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Some people give up meat for health reasons, others because of their principles.

But a new study has shown many can't resist a bacon sandwich for long, as the majority of people who turn vegetarian eventually go back to eating meat, the Daily Mail reports.

Researchers found 84 per cent of vegetarians and vegans eventually gave up the lifestyle choice.

More than half (53 per cent) start eating meat again within a year, and almost a third (30 per cent) relapsed within just three months.

Former vegetarians said they lacked support from meat-eating friends, didn't like being the odd one out and couldn't resist cravings for meat.

In November, a landmark U.S. study claimed switching to a vegetarian diet could help reverse diabetes.

Doctors said millions of people battling the killer disease could improve their blood sugar levels by eradicating meat from their weekly shop.

Removing animal fats form the diet, it seemed, could help cure the condition.

But it's not all rosy. Australian researchers found although vegetarians smoke and drink less than their carnivorous counterparts – they are also 18 per cent more likely to have depression than the general population.

They are also 28 per cent are more likely to suffer panic attacks and anxiety disorders.

Researchers from the animal rights group Humane Research Council gathered the data for the new study.

They surveyed more than 11,000 adults in the U.S. and found that two per cent were currently vegetarians and 88 per had always eaten meat or fish.

Another 10 per cent had formerly followed a plant based diet but had gone back to eating meat.

They discovered that the average age to first adopt a vegetarian diet is 34.

A large majority of former vegetarians (65 per cent) said they transitioned to a veg diet quickly, in a matter of days or weeks.

The most popular reason for becoming a vegetarian was to be healthy, with 58 per cent of people saying this was their main motivation.

Researchers said the numbers of people going back to eating meat after trying a plant-based diet was 'disappointing' and so they wanted to investigate why the former vegetarians might have lapsed.

Most (63 per cent) said that they disliked that their diet made them stick out from the crowd.

Meanwhile 43 per cent ate meat again because they found it too difficult to maintain a 'pure' diet.

And it turned out that chicken was the hardest meat to resist. This was the most common type of meat consumed by former vegetarians.

However, animal rights and pro-vegetarians saddened by the exodus back to meat may be comforted by one of the survey's findings: 37 per cent of ex-vegetarians want to stop eating meat in the future.