I Ate Meat After 6 Months Plant-based

This Happened...

In 2022, after my first 6 months of living a predominantly whole food plant-based diet, I decided to eat a little meat during a Christmas party at work.

I’ve done pretty well so far with this new lifestyle aiming for at least 90% plant-based.

I’m not about absolutes and being perfect.

I don’t demonize animal-based foods at all and I don’t think they are inherently bad. That’s what my other 10% is for. So once in a while, I’d eat something that has dairy, eggs, or seafood in it. But at that point, I was no longer eating red meat.

At this Christmas party, I thought, I deserve to treat myself, you know. One piece of that juicy prime rib shouldn’t hurt and won’t even matter in the context of my overall eating pattern.I took a bite of it and something felt off. It was weird because once upon a time, meat was my all-time favorite.

That was my diet back then: meat or chicken, rice, and junk food.

So I took one more bite of the prime rib and realized I just didn’t want it. I moved on to eat the green beans, salad, sourdough bread, and mashed potatoes. The mashed potatoes of course, has butter in it. But, it didn’t matter to me that night. I just ate what I like.

It’s not that I felt guilty. The meat just didn’t taste the way I remembered. There was nothing wrong with the prime rib itself. My colleagues love it. I guess the only thing that had changed was my taste buds.

Is it really possible to overcome your cravings for salty, sugary, and fatty foods?

Just like what happened to me, science shows you can actually retrain your taste buds to like healthier options.

This study have showed that when individuals are put on a low-salt diet, they gradually begin to like salt-free soup while finding overly salty soups less appealing. Over the course of the research, participants added less salt to their soups when they had the choice, showing that their taste preferences had shifted to healthier levels.

The same goes for sugar and fat. It's like your tongue gets a new setting. People who go for a low-fat diet start actually preferring foods that are low in fat. It's almost like your tongue becomes a better judge of what's too fatty, making you naturally pick options like fruits over a stick of butter or a greasy burger.

But here's the kicker based on another study: if you keep eating high salt, sugary and fatty foods, you might just train your taste buds to need more and more of the same stuff, which isn't great if you're watching your weight or trying to live healthier.

Your tastes can change, and it might not take as long as you think to start enjoying healthier foods.

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