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one year vegan craving meat again

i stopped having meat cravings, completely and totally, about six months after i went vegan. the smell of meat actually makes me sick. now i’m craving meat again. i usually get sick at the thought soon after, but yet and still i’m craving it all the same. and i’m craving eggs and the thought of eating eggs doesn’t make me sick. i’m also dreaming that i’m eating meat again. what the hell is going on? what can i eat to satiate these craving?

Comments

  • Check out the mushroom recipes on this site,not sure why you are craving the meat but this may help.goodluck.

  • If I were you, I’d let myself eat a little meat. Free range and organic. There’s nothing wrong with a little meat. Especially if you are craving for it.

  • Yogaholic, I’ve heard and read that it can take years to fully “detox” certain substances and chemicals and of course our psycological cravings may never go away.
    This may not be something that you want to hear but often our bodies crave certain foods because it’s not getting something it needs. I’ve read (and discovered personally) that for some people being completely vegan is much more difficult either because we’re used to animal products, our ancestory, or just our unique physical characteristics.
    Now I’m not saying throw out your vegan habits, definitely try some ‘meaty’, satisfying recipes and think of other ways to get nutrients that would be present in what you’re craving, perhaps with high protein and iron rich foods.
    If none of that seems to do the trick, dare I say, try a little healthy meat (like wild salmon). You may be totally turned off and then you know, hey it was a psycological/behavioral habit. Or you find that you may need some occassional non-vegan supplement to your diet.

    Hope I didn’t offend anyones vegan values, I take my hat off to all vegans (including my mom!) :)

  • looks like justbeautiful jusssst-beat me to it, I second what she says! :)

  • MopokeMopoke Raw Newbie

    yogaholic I don’t think the body sends such strong impulses without a reason. And, when it comes to primal drives, our conscious or learned ‘overlays’ or logics can sometimes be a bit like fleas thinking they are steering the dog. This being said I am not necessarily recommending you go out and buy a steak!
    But you could identify if there is a particular meat you are craving and what that meat is richest in (iron/fat/minerals etc) and then try to supplement in vegan ways.
    Or you could actually break through the anathema and eat a little.
    Strangely I find whereas once the thought of eating raw fish was completely repugnant I now go nuts for sushi or flash-cooked tuna about every three to six months.
    Eating it is not something that I am intellectually happy with.
    In fact from ecological and spiritual points of view I completely disagree with my current body hunger, but the absurd thing is the tiniest quantity is hugely satisfying and whilst eating it I have a deep sense of gratitude to life and to the creature that is now sustaining me. Also the nourishment seems to start the minute it hits my tongue – well before any known digestive processes can begin.
    And my energy feels more grounded and stronger afterwards. I was out for dinner last night and found myself looking over at a plate of carpaccio and actually salivating. .... I haven’t eaten meat for more than 20 years! If I have accidentally ingested even the tiniest quantity it makes me feel really ill so I don’t think that response was necessarily about wanting to eat it ?

  • MopokeMopoke Raw Newbie

    ....I agree with lovingraw and just beatiful – especially with regards the non offense!

  • heathermarsbombheathermarsbomb Raw Newbie

    maybe you are craving nutrients…maybe get some more iron?

    More2095
  • elizabethhelizabethh Raw Newbie

    on a nutritional level, id look over what you’re eating and make sure you cover all your essential amino acids in substantial proportions, iron, B12, and your omega 3s and 6s are in the proper ratio.

  • I haven’t eaten meet in over two years, and I still crave random meats at times. I kind of found this odd also.

  • michigan romanmichigan roman Raw Master
    • mushrooms
    • nuts
    • oil and vinegar dressings heavily laced with garlic
    • avacado
    • banana
    • alot of ground seeds like sesame and flax in smoothies or on salads
    • make salads with alot of vegis and differing greens topped by the previously mentioned ground seeds and dressings
    • if thinking of caving dry beans and rice , boiled potato , dry roasted peanut in the shell , banana was my old whole vegan heavy fuel meal . dry large limas (not small limas) were my most filling
    • if still near caving go to maybe myspace and go to like peta2 or other animal rights pages and watch the horrible videos about how the critters society eats are treated
    • and i went vegan 15 years ago for moral reasons and knew ide never return to being a predator but still had dreams about my old omnivore meals for many years
  • alpdesignsalpdesigns Raw Newbie

    Could it be the texture that you miss or the seasoning/sauce that goes with it? I looked back when I ate meat and I decided that the sauce or gravy is what I liked, not the meat.

    More2095
  • teadeteade Raw Newbie

    I actually have been vegetarian for years now and vegan for almost a year…
    it really wasn’t until I went raw (80%?) that I started to think about meat, dairy and eggs!
    I want pancakes or french toast…
    and today a guy in class had a meatball sub and it smelled sooo good (of course, I considered a cooked vegan meatball sub cause meat is a big no-no for me…
    but strangely I didn’t have these cravings before going raw…
    I too wonder what it is…

    GulayG1rl
  • I agree with what Elizabeth, Michigan Roman, 123, and Cherie03 have said.

    Your body may be craving a nutrient it’s missing and it’s important to find out if so, but even if so, we can get everything we ever need from plant sources, especially now that we have the knowledge and ability to get such a wonderful variety of food from almost anywhere! I strongly hesitate suggesting to anyone to go back to eating animals as if the killing of any life is not such a big deal, as if animals do not feel many of the same emotions we feel, as if it does not add to the violence in some way to our world karma and consciousness. Of course, we are each on our own journey so you must do what you feel is best for you. :) I would just try to locate the deficiency (if it is truly that, not just from subconscious memories) and attempt to find a plant source, before considering eating meat again. And I’ve only been vegan for 2.5 years now, and do occassionally crave meat when I smell it cooking. I just allow my self to admit it seems to smell good, then think about why I choose to not eat it anymore.

    Whatever you decide I wish you great luck!

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    teade, I too had a smiliar experience. I have been veg since ~2001 and never craved meat/fish… and just the other day I thought to myself, maybe I will eat fish… one day. (What? I could not believe what I was telling myself!!! I’m not even 100% raw… and there wasn’t any fish around either!) It was a brief and passing thought…

    Well, I’m still doing pretty good… haven’t eaten meat/fish. But (on a totally different topic) it got me thinking about my sugar “addiction”. How is it that in 2001 I can be convince myself not to eat meat, not even think of it as an option (except for that small example), not even crave it afterward, and not even struggle with giving it up… but, I can’t convince myself to stop eating sweets even if I try!

  • Ha ha! Germin8, I wonder if it might have something to do with how sweets is one of the five flavors (savory, salty, sweet, bitter, sour) <—did I get that right? ;) , while meat is more a substance that can be changed (cooked, marinated, sauced) to satisfy those different flavors??

  • stylistchickstylistchick Raw Newbie

    i feel this way about grains and cheese, i miss them, this was the “meat” of my diet for the last 18 years. now doing raw, i miss those cheesey carbohydrate rich foods.

    can you get b-12 from raw cheese?

    teade, check out my french toast recipe!

  • alpdesignsalpdesigns Raw Newbie

    Exactly the point that I was trying to make teade. You smelled the sauce, not the meat.

  • I don’t believe that cravings indicate any physical needs, but are something experienced during withdrawal from anything (and yes, you could still be detoxing). Think of caffeine, cigarette, cocaine addicts. Meat and dairy also have addictive compounds (read Breaking the Food Seduction by Dr. Neal Barnard).

    Remember—any natural food will satisfy true hunger; cravings, whether psychological or physical detox, are never a part of true hunger. Frederick Pataneau (sp?), Paul Nison, Dr Joel Fuhrman (who has a great book with medical references on fasting) have discussed the topic of true hunger at length. Keep your body clean and make sure you are getting enough of everything. And don’t trust free-range or organic unless you were there when the animal was raised and killed!

    Good luck!

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    aspire: close… if savory is spicy, then those 5 flavors are correct.

    Never though of if that way for meat. It’s a very good guess… if you look at the food available for someone becoming vegetarian, it’s mostly carbs! Satisfying the sweet tooth.

    I agree with what many are saying about missing nutrients… especially minerals. Having stopped green smoothies a few days ago, I think my cravings are more intense for sweets… sorry, I’m off the meat topic… but, I suppose it could apply to meat cravings too. Or, as others said, you miss or crave the smell or sauce.

  • Hi,

    I don’t agree with the missing nutrient theory UNLESS you already know you aren’t getting a balanced plant diet – there is quite simply nothing in meat that you can’t easily get elsewhere (with the possible tired old exception of B12, which I’ve never heard of anyone craving!).

    The explanation which makes the most sense to me is detox. How long have you been raw? Obviously getting rid of traces (or chunks, more likely!) of everything unhealthy you ever ate takes quite a while – especially meat. According to a few things I have read, as your body tries to get rid of a certain substance that has been hidden under layers of other stuff (yuck!), you may experience cravings for exactly that substance. So perhaps you are detoxing some meat chunks! Not bad – I don’t know how long you’ve been raw but you could look on it as proof that you have already detoxed the food layers off the inside of your intestines that accumulated over the amount of time since you became vegan… ;-) Nice!

    I think this makes the most sense for teade and germin8, as well – vegetarian/vegan for ages with no problems, then after going raw (natural detox, which a veggie/vegan diet would not provide) THEN getting meat cravings!

    SO: I would try riding through the cravings and see if they go away. Maybe try to speed up the detox (ie. if you’re not 100% raw yet then try that, or maybe do an enema or a colonic) to get over it quicker.

    I really wouldn’t start eating meat again, even if you’re a non-ethical vegan. You know the many reasons not to eat it already, I ‘m sure! If it IS a detox symptom then you’ll simply put more of the substance in that your body is trying to get rid of, thus setting yourself up for more cravings in the future.

    Hope you get through this smoothly!

  • itouristitourist Raw Newbie

    It’s not good for your body. I think eating dairy and meats increases your cravings for things that are not good for you.

    I have never really eaten much meat myself. The only time I would crave meat before was during lent on Fridays when I wasn’t suppose to eat it.

    I do not crave meat now. I think that it is a dead animal.

  • MopokeMopoke Raw Newbie

    Thanks to those who posted the ethical reminders.
    And I hope you are feeling inspired, yogaholic, and sleeping without the dreams – whichever way you decided to go.

    Further to my feeling I may sometimes need the nourishment of fish, there’s been a really non-positive energetic result from recently eating sushi and half a serve of cooked fish. In retrospect: maybe the raw sushi worked..I was actually humming while I ate it, and it’s ‘live’ energy seemed to work instantly on my depleted energy (due to stress, no supplements, recently getting unbalanced sugar-wise with my raw diet and being inadequately nourished 50 years, along with a heavy metal imbalance). But the cooked fish has done me no good at all and more than 24 hours later, I can still taste ‘bad fat’ :(.
    I am now going to look to my own advice about things I may be deficient in, as a few weeks back it was spinach greens in the sunshine that had me humming with pleasure.
    From my own experience: When we eat, we take in life from what we eat. That’s why fresh is best. If you are going to be carnivorous, therefore, it should probably be as fresh and rare as possible (think of those Mongolian steppes horsemen who, in times of need, share the blood of their horses as well as the milk). (Possibly vampirism has something in it?)
    I am right with cannibal warrior from now on:
    Whenever you ingest something it makes sense to really consider the quality of it’s prior life, be it a carrot or a mouthful of blood from your pony. And as far as meat goes…. if you were a vampire would you really want to feed off a pre-cancerous cigarette-smoker, especially one terrified of you? (how about a well barbecued pre-cancerous cigarette smoker, previously sitting in front of a television for three years who lived on tinned baked beans, died horribly and had been kept in cold storage for several weeks….....)

  • You could be craving it because its winter time. Or, er, it is here. I guess I’m just assuming it is by you too. Anyway, if it is, at these times our bodies crave heavier, warmer foods. Meat is like on the top of that list. That could be why you’re craving it.

    I’ve had the dreams, and frankly they freaked me out cause I didn’t want meat, and I was always screaming at myself when I ate it, like: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU DON’T LIKE THAT!

    Also, when I DID go back to eat meat, it was really… bland… and… gross… seriously.

    As far as missing anything nutritionally, I really don’t think meat has any necessary nutritional value. Anything the cow, chicken, fish gets is from a plant source. And if you watch a carnivore, it goes for the intestines and organs, which is better than the flesh. The flesh is like leftovers. Carnivores want the higher water content meat. Also, they want it raw. Very important.

    Anyway, we can get all our nutrition from plants too. If we were carnivores and built that way, then obviously that wouldn’t be the case. But… we’re just not. We’re best able to digest fruits. Just like carnivores are best able to digest meats. So, I don’t think the issue is one of nutrition so much as it is of conditioning and craving. Its kind like: Wait, at this time of year I used to enjoy all these wonderful things (whether it be meat, sweets, cooked, whatever)! And you’ll start to crave them. Keep in mind you’re trying to undue YEARS of conditioning in one year. Not really all that easy. Your body expects certain things. Its made up of cells from that food you used to eat (and it will be until seven years have gone by). Its used to it. Its gonna take a while for it to reprogram.

    ... You’ve got a lot of great input, just had to put my two cents in. Cheers!

  • ZoeZoe Raw Newbie

    I was vegan – cooked for 12 years, they were difficult coz I had the worst meat cravings all the time. I felt so guilty for wanting something I believed was wrong. Anyway since going raw the meat cravings have totally gone, it is amazing! I think it is because as soon as I started on raw I ate lots of greens. Meat cravings are a sign of nutritent deficiency. When I was cooked I never ate any raw foods. I suggest upping your greens big time, lots of spinach and broccoli.
    I find protein rich raw foods like pumpkin seeds, spinach, broccoli work best.

    ClaireT
  • awsomedav9awsomedav9 Raw Newbie
    Ya idk ive been vegan for a year but the though of a big juicy cheeseburger rn would be grest and it still thinking of it....what should i do....?
  • michaelharringtonmichaelharrington Raw Newbie

    I wasn't necessarily craving meat... but my body seemed to be craving protein. It was even affecting my sex drive. But now I take supplements and feel much better. Good luck!

  • TammiTrueTammiTrue Raw Master

    I also think it's usually a protein craving. Nuts and legumes can help. 

  • DiorellaDiorella Raw Jr. Leader

    Always remember why we started going vegan. It's not just a diet, but a lifestyle. It's for the animals, and the environment. As for the health part, it just comes along. =)

  • tbirdtbird Raw Newbie
    yogaholic said:

    i stopped having meat cravings, completely and totally, about six months after i went vegan. the smell of meat actually makes me sick. now i’m craving meat again. i usually get sick at the thought soon after, but yet and still i’m craving it all the same. and i’m craving eggs and the thought of eating eggs doesn’t make me sick. i’m also dreaming that i’m eating meat again. what the hell is going on? what can i eat to satiate these craving?

     Happened to me, unknowingly, I was pregnant. Maybe take a test?

    ClaireT
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