The prevalence of vegetarianism is believed to have increased by one percentage from 2023 to 2024, and it seems unlikely that this number will decline anytime soon.
People choose to eliminate meat from their diets for various reasons, including environmental concerns and ethical considerations.
There’s also the belief that a vegetarian diet may be healthier than one that includes meat, although Stanford Medicine cautioned in 2019 to ‘tread carefully’.
If you’re considering making the switch to a vegetarian lifestyle, this ‘revolting’ video might influence your decision.
The video, shared online in 2023, shows a freshly cut piece of meat convulsing after salt was added to it.
This controversial clip has circulated widely on social media, prompting viewers to express their reactions.
“Omg that’s revolting,” commented one individual.
“Coulda went the rest of my life w.o seeing this [sic],” remarked another.
Some viewers indicated that the video made them consider becoming vegetarian.
One Instagram user wrote, “Am becoming a vegetarian.”
“Well, this picture could make me give up eating meat,” another person wrote elsewhere.
So, what caused the meat to move in such an unsettling way?
The Instagram page @conceptsjpg clarified that ‘the sodium in the salt triggers still-functioning neurons in the meat, causing a cascade of muscular contractions’.
Dr. Myro Figura further explained in a TikTok video: “The central nervous system might be gone, but the peripheral nerve endings are still there. It’s the sodium that activates them and causes the muscle to spasm.
“This only happens with really fresh meat, and with no oxygen or blood supply it does not last long.”
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) provides detailed information on ‘post-slaughter factors affecting red meat quality’ on its website.
The AHDB states: “Following slaughter, the supply of blood to the muscles ceases, and any remaining energy is used up. This is commonly seen as muscles twitching/tensing. Once this energy is depleted, muscle proteins begin to bind during a process referred to as rigor mortis.
“The pH of living tissue is around 7. When the animal dies, the energy within the muscle is used up and causes the pH to fall to around 5.4– 5.7 (the ultimate pH).”
