Why abstain from meat?

That is incorrect.

 

What is incorrect about it?

 

The fact that you mentioned protein from veggies makes me think that you really didn't think through your diet. There are a ton of dishes you can make that aren't just vegetables, taste great, and contain no meat. Just as an example, black bean burgers are not only delicious but very simple to make. Vegan rotis are excellent as well, it's one of the dishes I love to make my vegan girlfriend from time to time. Packed with nutrients, no need nor desire for meat.

What is really incorrect is your statement about needing meat to live. That is absolutely incorrect. If you repeated your experiment but did the diet right I'm sure you'd fare much better.

 

Are you vegan? Also you are assuming that I didn't eat the things that you are referring to. My body needs meat to survive, that is a correct statement.

 

I'm not vegan, no.

No, that is not a correct statement. It is objectively incorrect.

 

My statement is not incorrect, maybe your body doesn't need meat, but mine does.

 

You're not understanding - when I say your statement is objectively incorrect, it's because it's objectively incorrect. What you're referring to is subjective falsity. This is not subjective. The human body does not need meat to survive. As a human, you do not need meat to survive.

 

I didn't say the human body needs meat to survive, I simply said that my body needs meat to survive

 

Are you not human?

 

My body needs meat to survive, it has been the stable of my meals since I was a child, so I wouldn't be able to function without meat being in my diet

 

How would you explain the plethora of previous omnivores who have converted to veganism, and in many cases overnight?

As a human, you do not need meat to survive. I don't care what your upbringing was, it doesn't defy dietary science lol. What I'm getting is that you think you need meat just because you like it too much and are unwilling to change. That's the sadness of the whole thing and is much too common of a trait in people (especially North Americans).

 

Eating meat every day for 26 years and trying to cut off all meat from your life over-night does count. I know some people are able to do it, but I'm not able to do it, I tried and failed.

 

What I'm saying is that it's a possibility for everyone to go vegan. Regardless of your failed attempt, you're capable of doing it too as a human. Whether or not you want to launch yourself into that sort of lifestyle change is a different story.

You do not need meat to survive. You want meat to survive. That's my whole argument.

 

During those 3 days I was getting over 200g's of protein and eating way more veggies than I was previously. Like I said my body was craving meat and when I eventually decided to eat meat I binge ate over 10,000 calories.

 

The thing about cravings is that the body never craves a thing specifically (like meat, or candy), but rather a fundamental nutrient. If you crave candy, for instance, your body is telling you to stock up on sugars. That craving does not need to be satisfied with candy. Your craving will be relieved with fruit. Water with lemon is a good way to ween off of pop for example.

If you ever decide to try going meatless again, make sure you look up a good meal set and a craving chart. I think you'd last a lot longer than you think. Shoot me a PM too, I can definitely help.

 

So you're saying that a recovering drug addict of 26 years would be able to just get off the drugs, cold turkey? This is basically the same thing

 

Depends on the drug. And no, it's not the same thing, but if I'm to use your poor analogy it'd be more like a heroin user getting on methadone.

A vegan and an omnivore get the exact same nutrients. There's no deficit. Your analogy is extremely ill-fitting.

 

You are trying to argue the fact that a vegan and an omnivore receive the same amount of nutrients. Do you have any proof of that?

 

In my search I found an abundance of sources, but this one explains things pretty clearly: Vegan Diet: How to Get the Nutrients You Need - familydoctor.org

Not only that, but every major dietary association (including the American Dietary Association) support vegan and vegetarian diets at all ages. A good scholarly article about that here: Position of the American Dietetic Association: vegetarian diets. - PubMed - NCBI You can read the first sentence of the abstract to get the gist of what the article is:

I'd recommend reading through the arguments on http://www.reddit.com/r/debateavegan as well. It's a terrific resource.

 

No thanks, I prefer to eat meat like humans are meant to do