Following a vegan or vegetarian diet is certainly not an appealing choice for everyone, but it turns out it might not be the best choice for most people.

Researchers at the Humane Research Council gathered some research on the topic to see how many people choose to go meat free and then actually stick with the diet choice. The somewhat surprising results came back to say that as many as 84% of people who follow a vegan or vegetarian diet go back to eating meat again at some point.

The study utilized the Harris Interactive Survey which assessed the answers of 11,399 people aged 17 or older. The findings showed that 2% of Americans currently considered themselves vegan or vegetarian, while 10% of people identified as someone who used to be. It turns out that more half of all vegetarians and vegans go back to a meat eating diet within a year, and a third of them go back within just three months.

This is both attributed to the difficulty of sticking with the more restrictive diet choice, and to lifestyle choices. About a third of the people who used to be vegan or vegetarian but no longer were, had lived with someone who also was, so perhaps some of their diet choices were more highly influenced by their living environment than a true desire to cut out meat.

A vegan diet is even more restrictive than a traditional vegetarian diet, banning all animal made products including dairy products, eggs, and any other ingredients derived from animal products. Some vegans even extend this to their non diet choices, such as choosing not to wear leather.

To make the change towards a vegan diet and making it stick, a common denominator seems to be making the transition gradually rather than abruptly as it can be pretty challenging to carry out. Cutting meat or animal products out of the diet requires finding alternative protein choices or at least closely following ingredient lists for home cooking, dining out, and when eating at friend’s houses.

While there are a lot of vegan food options out there today, it is not always easy to find the food option on the go. A whopping 88% of Americans have never gone vegetarian or vegan in their diet choices, so it makes sense that those options aren’t the norm in the average restaurant.

There are some positive health benefits associated with following a vegan or vegetarian diet, but there are also advantages to eating meat in the diet as well. Some people choose to go vegan simply as an effort to support the rights of the animals, while others stick with the belief that humans were made to eat meat.