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84 Percent Of Vegetarians Become Meat Eaters Again, Study Finds

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D

Dalek

Member
84 Percent Of Vegetarians Become Meat Eaters Again, Study Finds

Know any vegetarians? If so, you won’t for long.

According to a new study from the Humane Research Council (HRC), those who identify with the strict, no-meat diet usually don’t have the stomach to stay at it.

In fact, the HRC study finds that a staggering 84 percent of people who at one point identify as vegetarians find themselves “falling off the wagon,” so to speak, and eating meat once again.

Worse yet, few of them are able to make it past a few months, notes Tech Times, adding that “half of them within a year’s time and more than a third within three months” revert to their carnivorous habits.

More than 11,000 Americans responded to the survey and only two percent claimed to “not eat meat at all,” while 88 percent said they had “never tried the vegan or vegetarian lifestyle.”

That leaves just 12 percent, who at some point identify as vegans or vegetarians, but the regression rate is five out of every six, which is, as HRC Executive Director Che Green notes, “not good news for animals.”

Why so much failure? For Green it has to do with “a lack of social support from partners or family, and a dislike for being seen as ‘different’ by their friends and social peers based on their dietary preferences.”

New York nutritionist Lisa Young added that a “cold turkey” implementation of the vegetarian diet can set hopeful vegetarians up for failure due to the cravings that meat deprivation will produce in the early stages.

“They say, ‘I’m never going to eat that again,'” Young said, adding that if one starts “by eating smaller portions of pork or chicken, then cutting out all meat and dairy for a month, you can get a better feel for it.”

HRC, looking for some silver lining in the study, pointed out that “more people are trying” to become vegetarians and noted that “37 percent intend to go back to a non-meat diet” at some point in the future.

Still, the group found the results “disappointing.”
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Tesseract

Tesseract

Banned
good

9u4OlJ6.gif
 
J

jstripes

Banned
It happened to my brother.

Some cute girls at an outdoor education program turned him into a vegetarian. (He was 17.)

6 months later he got high with some friends, and the only thing in the house to eat was chicken wings.

Vegetarianism: Over.
 
D

Dalek

Member
Dennis said:
Eating meat is natural for homo sapiens so that is an understandable finding.
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My brother has become a hardcore vegan in his 40s after eating fast food nearly every day of of his life. He's become one of those unbearable people to be around who is always talking about it. He insists his wife do it as well, however whenever he's not around she's eating a burger.
 
M

maxcriden

Member
Been vegetarian and even vegan. So I'm one of these. I have cognitive dissonance about eating meat and fish, but I do it despite that.
 
Y

Yaphett Kotto

Member
Couldn't do a vegetarian lifestyle. I have went weeks without meat because of where I was at the time, and I felt so damn empty and weak. The second I had food with meat, I was like a dog during meal time.

Randolph Freelander said:
What's the percentage of vegetarians that were never really vegetarians in the first place.

"I'm a vegetarian. I still eat chicken, though."
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lmfao, I know this girl that is like that. Loves playing vegan, but I catch her eating all kinds of meals with chicken.
 
Rest

Rest

All these years later I still chuckle at what a fucking moron that guy is.
Dalek said:
My brother has become a hardcore vegan in his 40s after eating fast food nearly every day of of his life. He's become one of those unbearable people to be around who is always talking about it. He insists his wife do it as well, however whenever he's not around she's eating a burger.
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Did she eat 37 burgers?
 
V

Vyroxis

Banned
Every vegetarian I have ever known has gone back to eating meat once coming face to face with my smoker and a rack of ribs. 100% success rate. Suck it, grass eaters.
 
S

soepje

Member
I haven't eaten any meat or fish for over 16 years. I do occasionally eat food that contains rennet, gelatine or some unclear E-numbers though. So i wouldn't call myself a real vegetarian either.
 
Tesseract

Tesseract

Banned
Karsticles said:
Just for one season. I'm all about giving second chances.

I also thought about making a "banned bracket" next season to regain entry.
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i wasn't planning on (re)entering without donating some winner goodies. banned bracket sounds good, purgatory for the sinners.

now i feel sleazy, only a hamburger will soothe me.
 
C

Coins

Banned
My coworker was a vegan. My mission was to break him. Id bring in bacon in the morning and eat it in front of him in the break room every morning. Mission accomplished.
 
K

Karsticles

Member
Tesseract said:
i wasn't planning on (re)entering without donating some winner goodies. banned bracket sounds good, purgatory for the sinners.

now i feel sleazy, only a hamburger will soothe me.
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We have 3 weeks until it all concludes, so we can talk about it more then.
 
A

Africanus

Member
I would have hoped we could have discussed the implications of this data without resorting to insulting those who choose a different diet.
 
DJ_Lae

DJ_Lae

Member
I'm actually surprised it's not higher.

I would imagine it's much easier to cut back on eating meat than cut it out entirely. Eating is one of life's greatest pleasures, and robbing yourself of an entire food group is baffling except in very specific circumstances.
 
Q

QueenOfThorns

Member
Does the study include why they became vegetarians to begin with? Curious on that.

Like I'm wondering if they're people who do it due to health reasons and then start eating meat again once they can vs people just outright say they're never going to eat meat again due to moral reasons.

Anyway, good. Vegetarians and vegan are so militant in converting people to their lifestyle!
Coins said:
My coworker was a vegan. My mission was to break him. Id bring in bacon in the morning and eat it in front of him in the break room every morning. Mission accomplished.
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But yeah I guess it's not surprising with the amount of people who treat it like not smoking or drinking or something. I've never really had any temptation to eat meat because it's always been gross to me so I guess there's a lower chance of falling off the wagon if it's not something that tempts you.
 
S

Soyongdori

Member
QueenOfThorns said:
Does the study include why they became vegetarians to begin with? Curious on that.
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My personal theory is that most of people are quick to become very emotional after watching youtube videos of "animal factory". They become sick and vow to become a vegetarian. Or they read couple of scientific journals about eating meat is actually harmful to humans.
 
Z

Zoned

Actively hates charity
Soyongdori said:
My personal theory is that most of people are quick to become very emotional after watching youtube videos of "animal factory". They become sick and vow to become a vegetarian. Or they read couple of scientific journals about eating meat is actually harmful to humans.
Click to expand...

Yeah this is a pretty common reason that I hear from people who became vegetarians.
 
S

SliceSabre

Banned
Doesn't surprise me. Its extremely rare for me to meet anyone who has been a vegetarian for years. Too much temptation.
 
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