Can Humans Be Hypnotized Into A Plant-Based Lifestyle?

As a person with undeniable control issues, I find hypnosis very scary. If you can believe The Manchurian Candidate, hypnosis can easily turn you into a political assassin, which seems like a stressful way to make a living. Of course, hypnosis also has benefits; it's has been shown to help some people quit smoking, for example. And now a plant-based start-up is hoping to use the power of the pendulum to protect the planet—by helping consumers quit meat for good.

Plant Based News reports that Swedish start-up The Raging Pig Company is attempting to hypnotize people into a plant-based diet. The start-up's website labels meat-eating a "disease," comparing it to an addiction and claiming that its hypnosis methods build upon successful techniques used in trauma and addiction therapy. "Our entire system is normalizing dangerous and destructive habits of indulging in meat-eating," the company writes in a statement. "Be brave and break free from your meateatism today."

The free program is divided into three 20-minute digital hypnotherapy sessions, all available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. The sessions are guided by hypnotherapist Anna-Maj Velander, who says that she converted to a vegan lifestyle upon testing the hypnosis program. Per Plant Based News, the sessions put clients in "an altered state of awareness" geared toward "breaking destructive behaviors and patterns." Plant Based News also cites Raging Pig co-founder Adam Mikkelsen, who hopes the program will "bridge the cognitive dissonance between knowing the facts and changing our actual behavior."

Would you undergo meatless hypnotism? It's certainly an intriguing idea, as we all know that factory farming is one of the most destructive industries currently threatening the planet; yet, many of us (myself included) continue to participate in a meaty free-for-all. Personally, I'm a little suspicious that the hypnosis program is a scam to sell Raging Pig's vegan seasoning line. Still, couldn't hurt to try.