Research has continuously found that a plant-heavy diet is best for your health, raising a lot of questions about the potential impact of switching from eating meat to just plants. But what happens to your body when you stop eating meat, and is it significant enough to make the switch?
It’s important to note: Removing meat from your diet isn’t an automatic guarantee of health. “It can be a healthy move or not so much, depending on what you replace it with,” says Christy Brissette, R.D., nutritionist and owner of 80 Twenty Nutrition.
Here’s what dietitians want you to know about what happens when you stop eating meat, plus how to do it in a way that’s healthy and sustainable.
Meet the experts: Keri Gans, R.D., author of The Small Change Diet; Christy Brissette, R.D., nutritionist and owner of 80 Twenty Nutrition; Shonali Soans, R.D., C.D.N., a nutritionist in the Integrative Health and Wellbeing program at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian.
What is the benefit in cutting meat out of your diet?
While studies have found that eating a plant-forward diet is good for your health, not everyone does well on a meatless diet.
That’s why many organizations, including the American Heart Association (AHA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend having a plant-based or plant-forward diet, which allows for some meat, rather than saying that everyone should completely cut it out.
Still, cutting out meat or dramatically reducing how much meat you have can lower your risk of these major diseases, according to the AHA:
Heart disease
Stroke
Obesity
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Type 2 diabetes
Several types of cancer
A lot of the potential benefits from going meatless come down to saturated fat, says Keri Gans, R.D., author of The Small Change Diet. “Excluding meat from your diet can help reduce your saturated fat intake,” she explains. “High intakes of saturated fat has been linked to heart disease, strokes and certain cancers.”
But meat may also trigger inflammation in your body—and bodily inflammation is linked with a higher risk of developing a range of diseases, says Shonali Soans, R.D., C.D.N., a nutritionist in the Integrative Health and Wellbeing program at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. “The standard American diet tends towards highly processed or conventionally farmed meats,” she says. “These may be inflammatory, so being mindful of those types of meats may allow people to expand their diets to other protein sources, from plants as well as grass-fed, humanely-raised meats.”
What happens in your body when you stop eating meat?
A lot depends on what you were eating before and how you change your diet going forward, Gans says.
“Less consumption of meat may mean less inflammation in the body, decreasing the risk for high cholesterol and heart disease,” she says. “However, it is difficult to point to only one food in our diet to really make a difference.” For example, if you replace meat in your diet with high-sugar products, your bodily inflammation may not change, Gans says. “We need to look a person’s total diet,” she adds.
But in addition to lowering the risk of the diseases we listed above, removing meat from your diet may impact your gut bacteria, Brissette says. “The bacteria in your gut is impacted by what you feed it,” she says. “People who eat diets high in meat—especially red meat—tend to have types of gut bacteria that are linked to colorectal cancer and a higher risk of heart disease.”
But eating more plant-based foods can support the growth of healthy gut bacteria, boosting your immune system and overall health, Brissette says.
“If you were previously eating fattier cuts of red meat or processed meat such as bacon and sausage, reducing these will mean you’re getting less sodium, nitrates, and saturated fat in your diet which will be beneficial for your heart and may help reduce your cancer risk,” she adds.
What do you need to be aware of when you stop eating meat?
Eliminating meat from your diet means you may be more prone to developing deficiencies in certain nutrients that are more common in meat. Protein, iron, and vitamin B12 are the big nutrients to be on top of, according to Gans. However, she stresses that it’s “100% possible” to get enough of these nutrients on a plant-based diet.
Brissette suggests getting iron from lentils, kidney beans, spinach, and nuts. “The type of iron found in plants isn’t absorbed by your body as well as the kind found in foods that come from animals,” she says. “Having some vitamin C with your iron-rich foods helps boost absorption. Think a squeeze of lemon or lime, bell peppers or strawberries.”
Zinc is also a potential issue, per Brissette: She suggests getting it from beans, whole grains, nuts, eggs, and dairy products, instead.
“If you aren’t having dairy, you want to make sure you’re getting enough calcium and vitamin D,” Brissette says. “Look for milk alternatives that are fortified with calcium and vitamin D. To get more calcium, have leafy greens, almonds, figs, and tofu made with calcium.”
It’s also crucial to make sure to replace the meat you’re removing with something plant-based. “I’ve seen people cut meat out of their diet and not replace it with anything—for example, instead of eating a hamburger, they’ll just eat the bun or instead of having pasta with meat sauce, they’ll just have tomato sauce,” Brissette says. “This leads to having unbalanced meals with too many carbs.”
Brissette stresses the importance of having a “significant source of protein” to balance out blood sugar levels and lower the risk of crashes. “Replace the burger with a veggie burger made out of tempeh or beans and replace the meat in the pasta sauce with chickpeas or cannellini beans,” she says.
How does cutting out meat make you feel?
It depends. “There is no one size fits all,” Gans says. “However, if the meat products are replaced by nutrient-packed, fiber-rich foods, including fruits, veggies, 100% whole grains, legumes, and nuts and seeds, a person may experience more energy, better digestion, and improved sleep.”
Brissette agrees that higher energy levels is a big potential perk. “Some people report feeling more energized when they stop eating meat, while other people find the opposite to be true,” she says. “This tends to be due to the overall quality of the diet and whether there are any nutritional gaps.”
However, in general, Brissette says that “eating a variety of foods that come from plants that are minimally processed tends to be energizing for most people.”
The best way to stop eating meat, according to dietitians
Dietitians suggest phasing meat out of your diet instead of cutting it all out at once.
“As with any dietary changes, one should do it slowly to help your body and mind acclimate,” Gans says. “Most importantly is to make sure you replace the meat with foods that have protein. Otherwise, you may be hungry at meals.”
Brissette suggests branching out to new forms of protein. “Try plant-based proteins such as tempeh, tofu, lentils, and beans or nuts and seeds,” she says. “Other protein swaps for meat include fish and seafood, eggs, Greek yogurt, or cottage cheese.”
But if you feel like you could use a little guidance, Soans recommends speaking with a registered dietitian for guidance. “A dietitian can do an assessment to determine if it’s the right approach and if so, how to do it in a way that’s meeting your individual nutritional needs,” she says.
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