibre, you can have some pretty strong reactions to it," says Kersten.
In short, worrying about your body somehow losing the ability to digest meat shouldn't impair any plans you have to extend Veganuary into the spring. If you're among those who've had an upset stomach after eating meat following a long hiatus, a loss of enzymes is not likely to be the culprit, though this phenomenon remains understudied, Kersten says.
I am glad to be back to eating what I was always used to but that extended break helped me recalibrate all parts of my diet which might have been a good thing in the end.
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