Why is it good for you to be a vegetarian?
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Chitra Jha | Nov 25, 2008
In this new age, vegetarianism has become the buzz word around the globe. More and more people are turning vegetarians. Celebrities are endorsing vegetarianism. What is this craze all about?
Let us revisit some of the more compelling reasons  and freshen our perspective. Let me clarify here that vegetarian food means food from the plant kingdom. All dairy products are as much animal food as meat and eggs are. Even though in our culture we have always considered milk and milk products as vegetarian, we cannot deny the fact that these come from animals and are technically animal products.
Some of the arguments for eating food from the plant sources are categorized here.
Environmental issues
•    Vegetarianism helps conserve fossil fuel in a major way. Studies have shown that it takes 35 calories of fossil fuel to produce 1 calorie of mutton; 22 calories of fossil fuel for 1 calorie of poultry; but just 1 calorie of fossil fuel for 1 calorie of vegetables. By eating plant food we can help conserve our non-renewable sources of energy.
•    It has been observed that it takes about 3 to 15 times as much water to produce animal food, as it does to produce plant food. Thus by becoming vegetarian we can conserve our water resources.
•    It is seen that it takes about 5-10 kilogram of plant matter and grains to produce one kilogram of animal protein. By eating this vegetarian food directly (and not through the animals) we can save a lot of this food material to feed all the hungry people in this world.
•    Plant foods have a longer shelf life than animal foods. One needs to spend more energy in preserving animal food products, thus exacerbating the energy crisis.
Health issues
•    The plant food takes care of all the nutrient needs. If we eat enough fruits and vegetables we will not suffer from any nutrient deficiency. On the other hand animal foods are largely deficient in vitamins, except for vitamin B complex.
•    Everyone knows that the animal foods are higher in fat and cholesterol than the plant foods. Animal foods are also high in protein content. This causes excess nitrogen in the blood; leading to many health problems. By eating vegetarian food, we can say goodbye to many bothersome diseases, such as heart diseases, osteoporosis, kidney stones, gall stones, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, gum disease, obesity and acne.
•    Animal food is totally deficient in carbohydrates, which are essential for good health.
•    Animal foods contain far higher concentrations of agricultural chemicals than plant foods.
•    Most of the animals are given drugs such as steroids, antibiotics, and growth hormones. These drugs are consumed by us humans when we consume meat.
•    There are many bacteria and viruses that thrive on animal foods, when we eat these foods we end up eating these organisms as well. It is not as if the plant foods do not have any micro-organisms, but their number is nowhere near as much as in meat products.
•    Animal products take rather long to digest. They keep putrefying in the colon, creating intestinal toxemia. It is a well known fact that the condition of the intestinal flora is critical to overall health of the body. Vegetarian food travels quickly through the gastro-intestinal tract.
•    Plant foods are high in fibre content. Fibre absorbs unwanted, excess fats; cleans the intestines; provides bulk and helps in peristaltic movement; ensuring regular bowel movements. Meat, poultry, and dairy products are deficient in fibre content.
•    Animal foods contain the body wastes of the animals such as adrenaline, uric acid, and lactic acid.
•    When we consume plant foods we consume a chlorophyll module which is very similar to our hemoglobin.
•    Plant foods contain trace elements that not only nurture our cells, but are precursors of all our genetic material.
•    Animal food is primarily acidic in nature. It leaves behind an acidic residue after digestion. This acid upsets the delicate pH balance of our body. A chronically over-acidic pH ratio begins to corrode body tissues, produces neuro-toxins, interrupts all cellular functions and generally creates havoc with our health. However, some of the plant foods are also acidic in nature, and should be avoided e.g. alcohol, coffee, white bread, oatmeal, sugar, tobacco, chillies, and all packaged and processed foods.
•    Raw plant foods such as fruits detoxify our bodies, increase immunity, and improve our skin and hair.
Economic issues
•    Vegetarian foods cost much less than non-vegetarian foods. So being vegetarian makes a lot of economic sense.
•    When we eat vegetarian foods, we stay healthier; thus saving on health care expenses.
Ethical issues
•    If we love animals, we have no desire to kill them for food.
•    Our body has been designed in a way to make us natural herbivores. Our hands, teeth, feet, intestinal tract…all are different from those of carnivorous species.
•    Mahatma Gandhi promoted the spirit of non-violence, but this spirit can’t be fostered if we indulge in killing animals.
•    There can be no peace in the world, if we declare war on other species for food.
•    There are many substitutes available in the vegetable kingdom to satisfy all taste buds.
Spiritual issues
•    Plant foods carry an inner light; both philosophically and biologically, as natural sunlight is a vital ingredient of plant foods. This light nourishes our physical body, mind, and spirit.
•    Plant foods keep us healthy. These healthy cells have a harmonic frequency that raises our overall energy vibration.
•    Plant food is rich in natural energy, vital for self-transformation.
•    Ellen G. White the famous writer of early twentieth century said, “Whatever affects the body has a corresponding effect on the mind and soul.” In other words, what we eat affects our consciousness.
These are some of the factors that are making vegetarianism a fashion and health statement. I do not expect you to change your food habits based on what I have enumerated. However, if you keep an open mind and verify these truths in your own life, I am certain that you will feel inclined to turn vegetarian! Three cheers to that!!!
Filed Under: Miscellaneous
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Great article Chitra!
Adding some biological reasons… Human bodies are naturally built to live on a vegetarian diet.
1. Our intestines are longer – built like herbivores rather than carnivores.
2. The structure of our teeth and jaws is like herbivores and not carnivores.
3. Our stomach produces digestive acid that is many times less strong than that of carnivores.
4. Our natural instinct is not to look a cute deer and go Oh! FOOD!!.. YUMMY!! …and jump on it and dig in…. unlike carnivores who are built for the purpose.
The human body is amazingly resilient and can adapt to most kinds of diet but it is not naturally built to eat meat
cheers!
Chitra, what about the pleasures of eating meat??? Juicy steaks, grilled prawns, roasted pork…I could go on all day, but I guess I need to rush out to eat some meat instead!!
This is an absolutely amazing article you put together!
You have touched upon everything so well and in so much detail! And I love the TRUTHS you are presenting here too. Gosh I wish everyone could read this!!!
Anyhow, yes I went vegetarian over a year ago and have never looked back since or felt better! My reasons were many that you mentioned from each of the categories.
As to the question above what about the pleasure of eating meat? I would have to say that I think this is why society is changing so much today, because we are evolving more and faster than ever to find more spiritual rather than physical pleasures.
Personally from a health point of view I know for me I cannot find pleasure in anything that I know inherently harms me.
Being a vegetarian is actually REALLY bad for you. Meat has a ton of nutrients that you’re missing out on (big one: IRON). Taking iron supplements decreases the absorption of calcium. Taking any supplements usually impairs the absorption of another.
Plus there is nothing wrong with eating animals. Animals eat other animals so I really don’t see what’s so wrong with humans eating animals.
Oh ya, and the human body is definitely NOT built to be vegetarian. Every vegetarian that has come in to my office not only has low iron but they look very wasted away.
You have hit the right point. People eat meat, because their parents taught them when they were small kids. It is like tobacco and alcohol. They are addicted to meat. Some of the people here commented on missing nutrients. What a joke! Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts.. any nut has tons of proteins and nutrients. All green vegetables have much more nutrients than any meat. Please understand the food industry all over the world is a big mafia. They fund the research institutes to conduct studies, which favor their business. Because western countries provide lots of tax benefits and facilities to processed food producers. Id there is no processing means where is the business and where is money? It is like drug and oil cartel. Especially in US every other day you see, beef is good for you, pork is good for you, coffee helps in reducing cancer, etc.. What do you think? We people are fools? In fact US has the highest number of vegans in the world. People don’t even eat diary products.
Humans have made food as an entertainment. Tell me which other animal eats food for fun. They eat for their survival. We eat all kinds animals and boast ourselves of eating special delicacies made from dead bodies or slaughtered helpless animals. Shame on human beings.
Try vegetarian for 48 days and see changes in your body. Because it takes body to shed all food toxins approximately 30-45 days.
Somebody commented here that vegetarians look wasted. I pity this person. Because I am a vegetarian through out my life. I am 35 and I run 10 miles a day (16 Kms)and participated in many marathons of 10, 16 and 25 miles and completed them. I challenge this person to do that. Also some of the great athletes were vegetarians. For example Carl Lewis who won 4 Olympic gold medals in a vegetarian. Wake up and become vegetarians or the best Vegans. You will live for more than 100 years healthy and energetic. Also you will save the environment. If you eat meat daily then get ready for the diseases like cancer, asthma, any any deadly disease. By the way the meat tastes good because of the URIC ACID which is also present in your pee!! Have fun with that taste…
Vegetarian food makes you more of Satwic (Assertive)character, meaning you are becoming courageous and yet humble (Vibhishanan). Rajasic food such as chilli (hot), animals and birds makes you aggressive, meaning emotional, and very sensitive (Raavana). Tamasic foods such as spices, alcoholoic drinks, makes you Passive, i.e.forget your enrgy and induces sleep and laziness Kumbhakarna).
Dear all,
Thanks a lot for this energetic debate. I started it, but with due respect to all points of view; I am of the opinion that we attract everyting to us according to our vibrations. This also includes food. As our ‘consciousness’ grows, we vibrate at a higher rate, and can only partake food which vibrates at the same rate. So each one of us is right in his/her own way.
These are special times on Planet Earth, where the consciousness of the Planet herself is rising. Under the circumstances, we shall see more and more people becoming fruitarians. Fruits are the only natural ‘fast’ foods. Ready made, pre-cooked, packed with all nutrients.
Have I started another debate with this?
In Oneness,
Chitra
Meat does not take any more energy calories to produce than vegetables. We do it on almost none, as cattle were intended to eat grass, and poor quality grass to boot. You are simply looking at studies that focus on conventional agriculture (CAFO’s), which is not a sound method of doing business. If it were not for government intervention they would not exist as farm subsidies distort what should be happening.
Cattle especially help to reinvigorate the soil structure and make it ready for vegetable production. Also with poultry/egg production, it one has them follow cattle, then they eat the tender green grass and bugs that lie in the fecal matter, using less feed and if done with human motives requires little fossil fuels.
As far as cancer goes, you should actually go and read unbiased studies on the issue. Heart disease was correlated to the time of year in the thirties by Dr. Weston A Price. This is the result of differences in nutritional values in mainly milk fat, in spring and fall it was very high in Omega 3 fatty acids, not so in the summer and winter.
In essence your oneness, is not really oneness, unless it is your oneness. Entirely against the teachings of most great masters.
As in many climates, the only good use of the land is grassland.
Really? You think humans, as mammals and at the top of the food chain, aren’t ‘made’ to eat meat? Our minds and opinions have evolved faster than our DNA/body functions have. I hear all your points for eating more (organic!) vegetables (vitamins, minerals, fiber) and agree that mainstream commercial farming doesn’t produce the most healthy meat available (choose organic and humane farming techniques). And yet, one size does not fit all, as you are probably aware from an ayurvedic standpoint as well as just being true of everything.
There are certain people who may thrive on a diet primarily made of (complex) carbs, and yet there are people who’s bodies start to fail when they don’t get enough protein. The increase of simple carbs (wheat, corn syrup, sugar, etc), hormones, antibiotics & pesticides in farming, and additives & preservatives which ‘make up’ the Western diet may be responsible for the increase in disease, but to ‘blame’ meat outright as the cause is simply not fair or true. I know a number of unhealthy and fat vegetarians who live on pasta and cheese.
I can appreciate that a vegetarian lifestyle may work for you and your body type, but it is not the best solution for everyone, and it’s not cool to judge those who’s bodies require meat to thrive.
I know that a lot of people who are tied to, addicted to or used to meat in their diet will rebel and throw out any excuse they can to refute the validity against going to a plant-based diet, however I am sorry to say TODAY there are just too many facts to keep going around in circles where this debate is concerned.
For all of you who do not want to change or even consider a plan-based lifestyle so be it, but I would urge you to do your research fully before you throw in things that our planet is better off farming animals or that humans are not naturally meant to eat plan-based foods. These facts simply are not true and refuting them is like what many have been doing for the past 2 decades when it came to global warming.
While there can be some very unhealthy vegetarians – let us not be picking on the few poor and isolated cases, but examine this lifestyle change from a bigger perspective and look at the general data, research and undeniable facts to date.
I know that for many people CHANGE is the root of all anxiety and egos heavily come in to play when a person feels like their way of life is attacked. But hopefully with the amazing awakening taking place on this planet today, we can start to put our egos aside and start thinking more out of our hearts and souls.
Finally for anyone who thinks that eating meat or any other animal based products is the way to go, before you offer another argument I hope you consider seeing the movie A DELICATE BALANCE. Perhaps you will become a little more enlightened about this whole subject and perhaps you won’t but the information you learn in there will be impossible to ignore.
http://adelicatebalance.com.au/
hmmm chitra .. a nice article to read along with the comments…. All that i can say is that its good to be vegetarian as its more economically and environmentally better.Taste , emotions of killing a animal , etc are all subjective in the sense that it can depend on person to person…
Lets go GREEN
Saurabh
Three cheers to that!!!….
Did u say CHEERS…. oooo that reminded me of my glass.. just kidding
Saurabh
Dear All,
Food is a topic that affects us all, hence this invigorating debate! All I can add is, ‘Listen to your body’ as body doesn’t lie. Do whatever ‘feels good’ to you. Celebrate your life. Have a ball!!!
God bless.
Chitra
I have read the article, really liked it and especially the presentation, but I beg to differ and would like to reply if the author permits.
I don’t want to fall into any argument, neither do I intend to make fun of vegetarians nor prove the correctness of Non-vegetarianism.
But, as a student of science I believe that whether anybody follows you or not but you should tread the true path.
Thanks.
There’s at least some research that indicates vegetarians suffer from brain shrinkage.
http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/71/11/826?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=b12&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT
Eating a Veg only diet could be good for you & me.
I myself, a vegetarian all my life.
Some individuals do need meat. Their body cannot perform well without it. They need that huge quantity of protein, vitamin & minerals. I have seen some unhealthy vegetarians turning healthy after consuming meat. Meat(be it white or red) does have lots of minerals & vitamins. For example, Iodine which is high in fish, Selenium which is high in Chicken & Egg etc…
So I guess a particular diet wouldnt suit all. Each and every individual is unique they should choose their diet based on their body needs instead of ethics/faith.
In vedic-astrology its possible to identify the type of diet needed for a person(based on birthdate,time &location). If you are interested check out with any good astrologer near your place.
What about the four canine teeth provided to humans ??? they are not to eat vegetables … you can’t categorize humans under Herbivorous.
Technically Zeeshan our canine teeth are not real “canine” teeth. They are only canine in name alone. Aside from how scientists and anthropologists have studied this, one need only look into the mouth of a dog or lion, etc. Their canine teeth look nothing like ours.
If our canine teeth were real, then we would be able to tear into raw animal flesh (which we can’t). We can barely chew some cooked animal products (not tear the way the animals do), hence the cutting into small chunks so that we can try to grind the pieces down.
There’s a reason here for everyone to become a vegetarian! I adopted a vegan diet for health reasons at the suggestion of a holistic healer about a year ago. Not only did my health improve dramatically, I also lost 30 pounds that I needed to lose effortlessly – no hunger, no dieting. Thanks for a comprehensive article.
Even if we calculate the ecological balance a complete vegetarism would spell disaster to mother earth. It has been proved that our planet cannot sustain food for all humanity if it depends only on vegetables and not meat. Infact eating habits like of India where people eat vegetables and meat are the bes solution. Any ways meat is generated in poultry or breeded so there is no dearth of meat as well. I do agree health hazards have also to be considered as mentioned in the article. I hope i have made my point. Any way thanks for collecting all the information ! kudos.
Dear all,
Vegetarians (those who still eat cheese and drink milk, can I ask you one question? What do we do with all these calfs, they are a “by-product” of the milk production. And what to do with the milk cow after its productive years? Kill and burn?
What would you tell people who are living in colder climates like those of Europe etc? Many European countries face winter all the times with little access to vegetation. Their only mode of survival is to eat meat. For people living in warmer climates like us can sustain on vegeterian diet and can do away with meat all together. In countries like us meat is more associated with taste than nutrients. In European countries it is the other way round..
Time to retire the “sickly vegetarian” coworker, niece, cousin, etc. myth. Show me them, and I’ll show you the hundreds of vegetarians I know (the vast majority of whom are slim, in shape, and happy). Then we can count the number we know who eat meat, and see which group has the higher ratio of members with heart disease, cancer, respiratory illnesses, etc.
Oops! A very old article, but chanced upon it only now. Haven’t heard about this site until last week.
Good article. However, I disagree with your opinion on dairy products being classified as “Non – Vegetarian”. I think our ancestors classified all “replenishable” items without loss of life as vegetarian. You eat an egg and you kill the chicken (or a little snake) that would have come out of that. In the case of plants, fruits, vegetables there is no loss of life as almost (‘almost’ because I can sense someone spending two weeks to come up with something to counter this argument). OK, do not come out with the sword swinging that once you kill a hen, the egg can still hatch a chicken out of it. Those are independent lives which can sustain on their own, whereas the plants can come out of the same root which actually regrows rather than starting a new life.
diet for people with gall stones…
I usually agree with your article content, but in this case I am sorry to say that I do not share your views….
TopDog…
I am So Lucky That I found your blog and great articles. I will come to your blog often for finding new great articles from your blog.I am adding your rss feed in my reader Thank you…
Environment and climate change is too close to my heart so I simply could not resist commenting on this article although most of what I will be saying is already mentioned above.
). We are Omnivores: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omnivore
Firstly, human beings are not herbivores (neither am I
If we were herbivores, we’d never be able to eat non veg, just like a goat or a cow would never eat chicken. Heck, some humans were also cannibals once. That definitely rules out our bodies being “originally designed to be herbivores”.
Secondly spiritualism is very individual and personal so judging non – veg eaters in their spirituality solely on their eating habits is just not possible.
It is true that eating non veg does produce global warming even if the animals we eat are fed with grass that we’d otherwise discard. Here’s why:
• The food that has to be fed to live stock or cattle or poultry are grown in land that would otherwise have a forest cover, or simply put, they’d have more trees than grass land or cornfields or whatever crop that is fed to these animals. The amount of oxygen that can be generated or carbon dioxide that can be absorbed by trees per acre of land is many times more than that by a cropland. Just look at a tree, how much space it needs, and for that space how many leaves and how much oxygen…etc., and compare that to a patch of land with grass or some other crop. To deal with the food requirements of these “live stock” more and more forests are taken down. Now, the increase in the CO2 levels in the atmosphere, have a spiral effect. That means more CO2 means more global warming, which in turn affects the temperature of the oceans. This affects the algae responsible for over 60% of the total Oxygen generation by plants and this causes all the more CO2 in the atmosphere.
• Next point – It takes 500 litres of water to produce 1 kg of Potatoes, 4000 Litres for 1 kg of rice and 13000 litres of water to produce 1 kg of beef. (Remember the live stock has to be fed everyday till the day it is killed. Plus the way most of them are fed, is by growing their food (mass producing, killing other local species of plants) in one part of the world and then transporting them to the cattle farms – which means burning a lot and I mean a lot of fossil fuels.) Now the water that is used for irrigation, is causing rivers to dry (Jordan River for example), ocean levels to drop near the coasts in some places, species of plants being wiped out.
• Did you know the soil that we live on, or irrigate has actually come from decomposed, dead trees and animals over billions of years? Imagine more and more species of trees being wiped out, for the food we eat, depriving lands from water where the food ‘we’ eat is not grown, the soil formation will cease. So the oxygen, the water, the soil we take for granted and exploit to satisfy our hunger are fast getting depleted.
So what can we non vegetarians actually do? Animals do taste delicious compared to vegetarian food, and we do need the nutrients!!! Only a non vegetarian can judge this since he has eaten both veg and non-veg food. Here’s what we can do:-
1. First and foremost, believe you can make a difference. Most people don’t take steps thinking they alone cannot make a difference. The small difference you make will add up.
2. We can reduce the amount of non veg we eat. Let’s say from 3-4 times a week to may be once or twice a week.
3. Learn about vegetarian dishes that are tasty as alternatives. Today the internet and globalization allows us to eat food from any cuisine we want. As and when we discover more and more options, we won’t miss the non veg too much. Dishes like steamed vegetables and salads are delicious and one can actually acquire a taste for them. (Something like AR Rehman music for me. I never like them the first time I hear them, but they grow on me and somehow touches my soul the more I listen to them)
4. Seek vegetarian alternatives to nutrients. I know for one, http://www.nutrilitehealth.com/ that sells organic supplements. (I’m saying this from personal experience, my son and I had a severe immunity related issues and within six months we saw a complete transformation. My son never falls sick, and if he does get a viral, recovers in less than 24 hours and he is very energetic even during sickness. He’s only 5 and ½ and it has been like this for the last 3 years)
5. This brings me to the next step – try to eat organic vegetables. As more and more people do this, they’ll become cheaper, and more and more farmers will switch to organic farming. It is cheaper in the long run. Using chemicals and pesticides has adverse effects not only on the environment but on the soil quality and yield gradually decreases. Not to mention the lifestyle diseases they cause. So it is a win – win for both farmer and the consumer
6. Eat more and more seasonal locally grown fruits and vegetables instead of eating stored / frozen ones which have been transported from half way across the globe
7. Spread this awareness to people about climate change, not just about non-veg food, but about planting trees, eating more locally grown food than imported, reducing wastage of water, turning off engines in traffic signals, switching off electrical appliances when not in use, using more recycled products, using a carry bad while shopping instead of using plastic bags, and there are tons more, which you your self will come up with if you put your mind to it.
The idea which I find most convincing about vegetarianism is summed up in
“as close as possible to the Sun”. All food starts with plants converting solar energy to food by photosynthesis.The closer we are to the sun the better.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
No generalization ( include this one ) is fair to all the members involved. one should eat what is good for his/her health and what is affordable and available, there are good elements in meat too, a balanced diet consisting of veg and non-veg ( like fish/chicken ) would do good to anybody than being pure veg or pure non-veg. it is a nice topic for hot debates as it kicks up creativity in the reader. good going
colon cleans…
I was searching for a blog on colon cleans and came across this one. I would like to say that I liked the post on Reasons to be vegetarian! | Tickled By Life….
Interesting comments on this topic. Although I am a vegetarian I agree with Arijit Mitra. Most people eat far more meat than they can usefully metabolise. Why not practice Meat Free Monday? Or better still “Meat Free Monday, Wednesday and Friday”?
I also particularly like Krish’s comment and Evita’s and of course Shalu’s comment at the top. I’m going to make my students read this! (I’m teaching a course called “Go Green, Go Veggie!” in a high school in Italy.)
Even veg pickles can tickle our taste buds – PickledByLife!