Could a little meat for non meat eater ...

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14 Replies Last post: Feb 24, 2007 9:39 PM by duhdoorunrun

StPauligirl

244 posts since
Nov 27, 2006

Feb 20, 2007 4:44 PM

Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

I wonder...
I had just a little bit of sausage in a lasagna 2 days ago and I have been violently ill ever since....can barely keep water down. No one else who ate it got ill. As I never eat meat, could this have been the cause? I didnt find out there was meat in it til halfway done.
"they' thought, 'a little meat would be ok'?. I wasn't really upset at that, then I started throwing up and its jsut starting to get a little better.
Maybe dumb question to ask but it seems there are a lot of well informed vegetarains here!

merigayle

1,586 posts since
Aug 15, 2007

1. Feb 20, 2007 4:59 PM

in response to: StPauligirl

Re: Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

There are some people (not all) that stop producing the enzyme that digests meat..... or so i have been told. About 1/2 of former vegetarians have reported like reactions to meat. I got violently ill from chinese food many years ago and no one else did, i always suspected there was meat in it that i did not see or notice-- or anyone else.

StPauligirl

244 posts since
Nov 27, 2006

2. Feb 20, 2007 6:17 PM

in response to: StPauligirl

Re: Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

Interesting merigayle...as I am pretty sure it is not food poisoning or the flu....no fever or anything, and no one else who ate it got sick, and my meat eating germ sharing BF is fine too.
I have some pasta sauce with veg 'meat' balls in the fridge and just looking at it makes me want to hurl, in fact just typing about it has the same effect....hmm so maybe that IS it....even thinking about fake 'meat'....
I really havent been this sick in ages though. Meat or no, I will be staying away from meat for ever.
Of course it had nothing to do with the Ben and Jerry;s desset, though I must be sick as even that doesnt appeal to me....

merigayle

1,586 posts since
Aug 15, 2007

3. Feb 20, 2007 6:27 PM

in response to: StPauligirl

Re: Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

Found this online:
The enzymes from the pancreas that digest protein are used to digest all proteins, not just those from meat. And even people who eat no flesh are digesting "meat" all the time, in the form of sloughed off cells of the gut. This contributes a significant amount of protein to the body each day.

The protease enzymes from the pancreas are "inducible," meaning they are only produced in the quantity that is needed for the person's typical substrate load. If a long time vegetarian were to start eating external meat again which resulted in more protein than was typical for them, they might want to do it slowly. It may take 3-4 days to get their enzymes up to speed. The enzymes have a short half life and will drop back down to the lower level quickly if protein consumptions drops again.

GreenEggsAndHam

314 posts since
Jun 4, 2006

4. Dec 26, 2007 4:12 AM

in response to: StPauligirl

Re: Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

Yes. I got sick once eating meat after years as a vegetarian... and when I started eating meat again after over a decade as a vegetarian, it took a long adjustment period to get used to it again and not get sick... especially red meat.

Edit: I misread... eating meat once could make you ill, but you would not be ill a couple of days later.

http://This message has been edited by GreenEggsAndHam (edited Feb-24-2007).

graingirl

272 posts since
Jul 20, 2001

5. Feb 20, 2007 8:02 PM

in response to: StPauligirl

Re: Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

graingirl

272 posts since
Jul 20, 2001

6. Feb 20, 2007 8:05 PM

in response to: StPauligirl

Re: Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

Not trying to be gross, or overly invasive, but... did you have any other gastrointestinal issues? I'm not much of a red meat eater, although occassionally at a potluck I'll unintentionally eat something that has ground beef in it. The next couple of days my system is in "elimination" mode. Oddly enough, beans and other high fiber foods, don't bother me at all whereas I hear other people complaining about the gastro impact they have on them.

marigold7

30 posts since
Dec 17, 2005

7. Feb 20, 2007 9:11 PM

in response to: StPauligirl

Re: Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

I have heard of this happening to alot of vegetarians. I think it is more mental than actually physical. I have a large parrot with whom I am extremely close, she's more like a toddler than an animal. She is a good talker and can hold a conversation. I can't eat chicken with out becoming violently ill now days; I feel like I am eating parrot or something.

cranegirl080

31 posts since
Nov 2, 2006

8. Feb 20, 2007 9:24 PM

in response to: StPauligirl

Re: Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

I'm not sure if this could be the case for you or not, but your post rang a bell as I was violently ill over New Year's Day--it came on suddenly and I could not be far from a bathroom either.

I kept thinking "I had two sips of champagne and a 1/2 beer, how can I be THIS hung over?" I felt like I had the worst hang over ever with none of the fun. I kept wondering if was food posioning or what had happened.

I wasn't. I had norovirus (which is the same thing that people on cruise ships contract and it virtually shuts down the ship). No one else was ill, but I found out that one of the people making food on New Year's Eve had it earlier in the week. Apparently, it can be passed easily through food prep, even if the person was ill many, many days before. Horribly contagious.

Just a thought. I had no fever either, but certainly had issues on..err...both ends. Hope you feel better

Ariann092

681 posts since
Jan 4, 2005

9. Feb 20, 2007 10:15 PM

in response to: StPauligirl

Re: Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

A little bit of meat would not cause you to be ill because of having too little protease -the necessary condition for such a thing would be huge protein overload, which is frankly just as likely to happen to a regular meat-eater who suddenly goes on the Atkins diet as to a vegetarian who starts eating meat three times a day. A bit of sausage wouldn't do it. A 16 oz steak probably wouldn't do it. Vegetarians eat protein and they produce normal amounts of protease. There's no special meat-protein enzyme.

It's much more likely mental (although it's strange that would cause such an extreme effect) or a virus or bacteria in the food or passed to you by some other way. Just because nobody else gets sick doesn't mean there's not something going around.

StPauligirl

244 posts since
Nov 27, 2006

10. Feb 21, 2007 7:46 AM

in response to: StPauligirl

Re: Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

thanks...oh and since you asked...ok I will go into details..I managed to keep dry toast down this morning but threw up yesterday too. As for the other end, nothing, in fact just the opposite if what you would expect...ok actually a bit constipated, which is pretty weird consdering the intense tummy pain and vomiting....
I really don't think its mental at this point!
but something did occur to me, cranegirl, I DID eat at a place where hundreds ate on saturday afternoon....post race, hot prepared food. I guess I shouldnt say where! That, and the meat on Sunday night, are the only different things I can think of....
interesting
well at least I think I am getting better finally, thanks for your posts!

broadbill

156 posts since
Sep 27, 2004

11. Feb 21, 2007 9:19 AM

in response to: StPauligirl

Re: Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

quote:<HR>Originally posted by StPauligirl:
thanks...oh and since you asked...ok I will go into details..I managed to keep dry toast down this morning but threw up yesterday too. As for the other end, nothing, in fact just the opposite if what you would expect...ok actually a bit constipated, which is pretty weird consdering the intense tummy pain and vomiting....
I really don't think its mental at this point!
but something did occur to me, cranegirl, I DID eat at a place where hundreds ate on saturday afternoon....post race, hot prepared food. I guess I shouldnt say where! That, and the meat on Sunday night, are the only different things I can think of....
interesting
well at least I think I am getting better finally, thanks for your posts!<HR>

The fact that you are still sick days after eating the meal would suggest a virus or some other infection and NOT from eating a small amount of meat.

If the meat was not digested because you were a vegetarian and lacking some protease (BTW this whole protease thing is dubious at best) then you would have thrown up and immediately felt better since the meat would not longer be in your system. Furthermore, since pancreatic enzyme are active in your small intestine and not your stomach, I would predict that undigested meat would have had its effects "on the other end" and would not make you throw up.

Definitely sounds like you picked up norovirus or some similar viral infection that is working you over for a few days....happens to the best of us...

Luluj

48 posts since
May 10, 2006

12. Feb 21, 2007 2:33 PM

in response to: StPauligirl

Re: Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

Greeneggsandham---would you mind sharing why you stopped being vegetarian...just curious if you don't mind.

J

GreenEggsAndHam

314 posts since
Jun 4, 2006

13. Feb 24, 2007 6:50 AM

in response to: StPauligirl

Re: Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

quote:<HR>Originally posted by Luluj:
Greeneggsandham---would you mind sharing why you stopped being vegetarian...just curious if you don't mind.

J<HR>

It's horrible, really. A combination of the early-twenties loss of idealism and moving in (and cooking for) a man who refuses to eat a meal without meat.
I've considered going back, but it's so much easier to have other dietary restrictions (low Cal, etc) and eat healthfully without adding in vegetarian restrictions--- and I just don't have the same level of conviction and dedication that I once did.

duhdoorunrun

19 posts since
Dec 14, 2007

14. Feb 24, 2007 9:39 PM

in response to: StPauligirl

Re: Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

I've been a vegetarian for decades, and I do get bad stomach cramps and constipation if I eat anything with meat (particularly beef) in it--even a meat-based sauce or soup, without visible meat, will do it. It's not psychological, because it happens if I unintentionally eat something meat-based (i.e., I don't find out that there was meat in it until after I get sick). So I'm pretty careful about it! But for me the cramps don't last more than a few hours, so your situation sounds more like you got a virus, and the meat-eating was coincidental.

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Feb 20, 2007 4:44 PM

Could a little meat for non meat eater make you this sick????

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