An article on 'Why people have to be a vegetarian'

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Compiled by Supreme Master Ching Hai Meditation Association.

 

Health and Nutrition

 

Studies of human evolution have shown that our ancestors were

vegetarian by nature. The structure of the human body is not suited

for eating meat. This was demonstrated in an essay on comparative

anatomy by Dr. G. S. Huntingen of Columbia University. He pointed out

that carnivores have short small and large intestines. Their large

intestine is characteristically very straight and smooth. In

contrast, vegetarian animals have both a long small intestine and a

long large intestine. Because of the low fiber content and high

protein density of meat, the intestines do not require a long time to

absorb nutrients; thus, the intestines of carnivores are shorter in

length than those of vegetarian animals.

Humans, like other naturally vegetarian animals, have both a long

small and large intestine. Together, our intestines are approximately

twenty-eight feet (eight and a half meters) in length. The small

intestine is folded back on itself many times, and its walls are

convoluted, not smooth. Because they are longer than those found in

carnivores, the meat we eat stays in our intestines for a longer

period of time. Consequently, the meat can putrefy and create toxins.

These toxins have been implicated as a cause of colon cancer, and

they also increase the burden on the liver, which has the function of

getting rid of toxins. This can cause cirrhosis and even cancer of

the liver.

 

Meat contains a lot of urokinase protein and urea, which add to the

burden on the kidneys, and can destroy kidney function. There are

fourteen grams of urokinase protein in every pound of steak. If

living cells are put into liquid urokinase protein, their metabolic

function will degenerate. Furthermore, meat lacks cellulose or fiber,

and lack of fiber can easily create constipation. It is known that

constipation can cause rectal cancer or piles.

The cholesterol and saturated fats in flesh also create

cardiovascular disorders. Cardiovascular disorders are the number one

leading cause of death in the United States, and now in Formosa.

 

Cancer is the second leading cause of death. Experiments indicate

that the burning and roasting of flesh creates a chemical element

(Methylcholanthrene) which is a powerful carcinogen. Mice given this

chemical develop cancers, such as bone tumors, cancer of the blood,

cancer of the stomach, etc.

 

Research has shown that infant mice fed by a female mouse having

breast cancer will also develop cancer. When human cancer cells were

injected into animals, the animals also developed cancer. If the meat

which we eat daily comes from animals that originally have such

disorders, and we take them into our body, there is a good chance we

will also get the diseases.

 

Most people assume that meat is clean and safe, that there are

inspections done at all butcheries. There are far too many cattle,

pigs, poultry, etc. killed for sale every day for each one to

actually be examined. It's very difficult to check whether a piece of

meat has cancer in it, let alone check every single animal.

Currently, the meat industry just cuts off the head when it has a

problem, or cuts off the leg which is diseased. Only the bad parts

are removed and the rest is sold.

 

The famous vegetarian, Dr. J. H. Kellogg said, " When we eat

vegetarian food, we don't have to worry about what kind of disease

the food died of. This makes a joyful meal! "

There is yet another concern. Antibiotics as well as other drugs

including steroids and growth hormones are either added to animal

feed or injected directly into the animals. It has been reported that

people eating these animals will absorb these drugs into their

bodies. There is a possibility that antibiotics in meat are

diminishing the effectiveness of antibiotics for human use.

 

There are some people who consider the vegetarian diet not

sufficiently nourishing. An American surgical expert, Dr. Miller,

practiced medicine for forty years in Formosa. He established a

hospital there, where all the meals were vegetarian, for staff

members as well as the patients. He said, " The mouse is one kind of

animal which can support its life with both a vegetarian and non-

vegetarian diet. If two mice are segregated, with one eating flesh

and the other vegetarian food, we find that their growth and

development are the same, but that the vegetarian mouse lives longer

and has greater resistance to disease. Furthermore, when the two mice

got sick, the vegetarian mouse recovered quicker. " He then

added, " The medicine given to us by modern science has improved

greatly, but it can only treat illnesses. Food, however, can sustain

our health. " He pointed out that, " Food from plants is a more direct

source of nutrition than meat. People eat animals, but the source of

nutrition for the animals we eat is plants. The lives of most animals

are short, and animals have nearly all the diseases that mankind has.

It is very likely that the diseases of mankind come from eating the

flesh of diseased animals. So, why don't people get their nutrition

directly from plants? " Dr. Miller suggested that we only need

cereals, beans and vegetables to get all the nourishment we need to

maintain good health.

 

Many people have the idea that animal protein is 'superior' to plant

protein because the former is considered a complete protein, and the

latter is incomplete. The truth is that some plant proteins are

complete, and that food combining can create complete proteins out of

several incomplete protein foods.

 

In March 1988 the American Dietetic Association announced that: " It

is the position of the ADA that vegetarian diets are healthful and

nutritionally adequate when appropriately planned. "

 

It is often falsely believed that meat eaters are stronger than

vegetarians, but an experiment conducted by Professor Irving Fisher

of Yale University on 32 vegetarians and 15 meat-eaters showed that

vegetarians had more endurance than meat eaters. He had people hold

out their arms for as long as possible. The outcome from the test was

very clear. Among the 15 meat-eaters, only two persons could hold out

their arms for fifteen to thirty minutes; however, among the 32

vegetarians, 22 persons held out their arms for fifteen to thirty

minutes, 15 persons for over thirty minutes, 9 persons for over one

hour, 4 persons for over two hours, and one vegetarian held his arms

out for over three hours.

Many long distance track athletes keep a vegetarian diet for the time

preceding competitions. Dr. Barbara More, an expert in vegetarian

therapy, completed a one hundred and ten mile race in twenty-seven

hours and thirty minutes. A woman of fifty-six years of age, she

broke all the records held by young men. " I want to be an example to

show that people who take a whole vegetarian diet will enjoy a strong

body, a clear mind, and a purified life. "

 

Does the vegetarian get enough protein in his diet? The World Health

Organization recommends that 4.5% of daily calories be derived from

protein. Wheat has 17% of it's calories as protein, broccoli has 45%

and rice has 8%. It is very easy to have a protein rich diet without

eating meat. With the additional benefit of avoiding the many

diseases caused by high fat diets such as heart disease and many

cancers, vegetarianism is clearly the superior choice.

 

The relationship between over consumption of meat, and other animal

source foods containing high levels of saturated fats, and heart

disease, breast cancer, colon cancer and strokes has been proven.

Other diseases which are often prevented and sometimes cured by a low

fat vegetarian diet include: kidney stones, prostate cancer,

diabetes, peptic ulcers, gallstones, irritable bowel syndrome,

arthritis, gum disease, acne, pancreatic cancer, stomach cancer,

hypoglycemia, constipation, diverticulosis, hypertension,

osteoporosis, ovarian cancer, hemorrhoids, obesity, and asthma.

 

There is no greater personal health risk than eating meat, aside from

smoking.

 

Ecology and the Environment

 

Raising animals for meat has its consequences. It leads to rain

forest destruction, global heatrising, water pollution, water

scarcity, desertification, misuse of energy resources, and world

hunger. The use of land, water, energy, and human effort to produce

meat is not an efficient way to use the earth's resources.

Since 1960, some 25% of Central America's rain forests have been

burned and cleared to create pasture for beef cattle. It has been

estimated that every four ounce hamburger made from rain forest beef

destroys 55 square feet of tropical rain forest. In addition, raising

cattle contributes significantly to the production of three gases

which cause global warming, is a leading cause of water pollution,

and requires a staggering 2464 gallons of water for the production of

each pound of beef. It only takes 29 gallons of water to produce a

pound of tomatoes, and 139 gallons to produce a one pound loaf of

whole wheat bread. Nearly half of the water consumed in the United

States goes to the growing of feed for cattle and other livestock.

 

Many more people could be fed if the resources used to raise cattle

were used to produce grain to feed the world's population. An acre of

land growing oats produces 8 times the protein and 25 times the

calories, if the oats are fed to humans rather than to cattle. An

acre of land used for broccoli produces 10 times the protein,

calories and niacin as an acre of land producing beef. Statistics

like these are numerous. The world's resources would be more

efficiently utilized if the land used for livestock production was

converted to raising crops to feed people.

 

Eating a vegetarian diet allows you to " tread more lightly on the

planet. " In addition to taking only what you need and reducing

excess, it will feel better when you know that a living being doesn't

have to die each time you eat a meal.

 

World Hunger

 

Nearly one billion people suffer from hunger and malnutrition on this

planet. Over 40 million die each year of starvation, and most of them

are children. Despite this, more than one third of the world's grain

harvest is diverted from feeding people to feeding livestock. In the

United States, livestock consume 70% of all the grain produced. If we

fed people instead of livestock, no one would go hungry.

 

Animal Suffering

 

Are you aware of the fact that more than 100,000 cows are slaughtered

every day in the United States?

Most animals in Western countries are raised on " factory farms. "

These facilities are designed to produce the maximum number of

animals for slaughter at the minimum expense. Animals are crowded

together, disfigured and treated like machines for the conversion of

feed into flesh. This is a reality that most of us will never see

with our own eyes. It has been said that, " One visit to a

slaughterhouse will make you a vegetarian for life. "

 

Leo Tolstoy said, " As long as there are slaughterhouses there will be

battlefields. A vegetarian diet is the acid test of humanitarianism. "

Although most of us do not actively condone killing, we have

developed the habit, supported by society, of eating meat regularly,

without any real awareness of what is being done to the animals we

eat.

 

More info on Vegeterian could be found in the following website:

http://godsdirectcontact.com/vegetarian/