Why’s everyone Vegging out?
by Caroline Robertson
“Reducing meat consumption is probably the most potent single act individuals can take in the effort to halt the destruction of our environment and preserve our precious resources...it conserves water, saves energy, preserves topsoil, reduces our dependence on chemical pesticides and fertilizers and protects forests. All this while improving health.” - John Robbins, Diet for a New America.
Would you like cleaner air and water, more trees, a healthier body, an end to world hunger, an animal loving society and a thicker wallet? These are just some of the reasons why more people are embracing the vegetarian diet. No longer the domain of lentil loving hippies, vegetarianism is a viable option for anyone who understands the personal and planetary benefits of consciously choosing what goes in our mouths.
To Your Health!
"A shift to vegetarianism by the population generally would result in a significant reduction in degenerative diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disorder, inflammatory joint disease and possibly even some psychiatric and psychological disorders.This statement is based on current scientific evidence” -Dr Ian Brighthope, Physician and President of the Aust. College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine.
Why is the vegetarian diet becoming so trendy? Are we just rebelling against Granny’s warning- “you’ll get sick and die if you don’t eat your chops!” Or has medical science proven Granny wrong? Statistics show that vegetarianism is great medical insurance. Vegetarians have a markedly lowered incidence of arthritis, asthma, cancer, constipation, dementia diabetes mellitus, diverticulosis, food poisoning, gallstones, gout, hypertension, hypoglycaemia, impotence, inflammatory bowel disease, kidney disease, obesity, osteoporosis and peptic ulcers. Why is it so health promoting? Not only is a balanced vegetarian diet low in cholesterol, saturated fat and chemicals, it’s high fibre, vitamins, minerals and phytoestrogens offer protect from the most deadly diseases. Other fringe benefits include:
Longer life: Vegetarian people such as the Himalayan Hunzas and Seventh Day Adventists have a very high life expectancy. In contrast Eskimos who live primarily on meat and fish age rapidly with an average lifespan of about 30 years, same goes for the primarily meat eating Russian Kirgese who rarely survived beyond 40yrs. Energy edge. What? Aren’t vegetarians weak weaklings? Not according to Yale and Brussels University tests which show that vegetarians have double the endurance and recover three times faster from exercise than meat eaters.
Glowing skin The high fibre in a healthy vegetarian diet and the absence of heavy meat prevents constipation so toxins are easily flushed out. The extra vitamins, minerals, enzymes, chlorophyll plus other goodies in the healthy vegetarian diet promotes a soft, moisturised and rapidly repairing skin.
Easy weight management: Vegetarians are four times less likely to be obese than meat eaters. Loosing all that saturated fat intake makes weight control much easier.
Have a heart
It seems animals are getting their revenge according to Dr William Roberts, Chief Editor of the American Journal of Cardiology “When we kill animals to eat them, they end up killing us because their flesh, which contains cholesterol and saturated fat, was never intended for human consumption.” Do you have a family history of cancer or heart disease? It wouldn’t be surprising. These two diseases are nearly epidemic in countries with high meat consumption whereas incidence is much lower in countries with low meat intake. Heart disease is the number one killer in the US with 50% of Americans dying from it. But there’s good news for vegetarians as “90-97% of heart disease can be prevented by a vegetarian diet,” according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.
This is because a vegetarian diet is high in protective antioxidants, minerals and fibre to keep the heart pure. Meat on the other hand is high in saturated fats and oxidised cholesterol which clogs up the ateries promoting high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, atherosclerosis, stroke, angina and heart attacks. Even children fed the typical American diet have been found to have fatty deposits in their arteries. But chicken and fish is OK I hear you say. Not so. Most chicken has the same fat and cholesterol levels as lean beef. Many fish such as catfish, sword fish and trout are almost 1/3 fat. Salmon is 52% fat whereas shrimp has double the cholesterol of beef! Fish do have the beneficial fats such as omega 3 and 6 fatty acids but they also contain the artery-clogging saturated fats as well as some other nasty surprises...more of that later. Better to get your fatty acids from green vegies, beans and flax seed oil.
The BIG C...Cancer
Who doesn’t know someone whose life has been darkened by this disease? The specific cause of cancer has alluded us uptil now. But we’ve known the contributing factors for decades. Guess what food increases the risk of colon cancer by 250%? That’s right, meat. The British Medical Journal cites that vegies are 40% less likely to die from cancer and have an amazing 80% reduced risk of breast cancer. An Everest of clinical studies revised by the 1995 Government advisory comittee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy came to the irrefutable concensus that there is a strong link between meat consumption and cancer of the bowel, lung, breast, mouth, prostate and womb. Why is it so? Vegetarian diets are high in cancer inhibiting phytochemicals such as isoflavones and lycopene (in tomatoes). Vegetarian high fibre flushes waste from the intestines whereas meat tends to constipate and putrify in the gut. Kelloggs cornflakes mogul himself believed that 90% of all chronic ills lay in the sluggish bowels of a meat eater. In light of this startling evidence the 1997 World Cancer Research Fund stated that a vegetarian diet could prevent 100,000 cases of cancer annually in the UK. We’ll uncover the hidden carcinogenic agents in meat next.
Dead Meat
"Every juicy morsal of meat is fairly alive and swimming with the identicle micro-organisms found in a dead rat or the putrifying carcass of a cow".
-John Harvey Kellogg, founder Kelloggs.
Lets face it, most food today is a chemical time bomb. Nutrition and taste has taken a backseat to the agribusiness’ synthetic science of increased yield, attractiveness and profit. Of course there’s the organic meat industry which is relatively healthier but it still has certain dangerous contaminants.
Eating meat is particularly daring roulette as not only do you have to contend with the artificial chemicals, pollutants and drugs infecting it, there is the added bogeyman of communicable diseases such as Mad Cow disease, anthrax, salmonella, brucellosis and worms! Could this be why workers in the meat industry in the UK have five times the average employee illness?
From birth to execution a livestock animal is kept alive and fattened by a continuous administration of tranquillisers, hormones, antibiotics and up to 2,700 drugs. The hormones fed to chickens can make a seven-week old baby have the giant body of an adult. Often the chicks skeleton can’t support it’s massive body so they suffer joint pain, deformities and can’t walk. What does this do to us when we eat it? Artificial hormones present in nearly all meats are strongly linked to breast cancer, heavy periods, ovarian cysts and infertility. Guys aren’t safe either. It decreases sperm count and motility, the average hamster today has more morphologically normal sperm than the average man. Interesting to note that organic farmers have twice the normal sperm of other men. Even if they do have enough swimmers the saturated fats in meat can clog up the arteries in the penis so blood supply is blocked and erection is thwarted.
Don’t like taking antibiotics? Well you might think twice about you your next steak. Consumer affairs associations have proven that there are traces of antibiotics in beef, veal, pork and chicken. 33% of all antibiotics used in Canada are used for lives stock and Australia is likely to be similar. We all know that antibiotics can compromise our immune system leaving us more vulnerable to thrush and infections but did you realise that they create superbugs in our system resistant to treatment? An example of this is the recent resistance of salmonella typhimurium to commonly used antibiotics.
What does it tell us when 75% of US chicken inspectors refuse to eat chicken due to poor hygiene conditions? Chickens living in a cage of faeces for weeks often leads to salmonella which as Newsweek published is present in 23% of Austrailan chickens. Although there are 900,000 reported cases of salmonella in the US annually these are probably conservative estimates as salmonella symptoms are similar to the flu. I don’t want to make you chicken but the bacterial infection E.Coli’s not much better. 10,000 cases of it were reported in the US in ‘97 as well as 40,000 people being infected with it from an award winning Scottish butcher, 20 dying. If you’re a child, pregnant or elderly these infections can prove fatal. Who can forget the recent footage of mad cows frothing at the mouths, eyes rolling and bellowing in pain. Thousands of cows were slaughtered because they had a disease could have been prevented if they hadn’t been forced to eat infected offal and meat in the first place. No wonder the naturally vegetarian cows went looney. Mad Cow Disese (BSE) is not a pretty picture. What we didn’t see was what happens to the dozens of people who get it annualy. Eating infected beef or beef products such as gelatine, beef shortening can give you with the disease which presents in humans as CJD (Creutzfeld-Jacob disease.)
The results are like a horror movie. People’s brains are eaten away from the inside until a slow death ensues. Unfortunately cooking the beef doesn’t destroy the disease and it can incubate in our body for forty years until symptoms occur. The full extent of this disease will not be known for many years. Vegetarians needn’t worry as they have the luxury of eating a meal without worrying about what it died of.
The naturally occuring things in meat can also pose a serious health hazard. Make beef tea by boiling steak and you’ll find it has almost the same chemical composition as urine. That means lots of toxins including uric acid enhancing our chances for cancer, arthritis, kidney stones, gall stones and gout. An animal facing the trauma and terror of slaughter releases stress hormones such as adrenalin and noradrenalin. These put the body into a state of defensive alert: heart pounding, stomach churning and muscles contracting. These hormones are still present in the meat when we eat it, making us uptight, fearful and ready for a fight at the smallest incident. Maybe that road rage maniac had turkey for lunch.
Meat also contains arachidonic acid, uric acid and nitrates which promote arthritis, gout and period pain. But how does meat increase Osteoporosis? Excess animal protein (high in sulphur amino acids) and acid causes the blood to become acid which leaches calium from the bones. This is why high meat and milk intake countries have the highest rate of osteoporosis. Excess protein also causes kidney disease. Once animals are killed flesh naturally starts to rot and turn a greyish green. Preservatives and dyes added to the meat to keep it a “fresh” red colour are digestive irritants and may be carcinogenic (cancer causing). The way meat is cooked is also important. Eating 2 pounds of charcoal broiled steak you get as much carcinogenic benzopyrene as smoking 600 cigarettes! Heterocyclic amines, highest in chicken, are also particulartly carcinogenic. So now you know why vegetarians have a drastically decreased risk of the number two killer-cancer.
Something Smells Fishy
Have you been reeled in by the BIG fish story? The news is that fish is healthy food that is good for the heart and skin. Fish (in cold climates-not Australia) do have health promoting omega 3 fatty acids good for the skin and heart but so do other healthier foods. If you like a little saturated fats, cholesterol, mercury, lead, arsenic, petroleum, DDT, nitrogen, sewage, chlorine, phosphorus, PCBs, dioxin, salmonella, cholera, hepatitis, PAHs, radioactive waste and pesticides with your Omega 3’s then I suggest the fish. If on the other hand you prefer to side step the possibility of after-dinner brain damage, liver tumors, infertility, sterility, nervous system diseases, paralysis, kidney damage and even cancer I suggest you choose the flax seed oil, walnut oil, tofu, pumpkin seed oil and leafy green vegies which have the added advantage of antioxidants with the omega 3 and 6.
Do you know where your fish has been and what its been eating? You might loose your lunch if you knew. The rising pollution in the oceans is carried great distances and fish indiscriminately absorb it all. If the waters not safe to drink, the fish aren’t safe to eat. Fish can accumulate as much as 9 million times toxins as that of the water in which they live. Shellfish are particularly absorbant with so many people apparently allergic to them whereas its probably the toxins they have trouble with. As much as 10% of shellfish are infected with organisms that can cause hepatitis, salmonella, cholera and even death. The Simpsons three eyed fish isn’t that far fetched! Ailments of fish and ocean birds are indicating the extent of the crisis. Suffering from skeletal deformities, tumors, chromosomal damage, reproductive dysfunction and radioactive poisoning they’re drowning in a sea of toxins. Male fish are starting to show female characteristics -is that why female impersonators are so convincing these days!
Recently dioxin land contamination in Brazil polluted citrus pulp in Germany. What to speak of the radioactive fallout from places like Chernobyl. Increased algal blooms and red tides are evidence of the rising ocean pollution levels, even deep water fish are affected. If you’re pregnant you might like to take the advice of world health authorities who warn pregnant woman not to eat fish due to the risk of foetal brain damage, defects and developmental deviations, mostly due to the high mercury levels which also increase chance of miscarriage. Extensive studies in the Netherlands and the US support this caution. An increased demand for fish and modern trawling and vacuuming methods of fishing mean that there is a global crisis of overfishing. Over the last 10 years the marine catch has increased by four times and the most important commercial fish are in steep decline. Some species are so overfished they are becoming endangered, the Canadian Cod are a good example. There’s a lot of unnecessary waste and killing in commercial fishing resulting in one quarter of the fish caught being discarded. A third of the fish caught is made into meal for livestock.
Innocent bystanders are also victims with millions of dolphins dying in tuna nets, about 44,000 albatrosses killed annually in lines, birds swallowing bait and hooks plus millions of other marine mammals such as seals, sea turtles and even whales die horrible deaths. Maybe we’ll think twice before throwing a shrimp on the barbie knowing that for every one pound of shrimp sold twenty pounds of other sea creatures were caught. There’s always a tofu steak!
Although fish aren’t cuddly like puppies they still feel the same pain. They have taste buds on their tongue, lips and noses which give them acute pain perception. Their sensory hairs on their backs allow them to register the most subtle vibrations. Being hooked and thrown onto their back has gotta hurt. Maybe Pythagoras knew this. Sympathising with the flailing fish so much he would pay the fishermen the cost of their catch to throw the fish back to sea.
Fishing is dangerously depleting the marine ecosystem. Don’t take the “healthy choice” bait, you can let them off the hook. By keeping them off your plate and in the water you’ll be making a valuable contribution to preserving the ocean for future generations. Your body will thank you too.
VEGIEMAN to the rescue!
Imagine you’re sitting at the dinner table with an 8 ounce steak on your plate, sorrounded by 45-59 starving people with empty plates. If you were having a vegetarian meal everyone’s plate would be full. This is the reality of the situation as explained by Francis Moore Lappe in her book- Diet for a Small Planet. Harvard nutritionist Jean Mayer estimates that cutting down meat production by only 10% would release enough grain to feed 60 million people. While a child dies of starvation every 2.3 seconds 70% of US grain is fed to animals. With proper agricultural policies and less meat production global hunger could be a legacy of the past.
What’s the real price of meat? Every 1 pound of meat produced costs us 16 pounds of grain, 35 pounds of topsoil (1 inch of which takes 200 years to develop) and upto 6,000 pounds of water as opposed to the 60 pounds of water it takes to produce 1 pound of wheat. Concerned about the rainforest and deforestation? 40% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed along with innumerable irreplaceable plant and animal species in order to graze cattle. Worldwide 50% of the landmass is used to graze cattle whereas only 1 1/2% is used for plant food production. As far as the world’s pollution problem -70% of it is due to animal “production.” The late Homebush abbattoir was the single greatest polluter of Sydney’s coastal waters according to a NSW Government Newlsetter. Contaminated runoff and sewage from slaughterhouses and feedlots are the main producer of eco-killing blue-green algae.
Vegetarians are making a step towards preventing desertification of arable land, the destruction of rainforests and the wastage of global resources. This pro-active approach may be the only way to save our planet from the grave collision course its headed on.
Meals Without Squeals
“Never eat things with faces thank you,” Joanna Lumley.
The average Australian eats 17 cows, 92 sheep, 15 pigs, 1,200 chickens, 2,000 fish and 16,500 eggs in a lifetime. No wonder George Bernard Shaw described meat eaters as animal graveyards. Demand for meat is definately on the decline though including pork sales which hit an all time low during Babe’s box office success.
Who would like to torture, kill and slice up their pet? Then eat it! How about shooting Babe, Bambi, Lassi, Flipper or Black Beauty in the head. No takers? Its no wonder. Why does society's scope for compassion have such artificial boundaries? We love our pets, zoo animals and “favourite species” yet turn a blind eye to the millions of innocent animals massacred yearly. Why do we pamper one animal and cannablise the other as dinner? We feel for the victims of Haiti but remain silent at the violence going on at our local butcher. Maybe we don’t think that animals feel anything. Does a dolphin who carries her dead baby around with her for several days feel love and sorrow? How about the elk calf who gaurds the body of her murdered friend for two days, sniffing and nuzzling the dead calf’s face. The Prince of Wales Zoo witnessed a heartbreaking display of elephant mourning. Elephant Damini wept for 24 days, refusing food or drink in 44 degree heat whilst she lay with the body of her departed friend elephant Champakali who died in childbirth. She eventually died from grief. Its obvious to anyone that humans don’t have an exclusive right on emotions. Animals also have a limbic emotional area of their brain, they secrete similar hormones and neurotransmitters in response to situations, they have a developed nervous system and pain receptors just like humans. Do animals experience joy, love, fear, anger? Of course.
The only disadvantage animals have is that they can’t express their feelings using human language. Basic understanding of body language will tell you what they’re feeling though. Eyes widened and rolling back in the sockets, heart beating rapidly, hairs standing on end, mouth frothing, muscles trembling, teeth chattering, sphincters loosened, legs shaking as they run, dive, hide, scream or their shells slam shut. These are just some of the symptoms of fear- “the slaughterhouse dance,” as one abbattoir worker called it. Do they experience sorrow and loss? Baby elephants who witnessed their families being killed for tusks wake up screaming in the night. Cows bellow for days when separated from their calves. Animal mates waste away and die of sorrow when separated from their partner.
Humans have the capacity to exploit and abuse animals but we also have the skills to understand and appreciate them. Due to selfishness or moral cowardice we can abuse our power over animals. It takes courage and mercy to make a stance against the violation of animal rights as well as an acknowledgement of their own silent dignity. As author Alice Walker supported, “The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.” We can get so much more from animals by loving them than by eating them. And our Karmic Bank account will be much richer!
The entire life of a captive “food” animal is an unnatural torture of artificial breeding, vicious castration, hormone stimulation, isolation, an abnormally fattening and artificial diet and the long uncomfortable ride to the screaming finale. One out of ten will miss the closing scene as they die from stress or disease before their bloody end.
But animals are killed in a compassionate, humane way aren’t they? I’ll spare the gory details for those who don’t want nightmares . But if you ever visit your butcher again instead of pandering to his flirty small talk why don’t you ask him how his goods made the journey from baby calf to veal cutlet, frolicking piglet to pork crackling, cuddly lamb to roast or loving cow to fillet mignon. For the brave ones who are willing to witness hell on earth, take a stroll down to your local slaughterhouse. Problem is, unless you live in the country it’s probably days away. Best to keep all that screaming and blood away from people.
It might upset someone! If abbatoirs had glass walls and were closer to home more people would be vegetarian. Why do you think vegie Paul McCartney risks arrest by sneaking into slaughterhouses to take videos?- "its always been and always will be compassion for animals. ” We love him yeh yeh yeh!
Holy Cow!
“We now have scientific evidence that vegetarianism is good for the body. The greatest teachers have always known that it is good for the soul” -Rev Alvin Hart
Even though religion doesn’t play a major role in many people’s lives today our deep seated moral and ethical views are unconsciously influenced by religious conditioning. “Love they neighbour”, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," “Thou shalt not kill” are basic character yardsticks. We may profess to honor these yet fail to apply them to our meek and defenseless animal friends. Do we think that a merciful, compassionate God condones this mass torture and slaughter? Most of the world’s major religions and their earliest adherents strongly advocated vegetarianism. Generally, the older the religion the closer to vegetarianism. Islam, one of the worlds youngest religions, isn’t a strong supporter of vegetarianism but ancient Christian, Judaic, Buddhist and Hindu texts support it. Modern denominations such as Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, Quakers, Sufis, Baha’i, Jainism also endorse vegetarianism.
Ancient scriptures embodying the message of major religions suggest that killing animals is absolutely sacrosanct and perpetrators will suffer for their actions. But many Christian texts seem to support meat eating...the modern translations that is. Unfortunately with human’s penchant for “Chinese whispers” and manipulation many scriptures have been conveniently mistranslated, watered down or even edited to attract converts and avoid loosing followers who might seek out an “easier” doctrine. There are 19 references to meat in the gospels but the original Judaic translations refer to food, not meat. Even Jesus’ fish were actually vegetarian fish plant rolls- a popular fast food in his time (makes better picnic food than spoiling fish). In Genesis 1:13 he did say "I’ve given every green herb for meat”. Emperor Constantine’s campaign in AD 325 was a classic example. He had all the negative references to meat eating or drinking cut out of the Christian scriptures in order to win a popularity contest. The losers, as always, were the animals.
It seems that people were so attached to the taste of meat that great religious leaders made concessions for them, with very strict conditions intact. Buddhists are only supposed to eat meat under three precepts but even then the Dalai Lama says he sees no reason why animals should be killed for food. Deliberately complicated killing regimes would at least reduce the number of animals slaughtered. Since both Jews and Muslims are banned from eating the blood of animals the complicated 14-step “koshering” process of meat preparation was devised. This process subjects animals to pain and terror that makes a POW camp look like Disneyland. And it goes on even as ISIAH 1:15 says “when you pray, I will not hear you for your hands are full of blood.” All the blood isn’t drained out of the meat anyway so they’re kidding themselves.
It would be much more consistent to give up meat eating completely as many sincere followers do. Is that such a big sacrifice? Hinduism makes no bones about the karmic repercussions of meat eating. The sanskrit word for meat ‘mamsa’ means ‘as I eat it now, so it will eat me in the future.’ Karmic retribution echoed by Jesus when he say boys set a snare for birds and commented that they will be caught in a similar snare in the future. Makes you wonder about people choking on fish bones!
You don’t have to eat the stuff to get karma. Those who rear, sell, buy, prepare or serve meat are said to suffer equally negative repercussions according to the Hindu texts. Pythagoras explains “he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.”
In today’s world blowing off someone’s head while wearing a designer suit is cool. Why isn’t compassion cool? Escalating violence in our hearts is bearing out in our actions creating an increasingly frightening environment of war, pestilence and homicide. As Indira Gandhi, late Indian Prime Minister said “everything is related. Whatever happens now to animals will eventually happen to man.”
Spiritual vegetarians aim to purify their hearts (of violence and cholesterol!), maintaining a loving bond with animals rather than exploiting them for selfish sense gratification. The highest religious truth is to cherish all life and emulate God’s all-encompassing love and compassion. This promotes global peace at all levels. Were the long and painful deaths of both Buddha and Mohammed from meat poisoning a lesson to teach us this? After all Jesus was born in an animal shelter, not an abbatoir.
Where do I get my Protein and Iron?
"There is absolutely no nutrient, no protein, no vitamin, no mineral that can’t be obtained from plant-based foods."
-Michael Klaper MD
The same place the powerful elephant, rhino, bullock or hippo get theirs...plant based foods. Its a fallacy that you have to eat meat to be strong and healthy. Plant protein is preferable to meat protein anyway because meat protein contains more acid forming sulphur amino acids which feed bacteria in the gut unlike plant based sulphur amino acids which are neutralised by the carbohydrates. Vegetable protein also reduces cholesterol by upto 20%. A Harvard study found that vegetarians were consuming twice the minimum daily protein requirement. Leading nutritionist Paavo Airola found in his numerous studies that protein was easily available to vegetarians.
Even the Encyclopaedia Britanica says “protein obtained from nuts, pulses, grains and dairy products is relatively pure as compared with beef which has 56% impure water content." Its easy to get Iron from plant foods and its assimilated easily with the extra vitamin C and without all the saturated fat, cholesterol and wastes that accompany meat.
Iron
M: 10 mg/day
F: 15 mg/day
Deficiency signs
Craving for ice, starch or clay, tiredness,dizziness, breathlessness, memory loss, confusion, poor concentration, disturbed menstruation, poor circulation, palpitations, headaches.
Absorption decreased by tannins, phytates, oxylates, increased by vitamin C, malic acid (pumpkin seeds), citiric acid.
Vegetarian source
Apricots, spirulina, Black strap molasses, wholemeal bread, spinach, millet, Pumpkin seeds
Protein
M: 55.2 g/day
F:45 g/day
Deficiency signs
Stunted growth, loss of hair and hair pigments, swollen joints, weakening and wasting of muscles, lack of energy and stamina, depression, weakness, poor immunity, impaired wound healing
Absorption decreased by saturated fats,cholesterol
Vegetarian source
Beans, urad dal, Grains, Nuts, Seeds.
THE WHO'S WHO OF VEGETARIANS
“It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.” - Albert Einstein
If animals could talk they would thank the following people who were vego at the time of editing this article:
Brigette Bardot, Drew Barrymore, Kim Bassinger, Julie Christie, Candice Bergen, Lisa Bonet, Des’ree Elvis Costello, David Duchovny, Jennie Garth, Richard Gere, Dustin Hoffman, Darryl Hannah, Woody Harrelson, Fran Healy, Mariel Hemmingway, Jon Anderson, Bob Dylan, Melissa Etheridge, Peter Gabriel, Joan Armatrading, Virginnia McKenna, Hayley Mills, Spike Milligan, Joan Baez, Alexandra Paul (Baywatch), Brad Pitt, Brooke Sheilds, Shirley Bassey, Judith Durham, Terence Stamp, Boy George, Kate Bush, Alicia Silverston, Lindsay Wagner, Liv Tyler, Belinda Carlisle, Bryan Adams, Damon Albarn (Blur), Rick Allen (Def Leppard), Henry David Thoreau, Charles Darwin, Thomas Eddison, Ralph Waldo, Emmerson, H.G.Wells, Sir Isaac Newton, Plato Ruth, Rendell Yasmin, Le Bon, George Bernard Shaw, Percy Shelly, Leonado da Vinci, Greg Chappel, Tolstoy, Mark Twain, Chrissie Hynde, Billie Jean King, Plutarch, Anthony Robbins, Martin and Gary Kemp, KD Lang, Dannii Minogue, Peter Brock, Annie Lennox, Yehudi Menuhin, Robert Smith, Ricki Lake, Morrissey, Olivia Newton John, Loiusa May, Alcoltt William, Blake Sinead O’Connor, Lenny Kravitz, Depeche Mode, The Beatles, Siouxsie Sioux, Meatloaf, Billy Idol, Jim Kerr, Martina Navratalova, Larry Mullen, Dave Scott (5 times winner iron man triathalon), Bill Pearl -body builder, Mr. America & Mr. Universe Katherine Monbiot (World champion arm wrestler)
In the words of Chrissie Hynde “In the future all intelligent people will be vegetarian, so why not take it up now?”
by Caroline Robertson
“Reducing meat consumption is probably the most potent single act individuals can take in the effort to halt the destruction of our environment and preserve our precious resources...it conserves water, saves energy, preserves topsoil, reduces our dependence on chemical pesticides and fertilizers and protects forests. All this while improving health.” - John Robbins, Diet for a New America.
Would you like cleaner air and water, more trees, a healthier body, an end to world hunger, an animal loving society and a thicker wallet? These are just some of the reasons why more people are embracing the vegetarian diet. No longer the domain of lentil loving hippies, vegetarianism is a viable option for anyone who understands the personal and planetary benefits of consciously choosing what goes in our mouths.
To Your Health!
"A shift to vegetarianism by the population generally would result in a significant reduction in degenerative diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disorder, inflammatory joint disease and possibly even some psychiatric and psychological disorders.This statement is based on current scientific evidence” -Dr Ian Brighthope, Physician and President of the Aust. College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine.
Why is the vegetarian diet becoming so trendy? Are we just rebelling against Granny’s warning- “you’ll get sick and die if you don’t eat your chops!” Or has medical science proven Granny wrong? Statistics show that vegetarianism is great medical insurance. Vegetarians have a markedly lowered incidence of arthritis, asthma, cancer, constipation, dementia diabetes mellitus, diverticulosis, food poisoning, gallstones, gout, hypertension, hypoglycaemia, impotence, inflammatory bowel disease, kidney disease, obesity, osteoporosis and peptic ulcers. Why is it so health promoting? Not only is a balanced vegetarian diet low in cholesterol, saturated fat and chemicals, it’s high fibre, vitamins, minerals and phytoestrogens offer protect from the most deadly diseases. Other fringe benefits include:
Longer life: Vegetarian people such as the Himalayan Hunzas and Seventh Day Adventists have a very high life expectancy. In contrast Eskimos who live primarily on meat and fish age rapidly with an average lifespan of about 30 years, same goes for the primarily meat eating Russian Kirgese who rarely survived beyond 40yrs. Energy edge. What? Aren’t vegetarians weak weaklings? Not according to Yale and Brussels University tests which show that vegetarians have double the endurance and recover three times faster from exercise than meat eaters.
Glowing skin The high fibre in a healthy vegetarian diet and the absence of heavy meat prevents constipation so toxins are easily flushed out. The extra vitamins, minerals, enzymes, chlorophyll plus other goodies in the healthy vegetarian diet promotes a soft, moisturised and rapidly repairing skin.
Easy weight management: Vegetarians are four times less likely to be obese than meat eaters. Loosing all that saturated fat intake makes weight control much easier.
Have a heart
It seems animals are getting their revenge according to Dr William Roberts, Chief Editor of the American Journal of Cardiology “When we kill animals to eat them, they end up killing us because their flesh, which contains cholesterol and saturated fat, was never intended for human consumption.” Do you have a family history of cancer or heart disease? It wouldn’t be surprising. These two diseases are nearly epidemic in countries with high meat consumption whereas incidence is much lower in countries with low meat intake. Heart disease is the number one killer in the US with 50% of Americans dying from it. But there’s good news for vegetarians as “90-97% of heart disease can be prevented by a vegetarian diet,” according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.
This is because a vegetarian diet is high in protective antioxidants, minerals and fibre to keep the heart pure. Meat on the other hand is high in saturated fats and oxidised cholesterol which clogs up the ateries promoting high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, atherosclerosis, stroke, angina and heart attacks. Even children fed the typical American diet have been found to have fatty deposits in their arteries. But chicken and fish is OK I hear you say. Not so. Most chicken has the same fat and cholesterol levels as lean beef. Many fish such as catfish, sword fish and trout are almost 1/3 fat. Salmon is 52% fat whereas shrimp has double the cholesterol of beef! Fish do have the beneficial fats such as omega 3 and 6 fatty acids but they also contain the artery-clogging saturated fats as well as some other nasty surprises...more of that later. Better to get your fatty acids from green vegies, beans and flax seed oil.
The BIG C...Cancer
Who doesn’t know someone whose life has been darkened by this disease? The specific cause of cancer has alluded us uptil now. But we’ve known the contributing factors for decades. Guess what food increases the risk of colon cancer by 250%? That’s right, meat. The British Medical Journal cites that vegies are 40% less likely to die from cancer and have an amazing 80% reduced risk of breast cancer. An Everest of clinical studies revised by the 1995 Government advisory comittee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy came to the irrefutable concensus that there is a strong link between meat consumption and cancer of the bowel, lung, breast, mouth, prostate and womb. Why is it so? Vegetarian diets are high in cancer inhibiting phytochemicals such as isoflavones and lycopene (in tomatoes). Vegetarian high fibre flushes waste from the intestines whereas meat tends to constipate and putrify in the gut. Kelloggs cornflakes mogul himself believed that 90% of all chronic ills lay in the sluggish bowels of a meat eater. In light of this startling evidence the 1997 World Cancer Research Fund stated that a vegetarian diet could prevent 100,000 cases of cancer annually in the UK. We’ll uncover the hidden carcinogenic agents in meat next.
Dead Meat
"Every juicy morsal of meat is fairly alive and swimming with the identicle micro-organisms found in a dead rat or the putrifying carcass of a cow".
-John Harvey Kellogg, founder Kelloggs.
Lets face it, most food today is a chemical time bomb. Nutrition and taste has taken a backseat to the agribusiness’ synthetic science of increased yield, attractiveness and profit. Of course there’s the organic meat industry which is relatively healthier but it still has certain dangerous contaminants.
Eating meat is particularly daring roulette as not only do you have to contend with the artificial chemicals, pollutants and drugs infecting it, there is the added bogeyman of communicable diseases such as Mad Cow disease, anthrax, salmonella, brucellosis and worms! Could this be why workers in the meat industry in the UK have five times the average employee illness?
From birth to execution a livestock animal is kept alive and fattened by a continuous administration of tranquillisers, hormones, antibiotics and up to 2,700 drugs. The hormones fed to chickens can make a seven-week old baby have the giant body of an adult. Often the chicks skeleton can’t support it’s massive body so they suffer joint pain, deformities and can’t walk. What does this do to us when we eat it? Artificial hormones present in nearly all meats are strongly linked to breast cancer, heavy periods, ovarian cysts and infertility. Guys aren’t safe either. It decreases sperm count and motility, the average hamster today has more morphologically normal sperm than the average man. Interesting to note that organic farmers have twice the normal sperm of other men. Even if they do have enough swimmers the saturated fats in meat can clog up the arteries in the penis so blood supply is blocked and erection is thwarted.
Don’t like taking antibiotics? Well you might think twice about you your next steak. Consumer affairs associations have proven that there are traces of antibiotics in beef, veal, pork and chicken. 33% of all antibiotics used in Canada are used for lives stock and Australia is likely to be similar. We all know that antibiotics can compromise our immune system leaving us more vulnerable to thrush and infections but did you realise that they create superbugs in our system resistant to treatment? An example of this is the recent resistance of salmonella typhimurium to commonly used antibiotics.
What does it tell us when 75% of US chicken inspectors refuse to eat chicken due to poor hygiene conditions? Chickens living in a cage of faeces for weeks often leads to salmonella which as Newsweek published is present in 23% of Austrailan chickens. Although there are 900,000 reported cases of salmonella in the US annually these are probably conservative estimates as salmonella symptoms are similar to the flu. I don’t want to make you chicken but the bacterial infection E.Coli’s not much better. 10,000 cases of it were reported in the US in ‘97 as well as 40,000 people being infected with it from an award winning Scottish butcher, 20 dying. If you’re a child, pregnant or elderly these infections can prove fatal. Who can forget the recent footage of mad cows frothing at the mouths, eyes rolling and bellowing in pain. Thousands of cows were slaughtered because they had a disease could have been prevented if they hadn’t been forced to eat infected offal and meat in the first place. No wonder the naturally vegetarian cows went looney. Mad Cow Disese (BSE) is not a pretty picture. What we didn’t see was what happens to the dozens of people who get it annualy. Eating infected beef or beef products such as gelatine, beef shortening can give you with the disease which presents in humans as CJD (Creutzfeld-Jacob disease.)
The results are like a horror movie. People’s brains are eaten away from the inside until a slow death ensues. Unfortunately cooking the beef doesn’t destroy the disease and it can incubate in our body for forty years until symptoms occur. The full extent of this disease will not be known for many years. Vegetarians needn’t worry as they have the luxury of eating a meal without worrying about what it died of.
The naturally occuring things in meat can also pose a serious health hazard. Make beef tea by boiling steak and you’ll find it has almost the same chemical composition as urine. That means lots of toxins including uric acid enhancing our chances for cancer, arthritis, kidney stones, gall stones and gout. An animal facing the trauma and terror of slaughter releases stress hormones such as adrenalin and noradrenalin. These put the body into a state of defensive alert: heart pounding, stomach churning and muscles contracting. These hormones are still present in the meat when we eat it, making us uptight, fearful and ready for a fight at the smallest incident. Maybe that road rage maniac had turkey for lunch.
Meat also contains arachidonic acid, uric acid and nitrates which promote arthritis, gout and period pain. But how does meat increase Osteoporosis? Excess animal protein (high in sulphur amino acids) and acid causes the blood to become acid which leaches calium from the bones. This is why high meat and milk intake countries have the highest rate of osteoporosis. Excess protein also causes kidney disease. Once animals are killed flesh naturally starts to rot and turn a greyish green. Preservatives and dyes added to the meat to keep it a “fresh” red colour are digestive irritants and may be carcinogenic (cancer causing). The way meat is cooked is also important. Eating 2 pounds of charcoal broiled steak you get as much carcinogenic benzopyrene as smoking 600 cigarettes! Heterocyclic amines, highest in chicken, are also particulartly carcinogenic. So now you know why vegetarians have a drastically decreased risk of the number two killer-cancer.
Something Smells Fishy
Have you been reeled in by the BIG fish story? The news is that fish is healthy food that is good for the heart and skin. Fish (in cold climates-not Australia) do have health promoting omega 3 fatty acids good for the skin and heart but so do other healthier foods. If you like a little saturated fats, cholesterol, mercury, lead, arsenic, petroleum, DDT, nitrogen, sewage, chlorine, phosphorus, PCBs, dioxin, salmonella, cholera, hepatitis, PAHs, radioactive waste and pesticides with your Omega 3’s then I suggest the fish. If on the other hand you prefer to side step the possibility of after-dinner brain damage, liver tumors, infertility, sterility, nervous system diseases, paralysis, kidney damage and even cancer I suggest you choose the flax seed oil, walnut oil, tofu, pumpkin seed oil and leafy green vegies which have the added advantage of antioxidants with the omega 3 and 6.
Do you know where your fish has been and what its been eating? You might loose your lunch if you knew. The rising pollution in the oceans is carried great distances and fish indiscriminately absorb it all. If the waters not safe to drink, the fish aren’t safe to eat. Fish can accumulate as much as 9 million times toxins as that of the water in which they live. Shellfish are particularly absorbant with so many people apparently allergic to them whereas its probably the toxins they have trouble with. As much as 10% of shellfish are infected with organisms that can cause hepatitis, salmonella, cholera and even death. The Simpsons three eyed fish isn’t that far fetched! Ailments of fish and ocean birds are indicating the extent of the crisis. Suffering from skeletal deformities, tumors, chromosomal damage, reproductive dysfunction and radioactive poisoning they’re drowning in a sea of toxins. Male fish are starting to show female characteristics -is that why female impersonators are so convincing these days!
Recently dioxin land contamination in Brazil polluted citrus pulp in Germany. What to speak of the radioactive fallout from places like Chernobyl. Increased algal blooms and red tides are evidence of the rising ocean pollution levels, even deep water fish are affected. If you’re pregnant you might like to take the advice of world health authorities who warn pregnant woman not to eat fish due to the risk of foetal brain damage, defects and developmental deviations, mostly due to the high mercury levels which also increase chance of miscarriage. Extensive studies in the Netherlands and the US support this caution. An increased demand for fish and modern trawling and vacuuming methods of fishing mean that there is a global crisis of overfishing. Over the last 10 years the marine catch has increased by four times and the most important commercial fish are in steep decline. Some species are so overfished they are becoming endangered, the Canadian Cod are a good example. There’s a lot of unnecessary waste and killing in commercial fishing resulting in one quarter of the fish caught being discarded. A third of the fish caught is made into meal for livestock.
Innocent bystanders are also victims with millions of dolphins dying in tuna nets, about 44,000 albatrosses killed annually in lines, birds swallowing bait and hooks plus millions of other marine mammals such as seals, sea turtles and even whales die horrible deaths. Maybe we’ll think twice before throwing a shrimp on the barbie knowing that for every one pound of shrimp sold twenty pounds of other sea creatures were caught. There’s always a tofu steak!
Although fish aren’t cuddly like puppies they still feel the same pain. They have taste buds on their tongue, lips and noses which give them acute pain perception. Their sensory hairs on their backs allow them to register the most subtle vibrations. Being hooked and thrown onto their back has gotta hurt. Maybe Pythagoras knew this. Sympathising with the flailing fish so much he would pay the fishermen the cost of their catch to throw the fish back to sea.
Fishing is dangerously depleting the marine ecosystem. Don’t take the “healthy choice” bait, you can let them off the hook. By keeping them off your plate and in the water you’ll be making a valuable contribution to preserving the ocean for future generations. Your body will thank you too.
VEGIEMAN to the rescue!
Imagine you’re sitting at the dinner table with an 8 ounce steak on your plate, sorrounded by 45-59 starving people with empty plates. If you were having a vegetarian meal everyone’s plate would be full. This is the reality of the situation as explained by Francis Moore Lappe in her book- Diet for a Small Planet. Harvard nutritionist Jean Mayer estimates that cutting down meat production by only 10% would release enough grain to feed 60 million people. While a child dies of starvation every 2.3 seconds 70% of US grain is fed to animals. With proper agricultural policies and less meat production global hunger could be a legacy of the past.
What’s the real price of meat? Every 1 pound of meat produced costs us 16 pounds of grain, 35 pounds of topsoil (1 inch of which takes 200 years to develop) and upto 6,000 pounds of water as opposed to the 60 pounds of water it takes to produce 1 pound of wheat. Concerned about the rainforest and deforestation? 40% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed along with innumerable irreplaceable plant and animal species in order to graze cattle. Worldwide 50% of the landmass is used to graze cattle whereas only 1 1/2% is used for plant food production. As far as the world’s pollution problem -70% of it is due to animal “production.” The late Homebush abbattoir was the single greatest polluter of Sydney’s coastal waters according to a NSW Government Newlsetter. Contaminated runoff and sewage from slaughterhouses and feedlots are the main producer of eco-killing blue-green algae.
Vegetarians are making a step towards preventing desertification of arable land, the destruction of rainforests and the wastage of global resources. This pro-active approach may be the only way to save our planet from the grave collision course its headed on.
Meals Without Squeals
“Never eat things with faces thank you,” Joanna Lumley.
The average Australian eats 17 cows, 92 sheep, 15 pigs, 1,200 chickens, 2,000 fish and 16,500 eggs in a lifetime. No wonder George Bernard Shaw described meat eaters as animal graveyards. Demand for meat is definately on the decline though including pork sales which hit an all time low during Babe’s box office success.
Who would like to torture, kill and slice up their pet? Then eat it! How about shooting Babe, Bambi, Lassi, Flipper or Black Beauty in the head. No takers? Its no wonder. Why does society's scope for compassion have such artificial boundaries? We love our pets, zoo animals and “favourite species” yet turn a blind eye to the millions of innocent animals massacred yearly. Why do we pamper one animal and cannablise the other as dinner? We feel for the victims of Haiti but remain silent at the violence going on at our local butcher. Maybe we don’t think that animals feel anything. Does a dolphin who carries her dead baby around with her for several days feel love and sorrow? How about the elk calf who gaurds the body of her murdered friend for two days, sniffing and nuzzling the dead calf’s face. The Prince of Wales Zoo witnessed a heartbreaking display of elephant mourning. Elephant Damini wept for 24 days, refusing food or drink in 44 degree heat whilst she lay with the body of her departed friend elephant Champakali who died in childbirth. She eventually died from grief. Its obvious to anyone that humans don’t have an exclusive right on emotions. Animals also have a limbic emotional area of their brain, they secrete similar hormones and neurotransmitters in response to situations, they have a developed nervous system and pain receptors just like humans. Do animals experience joy, love, fear, anger? Of course.
The only disadvantage animals have is that they can’t express their feelings using human language. Basic understanding of body language will tell you what they’re feeling though. Eyes widened and rolling back in the sockets, heart beating rapidly, hairs standing on end, mouth frothing, muscles trembling, teeth chattering, sphincters loosened, legs shaking as they run, dive, hide, scream or their shells slam shut. These are just some of the symptoms of fear- “the slaughterhouse dance,” as one abbattoir worker called it. Do they experience sorrow and loss? Baby elephants who witnessed their families being killed for tusks wake up screaming in the night. Cows bellow for days when separated from their calves. Animal mates waste away and die of sorrow when separated from their partner.
Humans have the capacity to exploit and abuse animals but we also have the skills to understand and appreciate them. Due to selfishness or moral cowardice we can abuse our power over animals. It takes courage and mercy to make a stance against the violation of animal rights as well as an acknowledgement of their own silent dignity. As author Alice Walker supported, “The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.” We can get so much more from animals by loving them than by eating them. And our Karmic Bank account will be much richer!
The entire life of a captive “food” animal is an unnatural torture of artificial breeding, vicious castration, hormone stimulation, isolation, an abnormally fattening and artificial diet and the long uncomfortable ride to the screaming finale. One out of ten will miss the closing scene as they die from stress or disease before their bloody end.
But animals are killed in a compassionate, humane way aren’t they? I’ll spare the gory details for those who don’t want nightmares . But if you ever visit your butcher again instead of pandering to his flirty small talk why don’t you ask him how his goods made the journey from baby calf to veal cutlet, frolicking piglet to pork crackling, cuddly lamb to roast or loving cow to fillet mignon. For the brave ones who are willing to witness hell on earth, take a stroll down to your local slaughterhouse. Problem is, unless you live in the country it’s probably days away. Best to keep all that screaming and blood away from people.
It might upset someone! If abbatoirs had glass walls and were closer to home more people would be vegetarian. Why do you think vegie Paul McCartney risks arrest by sneaking into slaughterhouses to take videos?- "its always been and always will be compassion for animals. ” We love him yeh yeh yeh!
Holy Cow!
“We now have scientific evidence that vegetarianism is good for the body. The greatest teachers have always known that it is good for the soul” -Rev Alvin Hart
Even though religion doesn’t play a major role in many people’s lives today our deep seated moral and ethical views are unconsciously influenced by religious conditioning. “Love they neighbour”, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," “Thou shalt not kill” are basic character yardsticks. We may profess to honor these yet fail to apply them to our meek and defenseless animal friends. Do we think that a merciful, compassionate God condones this mass torture and slaughter? Most of the world’s major religions and their earliest adherents strongly advocated vegetarianism. Generally, the older the religion the closer to vegetarianism. Islam, one of the worlds youngest religions, isn’t a strong supporter of vegetarianism but ancient Christian, Judaic, Buddhist and Hindu texts support it. Modern denominations such as Seventh Day Adventists, Mormons, Quakers, Sufis, Baha’i, Jainism also endorse vegetarianism.
Ancient scriptures embodying the message of major religions suggest that killing animals is absolutely sacrosanct and perpetrators will suffer for their actions. But many Christian texts seem to support meat eating...the modern translations that is. Unfortunately with human’s penchant for “Chinese whispers” and manipulation many scriptures have been conveniently mistranslated, watered down or even edited to attract converts and avoid loosing followers who might seek out an “easier” doctrine. There are 19 references to meat in the gospels but the original Judaic translations refer to food, not meat. Even Jesus’ fish were actually vegetarian fish plant rolls- a popular fast food in his time (makes better picnic food than spoiling fish). In Genesis 1:13 he did say "I’ve given every green herb for meat”. Emperor Constantine’s campaign in AD 325 was a classic example. He had all the negative references to meat eating or drinking cut out of the Christian scriptures in order to win a popularity contest. The losers, as always, were the animals.
It seems that people were so attached to the taste of meat that great religious leaders made concessions for them, with very strict conditions intact. Buddhists are only supposed to eat meat under three precepts but even then the Dalai Lama says he sees no reason why animals should be killed for food. Deliberately complicated killing regimes would at least reduce the number of animals slaughtered. Since both Jews and Muslims are banned from eating the blood of animals the complicated 14-step “koshering” process of meat preparation was devised. This process subjects animals to pain and terror that makes a POW camp look like Disneyland. And it goes on even as ISIAH 1:15 says “when you pray, I will not hear you for your hands are full of blood.” All the blood isn’t drained out of the meat anyway so they’re kidding themselves.
It would be much more consistent to give up meat eating completely as many sincere followers do. Is that such a big sacrifice? Hinduism makes no bones about the karmic repercussions of meat eating. The sanskrit word for meat ‘mamsa’ means ‘as I eat it now, so it will eat me in the future.’ Karmic retribution echoed by Jesus when he say boys set a snare for birds and commented that they will be caught in a similar snare in the future. Makes you wonder about people choking on fish bones!
You don’t have to eat the stuff to get karma. Those who rear, sell, buy, prepare or serve meat are said to suffer equally negative repercussions according to the Hindu texts. Pythagoras explains “he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love.”
In today’s world blowing off someone’s head while wearing a designer suit is cool. Why isn’t compassion cool? Escalating violence in our hearts is bearing out in our actions creating an increasingly frightening environment of war, pestilence and homicide. As Indira Gandhi, late Indian Prime Minister said “everything is related. Whatever happens now to animals will eventually happen to man.”
Spiritual vegetarians aim to purify their hearts (of violence and cholesterol!), maintaining a loving bond with animals rather than exploiting them for selfish sense gratification. The highest religious truth is to cherish all life and emulate God’s all-encompassing love and compassion. This promotes global peace at all levels. Were the long and painful deaths of both Buddha and Mohammed from meat poisoning a lesson to teach us this? After all Jesus was born in an animal shelter, not an abbatoir.
Where do I get my Protein and Iron?
"There is absolutely no nutrient, no protein, no vitamin, no mineral that can’t be obtained from plant-based foods."
-Michael Klaper MD
The same place the powerful elephant, rhino, bullock or hippo get theirs...plant based foods. Its a fallacy that you have to eat meat to be strong and healthy. Plant protein is preferable to meat protein anyway because meat protein contains more acid forming sulphur amino acids which feed bacteria in the gut unlike plant based sulphur amino acids which are neutralised by the carbohydrates. Vegetable protein also reduces cholesterol by upto 20%. A Harvard study found that vegetarians were consuming twice the minimum daily protein requirement. Leading nutritionist Paavo Airola found in his numerous studies that protein was easily available to vegetarians.
Even the Encyclopaedia Britanica says “protein obtained from nuts, pulses, grains and dairy products is relatively pure as compared with beef which has 56% impure water content." Its easy to get Iron from plant foods and its assimilated easily with the extra vitamin C and without all the saturated fat, cholesterol and wastes that accompany meat.
Iron
M: 10 mg/day
F: 15 mg/day
Deficiency signs
Craving for ice, starch or clay, tiredness,dizziness, breathlessness, memory loss, confusion, poor concentration, disturbed menstruation, poor circulation, palpitations, headaches.
Absorption decreased by tannins, phytates, oxylates, increased by vitamin C, malic acid (pumpkin seeds), citiric acid.
Vegetarian source
Apricots, spirulina, Black strap molasses, wholemeal bread, spinach, millet, Pumpkin seeds
Protein
M: 55.2 g/day
F:45 g/day
Deficiency signs
Stunted growth, loss of hair and hair pigments, swollen joints, weakening and wasting of muscles, lack of energy and stamina, depression, weakness, poor immunity, impaired wound healing
Absorption decreased by saturated fats,cholesterol
Vegetarian source
Beans, urad dal, Grains, Nuts, Seeds.
THE WHO'S WHO OF VEGETARIANS
“It is my view that the vegetarian manner of living, by its purely physical effect on the human temperament, would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind.” - Albert Einstein
If animals could talk they would thank the following people who were vego at the time of editing this article:
Brigette Bardot, Drew Barrymore, Kim Bassinger, Julie Christie, Candice Bergen, Lisa Bonet, Des’ree Elvis Costello, David Duchovny, Jennie Garth, Richard Gere, Dustin Hoffman, Darryl Hannah, Woody Harrelson, Fran Healy, Mariel Hemmingway, Jon Anderson, Bob Dylan, Melissa Etheridge, Peter Gabriel, Joan Armatrading, Virginnia McKenna, Hayley Mills, Spike Milligan, Joan Baez, Alexandra Paul (Baywatch), Brad Pitt, Brooke Sheilds, Shirley Bassey, Judith Durham, Terence Stamp, Boy George, Kate Bush, Alicia Silverston, Lindsay Wagner, Liv Tyler, Belinda Carlisle, Bryan Adams, Damon Albarn (Blur), Rick Allen (Def Leppard), Henry David Thoreau, Charles Darwin, Thomas Eddison, Ralph Waldo, Emmerson, H.G.Wells, Sir Isaac Newton, Plato Ruth, Rendell Yasmin, Le Bon, George Bernard Shaw, Percy Shelly, Leonado da Vinci, Greg Chappel, Tolstoy, Mark Twain, Chrissie Hynde, Billie Jean King, Plutarch, Anthony Robbins, Martin and Gary Kemp, KD Lang, Dannii Minogue, Peter Brock, Annie Lennox, Yehudi Menuhin, Robert Smith, Ricki Lake, Morrissey, Olivia Newton John, Loiusa May, Alcoltt William, Blake Sinead O’Connor, Lenny Kravitz, Depeche Mode, The Beatles, Siouxsie Sioux, Meatloaf, Billy Idol, Jim Kerr, Martina Navratalova, Larry Mullen, Dave Scott (5 times winner iron man triathalon), Bill Pearl -body builder, Mr. America & Mr. Universe Katherine Monbiot (World champion arm wrestler)
In the words of Chrissie Hynde “In the future all intelligent people will be vegetarian, so why not take it up now?”
MEAT EATING ANIMAL
___________________ Has claws No skin pores; perspire through tongue to cool body Sharp, pointed front teeth to tear flesh Small salivary glands in themouth (not needed to predigest grains and fruits.) Acid saliva; no enzyme, to predigest grains. No flat back molar teeth to grind food Very strong hydrochloric acid to digest tough animal muscles, bone etc. Intestinal tract only 3 times body length so rapidly decaying meat can pass out of body through body. Have enzymes uricase to breakdown uric acid Have the ability to excrete large amounts of cholesterol |
VEGETARIAN ANIMAL
___________________ No claws Perspire through millions of skin pores No sharp pointed front teeth Well-developed salivary glands needed to predigest grains and fruits. Alkaline saliva; much ptylin to predigest grains Flat back molar teeth to grind food. Stomach acid 10 times weaker than meat eaters. Intestinal tract 6 times body length; fruits do not decay as rapidly as meat quickly. Meat putrefies in intestine due to slow transit time not present Unable to excrete large amounts of cholesterol |
HUMAN BEING
___________________ No claws Perspire through millions of skin pores No sharp pointed front teeth Well-developed salivary glands needed to predigest grains and fruits. Alkaline saliva; much ptylin to predigest grains Flat back molar teeth to grind food. Stomach acid 10 times weaker than meat eaters. Intestinal tract 6 times body length; fruits do not decay as rapidly as meat through body. Meat putrefies in intestine due to slow transit time not present Unable to excrete large amounts of cholesterol |