How Vegetarianism Damaged My Health

I became fascinated with the carnivore diet in April 2023 after realizing that my years of vegetarianism had led to serious health problems. Looking back, I see now how far I had strayed from the diet I grew up with.

My Childhood Diet: A Nourishing Foundation

I was born and raised in France, where food was rich, nourishing, and deeply tied to tradition:

• Meat and organ meats—beef tongue, liver, heart, and brain were common and part of a weekly meal

• Raw dairy and cheeses—deeply flavorful and nutritious. We ate them everyday for every meals.

• Charcuterie—beef liver pâté, rillettes, and more. Another staple food for French people. Yum!

• Fish every Friday, as part of our Catholic traditions it was recommended to add fish once a week.

• Fresh, seasonal produce—we ate salads at the end of every meal with a large selection of cheeses, and indulged in summer fruits from our family farm. We ate everything in season - never off season.

• Bread, lots of bread—because, in France, bread is life and eaten with every meal.

Summers were spent working in the fields alongside my cousins, uncles, and aunts. Food was the fuel, but also connection, celebration, and tradition.

The Vegetarian Shift—And the Decline of My Health

When I moved to the USA late 1987, I got swept up in the vegetarianism trend that was growing in big cities. I had gained weight when living in England during the 2 years prior and my objective was to return to my normal size.

Everyone was saying: 

• "Meat is bad for you!" 

• "A vegetarian diet is healthier and helps you lose weight!" 

• "You’ll feel amazing without animal products!"

I was only 20 and eager to try something new. Even with a degree in nutrition, I ignored my instincts and embraced this trend.

For 15 years, I was vegetarian - my health was damaged

• Three of those years, I was vegan—until my body couldn’t take it anymore.

• I had to switch to an Indian vegetarian diet (with dairy, ghee, eggs, and cheese) to keep functioning.

• But I still was getting sick. Really sick.

The Moment Everything Changed

In 2000, after years of decline and visible damaged health, I finally gave in and ate fish again.

✨ The change was immediate.

💡 The next day, I felt like a different person. 

🚀 My energy skyrocketed.

I was so surprised to say the least!

That should have been a wake-up call, but instead, I convinced myself that just adding fish would be enough.

I was also afraid of eating meat because in the US many hormones were added and grassfed beef was not very prevelant in the 90s like it is today.

My Wake-Up Call—And a Return to Meat

By 2011, I was in my 40s and entering perimenopause. My body was changing.

One day, I had a powerful realization—it was as if my body and spirit were screaming at me: 

❌ I was slowly killing myself by avoiding meat and animal fat. Those years as a vegetarian had completely damaged my health. 

❌ My body, brain, and cells had been starved of the essential nutrients a human is made to eat. 

❌ Humans cannot thrive without animal protein and fat.

We see the effects of nutritional deficiencies everywhere:

• Infertility is rising.

• Depression, anxiety, and brain fog are everywhere.

• Dementia and Alzheimer’s are the new norm as we age.

• Many people, especially women, struggle with hormonal imbalances and unexplained fatigue.

• Diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure

• Auto-immune diseases with a list ever so expanding.

Research even suggests vegetarians have smaller brains (check out the book Vegetarians Have Smaller Brains by David Ellis).

So, I started adding meat back very slowly. I ate eggs daily, craving them for the missing proteins, vitamins, and minerals my body had been starved of. But I still didn’t understand that red meat was the key.

It wasn’t until a traumatic event in 2016 that I truly understood the life-saving power of a red meat-based diet.

➡️ Continue reading in my next blog: "How the Carnivore Diet Helped Me Heal from a Traumatic Brain Injury." (coming soon)

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