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'I made a moral decision to become vegetarian — but my body didn't like it'

Glen Burrows was vegetarian for 25 years, but he claims returning to eating meat has dramatically improved his health.

At a time when we're being encouraged to incorporate more plant-based meals into our diet, it's unusual to hear of someone making the transition from vegetarian to meat-eater.

Glen Burrows converted to vegetarianism in 1989 after learning of practices he considered "abhorrent" in the meat industry which contributed to the BSE outbreak. But as the years wore on, he and his wife Andrea — a fellow vegetarian — felt that they were not as well as they should be.

Glen described their situation on Mornings: "[Andrea] was suffering from adrenal fatigue, her hormones were out of whack; I had auto-immune issues."

In a bid to feel better, Andrea followed an elimination diet, which led her to eating a paleo diet of high quality meat and vegetables. The result was extraordinary.

'Everything changed'

"Her health transformed within a couple of weeks," says Glen. "I decided to try it for myself and it was like a light switched on for me. I had no idea how much better I could be."

Before changing his diet Glen had been suffering from outbreaks of psoriasis, as well as what he describes as "terrible brain fog".

"When I started eating meat and having a diet that had more emphasis on animal fats and less on short-acting carbohydrates everything changed."

"My brain was functioning better, my memory, my mood, my autoimmune issues completely disappeared, the psoriasis was completely gone, and I started performing better athletically.

"Everything changed for the better."

Vegetarian to meat eater

Glen Burrows tells Jackie Brambles why he returned to eating meat.

Morality versus reality

Glen's decision to become vegetarian had been taken on moral grounds, so how did he square that with his new-found need for a meatier diet?

"[Vegetarianism] was a difficult thing to let go of but at the end of the day my health was more important," he admits.

"But obviously because I'd had that long set belief system I really wanted to find meat that I could eat that had the least impact."

The quest for this led Glen to set up his own business providing sustainably farmed meat.

He now urges others who find themselves in a similar position to investigate their options thoroughly.

"It's very easy to form a moral high ground around a belief system and then it stops you thinking about things," he says.

"It stops you exploring those grey areas, of thinking: 'Is this the right thing to do for me? Is it the right thing to do for the planet?'."

Glen believes changing his diet made a difference to his well being; NHS information for achieving a balanced diet can be found in the .

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