Study Claims Vegetarians Secretly Eat Meat While Drunk

According to a recent study, vegetarians have confessed to eating meat after a night of drinking. VoucherCodesPro, a UK-based discount code provider, conducted a survey of more than 1,700 British vegetarians who revealed they chow down on meat when they drink too much alcohol. Don’t tell Morrissey about this!

One in three herbivores said they eat meat every time they have a booze-filled evening, reports the Telegraph (via Huffington Post.) 69 percent said stay quiet and don’t tell anyone they’ve partook in a serving of delicious animal flesh. As for what type of meaty morsel do these vegetarians crave? Kebab came in first place, with burgers coming in second, followed by bacon, fried chicken and sausages.

While VoucherCodesPro’s survey doesn’t seem to provide any inkling as to why vegetarians “cheat” with meat when inebriated, the answer could lie in previous studies.

First, there’s “The Apéritif Effect,” which is the phenomenon that alcohol increases food consumption. According to research conducted by Indiana University, this may be due to alcohol exposure increasing the brain’s sensitivity to external food cues — like delicious smells. A study from Purdue University showed consumption of alcohol to enhance the flavor of salt and fat. Finally, another study conducted by Purdue led researchers to believe that fat should be added as the sixth taste sense, alongside sweet, salt, sour, bitter and umami.

It’s a wonder anyone can resist meat with all this science pointing to a fateful, post-cocktail date with a cheeseburger. Vegetarians at risk should just lay off the booze or have a big veggie burrito in hand’s reach. If you fall asleep while eating it, there’s a chance it might still be intact and in your hand when you wake up. Trust me, I know.