My Journey from Daily Non Vegetarian to a Vegetarian
I started eating non vegetarian food when I was
child and continued for most of my adult life and I loved it. I used to eat it
daily and a meal without non veg food would not be good lunch. There had to be
some non veg dish in my meal, be it mutton, chicken, fish or eggs. The rare
occasions there would be a pure vegetarian meal there would be a sense of
dissatisfaction, my lunch would not be feel complete. Even during festival days when most people
would be vegetarian, I would eat sometimes non veg food. My logic was that
since I was eating on most of the other days, what difference it would make
skipping on that one day or few days when a festival was there. Anyway all
food, vegetarian or non vegetarian was made by the divine, I was sure he would
not mind my non vegetarian meals.
This small blog contains my journey to be a
vegetarian and the reasons which prompted the journey. My mind is clearer, body
is healthier and digestion is better and I really wish I had made this decision
much earlier. No one gave me enough
convincing reasons to be a vegetarian or even if they attempted to give I would
avoid listening. This blog contains some logical reasons which I feel would
help you make the decision with awareness and logic.
The Importance of Food, We are what We Eat...
While taste of the food is important while deciding
the food which we eat, the taste should
not be the sole criteria on which we choose our food. We should be aware of the
impact the food has on the body and the mind while choosing our food.
Impact
on the body
Better Digestion
When I was eating non veg food daily, my digestion
was not very satisfactory. There was a lingering sense of unease in my stomach,
acidity was high, gas and burping would happen regularly and motion was also not comfortable. When I made the switch to a vegetarian diet I
realised how much more comfortable my digestion is now compared to the earlier
days. My experience has a scientific basis.
It is widely known and accepted that our human
bodies are more suited to eat and digest vegetarian food. Many meat eating
species have sharper teeth and smaller intestines which help in smooth
digestion of meat. Human bodies have smaller teeth and larger intestines which
are more suited for vegetarian food. The meat which we eat, takes upto 72
hours to be digested which can lead to
build up of toxins in the body. In contrast vegetarian food is easily digested
in 8- 10 hours
The meat eating animals stomachs secrete
hydrochloric acid, meaning their gastric pH levels are maintained at around 1-2
even with food present, which is necessary to facilitate protein breakdown and
to kill all the dangerous bacteria often found in raw meat. The human body
produces a milder acid which is more conducive to a plant based diet.
Nutrition is factor
Our body is made up of the
food that we eat. every day when we sleep, our body uses the nutrients in the
food which we have eaten to heal itself. Food
is the building block on which our body is built. So from this
perspective we should be more aware of food that we eat, the nutrient
composition etc.
The American
Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics is considered to be the foremost authority
on diet and nutrition it the USA. For several years now (since 2009) it has
held the position that meat is not necessary for human diets. It says: “It is
the position of the American Dietetic Association that appropriately planned
vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful,
nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and
treatment of certain diseases.
“Well-planned
vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life
cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and
for athletes.”
Health Impact
Non Veg food weakens your
bones.
Many countries
which have high meat consumption have reported higher incidence of hip fracture
and osteoporosis.
Researchers observed the amount of meat these
people consumed, and concluded that the more meat they ate, the more fractures
they had. here's how and why: eating animal protein makes the blood slightly
acidic, hence the burning sensation which usually follows a non-vegetarian
meal. the body immediately reacts to this change of ph in the blood and
neutralises it by pulling out the calcium from the bones. being alkaline in
nature, calcium helps to neutralise the blood and is consequently lost in the
urine. researchers conducted a study on volunteers who were fed animal protein
and a test of their urine showed it to be loaded with calcium. this shows that
the more protein you consume the more calcium you lose. meats also contain
sulphur-based amino acids which further promote calcium loss. by cutting down
meat, cheese and eggs from your diet, you can cut down the urinary calcium loss
to a great extent. also, meats are rich in phosphorous, too much of which
encourages calcium loss. on the other hand, whole grains and pulses provide
your body with sufficient protein. vegetables and fruits tend to have roughly
equal amounts of calcium and phosphorous which helps prevent calcium loss. a
vegetarian diet of jowar, nachni (ragi), black channa, moth, rajma, masoor,
whole mung, fruits and vegetables is loaded with potassium and is low in
sodium. such a diet enables calcium retention in your bones.
More info at the link below
Too Much chicken can weaken your bones
Other Health problems
One of the main benefits of
eating non vegetarian foods, is that the quantity of protein found in non vegetarian food is much
higher than in vegetarian food. But unfortunately even this protein if consumed
in high quantities can cause health problems because our digestive system is
not able to process so much protein in an efficient manner due to the reasons
given earlier and it can cause cholesterol build up and so many other issues
like heart problems Liver problems, Cancer etc.
Peta says
“Carnivorous animals in the wild virtually never develop heart disease or
suffer from strokes—ailments that humans can suffer an increased risk of
developing due to their consumption of the saturated fat and cholesterol found
in meat. Heart disease is the number one killer in the U.S., according to the
American Heart Association. If humans were meant to eat meat, why do
meat-eaters have a 32 per cent higher risk of developing heart disease than
vegetarians?”
More info at the link below published by the World Health Organization
WHO on Cancerogenic property of Red meat
Impact
on the mind
Improper digestion of food can also lead to
imbalances in the mind. The animal when
it is about to be killed experiences a lot of fear, anger and pain which will
be stored as subtle emotional energy in its body. When we eat the animal this
subtle negative energy enters our system and negatively influences our mind and
emotions slowly over a period of time.
Factory
farms and injections
If we consider non veg food as a product, have you
ever considered the factory where its produced. In older days the animals were
led to develop in farms freely by themselves and then killed when they were
matured enough. But now with less space, higher demand and the growth of
corporate culture in meat farming, they are grown in factory farms where the
conditions are very unhygienic and unhealthy. There is no space and for most of
their life they are in cramped and dark conditions. They are also given
antibiotics and growth hormones impact of which i have given below. To be very
honest , this is the point which first triggered by decision to stop non veg.
Antibiotics
As they are grown in very crowded conditions, there
is a high risk of them getting diseases. If one of them catches a disease, the
entire lot could contact the disease with a high financial loss to the
producers. Thus they keep the animals/birds regularly fed with high doses of
antibiotics which will keep them healthy. This causes drug resistant bacteria
to develop in them ( as given below) and there is a high chance of us consuming
the drug resistant bacteria when we eat the meat, which reduces our immunity
power
More info at this link
Growth
Hormones
The faster the animal grows , the more profitable it
is to the meat producer. They have to spend less on food, space and realize the
cost invested in it earlier. Thus a large number of meat farmers inject the
animals/birds with growth hormones to make them grow earlier. These hormones will be in the flesh of the
animal and when we eat such hormone injected meat, it can cause multiple health
issues. This has been particularly a
cause for early puberty in children and
also linked to certain types of cancer.
The
environmental effect
Meat eating has a high effect on the environment, in
terms of land used to produce food for the animals and water used to feed and
clean the animals. 51% of the land on planet earth is used for meat production.
Chicken production releases 25% more CO2 than grain production
It takes more than 15,000
liters of water to produce 1 kg of meat,
while producing 1kg of rice only
requires 3000 liters of water. it
takes up to 10 pounds of grain to produce just 1 pound of meat. More than 90
percent of all Amazon rainforest land cleared since 1970 is used for grazing
livestock to feed animals. In addition, one of the main crops grown in the
rainforest is soybeans used for animal feed.
Kindness
There is a lot of cruelty and the pain in the
production of meat . I would just say that most of us ( including me in my meat eating days) know
about this fact , but choose to ignore this. Little bit focus or awareness that
animals also feel pain and suffering could lead us to drop the meat eating
habit easily.
Good options for vegetarians
I have been vegetarian from last 4 years and I can
honestly say I never felt the pinch in my taste buds even once. In Vegetarian foods there are lot
of options where in we can get the same or better taste compared to non
vegetarian.
If we eat bland cooked meat or fish it has no great
taste. The main taste which we get in eating non veg food is more due to the
spices and cooking method than due to inherent taste in the meat. Once we
realize this we can cook certain vegetable using the similar spices to get a
good taste without all the health hazards. There are also newer and more exotic
vegetarian options like different types of mushroom, tofu, zucchini, broccoli
and avocado which can satisfy both the mind and taste buds. The internet has
all the recipes and guidance in this regard.
As Veganism and Vegetarianism is becoming popular
all over the world, Even while travelling in traditionally meat eating
countries of Europe and England, I always had good vegetarian options.
Availability of Vegetarian meat
Mock meat is a concept which has really helped me to
make this transition from meat eating to vegetarianism much more easily. Vegetarian meat
are products that mimic certain qualities of animal-based meat like
textures, flavor, or appearance, for example. They are made from a variety of
ingredients such as soy, textured vegetable protein, or wheat
gluten, to name a few. They give a similar taste to meat and help us to enjoy the taste of our favourite
food preparations. For Eg I have frequently enjoyed Butter ( veg) chicken or
Biryani made from vegetarian meat.
Good mock meat in
India is available at the links below
https://vegandukan.com/collections/mock-meat
Making the journey – Winning over the mind
Though all the above information is very clear and
logical, the mind gets swayed by desires. Even now after so many years of being
a vegetarian , I sometimes get tempted by the smell of chicken frying. But then
I remember my higher purpose of transitioning to a vegetarian lifestyle i.e. my
health and long term well being and the moment passes.
Eating food is a deep samskara or pattern and it is
very difficult to change the pattern or habit which might have come from so
many years. It is tied to the very core of our mind and emotions, and logically
we might decide a certain food is not good or healthy for us and decide to
reduce it or stop it but there is a high chance we get tempted when we see it
and all our noble intentions are gone with the wind.
Or even if we stop it suddenly, it will bring so
much tension and stress in the mind when we see others having the food which we
are tempted of having. To make this transition smoothly, I would like to share
my experience
1. Start slowly- My stopping non veg was a gradual
process, rather than abrupt stop. I first slowly cut down on chicken, reducing
the frequency from daily to once a week, than once a month, then even lesser
then stopped it. Then to the other forms of meat, so it was a slow process
which gave my mind and body time to adjust to this new diet and was not a shock
to my system. You can follow your own timeline based on your mind and body and
this will ensure the transition is a permanent one instead of a temporary one
based on some emotional feeling.
2. Start a
yoga practice. Breathing practices and meditation really help in managing the
desires of the mind, and really I was able to bring my mind more under my
control and divert it from a unhealthy lifestyle which would have brought me so
much pain and suffering in the long term to a more healthier lifestyle. The techniques taught by the Art of Living
are very effective in this regard in living much healthier lifestyle. You can
find more info on this at
3. More tips on Winning over the mind at this link
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