I have been a vegetarian for twenty years and have had vegan periods (up to four months). Very occationally I eat some meat (when I have no other option). I feel at times happily grounded but I also notice that my thinking is getting slow, which I don’t enjoy.

I also cannot live with the thought of that an animal for becoming food. It’s not like that we do not have options. If I’d be very poor, I might had to eat animals, but the case is tht I can afford vegan proteins. I will surely increase my vegan protein intake.

Thank you for posting this article!

Amy

Thank you for your article. Although I haven’t done as much research into the topic as you or some people on this website I am finding as I include more protein from animal sources into my diet I just feel better and so much more grounded and able to live. I have also tried many times over the years to be a vegetarian but after heavy drug use for 10 solid years then stopping I found trying to go vegetarian / vegan made me feel awful, just exhausted, ungrounded, unable to think or really do things. I got my blood tested and I wasn’t an A type blood type unfortunately. I started adding chicken and fish to my diet and immediately felt SO much better and tonight I ate a steak for the first time in ages and I almost can’t believe how much of a difference I feel a couple of hours after eating it. I am definitely going to be adding more regular red meat to my diet after tonight.

The whole ethical issue is a really tricky one and I have also struggled with it and still sometimes do. I remember reading somewhere that the human body is the highest of all animal forms because of its ability to fully express our spirit through the chakras. I guess sometimes we have to admit that sometimes things are mysterious. I certainly haven’t been able to get an answer to all of this yet : D

Also I just wanted to say that your books Higher and Higher and The Drug Repair That Works have been like my bibles for the past year and I’m incredibly grateful I stumbled across your books when I did because I really didn’t feel like there was anything good for me when I quit doing drugs or really any reason to quit because they were my whole life. All of the advice I’ve put into practice just works and is continuing to do so as I feel better and better. Thank you for such wonderful non judgemental books that have helped me to navigate my way through the scary post drug experience. Keep up the good work and all the best!

Rebecca

I have found that red meat has helped me out. I was vego for 8 yrs, vegan for two of those. Weakness ensued. long story. You probably know it already.

A few points while realising this is not a philisophical debate about the benefits of red meat or conversely the benefits of vegetarianism:

It is extremely important that this idea of eating red meat to regain and maintain health expands to the notion of responsibly eating red meat. This includes responsibilty for your own body, through avoiding hormones and additives, responsibilty for the animal that feeds us by choosing a fair life for it free from pain and sufferring, and responsibility for our own future and the generations to come by supporting an industry that is sustainable and responsible for itself.

It’s pretty clear that we as a race need to drastically reduce our reliance on factory farmed meat of any kind and also our destructive farming habits. It is destroying our natural systems and getting us to the point where we will have no option but to go veg if we push it too much further. Bee populations are dying off in massive numbers and we have somehow caused this with conventional farming for instance. The point here is that with no bees there will be no red meat due the the long line of effects that lack of plant polination will have on our ecosystem. Look up bee extinction if you are interested in learning more on that.

If we choose to accept the gift of the life of an animal and eat red meat, we should do it responsibly and fairly and buy at the very least, free range hormone free meat (not much more expensive than factory meat). The next step for those that can afford is buy locally farmed organic or biodynamic meat. This is often double the price but it tastes so amazing and is so high in the correct proteins and nutrients that is outweighs any negatives on the wallet.

Someone already mentioned Kangaroo. Excellent call. It is a very cheap option for what is essentially free range, hormone and chemical free red meat source. It’s cheap because it’s plentiful and naturally free of any need to pump it full of junk to get it big and meaty as quickly as possible. It is adapted to our environment and it roams free so there is a greater resistance to disease. Kangaroos also damage the land very little, unlike cows and sheep which utterly destroy the already spearse foliage (due to drought) under their hooves, which causes untold erosion and degredation of our farmland. Kangaroo meat can be a bit gamey, but learn to cook it right and it can be amazing.

I bought an organic chicken last week for the first time in a year (I usually buy free range) and it was the best chicken I’ve had in my 32 years on this earth. These chickens are beyond description…I urge anyone who hasn’t to at least try. Same goes for organic and biodynamic red meat. By the gods, what an experience. And the same argument as before, the nutrient levels are so high that the cost is fair (and the more that buy it, the lower it will come down over time!).

Lets not even start on the ethical ramifications of factory meat or MRM because we will go on forever.

Really, I’m not the hippy I used to be, and I am occaisionally guilty of slipping and choosing the cheapo convenient option at the supermarket, but seriously, I have a strongly rooted belief that it is for all our sakes that we make the right choices about meat consumption and not just think about ourselves and our own recoveries and journeys beyond drugs.

thanks for reading! All the best with your chops.

This yogi told me that to do all the things I needed to do in life I would be fine on a Vego diet. If however i wanted to pursue the sensual gratification and pursuit of the material things I would need meat. Meat sustains a system that is not living in harmony better than a vego diet, all be it that I may not live as long or have optimum health.

As little as 300 gm of red meat has been shown to dramatically increase a womens chance of breast cancer.

I have chosen to change my patterns of living over the past 30 year s and twenty two years ago i developed a daily meditation routine. Daily living while observing the push of my ambition let me give up meat and not only not want it, but live a healthy life without it.
I agree one size does not fit all. We do however need to look at what we do with the lives of the animals we take when eating them. Do we add to the struggle in the world or do we find that our potential has little to do with achievement and more to do with our integrity.

Thank you for stimulating the discussion

hari om

Keep Rockin!

There was a time in college when I ate red meat nearly daily. I also smoked a decent amount of marijuana. My energy levels were strong and my mind was very clear (despite smoking). In fact I went from a B/C student to an A/B student when I started eating more red meat. Life was good. Then just before graduating I quite smoking and wanted to purify my body and try to “heal” the damage I’d done over the years. I started eating small amounts of meat and supplementing with soy protein. My energy levels dropped, anxiety levels went way up and had a terrible time concentrating. My grades dropped back down to the B/C levels I thought I’d overcome. I told myself this was my withdraw from not smoking, but my other friends eating whatever they wanted (usually lots of meat) didn’t feel this way when they stopped smoking.

It’s been about 5 years of very very rarely smoking marijuana and I still find that when I don’t eat much red meat my energy levels drop. In fact my curiosity about this led me to this website tonight. I ate a lean burger and steamed broccoli and within an hour I felt more energy, more clarity and started laughing with more energy at the Family Guy episode I was watching. There is absolutely something very real about red meat and increased energy. In fact, my manager eats 7-9 burgers a week and has more stamina, a better memory, is more focused and stronger than most people I know at his age. I know that sounds absolutely crazy based on what we think we know about red meat … and maybe he’s an oddity!

Thanks again Jost for the great article!

-Justin