Vegetarian - Not Meat - Is The Healthy Diet

Vegetarian diet

By Vijay Sheel Jain
The Tribune

Nutritionists and medical experts agree that excessive
meat consumption is a major contributor to diseases like
cancer and cardiac disorders. Dr S. I. Hunting of
Columbia University says that our mouth, teeth and the
intestines are not suitable for a non-vegetarian diet.
His views are based on a comparative study of the
structure of the carnivorous animals and humans.
According to him, carnivorous animals have a bigger mouth
that can hold large chunks of flesh and unlike humans,
they have teeth that are elongated, sharp and pointed to
enable them to tear flesh. Colon Cancer is more prevalent
in Argentina and Uruguay where meat consumption is higher
than in other Latin American countries. Tenzing Norgay
attributed the remarkable strength of the sherpas to a
vegetarian diet.

Meat eating increases the burden of the organs of
elimination and overloads the system with animal waste
matter and poisons. Meat proteins cause putrefaction
(rot) twice as quickly as do vegetarian proteins. The
main benefit of a proper vegetarian diet is its low
calorie content. The accounts for lower serum-cholesterol
levels found in vegetarians which considerably reduces
the risk of heart disease and breast and lung cancer. A
third great advantage is its high fibre content which is
associated with decreased risk of diseases.

Vegetarianism is thus a system based on scientific
principles. It is the best diet for man's optimum
physical mental and spiritual development.

Vijay Sheel Jain
Ludhiana

Visit the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
for excellent food recommendations:

http://www.pcrm.org

Read the complete news at:
http://www.tribuneindia.com

Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
Om Shanti

Dr. Jai Maharaj posted:
>
> WHY HINDUS DON'T EAT MEAT
>
> Hinduism Today
> http://www.hinduismtoday.com
>
> Besides being an expression of compassion for animals,
> vegetarianism is followed for ecological and health
> rationales
>
> REASONS
>
> In the past fifty years, millions of meat-eaters --Hindus
> and non-Hindus -- have made the personal decision to stop
> eating the flesh of other creatures.
>
> There are five major motivations for such a decision:
>
> 1. The Dharmic Law Reason
>
> Ahinsa, the law of noninjury, is the Hindu's first duty
> in fulfilling religious obligations to God and God's
> creation as defined by Vedic scripture.
>
> 2. The Karmic Consequences Reason
>
> All of our actions, including our choice of food, have
> Karmic consequences. By involving oneself in the cycle of
> inflicting injury, pain and death, even indirectly by
> eating other creatures, one must in the future experience
> in equal measure the suffering caused.
>
> 3. The Spiritual Reason
>
> Food is the source of the body's chemistry, and what we
> ingest affects our consciousnes, emotions and
> experiential patterns. If one wants to live in higher
> consciousness, in peace and happiness and love for all
> creatures, then he cannot eat meat, fish, shellfish, fowl
> or eggs. By ingesting the grosser chemistries of animal
> foods, one introduces into the body and mind anger,
> jealousy, anxiety, suspicion and a terrible fear of
> death, all of which are locked into the the flesh of the
> butchered creatures. For these reasons, vegetarians live
> in higher consciousness and meat-eaters abide in lower
> consciousness.
>
> 4. The Health Reason
>
> Medical studies prove that a vegetarian diet is easier to
> digest, provides a wider ranger of nutrients and imposes
> fewer burdens and impurities on the body. Vegetarians are
> less susceptible to all the major diseases that afflict
> contemporary humanity, and thus live longer, healthier,
> more productive lives. They have fewer physical
> complaints, less frequent visits to the doctor, fewer
> dental problems and smaller medical bills. Their immune
> system is stronger, their bodies are purer, more refined
> and skin more beautiful.
>
> 5. The Ecological Reason
>
> Planet Earth is suffereing. In large measure, the
> escalating loss of species, destruction of ancient
> rainforests to create pasture lands for live stock, loss
> of topsoils and the consequent increase of water
> impurities and air pollution have all been traced to the
> single fact of meat in the human diet. No decision that
> we can make as individuals or as a race can have such a
> dramatic effect on the improvement of our planetary
> ecology as the decision not to eat meat.
>
> HISTORY
>
> The book FOOD FOR THE SPIRIT, VEGETARIANISM AND THE WORLD
> RELIGIONS, observes, "Despite popular knowledge of meat-
> eating's adverse effects, the nonvegetarian diet became
> increasingly widespread among the Hindus after the two
> major invasions by foreign powers, first the Muslims and
> later the British. With them came the desire to be
> 'civilized,' to eat as did the Saheeb. Those atually
> trained in Vedic knowledge, however, never adopted a
> meat-oriented diet, and the pious Hindu still observes
> vegetarian principles as a matter of religious duty.
>
> "That vegetarianism has always been widespread in India
> is clear from the earliest Vedic texts. This was observed
> by the ancient traveler Megasthenes and also by Fa-Hsien,
> a Chinese Buddhist monk who, in the fifth century,
> traveled to India in order to obtain authentic copies of
> the scriptures.
>
> "These scriptures unambiguously support the meatless way
> of life. In the MAHABHARAT, for instance, the great
> warrior Bheeshm explains to Yuddhishtira, eldest of the
> Paandav princes, that the meat of animals is like the
> flesh of one's own son. Similarly, the MANUSMRITI
> declares that one should 'refrain from eating all kinds
> of meat,' for such eating involves killing and and leads
> to Karmic bondage (Bandh) [5.49]. Elsewhere in the Vedic
> literature, the last of the great Vedic kings, Maharaja
> Parikshit, is quoted as saying that 'only the animal-
> killer cannot relish the message of the Absolute Truth
> [Shrimad Bhagvatam 10.1.4].'"
>
> SCRIPTURE
>
> He who desires to augment his own flesh by eating the
> flesh of other creatures lives in misery in whatever
> species he may take his birth. MAHABHARAT 115.47
>
> Those high-souled persons who desire beauty,
> faultlessness of limbs, long life, understanding, mental
> and physical strength and memory should abstain from acts
> of injury. MAHABHARAT 18.115.8
>
> The very name of cow is Aghnya ["not to be killed"],
> indicating that they should never be slaughtered. Who,
> then could slay them? Surely, one who kills a cow or a
> bull commits a heinous crime. MAHABHARAT, SHANTIPARV
> 262.47
>
> The purchaser of flesh performs Hinsa (violence) by his
> wealth; he who eats flesh does so by enjoying its taste;
> the killer does Hinsa by actually tying and killing the
> animal. Thus, there are three forms of killing: he who
> brings flesh or sends for it, he who cuts off the limbs
> of an animal, and he who purchases, sells or cooks flesh
> and eats it -- all of these are to be considered meat-
> eaters. MAHABHARAT, ANU 115.40
>
> He who sees that the Lord of all is ever the same in all
> that is -- immortal in the field of mortality --he sees
> the truth. And when a man sees that the God in himself is
> the same God in all that is, he hurts not himself by
> hurting others. Then he goes, indeed, to the highest
> path. BHAGVAD GEETA 13.27-28
>
> Ahinsa is the highest Dharm. Ahinsa is the best Tapas.
> Ahinsa is the greatest gift. Ahinsa is the highest self-
> control. Ahinsa is the highest sacrifice. Ahinsa is the
> highest power. Ahinsa is the highest friend. Ahinsa is
> the highest truth. Ahinsa is the highest teaching.
> MAHABHARAT 18.116.37-41
>
> What is the good way? It is the path that reflects on how
> it may avoid killing any creature. TIRUKURAL 324
>
> All that lives will press palms together in prayerful
> adoration of those who refuse to slaughter and savor
> meat. TIRUKURAL 260
>
> What is virtuous conduct? It is never destroting life,
> for killing leads to every other sin. TIRUKURAL 312, 321
>
> Goodness is never one with the minds of these two: one
> who wields a weapon and one who feasts on a creature's
> flesh. TIRUKURAL 253
>
> Hinduism Today
> http://www.hinduismtoday.com
> http://www.hindu.org
>
> Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi
> Om Shanti
>
> Posted in:
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> ls.ethics.vegetarian,alt.animals.rights.promotion, soc.culture.indian
>
> Follow-ups set to:
> alt.philosophy,alt.fan.jai-maharaj,alt.religion.hindu,alt.animals.ethics.vege t
> arian,soc.culture.indian