How a month of abstinence can lead to a “disgust of meat”

There are surprising impacts on the cut of meat, even for a short period, which can continue far beyond the end of abstinence.

Each year in January, millions of people around the world choose to start the year by abandoning animal products for the month. Others can choose to start the week with every Monday as a day without meat, or participate in the initiative without vegan meat before 6 years old. In addition to these initiatives, there are many efforts all year round to reduce meat admission. THE “Less but better“The concept involves eating less meat but ensuring that it is more ethically produced.” Reducetarism “, meanwhile, implies that people simply reduce their meat, dairy consumption and eggs.

For those who only change for a short period, however, these impacts can initially be lowered only during this period. But there are indications that there could also be surprising lasting impacts which can go far beyond January, Monday, or from the period that someone could choose to avoid or reduce products of original products animal.

One of the best known campaigns to reduce the consumption of animal products is Veganuary, which encourages people to eat vegan foods for the month of January. In 2024, around 25 million people Worldwide has joined the campaign, according to Veganuary statistics.

There are many reasons why these effects could continue beyond the month. The first research linked participation in increased experience in “disgust of meat”. A small independent study Out of 40 participants who normally ate meat noted that those who reduced their meat consumption in January were more likely to have feelings of disgust for meat once the month ended (even if many had failures). Of the 40 participants, 28 reported an increase in disgust for meat.

“The more people of meat managed to cut during the vegetablealist, the more their disgust of meat grew up this month,” said study author Elisa Becker, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford in the Kingdom -United. “When you stop eating meat, this disgust accelerates, which is really interesting.” This suggests that a single month of meat abstinence changes the way you see meat. “”

Becker has also found a link between increasing disgust for meat and reduced meat consumption six -month study Carried out at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, noting that 74% of vegetarians were classified as “disgusted meat”.

“The two studies show a link between meat consumption and disgust for meat – the less you eat meat, the more you have disgusted meat that you tend to become,” said Becker.

The study did not examine the reasons why the participants chose to give up meat, so it is possible that they have already been able to have concerns that have contributed to pre -existing feelings of disgust.

However, Becker’s conclusions were confirmed and enlarged By Sophie Hearn and Natalia Lawrence at the University of Exeter in unpublished research recently presented at a conference and viewed by the BBC.

“This is an emerging field of research in the social sciences which seems to reveal something very interesting and important in terms of consequences on the consumption of meat of the` `practice ” or the real experience of reducing Or cut meat from your diet, for example by participating in Veganuary, “explains Carol Morris, principal researcher at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, which studied less placed initiatives. “If you are committing to the reduction or elimination of meat for a period, it seems to change your relationship with this food.”

The field of research is still at its beginnings, but Morris suggests that the phenomenon deserves a more in -depth investigation.

“It could be a bit preliminary Evidence suggesting that the abstention of meat can strengthen disgust for him, “said Jared Piazza, lecturer in psychology at the University of Lancaster in the United Kingdom who takes moral decision-making regarding the society, animals and food.

“In the end, the relationship between the abstention of meat and disgust is probably a feedback loop. Avoiding meat over time can re-caliber your appetite to meat,” explains piazza. “However, research suggests that in the short term, meat eaters trying to refrain from meat in a month’s commitment experience biggest desires For meat that meat eaters who do not abstain. Thus, it should not be expected that abstention immediately causes meat disgust. It takes a little time. “”

In 2023, a team led by Peter Scarborough, health professor of the population at the University of Oxford, released A study on environmental impacts Different regimes, which included a large number of vegan and vegetarians from a set of data of 55,000 people in the United Kingdom. These real data were crucial, said Scarborough. “Very often, researchers model what a vegan and vegetarian diet can be and make a kind of crazy hypotheses, like saying:” Oh, well, I am sure that vegans eat just like meat eaters, but at Place of sausages, they eat broccoli. ‘”

Analysis was the first to examine the impact of diets on a range of environmental measures beyond carbon emissions, in particular the use of land, the use of water, water pollution and the loss of species.

For those who do not follow a vegan or vegetarian diet, simply eating less meat had a substantial impact on emissions, found Scarborough. At the population level, these reductions are important. If the big eaters of meat in the United Kingdom were to cut part of their diet, It would be equivalent to withdrawing eight million cars from the roadAccording to Scarborough.

In 2024, Researchers in Scotland have found that through the United Kingdom, the change that made the greatest difference for total consumption of meat was to reduce the size of the portion of meat. The next most impactful measure has been fewer days of meat eaters, fewer consumers of meat (this includes vegans, vegetarians, butties and people who eat meat with sparingly) and finally fewer meals containing Meat (for example, including a vegetarian lunch).

Reduction in portion size, Researchers saycould be the most impactful action for “consumers oriented towards meat”, which would not be likely to give up meat entirely for a day or a month each year.

Scarborough and his colleagues hope that their conclusions will be used to inform public policies. However, he says that there is a lack of political appetite in the United Kingdom to introduce meat reduction policies, that countries like Denmark did. Becker agrees There is little public support for meat reduction policies. THE meat paradox – The fact that most people oppose animal ill -treatment but always want to eat agricultural meat in the factory – means that people tend to rationalize their consumption of meat and defend it quite vigorously, she said.

“Let’s be pragmatic about it,” says Morris. “For everyone, becoming with plants is probably not realistic.” And while by far the most impactful food change remains to eat a diet based on plants, Morris welcomes other initiatives, from “less but better”, to the cut of animal products for a while, If they help people reduce their impact on the planet.

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