Consuming animal products may be one of the most important factors to consider when trying to maintain a healthy weight, combat premature aging, reduce (or eliminate) skin disorders, and obtain a healthy gut flora.

We have been bombarded that the benefits of plants surpasses any potential benefits from animal products – meat specifically.  Following this protocol will lead to overall health decay.

One glaring problem that is becoming more prevalent is those who are ready to incorporate more meat no longer desire it.  This come is varying degrees and with different types of animal meat.

The number one meat I find most people have lost their desire to eat is red meat.

There may be mass media driven psychological roots to the loss of the taste for animal products.  We are told red meat causes cancer (false), will drive up unhealthy cholesterol levels (false), cause heart attacks and strokes (false and false).

Are you seeing a pattern?

Psychology surrounding our eating habits plays a role, but what if you want to eat more meat?  Yet when it’s served up in the most delectable form imaginable to you, after a few bites you feel less than excited and no longer want to eat it.

This isn’t your fault inherently and it’s fixable!

Have you heard the phrase “if you don’t use it, you lose it”?  This philosophy applies to digestion.

Enzymes allow us to digest the food we eat.  This includes meat.

Enzymatic reactions and nutrient cofactors that enable digestion to occur are also partially responsible for the desire to eat meat.

In addition to chewing, salivary amylase helps break down starchy carbohydrates and lingual lipase starts the breakdown of fats.

This mass of partially broken-down food is sent to the stomach to be combined with HCL (stomach acid) for further breakdown.  

Eating protein triggers a sequence of events to increase the acidity of the stomach and bring in enzymes to break that protein down.

When protein is not eaten regularly, our body thinks it no longer needs the enzymes to break it down.  

What about plant sources of protein?  

Plant sources of protein do not contain the complete amino acid profile that our body recognizes as “protein”.  Therefore the sequence may not be fully triggered to activate.

There is help!

Using specific dietary hygiene habits to improve overall digestion, incorporating meat back into your diet slowly, and possibly using supplements to aid in digestion like those I recommend from Fullscript for former vegan clients.

At a minimum, sit down, chew your food, and be as relaxed as possible when eating. This simple and completely affordable (i.e. free) way of improving the amount and timing of stomach acid helps increase the chance of the remaining cascade of events to occur – which includes the release of the enzymes that break down protein.

Before you know it, you will be craving the meat your body needs!