Prashant:
This was a piece I had written ages ago, I think I should post it here. I am mainly targeting the Hindu community who might be interested, as
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Adhering to vegetarianism should no longer be seen as an option, or even a lifestyle we have to adapt to. It goes without saying that both the findings- based on ancient scriptures, as well as modern science- support vegetarianism unanimously. Along with ethical reasons, we will also explore physiological, environmental and numerous other reasons
Biological and Health Reasons:(wn.com/vegetarian)
Compared to non-vegetarians, Western vegetarians have:-
• A lower average Body Mass Index (BMI)
• A lower mean plasma total cholesterol concentration
• A lower mortality from IHD (by about 25 percent).
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• They may also have a lower risk for some other diseases such as constipation, diverticulitis disease, gallstones and appendicitis.
• The evidence available suggests that widespread adoption of a vegetarian diet could prevent approximately 40,000 deaths from IHD in Britain each year.
Furthermore, vegetarians had;
• 1/2 the high blood pressure and diabetes
• 1/2 the colon cancer
• 2/3 the rheumatoid arthritis and prostate cancer
Breast, lung, & uterine cancers tended to be lower in vegetarians. Some might argue that these results are biased, or they might be due to random chance, but no; they are spread out over a large sample size and are very conclusive, and hence irrefutable. This is a research conducted worldwide, and it holds true for all people from all countries.
For anyone who has suffered, or known someone to have suffered from a chronic disease, the first thing the doctor would advice them is to cut down on meat consumption, and completely stop eating red meat. Numerous diseases such as high blood pressure, coronary problems, liver problems, parasitic ailments like brain cysts, mad cow disease etc are caused by eating non vegetarian food
Many studies have positively linked vegetarianism and a person’s lifespan, and this isn’t news to us. Rishis (seers/sages) who used to feed off of fallen fruits, and eat a completely satvik diet lived much longer than the average person.
Satvik food determines one's mental and physical health and well being.
Also, as George Bernard Shaw put it “I do not want to make my stomach a graveyard of dead animals”
NUTRITIONAL REASONS
One of the most popular arguments and misconceptions are that vegetarian food lacks omega 3 fats, and that it can only be acquired through seafood. That is a fallacy. Omega 3 fats are abundantly found in flax-seed oil and olive oil. So the next time you are making pizza or pasta at home, make sure to add some olive oil!
Now we come to the most popular argument of meat eaters- Protein ! Yes, protein is a very essential component of our body, and especially so for growing kids. I know plenty of people who lead a very active lifestyle, playing competitive sports, bodybuilding etc, and they are pure vegetarians.
The staple Indian meal of dal, chaval, sabji and roti suffices more than enough for the body’s protein requirement.
Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, curd(yogurt) contains every single essential amino acid that the body requires, and there is no meat product that even comes close to providing these nutrients.
One is often under the impression that Vitamin D can only be found in meat products (especially seafood), and not in any other vegetarian food. That is true, but fortunately, taking a 3-5 minute walk in the morning or evening sunlight as little as a couple of times a week is enough to synthesize the Vitamin D that we need, and it certainly is worth (not to mention healthy) to talk a walk. Five minutes is the least one can spare to uphold a high level of ahinsa.
ECOLOGICAL REASONS
One might say eating plants is killing life too. Unfortunately, it is, and it is the only way we can live. Now, let us take a look at the following line of logic
A vegetarian eats ‘X’ number of plants.
A Non vegetarian not only kills ‘Y’ number of animals, but also in the process of animal husbandry, they feed the animals at least 40 ‘X’ amount of vegetarian food as the animal’s weight, and then eat the animal as well. So if a vegetarian has killed ‘X’ number of plants, a non vegetarian has killed minimum ’40 X + Y’ number of plants and animals. Which is the greater sin? That I’ll let you figure out for yourselves.
Let me explain using the example of a chicken. Chickens are especially reared in poultry farm, in numbers far greater than their natural population; so as to not inconvenience people who would like to eat them.
The chickens are fed a large number of worms to increase their mass and to fatten them up for consumption. These worms in turn feed on an even greater amount of plant and organic matter, on land which could otherwise have been used for growing crops.
Let us look at the equation again in this new light and calculate the damage done. Vegetarians consume ‘X’ plants, non vegetarians consume ‘Z chickens + Z.Y worms + Z.Y.X plants’. Does this sound unbelievable? I know it does, and yet it is very unfortunately true.
These numbers too are the lower estimate approximations that I have given. A human being consumes on average 36,000 kgs of food in a lifetime, so you can imagine the wastage of resources and harm to t
If we grew crops on all the land that was being wasted to feed non-vegetarians, there are studies which show that the world food crisis would come to an end. Every man, woman and child would have food to eat. Other studies have also shown that the factors involved in producing non vegetarian food (waste of crop land, waste of natural resources, transportation, etc) are the leading causes of global warming, which too would stop if everyone became a vegetarian.
MORAL REASONS
Non vegetarians claim that plants have nerve endings and can feel pain. This is an unqualified assumption of facts that do not exist. For example, when you touch a mimosa (a touch-me-not plant), the reason it curls up isn’t because it feels something and it consciously decides to close its leaves, it is due to the potassium ion chain, that when applied pressure to the cell wall there will be a transfer of ions and it will act as a lever to close the leaf.
A plant has no central nervous system- meaning it has neither brain, nor nerve endings, and hence no sensation of pain.
It is a well established fact that animals feel extreme pain, not only when they are being slaughtered, but also during the long periods they are held captive. Pigs are battered with rods in order to kill them.
Piglets are lifted and thrashed head first onto the ground. Cows are shot at with stun guns, often they do not die from the first assault and have to endure extreme pain until the time they are hit again. Roosters, chickens, ducks are immersed in a steaming cauldron and boiled alive so their feathers are plucked easily. These are only few of the ways animals are mistreated, there are several more which cannot be listed due to space restraint.
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EGG AND POULTRY INDUSTRY
Chickens are cooped up in tiny enclosures, where they peck at one another. To stop this behavior, the poultry de-beaks the chickens, this causes them a tremendous amount of pain. The normal egg laying period of a chicken is 14 days, but due to hormones injected into their bodies, they lay eggs around once a day.
These hormones make the chicken very fat, so that their weak legs break off. Also to stimulate egg laying, they are exposed to bright light and are deprived of sleep. Due to this they get cranky and fight with one another.
In these inhumane conditions, the chickens are kept for a few years during which time their eggs are collected for human consumption. After they “retire” from egg laying, they are sent away to slaughter houses.
The chickens are transported in tiny cages in open trucks, without any protection against the extreme heat or cold. Statistics show that 25% of chickens die before they reach their destination.
The remaining chickens are thrown into a hot cauldron, and boiled alive before having their feathers plucked. All of this pain and suffering, only to end up as a delicacy on someone’s plate, or in a bucket as fried chicken.
IN CONCLUSION
One might say that if vegetarians care so much for life, then why not starve instead of eating plants also. The reason vegetarians aren't starving, is because as per our religion, suicide is a very great sin, hence it is called ‘Aatma-hatya’.
We will survive on the bare minimum food, but we won't kill ourselves in the process. Life has no purpose, evolution has no direction, and our souls have no upliftment if we end our lives intentionally. What we can be certain of is that we will face karmic consequences for whatever we think, speak or do, so we must use our lives wisely to do the finer deeds, and keep violence and harm to other creatures at the lowest possible level.
Unfortunately, non vegetarianism causes more harm to the ecology as a whole. Being a vegetarian means trying to live in a world with the least amount of violence, and in harmony with nature.
A non vegetarian will care about how the food on their plate tastes, rather than how much the animal it’s made of has suffered for it, and how what now has become “food”, was once a happy and thinking animal that was mercilessly slaughtered to be made lunch or dinner out of.
Remember, each time you eat meat and bite into it, with relish, one by one you're destroying parts of what was once a living creature’s body that felt a lot of pain to be part of your meal.
Remember that it has been through immense torture simply because of your demand to consume it. By eating an animal, you are making your stomach the ultimate grave for a free living being, that unfortunately didn’t even get a chance to remain free since it was in captivity since birth, to one day end up in your abdomen, digested over time, and that is the end of a being that wanted to be free, and wanted to live, just like any of us.
Their life is in our hands, how we wish to respect it, is entirely in our hands.
( Thanks to Prashant )
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