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Thread: Umami

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    God/dess scarlett_vancouver's Avatar
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    Default Umami

    I've been trying to be veggie for a few weeks now, and I get CRAZY cravings for savoury things...glutamate-stimulating stuff, like cheese.

    Is this my body going through withdrawal, or proof that my body wants animal products?

    It's like 100 times worse than any sweet craving I've ever had...more akin to a cigarette craving. Am I addicted to eating animals??

    (Anyone experienced this?)

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    Featured Member lolagetz's Avatar
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    Default Re: Umami

    There are some good soy cheeses out there. The tofutti mozzerella is my favorite, you should be able to find it at ralphs. The gimme lean sausage is pretty good, and the peppered tofurky slices are okay. Learn how to cook tofu the way you like it, and eat some beans and nuts. All this used to satisfy my animal cravings back when I was vegan. Good luck!

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    Veteran Member mia_bella's Avatar
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    Default Re: Umami

    i wouldn't think so considering the foods that contain the highest levels of glutamate are cheeses, tomatoes, and breast milk. i don't see why it would be animal related, but if the way you ate meat before involved high risk cuisines such as italian, mexican, or "american" (as my professor likes to term it), it may just be that the avoidance of this type of food means that you aren't "Tasting" things as much as usual, as when I was vegetarian it basically meant I avoided this cuisine altogether because it was just too hard to make sure it was vegetarian. If this is the case I'd say it will subside, as monosodium salt, works by stimulating the glutamate receptors on the tongue to amplify the taste of foods. Give it time and be strong and I'd say it'll go away once you're used to tasting stuff like normal!

  4. #4
    Lola Rose
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    Default Re: Umami

    Also try eating fleshy items. Tomatoes became a major staple for me while I was veggie, mushrooms, bell peppers, and "chick burgers" were all great. It helped me to eat a lot of whole foods, (i would eat a tomato like it was an apple.) That helped me b/c it was so easy! I cooked so much with evoo (extra virgin olive oil) b/c it makes everything more savory, like the typical heavy food you're used too.

    A great recipe to make, reminicent of pre-veg, is to saute a chick burger in evoo and top it with a big tomato slice and melt "mozzarella" over it. Great by itself, with pasta, or as a sandwich (love it on a bagel!)

    good luck, and take your vitamins. It gets easier.

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    Default Re: Umami

    I find eating things that taste like meat helps with the actual meat cravings. I replaced hamburgers and chicken burgers with the Schneiders Chick'n Burgers. I'd fry it a little bit in olive oil. They have the exact same consistency and taste as real chicken burgers without the risk of running into a gross lumpy gristle chunk (yes, it happened and that's why I won't eat real chicken anymore).
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    Default Re: Umami

    When I was a vegetarian it went away after about... three months.

    But I never lost the craving for shrimp coctail.

    Now it's my favourite thing.


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    Default Re: Umami

    listen to your body. it knows what it wants.

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    God/dess scarlett_vancouver's Avatar
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    Default Re: Umami

    ^ my body wants pumpkin pie for dinner. So I don't know if I can trust it.

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    God/dess Nautilus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Umami

    have oven-roast pumpkin with olive oil and crushed rosemary. you could probably do without the wheaty pastry...

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    Default Re: Umami

    It's noram to go through cravings. Did you know that changing your eating habits are considered harder than quitting heroin?

    Remember, you're trying to change a habit that's been going on for the majority of your life.

    I'm not a complete veggie, but I eat meat-oh- once a month, often less. I don't crave meat anymoe, but I do eat when I know I'm getting anemic.

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    Veteran Member Fancey's Avatar
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    Default Re: Umami

    I was a veggie from the time i was born intill i was about 12 then i had my 1st cheese burgar I remember that day.. i got so sick. I ate meat after that because all my friends did then at 18 i whent vegan for 3 years but i didnt do it the healthy way and got sick. I eat fish now but tht is it. I would say the BEST thing to have a round is ALOT of protein. Tofu, veggie ground round, veggie "chicken" nuggets, lental loaf, veggie peperonie. I think you may be haveing protein problems. so keep that stuff around. Also. Have a soy shake in the morning. Nutritional yeast is good also on popcorn and it tasts like cheese



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    Veteran Member Fancey's Avatar
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    Default Re: Umami

    P.s. I have never had milk or cheese besides that cheese onthe burgar when i was little because im allergic. I WOnder what it tasts li ALL THE TIME.



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    Default Re: Umami

    Of course its normal for you to crave meat... humans are naturally omnivorous. Cutting out a main part of the species' diet will do that to ya.
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    Default Re: Umami

    ^^So are dogs, and you have dogs allergic to meat.

    Everyone's different- some ppl are more suited for a vegetarian diet, just like some ppl can live off vodka, smoke like a fiend and eat a shit diet and live healthy until 89 (my friend's grandma died in her sleep-active 'til her last day. She had a shit diet. too bad the lady's kids all suffer from type 2 diabetes and heart disease). I have a friend who' a vegan triathelete.

    The fact is that most ppl can get away with eating less refined carbs (white bread, pasta), more whole grains, and veggies. Many ppl can't go vegetarian 100%, but most of us will be served better by eating more vegetables.

    I eat meat admittedly for time savings. I don't have time to carefully plan my diet or cook, and I'm predisposed to anemia. I can be vegetarian, it just requires me to be more careful with my diet. I'll probably go back one day because I've felt gret when I was a veggie.

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    Default Re: Umami

    Quote Originally Posted by lilithmorrigan
    When I was a vegetarian it went away after about... three months.

    But I never lost the craving for shrimp coctail.

    Now it's my favourite thing.
    Same here...it took a while for the cravings to go away. I always missed steak and snow crab legs.

    After I started eating meat again (a little over a year ago), I didn't have my first steak until a few weeks ago and my first batch of crab legs until last week. I downed a whole pound of them by myself.

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    Default Re: Umami

    Quote Originally Posted by PaigeDWinter
    Of course its normal for you to crave meat... humans are naturally omnivorous. Cutting out a main part of the species' diet will do that to ya.


    Nobody needs meat. It's hard because breaking any HABIT is hard. Amazing how study after study shows the numerous health benefits of vegetarianism. You can have your colon cancer; I'll stick to my veggies, thanks.

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    Default Re: Umami

    I tried vegan for about a week --- felt like my brain was floating away.

    I obsessively ate complete proteins like beans and rice, tofu, and tempeh. Still felt really weird.

    Then I broke down, ate meat and I felt like my brain came back, like I was grounded.

    I then came up with a theory and based on how someone was acting would ask if they were veggie. Scary, it seemed to work.

    I personally think dairy is more likely to cause colon problems than meat. For a lot of veggies it's a staple, so I can't do.

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    Default Re: Umami

    I had no idea we had so many veggies on here. As for the protein advice, it's a bad idea to eat too much protein. Your body can't use it and your liver has to work overtime to get rid of it. That extra protein creates ammonia(a poison!) as it is being processed in your liver. It contributes to osteoperosis and kidney disease. Your average meat eater eats too much protein in a day, often 100%, 200% or more than they should be eating. If you had to choose between getting too little or too much protein in a day, too little is actually the healthier choice. A woman of average size and activity needs only about 50g, or less, of protein per day. Just one serving of tofurky sliced deli "meat" has 13 grams. So its very easy to get your protein requirements as a vegetarian. If a veggie is having cravings, most likely it is not for lack of protein.

    What it may be is a missing is vitamin b12. Vegetarians who eat a varied diet are usually okay, but a strict vegan diet can lead to deficiencies. B12 is almost exclusively found in animal products. This is probably why you(OP) would crave cheese.
    Last edited by Zabrina; 10-26-2006 at 03:50 AM.

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    Default Re: Umami

    Quote Originally Posted by trin0101


    Nobody needs meat. It's hard because breaking any HABIT is hard. Amazing how study after study shows the numerous health benefits of vegetarianism. You can have your colon cancer; I'll stick to my veggies, thanks.

    I never once said NEED. What I said was that, basically, since our species has been eating meat for as many centuries as it has, suddenly stopping is hard to do. And I dont think that all meat eaters will be getting colon cancer. Thanks anyways for the well wishes. Sheesh.
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    Default Re: Umami

    ^LOL Paige, I don't wish any colon cancer on you. As far as evolutionary dietary habits... The primate species most similar to humans typically have a diet of about 90% plant sources, and only 10% animal sources. Thier animal sources are including basic protein sources, like termites on a stick. As modern, fast-food junkie humans, we have flopped those 90/10 percentages completely over. As you can see, most humans who eat this way(meat central diets) aren't exactly the most healthy. I'm not saying everyone should be forced to go veg or anything, but the american standard of having a huge meat cut flanked by a parsley leaf and a scoop of mashed potatos is a heart attack waiting to happen. Anyone who values thier health should focus on making veggies the main staple of thier diet, if they eat meat it should be a small portion of their daily intake.

    I won't even get started on all the hormones and bacteria infested in the meat grown from intensive farms....

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    God/dess PaigeDWinter's Avatar
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    Default Re: Umami

    Quote Originally Posted by Zabrina
    As far as evolutionary dietary habits... The primate species most similar to humans typically have a diet of about 90% plant sources, and only 10% animal sources. Thier animal sources are including basic protein sources, like termites on a stick.

    Granted, but I mean more of the current species before fast food. Set aside the 20th and 21st centuries and look at the last 100,000 years of the homosapien. Even at 500,000 BC, what would become modern man was an efficient hunter/gatherer. They were spear and hook users by then... hunting and fishing quite a bit.
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    Default Re: Umami

    Hmm.
    Is it possible that you are experiencing vitamin deficiency? Like, B12, or whatever that you only need in trace amounts but it kind of difficult to find in non-animal products? Because I went off meat 10 years ago (although not cheese) and didn't really think about it after the first few days (as long as it takes to get used to ordering). Not the healthiest option, but for meat there are good fake meats. If you are in Canada, try Schneiders Au Naturel. It's amazing. The chicken texture is so chickeny. I don't know any good cheese subs though.
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    Default Re: Umami

    When I was a veggie I had no problems, but I wasn't that strict. No meat, no milk, but I would eat cheese, and I didn't check to see if milk was in ingredients. I only had non-veggie cheese a couple of times a month, but I never had any cravings. The longer I stayed away from meat the more gross it seemed. I have always been icked out by meat though, that's the whole reason I became a veggie in the first place, so maybe that's why I never craved it.
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    Default Re: Umami

    Quote Originally Posted by PaigeDWinter
    Granted, but I mean more of the current species before fast food. Set aside the 20th and 21st centuries and look at the last 100,000 years of the homosapien. Even at 500,000 BC, what would become modern man was an efficient hunter/gatherer. They were spear and hook users by then... hunting and fishing quite a bit.
    As for hunter gatherers, there are some modern humans that still live a similar livestyle but I've never studied thier eating habits. I do know that as humans evolved, the extra protein from successful hunting with tools was key in increasing our brain mass. But the amount of protein needed is still very small compared to the amount of meat people eat in modern fast-food society. A successful hunting party had to take the kill home to split with the village, with would leave each person with a small portion of meat. The gathering part of the lifestyle would account for the majority of the diet. Depending on the quality of the grains gathered, it probably would not have been adaptive to be vegetarians at that time. If we had stuck to termites we probably would not be so smart now.

    In slightly more modern farming communities, they would occasionally slaughter a chicken to put in thier soup. Only the very rich could afford to have an animal on their plates everyday.

    Then we have modern humans in rich societies. They are eating sausage, bacon, and eggs for breakfast. A turkey sandwich for lunch. A grilled chicken smothered in cheese for dinner. At no other time in our evolution have humans been eating like that. As we can see from our typical fat american asses, high cholesteral, high blood pressure, and assorted cancers, it's not good for us. I don't want to harp on anyone to go veg, that's thier business. I just think a 90/10 or a 80/20 or even a 70/30 veg/meat ratio is healthier not only for the person eating, not only for the animals being eaten, but also for the environment.

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