Nutrition, Health & Necessity of Meat
Many times the mention of
vegetarianism elicits the predictable reaction, “What about protein?”
Nutrition Without Meat
The ideas that
meat has a monopoly on protein and that large amounts of protein are required
for energy and strength are both myths. Of the twenty-two amino acids, all but
eight can be synthesized by the body itself, and these eight “essential amino
acids” exist in abundance in non-flesh foods. Dairy products, grains, beans and
nuts are all concentrated sources of protein. Cheese, peanuts and lentils, for
instance, contain more protein per gram than hamburger, pork or porterhouse
steak.
The primary energy source
for the body is carbohydrates. Only as a last resort is the body’s protein
utilised for energy production. Too much protein intake actually reduces the
body’s energy capacity. In a series of comparative endurance tests conducted by
Dr. Irving Fisher of Yale, vegetarians performed twice as well as meat-eaters.
Numerous other studies have shown that a proper vegetarian diet provides more
nutritional energy than meat. A study by Dr I. Iotekyo and V. Kilpani at
Brussels’ University showed that vegetarians were able to perform physical
tasks two to three times longer than meat-eaters before exhaustion and were
recovered from fatigue in one fifth the time needed by the meat-eaters.
Health and Meat Eating
The human body cannot deal
with excessive animal fats in the diet. As early as 1961, the Journal of the
American Medical Association stated that ninety to ninety-seven percent of
heart disease, the cause of more than half of the deaths in the United States,
could be prevented by a vegetarian diet. Many studies have established the
relationship between colon cancer and meat eating. One reason for the incidence
of cancer Is the high-fat, low-fiber content of the meat-centered diet. The
result is a slow transit time through the colon, allowing toxic wastes to do
their damage. Meat, while being digested, is known to generate steroid
metabolites possessing carcinogenic properties.
Chemicals and Diseases in Meat
Numerous
potentially hazardous chemicals, of which consumers are generally unaware, are
present meat and meat products. In their book, “Poisons In Your Body”,Garry and
Steven Null give an inside look at the production techniques used by
corporately owned animal producers, “The animals are kept alive and fattened by
continuous administration of tranquillizers, hormones, antibiotics and 2,700
other drugs,” they write, “the process starts even before birth and continues
long after death. Although these drugs will still be present in the meat when
you eat it, the law does not require that they be listed on the package.”
Because of the filthy, overcrowded conditions forced upon animals by the
livestock industry, vast amounts of antibiotics must be used, but such rampant
use of antibiotics naturally creates antibiotic-resistant bacteria that
are passed on to those who eat the meat.
The US FDA estimates that
penicillin and tetracycline save the meat industry $1.9 billion a year giving
them sufficient reason to overlook the potential health hazards. In addition to
dangerous chemicals, meat often carries diseases from the animals themselves.
Crammed together in unclean conditions, force-fed and inhumanely treated,
animals destined for slaughter contract many more diseases than they ordinarily
would. Meat inspectors attempt to filter out unacceptable meats, but because of
pressures from industry and lack of sufficient time for examination, much of
what passes is far less wholesome than the meat purchaser realizes.
Cow Milk is the Nectar of Immortality
In modern civilisation milk is not thought of as being
important, therefore people are not living very long. Although in this age
anyone can live up to one hundred years, the duration of life is reduced
because people do not drink large quantities of milk. Instead of drinking milk,
they prefer to slaughter an animal and eat it’s flesh. The cow should be
protected, milk should be drawn from the cows, and this milk should be prepared
in various ways. One should take ample milk, and thus one can prolong one’s
life and develop the finer tissues of the brain
The Misery of Cow-Killing
Ample food grains can be produced through agricultural
enterprises, profuse milk, yogurt and ghee can be arranged through cow
protection and abundant honey can be obtained if the forests are protected.
Instead of a simple lifestyle modern civilisation is busy killing the cows that
are the source of yogurt, milk and ghee; they are cutting down all the
trees that supply honey and they are opening factories to manufacture nuts,
bolts, automobiles and wine instead of engaging in agriculture. This is creating
so many problems in the world. How can the people be happy? They must suffer
from all the misery of materialism.
“Their bodies become wrinkled and gradually deteriorate until
they become almost like dwarfs, and a bad odour emanates from them because of
unclean perspiration resulting from eating all kinds of nasty things. This is
not human civilisation.” Srimad Bhagavatam
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