Experiment: No meat/seafood for 6 months.
Ok, so why…
- I’ve tried most eating styles worth trying, e.g., keto, paleo, intermittent fasting but never this.
- Evidence suggests plant-based diets can improve both lifespan (overall length of your life) and “healthspan” (period of your life that you are healthy, i.e., free from serious disease)
- Researchers have run decades-long surveys to understand the diet of the world’s Blue Zones—regions with the greatest share of centenarians (people 100+ years old). See here for more on the resulting food guidelines. In short:
- Only consume small amounts, if any, or meat/fish/eggs, dairy, sugar
- Drink mostly water – some coffee, tea, wine is ok
- Have some beans and nuts daily
- Eat whole foods
- 95-100% plant-based
- Researchers have run decades-long surveys to understand the diet of the world’s Blue Zones—regions with the greatest share of centenarians (people 100+ years old). See here for more on the resulting food guidelines. In short:
- Specific potential health benefits of vegetarianism:
- Lower cholesterol
- Lower cancer rate
- Lower risk of chronic disease, e.g., coronary heart disease
- Decreased incidence of stroke
- Increased life expectancy
- Others I’m not personally concerned about but worth noting: lower blood pressure, body mass index, and risk of metabolic syndrome (including obesity and type 2 diabetes)
- Environmental benefits:
- Uses less land
- Minimizes pollution
- Produces fewer emissions
- Conserves water
- Protects marine ecosystems
- Animal health benefits:
- Reducing animal suffering (fewer animals bred to suffer and die on farms)
- Vegetarians save 25+ land animals/year, about 24 of whom are chickens
- Preventing animal cruelty (culling chicks*, piglet castration, debeaking chickens/turkeys/ducks)
- *I had to look this one up, and it is horrifying. This is the process of separating and killing unwanted (male and unhealthy female) chicks for which the factory farming industry has no use. Their methods:
- Maceration (putting chicks in high-speed grinder)
- Gassing with carbon dioxide
- Cervical dislocation (breaking their neck)
- Electrocution
- Suffocation (putting chicks in plastic bags)
- 7 billion male chicks are culled this way each year around the world
- Reducing animal suffering (fewer animals bred to suffer and die on farms)
- I’m curious if it’ll have any effects on my energy levels in either direction
Uh oh…
- Vegetarian doesn’t necessarily mean healthy. Diet Coke, Burger King fries, and Pixy Stix are all vegan.
- “Meatless meats” like Impossible Foods and Beyond Burger and many other vegan products are often more processed and contain ingredients that are less natural than what I’d normally eat.
- “Meatless meats” like Impossible Foods and Beyond Burger and many other vegan products are often more processed and contain ingredients that are less natural than what I’d normally eat.
- Skeptics about vegetarianism often ask, “But how will you get enough protein?”
- I’m considering this, but I’m not convinced this is the issue we make it out to be.
- How much protein to get has always been one of the hardest questions for me to answer given the volumes of conflicting opinions on the matter.
- After scouring the internet, searching for credible sources (e.g., Dr. Huberman of Huberman Labs and Dr. Peter Attia), the recommendation appears to be 1g protein/pound of body weight/day for everyday consumption or 1.2g+/pound/day if you’re trying to increase muscle.
- This will take real effort for me on a vegetarian diet, but I should be able to hit the everyday recommended levels by using a clean protein powder. The amount needed to build muscle would be harder but isn’t my current focus.
- Some studies show vegetarian diets, and especially vegan diets, can cause nutrient deficiencies including B12, Vitamin D, Omega-3 fatty acids, Calcium, Iron, Zinc, and Iodine. My plan:
- B12: Nutritional yeast can help with this, providing 733% of our daily value in just 2 Tbsp
- Vitamin D: I already take a daily supplement for this
- Omega-3: I already take fish oil and eat nuts (mainly macadamias) daily for this – walnuts have the highest levels among nuts. Other great sources are flax and chia seeds
- Calcium: Greek yogurt will help here. Other sources high in calcium I’ll consume regularly include tofu, tempeh, almond milk, tahini, and spinach
- Iron: Spinach, beans, tahini, nuts, oats, green peas, and sweet potatoes (my favorite food) are all things I eat regularly
- Ever notice how all the bad guys Popeye would beat up were eating burgers, while he loved spinach and “Olive Oyl”?
- Zinc: I eat great sources of this regularly, including almonds, peanuts, tahini, beans, oats, dark chocolate, Greek yogurt, eggs, and mushrooms
- Iodine: Yogurt and eggs will help here
- I’ll extend this diet until I do my annual physical bloodwork in August. That way, I can check on levels of these vitamins/minerals and to see if there have been any changes to other health markers, particularly reduced cholesterol.
About that…
- There are 6 types of Vegetarian Diets
- I will be trying Lacto-ovo-vegetarianism, meaning I will consume no meat/poultry/seafood but will still have dairy—mainly Greek yogurt for me—and eggs
- I made this decision because 1) it will be more practical for me to implement sooner and for a longer period and 2) it will make it easier to consume adequate protein levels
- Our meal delivery service Fresh N Lean has Vegetarian (and Vegan) meal plan options, which will help with this switch.
- Side note: I talk regularly to their nutritionist, and he fully supports the switch.
- I’m not ready to jump all the way to vegan.
- Vegetarian is far more straightforward (no animal meat and fish). This makes it easy for me to implement without a ton of research and planning.
- Will and I each cook a couple meals each week. Requiring these meals be vegetarian means I’m pulling him a bit more into the plant-based space… pulling him back into it, I should say, as he had been vegan for a while in the past. Fortunately, he’s supportive of the switch and it should benefit us both.
I betcha…
- I’ll encounter tricky social situations, where I’m eating way more bread/pasta than I would like because the meal or spread was more centered around meat/seafood.
- I’m going to get a lot of questions and skepticism.
- For one, I’m not in California anymore.
- I already get asked if I am vegan (and often why) whenever I order a non-meat dish.
- I hope I’ll be able to respond in a useful, non-defensive way.
- I won’t miss meat/fish and will want to continue.
Here’s how it went down…
First 3 Months:
It’s been mostly easy so far. I don’t miss or crave meat at all. I think the identity shift, saying “I’m someone who doesn’t eat meat/seafood right now” is helpful. Mindset shifts like this simplify and inform any decision-making.
- Will has been gracious in shifting to cooking/eating plant-based meals for our few shared weekly meals. He was vegan for a while years ago, including a 6-month raw vegan stint—an extreme lifestyle shift—so he gets it.
- I lost 5lbs. This wasn’t really a goal, but we’ll see how this looks in the coming months.
- I’ve noticed I wake up a bit hungrier. Likely reason: Having switched my Fresh N Lean delivery meals from Paleo to Vegetarian/Vegan meals, the macronutrients have shifted a bit.
- The meals have a little less protein and more carbs to reach the same calorie count.
- While not inherently a problem, carbs are less satiating than protein, causing my ghrelin (hunger hormone) levels to increase again sooner after eating.
- Menus are simpler. The paradox of choice melts away when you can slash entire sections out of your consideration set.
- Be mindful though, or you’ll accidentally order a salad that’s buried in bacon bits. Oops. (Fortunately, it was for a group, and there were other options for me to eat.)
- Be mindful though, or you’ll accidentally order a salad that’s buried in bacon bits. Oops. (Fortunately, it was for a group, and there were other options for me to eat.)
- I consulted my good friend Mike, a former pro triathlete, who maintained a vegan diet for years during his training. His advice:
- We generally get enough protein by eating a well-rounded diet.
- Avoid over-indexing on one food, which could lead to gut health issues, e.g., too much dairy from yogurt, fiber in legumes, or cholesterol in eggs.
- Be sure to get enough branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) to rebuild muscle. In his words:
- “These are in complete proteins. Protein from animal sources are complete proteins because they either are literally muscle or contain animal protein to do so.
- We accomplish this with combinations of plant proteins. You can Google these, but examples are beans and rice, hummus and pita, hemp hearts (might just be complete on their own but I imagine combined with fruit or nuts would accomplish).
- And for powders, stay away from single sources (like pea protein) and rather ones that highlight BCAA. I use Garden of Life Sport or Vega Sport, which are NSF-certified for clean production. So, it’s more about the quality of the protein than the amount, which you will get by eating as outlined.”
Second 3 Months (and bonus 1.5 months):
- My current identity as a vegetarian has solidified, and I think about it little in my daily life.
- My energy level has been good, or at least as good as it can be while working full-time and sharing care responsibilities for a newborn and active toddler with my husband.
- I don’t feel it’s changed notably vs. before this diet shift though.
- My ability to maintain muscle, judging by physical appearance at least, seems not to be hindered. I’m curious to see how my levels of protein and other key biomarkers look when I get them tested in a month.
- Having a higher fiber diet, with more veggies and legumes, keeps you “regular,” though I didn’t have an issue with this before. However, this also comes with a little more gas (yay).
- I’ve found 1-2 Bean-zyme pills (same ingredient as Beano but cheaper on Amazon) to be useful with meals with beans or cruciferous veggies… so most of my meals.
Where I Failed…
- I struggled to get the recommended 1g protein/pound of body weight/day.
- I didn’t track this closely, but I’d estimate I was 75-80% of the way there.
- Fortunately, this didn’t seem to have a negative effect on my energy or physique.
Where I Won…
- With a simple mindset shift, I achieved this diet shift easily.
- This gave me the confidence to revisit two of my earlier experiments and quit my caffeine addiction and sweetener usage.
- I now drink tea—sometimes caffeinated, sometimes herbal—and have a single-shot latte once/week. This keeps me at or below the 100mg threshold that helps avoid addiction.
- It took some time to adjust to the lack of the sweeteners I wanted to stop using: stevia and monk fruit. It should be good for me in the long run though.
- I found using a very small amount of organic, raw honey to be an acceptable alternative and goes a long way in helping with bitter teas/coffee. I like that it’s a natural sweetener and been around way longer than sweeteners—in the processed form we use them, at least. Honey is still sugar, so I use a scale to ensure I use no more than 1 Tbsp/day.
- My bloodwork came back great
- No nutrient deficiencies
- My cholesterol dropped from slightly above the normal range to well within it
- LDL or “bad” cholesterol dropped 20pts vs. a year ago: 108 (high) to 88 (good)
- Total cholesterol dropped from 203 (high) to 173 (good)
- Note: My HDL or “good” cholesterol dropped a bit too, but this was and still is at a good level
What Surprised Me…
- The meal delivery service I mentioned above, Fresh N Lean, suddenly went out of business in July. :/ We’re trying a new one, Factor, which has been good so far, though is a bit more expensive and has fewer vegetarian and vegan options and more ingredients per meal.
- If anyone has a clean, healthy meal delivery service they like, please let me know in the comments!
- Like a method actor, I’ve gotten so deep into my new role as a vegetarian that it almost seems weird to think of eating meat/seafood again.
- Still, while this was easy and felt good, I’d like to increase my protein intake a bit again…
- I plan to eat some meat/seafood again, 4-5 meals/week, being very selective about the sources.
- To reiterate that’s 4-5 meals/week, not 4-5 days/week which would mean most of the time. In other words, that’s just 20-25% of my meals, and I’ll eat vegetarian 75-80% of the time.
- Almost all meats you get from restaurants and grocery stores are from factory farms with awful practices that result in an unhealthy product, so I’ll avoid most of this unless it’s at least labeled as organic and cage-free (chicken), grass-fed (beef), or wild-caught (seafood). I’ll continue to avoid most pork.
Whoomp, there it is…
- Why am I adding some meat/seafood back in?
- While the bloodwork I had done didn’t register any deficiencies, there are some micro and macronutrients available in meat/seafood that are harder to get on a vegetarian diet, so I’m covering all my nutritional bases.
- As someone who loves variety and novelty, I’ll enjoy having a little more flexibility with my food options.
- Our current meal delivery service Factor, accounts for nearly half of my weekly diet. Right now, they only have about 4 vegetarian meals each week, some of which repeat from week to week. There are many, many more options containing some well-sourced meat or seafood, so I’ll get to enjoy a richer variety of meals each week. This will prevent meal burnout and make this plan more sustainable in the long run.
- 1.5 months in, Factor meals are tasty and macronutrients are great (balanced fat/carbs/fiber/protein), but there are more ingredients than Fresh N Lean had and more dairy (unlike our dairy-free option at FnL), so jury’s out on if we’ll continue or seek a better option.
- Since our regular grocery store Kroger doesn’t carry much high-quality meat—e.g., organic, pasture-raised chicken or turkey, we’re considering trying this local farm delivery service my sister’s family recommends for high-quality reasonably priced meat and seafood
- I believe there will come a time in the future in which we no longer kill animals for our consumption.
- We’ll likely come to see slaughtering cows and pigs then much like we see killing dogs and cats now.
- The science is already underway to painlessly extract a single cell from an animal that can be used to bioengineer animal food products.
- I also expect we will come up with creative new ways to harness the power of plant-based protein.
In a Nutshell…
- Plant-based diets can improve both lifespan and “healthspan” (period of life free from serious disease).
- Blue Zone studies show centenarians consume mostly plant-based diets with minimal meat, dairy, and sugar.
- Potential benefits of vegetarianism include lower cholesterol, cancer rates, and chronic disease risk.
- Vegetarian diets have environmental benefits like reduced land use, pollution, and emissions.
- Vegetarianism can help reduce animal suffering and prevent cruelty in factory farming.
- Nutrient deficiencies can occur with vegetarian diets, but can be addressed through meal planning and supplementation.
- I tried a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet for 6 months, finding it easy to maintain with no cravings for meat.
- My bloodwork after 6 months showed improved cholesterol levels and no nutrient deficiencies.
- I plan to reintroduce small amounts of high-quality meat/seafood (4-5 meals/week) while remaining mostly vegetarian (75-80% of meals).
- I hope and believe future food technology will eliminate the need to kill animals for consumption.
Thanks for reading! Please leave me a comment with any feedback, what you think my next experiment should be, or to just let me know you stopped by. Some ideas:
- Recap of experimenting with abstract painting I did during the pandemic
- Daily Journaling Practice
- Daily Affirmations, e.g., writing out by hand a mantra 15x/day
- What I’ve learned as a new parent, e.g., how it’s one giant experiment
- Your suggestion?
Re(Sources):
Outlive by Peter Attia
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/vegetarian-and-vegan-eating
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/becoming-a-vegetarian
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chick_culling
https://thebitingtruth.com/6-types-of-vegetarian-diets-explained
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6sR5nyDIYQhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21139125/#:~:text=The%20nutrients%20of%20concern%20in,a%20useful%20shield%20against%20deficiency.