What would happen if you stopped eating meat and went vegetarian or vegan for 30 days?

I’m going to show you exactly what happens, if you should consider it, and which conditions this can be useful for supporting.

I think diets are a tool, and the word “diet” is like a swear word to me.

Diets have beginnings and end dates; they’re not going to fix all of the problems that you may have.

What’s more beneficial is a lifestyle change so we can eat healthier, real foods, not eat toxic foods.

There are conditions and times when we need to pick up these tools to fix problems that we have.

I’m going to talk about why not having meat might be right for you if you have certain conditions.

If you choose not to have meat because of beliefs or if you feel better about it, that’s completely fine.

However, arguing over diet choices is silly because they’re just different styles of eating.

So what are the pros and cons of using the tool of not eating meat?

Inflammatory Conditions

If you’re eating a lot of processed foods and sugar, you may want to start by cutting out those foods.

If you’ve tried that and it didn’t really work out for you, or if you’re suffering from a cardiac incident like a heart attack or stroke, cutting meat might be for you.

There are ties between meats and cardiovascular incidents, but some other studies show that when you have clean sources of meat there isn’t any correlation.

It can get confusing whether or not you should be eating meat, but I think it’s worth trying to cut out meat if your cholesterol is out of control.

Cancer

This is another inflammatory condition where your body may not be recycling cells the way it’s supposed to.

From there, you may have a build-up of abnormal cells, which is a tumor.

Systemically, the immune system is struggling, and if changing the way you eat takes pressure off of your immune system, I would do that.

When you’re looking at an approach of not eating meat, you’re focusing on getting a ton of nutrients through juicing fruits and vegetables.

That might be helpful for supporting your system if you are struggling with cancer.

If you have any -itises or if you’re just curious about not eating meat, I’m going to walk through some of the benefits

Benefits of No-Meat

If you’re cutting out meat, here are some of the things you’ll experience over

the next 30 or so days:

• Less inflammation
• Potentially lowered insulin levels
• Improved gut bacteria
• Sped-up digestive health
• Lower LDL cholesterol
• Can save you money

Research has shown that switching to a plant-based diet can help you lose up to 10 pounds, but some of that could be muscle instead of fat.

We want to optimize our muscles and burn up fat.

Negatives of No-Meat

Although there are a lot of benefits to not eating meat, it doesn’t come without negatives. Let’s cover some of the downfalls of this eating style, especially if it’s misused:

Potential Energy Loss 

If you’re anemic or struggling with a lack of energy, I wouldn’t recommend doing this, because you could make the problem worse.

Going without meat means you’ll be taking in less iron, protein, and B vitamins.

If you’re doing it clean, you can make up the B vitamins you’re missing with supplementation through a multivitamin.

I would suggest that you take B12 and folate in methylated forms that are already converted.

Many of us don’t have the enzymes needed to convert them, which is why we get tired.

If you want to increase your stomach acid so you can absorb the nutrients properly, I recommend taking some apple cider vinegar or celery juice.

Muscle Loss

The more muscle you can put on, the higher your metabolism will be, and the better you will be at burning off calories.

Cutting out meat risks cutting a lot of protein from your diet, so you want to try to focus on pea protein and beans to get protein back in your system from plant-based sources.

Bloating 

When you eat a lot of vegetables, you can have excess bacteria buildup in the system from fermentation, carbohydrates, and alcohol.

Then when we throw green leafy vegetables on top, it’s a lot of fiber for our body to deal with.

There will be a lot of bloating at first.

Easing into a no-meat approach will help, and steaming the vegetables may also help with this.

I recommend taking 2-4 days to slowly come off your meat-based products, and if you’re going vegan, your dairy products as well.

This will give your body time to build up digestive enzymes that are needed to break down cellulose, carbohydrates, and fibers that you’re putting in.

Autoimmune Response

Some nutrients found in nightshade vegetables like peppers and tomatoes can create irritation for those with autoimmune-related conditions.

Certain compounds in vegetables can create autoimmune responses in the body, so some people are really sensitive to these foods.

If you have an autoimmune-related disease, it’s not that cutting out meat wouldn’t be beneficial for you.

But if you’re not seeing changes and are irritated, you might be sensitive to plant-based foods.

It might be a good idea to move away from that eating style and select a different tool that may be better for your body.

Nutrients to Get on No-Meat

If you’re not eating meat, you want to make sure you’re getting the following nutrients:

• Calcium
• Iron
• Vitamin A
• B Vitamins
• Vitamin D

A good multivitamin would be a good way to supplement these nutrients.

Now that you know the nutrients you might need, let’s cover what foods you’ll be eating when you’re not eating meat:

• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Milk alternatives (almond/coconut)
• Beans
• Peas
• Lentils
• Olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil
• Nuts & seeds
• Tea & coffee

What we want to be careful of is cutting out meat, but still eating things like beer, pizza, and french fries.

We don’t want to replace meat with potatoes, grains, and white bread.

Whole grain wheat, sprouted, or seeded bread that has full fiber is what you want to go for.

If you’re struggling with weight, I would try to keep those sugars and carbohydrates minimized.

With pasta, I like to use bean and rice-based pasta, but you want to make sure that they’re non-GMO so they don’t have pesticides.

I would stay away from soy-based products unless they’re non-genetically modified. I use an amino alternative like a teriyaki sauce.

I would also stay away from fake meat like tofu and Beyond Burgers because there are a lot of chemicals and GMOs involved.

If you’re cutting out a food, don’t replace it with a fake version.

If you’re trying to fix cancer, inflammation, or a heart problem, cutting out dairy is probably a good idea, because it can be one of the more toxic foods.

So your example meal plan might look like a fruit smoothie in the morning with spinach, kale, maybe some pea protein, and healthy fats like coconut milk.

For lunchtime, vegetable soup could be a good idea.

You could have some hummus and veggies for a snack later, and finally, eggplant lasagna for dinner.

That’s just one example, and there are plenty more recipes on drlivingood.com if you need more help with that.

How To Come Out of No-Meat

Once you’ve eliminated meat, dairy, or all animal products for 30-90 days and want to stop that eating style, you’ll want to ease your way out.

First, get a new blood test to measure your cholesterol and heart numbers to see how it did for you.

Keep track of how it made you feel to see if it’s something you want to continue doing or not.

If you want to ease off of it, here’s what I would do: take 3-4 days and ease back into meat-based products one at a time, and make sure you’re taking digestive enzymes.

This way, your body can break down the peptides and amino acids that are in the protein so you don’t create digestive problems by re-adding meat.

You could also go food by food and see if each food has an impact on you.

I use something called the Coca Pulse Test using a heart rate monitor that clips onto your finger.

If your pulse goes up or down 3-4 points after eating a food, you could be sensitive to that food.

Some of you may find that you want to be in this lifestyle for a lifetime.

Just make sure you’re taking B vitamins and a multivitamin, try to eat a well-rounded diet, and stay away from toxic fats and sugars because your lifestyle principles still apply.

If you need help with those, there’s a full breakdown of them in my book which you can find here.

Ultimately, a no-meat diet is another tool that can be used at certain times, or maybe one that you can use long-term and stay healthy.