The average individual can start to feel the positive effects of meat detoxification in about a week. Of course, it can vary in terms of time frame from person to person due to a host of process variable factors.
Meat fully digests in two days at most. The detoxification process starts to take effect right after, especially for those who are not very sensitive to diet change and those who are in the habit of changing their diet every so often.
On the average, detoxification positive effects are felt within a week or two.
There are those, however, that are very slow to respond to detoxing – from about a month to several months. This group is most sensitive to change of diet and usually has the tendency to feel negative effects of the detoxification process, ranging from dizziness to sleeping trouble, etc.
Factors usually affecting response rate and effectiveness of meat detoxification:
Exercise. In general, people who are physically active and exercise regularly have a higher rate of metabolism so that detoxification is faster for all types of food, including meat.
Previous diet. Your previous diet plays an important role in trying to detoxify your body. People with wildly varying types of diets more easily get rid of toxins from the food they eat.
Genes. Genes are a debatable basis for responses to changing diets as a necessary process for detoxification. But it is also not wrong to say that people with certain gene sets more easily absorb whatever adverse effects there are in detoxing and instead, fit into the process naturally and fast.
Personal preference. Believe it or not, but individual personality can spell out success or failure in determining rate of response to meat detoxification.
If the meat-detox method perfectly fits you, determination becomes second nature. However, if the method offered is not palatable to you as a person (with all your likes and dislikes), laziness easily sets in and you backslide again and again.
But despite known standard factors that affect the detoxification response, it is likely that you will meet somebody with an entirely different reaction and come out as an “exception to the rule,” based on the factors above.
What is the simplest way to detoxify from meat?
Common sense tells us that a diet that does not include meat is the simplest way to detox from meat. But is it really that simple to everybody else?
Few individuals can shift from one type of diet to another that easily. Information that offers easy and simple ways to meat-detox abound on the internet. After some serious research, you’ll soon find out that there is no standard method that fits all. It all depends on many factors, as mentioned above.
Reading through available material that comes your way will guide you to identify a few methods that are simple enough for you to follow and that which you will be comfortable with. Trial-and-error is the key to zeroing in on the one that will be most effective for you with the least effort.
Possible unpleasant effects of meat detoxification
A sudden change of diet, from meat-eating to no-meat-at-all, may not sit well with you, unique as you are from the person next to you. Here are a few unpleasant effects of diet change:
Dizziness. Usually attributed to postprandial hypotension, especially from unusually large meals. A change of diet can upset our digestive system in a similar manner and cause hormonal imbalance. Hence, the dizziness.
Fatigue. Generally felt as a result of the “overwork” our digestive system experiences when our diet changes. It may both be physical and psychological.
Headache. A lesser variant of the dizziness mentioned above. But may escalate if influenced by other factors related to diet change.
Irritability. Naturally occurs when one feels discomfort, as in dizziness, fatigue and headache as a result of a change of diet.
Sleeping trouble. Sometimes felt as a temporary effect. Diet change, as it causes a little disturbance in the digestive process, also results in a hormonal imbalance and can disturb the circadian rhythm.
Mostly, these symptoms are just on the light and slight side – nothing serious – except for people whose digestive system and general make-up are at the “sensitive” side of the spectrum. With some patience, the unpleasantness disappears in about a week.
Do we really need to stop eating meat and detoxify?
There has always been a debate between pro- and anti-meat eaters on the benefits of the presence or absence of meat in our diet.
Scientifically researched benefits of eating meat
As we all know, proteins are the building blocks of our body. They are a complex group of molecules that help us grow and heal.
Proteins make up our bones, hair, muscles and nails. They give shape to our body tissues and organs and take a vital role in helping them to function as they should.
Meat from beef, chicken, lamb, pork, etc. are all rich in protein.
Red meat provides iron, zinc and B vitamins (B1 – thiamin, B2 – riboflavin, B3 – niacin, B5 – pantothenic acid, B6 – pyridoxine, B7 – biotin and B9 – folate or folic acid). Meat is also one of the principal sources of vitamin B12 (cobalamin) in our diet.
A healthy balanced diet includes protein from meat, fish and eggs or non-animal sources such as beans and other edible seeds.
Moral and spiritual standpoint of eating meat
Two major moral and spiritual beliefs seem to be in tangent with each other in terms of the exclusion of meat in the diet, although they differ slightly in practice and reasoning.
Eastern religion dietary belief and practice
In Buddhism, the practice and tradition of not eating meat stem from the teaching that “it would require killing an animal before it could be consumed.” The religion prohibits taking life and any form of cruelty toward animals and humans.
Meat is considered to be tamasic in Hinduism terminology. The nearest synonyms of the word in English are inert, resistant, or dark and destructive – the same category as that of alcohol that clouds judgment and may therefore lead to the violation of religious beliefs and teachings.
Even the less-repulsed strong-smelling vegetables in the rajasic category (active, excitable or passionate), such as chives, garlic, leeks, onion, and shallots are avoided by Buddhists as they are thought to increase sexual desire when eaten cooked and anger when eaten raw.
Western religion view on meat eating
The following Bible verse mentions the introduction of meat into the diet. Genesis 9:3-4 defines God’s covenant with Noah after the Great Flood, which reads:
“Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.”
What the verse quotation tells us is that meat was to be eaten for its nutritive value – the reason why God gave the permission for Noah and his family to feed on. But the warning against eating meat “that has its lifeblood still in it” was clear. It is an indication that meat is not as good as plant-based food for human nutrition.
How And When Did Humans Start Eating Meat?
The earliest human beings did not eat meat.
Tooth morphology studies suggest that the earliest hominin’s diet must have comprised hard food items such as nuts, seeds, roots and tubers. The diet later expanded into what the modern omnivorous chimpanzee’s food fare included, such as large quantities of plant-based stuff like bark, flowers, fruits, and leaves; and insects and meat.
Meat and marrow from small (hedgehogs) to very large (elephants) animals were incorporated into the human diet by about 2.6 million years ago. This manifested on fossilized bones with butchery marks on them.
Along with these fossilized bones were evidence of archaeologically visible stores of stone tools at about the same age, probably used to slice off meat and crack bone for the marrow.
Why is plant-based food better?
Plants have always ubiquitously been with humans. They grow by themselves and do not normally need much taking care of, especially on fertile or unabused soil. It is relatively easier to produce and procure.
Meat, on the other hand, has to be acquired by hunting. Higher hunting skills promise higher probability of acquiring meat from the hunted animals.
The panorama becomes predatorial and instills anxiety and fear in the prey.
According to Buddhism, the fear and anxiety felt by the prey remains in the meat even after they have been cooked and served for eating. These feelings become toxins that are ingested by whoever eats the meat.
What happens to your body when you stop eating meat for a month?
A no-meat diet for at least thirty days lowers your cholesterol levels so that the risk of cardio-vascular diseases will be minimized, if not totally avoided.
Meat contains a considerable amount of saturated fats.
That will certainly increase cholesterol presence in the bloodstream. Cholesterol in your blood is directly proportional to the risk of cardio-vascular diseases. Higher levels of cholesterol in your blood increase cardio-vascular and related risks.
That is certainly a grim and unhealthy scenario.
Let us look at the other side of the fence – the upsides of a diet without meat for at least thirty days.
Aside from a healthy heart and blood, you get to be blessed with glowing skin and easy and smooth digestion. You also lose some weight and experience increased energy. These are just some of your tangible incentives with a meat-detoxified body.
What’s more important that is happening inside your body is that avoiding meat consumption for at least a month will decrease your inflammatory markers.
This means that the hardly-noticed condition of body-wide inflammation when you are a meat eater is markedly decreased. Inflammatory markers are gauged by testing blood samples.
Being rich in fiber and antioxidants, and the low presence of toxins and saturated fats, render plant-based foods as having anti-inflammatory properties.
Given all the information above, it is really wise to avoid eating meat. This way, there will be no need for us to detoxify.
It is always good to be on the safe side.
