“What Made You Stop?”: 35 Former Vegans And Vegetarians Share Their Stories Of Going Back To Meat

The ł is just called "l with slash" in English, I believe. (TIL this is called "eł") Not sure if it has a different name in Polish or any of the other languages you see it in. The ą is called a "nosinė" (?) Sorry, nerd moment, I love languages 😊

"Ł, ł" is a letter of the sound pronounced exactly as English "w". "Ą, ą" is a nazal version of [o] sound - it means you say something like [oh], but at the end the air is going through your nose, not only mouth. Although in some words, like "gołąbki", it sounds different because of the neighbourhood of specific consonants. In "gołąbki" [ą] is simply an [om] sound. Polish name of the dish is gołąbki, which we say as [go-w-o-m-b-kie]: [go] as in "going", [ło] as in (British, not American version of) "what". I hope it helps, have fun practising! 😊

I thought that was lint on my phone!!!! I love the actually spelling. I appreciate the fact you took the time to use the proper letters. I'm not familiar with but you opened up my knowledge base.

As a Pole, I'm confused by the word galunkie. The letter ą is pronounced like the French an, like in fiancee.

Lol. I'm not familiar with any alphabet other than english and I kept trying to wipe the lint off my screen.

You can click the loudspeaker in the google translator and check how its pronounced (it's correct): https://translate.google.com/?sl=pl&tl=en&text=go%C5%82%C4%85bki&op=translate

My mother used to make these, just the smell of cabbage makes me nauseous.

Gołąbki. Top food it is.

Same! My mom would ONLY eat (and cook) her steak into oblivion. She'd only eat thin-cut steaks, too. She "joked" that she only liked it if it was like beef jerky. I hated it. My dad would always get his own steak, an inch or more thick, and he'd cook it himself, preferring rare. It looked juicy and smelled amazing. When I was finally old enough to be allowed a bite of my dad's steak... I was hooked XD No more thin, burned strips of beef jerky for me. My sister prefers her steaks like my mom does, and I can't fathom it. There's nothing to ENJOY in a thin steak burned to charcoal.

My mom cooks beef within an inch of it's life,actually, thinking about it, she cooks all meat joints like it, that goodness for lots of gravy.

Yes! It was either burnt, dry, or salt flavored!

Most fish for my wife. Her dad was a commercial fisherman who brought fish home all the time. Her mom would cook it with few (no) seasonings until it was as dry as the Sahara desert. She still prefers not to have fish but usually likes it because I have a gentle hand when it comes to cooking salmon and the like.

Commercial vitamin supplements are not what they seem, there is no regulation to ensure that there is quality and that they are digestible at the levels your body requires, I don't trust them as a replacement for anything but will take some magnesium, iron and vitamin c if I am run down despite eating properly. I still think the best comes from natural sources and we are omnivores, need our protein and iron.

Plenty of vegetarian societies around the world function just fine. The Western idea that you will fall over without meat in your diet is a lie.

Yeah, that we as Americans have trouble with balance is not surprising. Eat ALL the meat or NONE! I feel best when I eat meat a few times a week and vegetarian heavy for other meals. I think finding what balance is best for the individual is important.

Yeah people are just falling over dead in India, a country of majority vegetarians. Oh wait, they have the second largest population on the planet? Uh........... something-something vitamin b12

That's because you're supposed to get ALL nutrients from food, not supplements. There's no way you'll get proper nutrition eating only McD's burgers even though it has meat, vegetables, dairy, fats and carbs. Same as being vegan and only eating salad bowls. It's about balance, meat or no meat is irrelevant, and yes it takes a lot of effort not only to figure out a meal plan but to cook from scratch most days. My diet is 80% vegan but I do, albeit rarely, eat cheese or cakes made with eggs but I haven't had meat (or fish for that matter) since I was 12-13 and still alive, I'm only overweight because I'm very lazy and don't exercise. My mental health is sketchy, I'm autistic, but physically I have one or two issues - again due to lack of exercise and ageing, not diet.

Says the wolf! But yes, I agree.

I've been vegetarian for 30 years (I'm 38) and still going strong with zero physical problems, so no, we do NOT need meat.

It is often for people with food allergies or crohn disease or IBS that they need meat, because they cannot digest vitamins from supplements

We are omnivores because we also can't just live on meat.

With fangs, even if they are short!

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that the main deficiency vegans face is B12. Vegetarians can easily get that from dairy and eggs. For vegans, it's a bit tougher. There aren't potent, naturally-occurring plant food sources that slot easily into your diet, so many people rely on fortified foods and supplements (made via bacterial culture) for that. Are there any nutrients we need that only come from flesh?

Vitamins in general are a waste, esp since they’re merely a money grab. “ More than half of American adults have used at least one vitamin supplement in the past month, but a federal panel of health experts suggests they may be wasting their time and money” https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/vitamin-supplements-waste-of-money-experts-say/#:~:text=BOSTON%20-%20More%20than%20half%20of,This%20includes%20multivitamins.

What will be the opinion in the not so distant future. Science is already saying red meat consumption will be considered unhealthy as what smoking is today. Times change.

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Some of us manage very well without meat, so GFY

Do we know that they didn't eat the correct foods in the correct amounts? So by your logic it goes both ways.

No where in OPs comment did they trash vegetarian or vegan diets. Yes, we do not know what they were eating, however, we have to accept that vegan and vegetarian diets are not for everyone and we know that OP did have a disability. There could be a number of factors that contributed to OP not being to continue. We need to respect that some diets and lifestyles may not work for everyone.

Even with planning and knowledge some people simply can't go vegan and maybe not even vegetarian. Some diseases effect how your body digests and utilize food. An intestine damaged by undiagnosed Celiac disease may not be able to properly digest plant matter much less convert and utilize nutrients and vitamins. I have dealt with that myself.

I agree. I was vegetarian for 12 years. The last year I was super sick, no energy etc. I started eating chicken and I felt better. I realised I was a terrible vegetarian. I NEVER sourced vegetarian options for protein, iron or B12.

Couldn't go back either. After two weeks of being a vegetarian, in 1997, I had planned to eat some meat and then decide. I missed the two weeks by another two weeks because I didn't miss meat. I took a bit and once that typical meat taste hit my tastebuds, I almost threw up, handed my plate over to a friend who was with me, and let him enjoy it, and whenever, by accident or sneaky ässhölery, I got to bite into any meat again, it made me react the same. But it took longer to not like the smell of it anymore, that took about a year.

Excellent point. "First world problems"