I quit

[Patrick]

I thought I could do it but finally I can't or don't really want to. My main reason for being vegan was to lose weight but I noticed that I lose as much as when I was a meat eater and I wont just eat meat everyday. It's just easier for me like that. I'm just letting you know and I'm being honest. I'm not trolling.

[brimstoneSalad]

Patrick, you couldn't have noticed anything after three weeks. That wasn't even enough time for you to achieve a stable diet. You're still dealing with cravings and learning how to make the right things. It's a gradual process.

Like with smoking, it just takes a little while to get past the cravings. Once you do, you can start eating healthier and not only balance your weight, but likely save your life from potential heart attack, stroke, or cancer in the near future.

If, like some smokers, you feel like you need to quit gradually by reducing first, that could work too.

Please make sure you watch this video: http://nutritionfacts.org/video/food-as-medicine/
You'll learn a lot about health, and I hope it can motivate you.

[Patrick]

Yes I guess. Like I said I will consume less animal product. Before I just stopped eating meat just in 1 day. I guess it will easier to gradually reducing it like you said and yeah I am aware of the cancer risk and heart attack. Now I know how smoker have hard time to quit smoking. haha

[EmperorPalpatine]

I strongly encourage you not to quit. Meat has valid addictive properties that take longer than 3 weeks to be resolves. Because meat contains L-Carnitine, it downregulates our body's own production of the nutrient, causing intensified cravings. You could supplement such a thing, but I would really recommend just sticking with it awhile longer. To lose weight, make sure you are keeping oils, processed foods, and nut butters low, and eat a lot of leafy greens. You should also look into the animal welfare side of the diet. Hang in there!

[brimstoneSalad]

Because meat contains L-Carnitine, it downregulates our body's own production of the nutrient, causing intensified cravings.

That seems very likely. Has any research been done on this? If you have a link, I'd love to read it.
It would be a good explanation for why meat is so addictive, if there's actually a substance dependency going on there.

Some people have more trouble quitting meat than smoking. But if a supplement would take care of it, that would be brilliant.

[EmperorPalpatine]

Because meat contains L-Carnitine, it downregulates our body's own production of the nutrient, causing intensified cravings.

That seems very likely. Has any research been done on this? If you have a link, I'd love to read it.
It would be a good explanation for why meat is so addictive, if there's actually a substance dependency going on there.

Some people have more trouble quitting meat than smoking. But if a supplement would take care of it, that would be brilliant.

Yes, just a mere examination of an old medical review on L-Carnitine gave me all I need

"Therefore, the renal clearance of L-carnitine increases after exogenous administration, approaching GFR after high intravenous doses. Patients with primary carnitine deficiency display alterations in the renal handling of L-carnitine and/or the transport of the compound into muscle tissue. ".

The problem here is that it's not a smoking gun causation for our paleo friends who "Need some animal protein." Not only can social factors play a role in subconscious urges to consume meat, but the macronutrients composition is also a factor, I recommend watching Michael Klapper's talk "Are Vegans Failed Addicts?" Which you can find on VegSource, and Neal Bernard's slightly longer talk "Chocolate, sugar, and cheese, physically addicted?" Which you can see here :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VWi6dXCT7I

The problem here is that there are so many factors,chocolate for instance, is highly calorically dense, which already stimulates dopamine and seratonin production in the brain as a survival instinct, however, it also contains theobromine(The subtance that makes cocoa powder poisonous for dogs to consume), caffeine, and phenylethylamine, a monoamine alkaloid stimulant. The dairy component is also an issue, possibly larger than the meat and chocolate issue.

Dairy is designed for a calf, and to make sure that a young calf continues to come back to its mother for milk, along with natural psychological instinct possessed by the cow, the milk also contains Casomorphins. Casomorphins are peptides, and as you can tell by the name, they are cousins of morphine if you will. Granted, you will not get stoned from drinking 15 gallons of milk, because you'll die from hydrotoxicity first, and the compounds do not behave identically. However these chemicals are partially responsible for a calf's enjoyment of milk, although clinical dose studies have not passed an ethics board for human testing. Possibly from dairy industry interference, although I don't have my tin hat with me, so that's not a claim I plan on making.

The general reason we crave meat is conditioning, someone who has never eaten meat in their life will not crave it, likewise someone who has always eaten it will. The solution sadly isn't L-carnitine supplementation, because it's not reliable, and excess L-carnitine has been shown to have adverse cardiac effects. The general solution is to eat vegan foods when having a craving. Perhaps devise a plan to have a bowl of oatmeal every time you want a steak, or maybe a hummus wrap every time you want a piece of cheese, some grapes whenever you want some pork, etc. etc. The best way to satisfy cravings is to eat!