The Vegetarian Alternative

anonymous

The first thing many people ask when they hear about the vegetarian diet is, "What's

wrong with eating meat? Millions of people do it, why should I stop?" Throughout history there have been many individuals and groups of.people who have realized the importance oaf a vegetarian diet. For health, mental clarity, and spiritual upliftment; they have remained vegetarians. Today there exists even more important reasons why it is preferable not to eat meat. Due to our human physiology, health reasons, and world starvation it is far wiser and ethical to eat a vegetarian diet.

Most people believe it is natural for human beings to eat meat. NO! The diet of any animal corresponds to its physiological structure. Human physiology, bodily functions, and digestive systems are completely different from those of carnivorous animals. In order to understand why meat is so harmful to humans we must first have an understanding of the various physiological differences that exist in the animal kingdom. Animals can be divided into three dietary groups: meat eaters, grass-and-leaf eaters, and fruit eaters.

Carnivorous animals, including lions, dogs, wolves, cats, etc., have many unique characteristics which set them apart from other members of the animal kingdom. They all possess a very short and simple digestive system- only three times the length of their bodies. This is because flesh decays very rapidly, and the products of this decay quickly poison the bloodstream if they remain too long in the body. So a short digestive tract was evolved for rapid expulsion of bacteria from decomposing flesh. In addition, the stomach of a meat eating animal produces ten times as much hydrochloric acid as a non carnivorous animal (this helps to digest fibrous tissue and bones). Meat eating animals that hunt in the cool of the night and sleep during the day when it is hot do not need sweat glands to cool their bodies, and do not perspire through the skin, but rather sweat through the tongue. The most significant difference between the natura meat eaters and other animals is their teeth. Along with sharp claws, all meat eaters possess powerful jaws and pointed, elongated, "canine" teeth to pierce tough hide and to spear and tea flesh. They do not have molars ( flat back teeth) which vegetarian animals need for grinding their food. Unlike grains, flesh does not need to be chewed in the mouth to predigest it; it is digested mostly in the stomach and the intestines (Farley 31). A cat, for example, can hardly chew at all.

Grass and leaf eating animals (elephant, cow, sheep, llama, etc..) live on a diet of grass, herbs, and other plants, much of which is coarse and bulky. The digestion of this type of food starts in the mouth with the enzyme ptyalin in the saliva. These foods must be chewed well and thoroughly mixed with ptyalin in order to be broken down. For this reason , grass and leaf eaters have 24 special molar teeth and a slight side to side motion to chew their food, as opposed to the exclusively up and down motion of carnivores. They have no claws or sharp teeth; they drink by sucking water up into their mouths as opposed to lapping it up with their tongue like the meat eaters. Since they do eat rapidly decaying foods, and since their food can take a longer time to pass through their bodies, they have much longer digestive systems- intestines which are ten times the length of their body (Farley 37).

It is interesting to point out that meat has an extremely harmfUl effect on these grass and leaf eaters. " Meat eating animals have an almost unlimited capacity to handle saturated fats and cholesterol. But if a half a pound of fat is added daily over a long period of time to a rabbit' s diet, after two months its blood vessels become caked with fat and the serious disease atherosclerosis develops" (Hill 97). Human digestive systems, like the rabbit's, are also not designed to digest meat, and they become diseased the more it is eaten.

Fruit eaters include mainly the anthropoid apes, humanity's immediate animal kin. The

diet of these apes consists mostly of fruits and nuts. Their skin has millions of pores for sweating,

and they also have molars to grind and chew their food. Their saliva is alkaline, and like the grass

and leaf eaters, it contains ptyalin for predigestion. Their intestines are twelve times the length of

their body for the slow digestion of fruits and vegetables. The composition of the mother's milk

of anthropoid apes is almost identical to human mother's milk (Farley 42).

Human physiological structure is in every way like the fruit eaters, similar to the grass

eaters, and very unlike the meat eaters. The human digestive system, tooth and jaw structure, and

bodily fUnctions are completely different from the carnivorous animals. As in the case of the

anthropoid ape, the human digestive system is twelve times the length of our body; our skin has millions of tiny pores to evaporate water and cool the body by sweating; we drink water by suction like all other vegetarian animals; our tooth and jaw structure; and our saliva is alkaline and contains ptyalin for predigestion of grain (Farley 47). Human beings clearly are not carnivores by physiology, our anatomy and digestive system show this. However, the effects of eating meat will affect health and physical stamina as well.

"Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds them. ~e live by the death of others.

We are burial places! I have sense an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come

when people will look upon the murder of animals as they now look upon the murder of human

beings. "

-Leonardo da Vinci

Meat is not the natural or the most healthy diet for human beings. We can survive on it, of

course, but it prematurely wears out the human body and creates many diseases. Humans have a good capacity to handle saturated fats and cholesterol However, when animal fat is added to our diet our blood vessels become caked with fat and a serious disease called atherosclerosis develops Throughout history it has been proven that vegetarians are far healthier and physically fit than meat eaters. During the economic crisis of war, when people were forced to live on vegetarian diets, their health dramatically improved. In Denmark during World War I, there was a danger of an acute food shortage due to British blockade. The Danish government appointed the director of the national vegetarian society to direct the rationing program For the duration of the blockade the Danes were forced to live on meatless diets. In the first years of rationing, the overall mortality rate fell seventeen percent. When the people of Norway became vegetarians due to the food storage of World War 1, there was an immediate drop in the death rate from

circulatory diseases When the people of both Norway and Denmark returned to a meat diet after the war, their death rate promptly rose to pre-war levels (Sheth 81).

Another finding that supports the health benefits of a vegetarian diet would be the Hunzas, a tribe in north India and Pakistan. They have become internationally known for their freedom from disease and long life. Curious scientists from many lands have come to their villages to discover the secret of a culture where disease is almost unknown and natives often reach ages of one hundred and fifteen or more. Their diet consists mainly of whole grains, fresh fruits,

vegetables, and goats milk. Sir Rob McGarrison, a British general and doctor who worked with the Hunzas, wrote "I never saw a case of appendicitis, colitis, or cancer" (Dombrowski 41).

This evidence was seen again when a group ofHarvard doctors and research scientists went to a remote village of four hundred people in the mountains of Ecuador. They were amazec to find that many ofthe native people lived to extraordinarily old ages. One man was one hundred and twenty-one years old, and several were over one hundred. Those over the age of seventy-five were examined, and only two showed any evidence of heart disease! The villagers were all vegetarians. The doctors called these findings "extraordinary" and said that "such examinations of a similar population in the United States would show ninety-five percent with heart disease" (Tucker 76). These findings would definitely indicate that a meatless diet could possibly help people live longer lives. However, the benefits do not stop here. Most people would be amazed to discover how many world famous athletes are vegetarians.

One ofthe greatest misconceptions about the vegetarian diet is that it will produce a pale weak, sickly person. Nothing could be fUrther from the tnrth. Many studies, in fact, have shown vegetarians to be stronger, more agile, and to have more endurance than meat eaters.

Dr. H. Schouteden at the University ofBelgium conducted a test to compare endurance, strength, and rate of recovery from fatigue in vegetarians and meat eaters. His findings indicated that vegetarians were substantially superior in all three characteristics. In endurance tests conducted at Yale university by Dr. Irving Fisher, on Yale athletes, instructors, doctors and nurses, it was found that vegetarians had over twice the stamina ofmeat eaters. A study at Brussels University by Dr. J. Ioteyko and V. Kipani found that vegetarians were able to perform endurance tests two to three times longer than meat eaters before complete exhaustion. They took only one fifth the time oftheir meat eating counterparts to recover From fatigue after each test (Jones 16). These striking results show that the vegetarian diet is superior for physical strength, endurance, and efficiency.

It is also interesting to note how many great athletes who have set world records have been vegetarians. The Vegetarian cycling club in England has held over forty percent of the national cycling records, and all over Europe the vegetarian cyclists have consistently made up a higher percentage ofwinners than the meat eating cyclists. The great vegetarian swimmer, Murray Rose, was the youngest triple gold meddle winner in the Olympic games. He has been

hailed as one of the greatest swimmers of all time and has broken many records. A British vegetarian swam across the English channel faster than anyone in history- in six hours and twenty minutes.

Many other internationally famous athletes, past and present changed to a vegetarian diet and found their performance improved. For example, the Austrian weight lifter, A. Anderson, who broke many world records, and Johny Weismuller, who made fifty-six world swimming records. They report no decrease in strength with the change in diet. In fact, their ability seems to increase. Bill Walton, an all star basketball player, was famous for his dynamic hard driving performance. His personal experience has so convinced him of the benefits of a vegetarian diet that he has repeatedly advocated this regimen for others.

All over the world, vegetarian have set many records-in wrestling, boxing, walking, football, cross-country running, etc.. Vegetarian athletes actually have more endurance and energy because their bodies do not have to waste tremendous amounts of energy trying to counteract the poisons in meat (Hurwitz 62).

Apart from the health repercussions, meat is the most inefficient and uneconomical food we can eat. Most people do not understand the connection between our meat eating habits and world starvation. Learning the real facts behind the food shortage is fUndamental to an understanding of how we can properly utilize world resources. The cost of one pound of consumable meat protein is twenty times higher than one pound of equally nutritional plant protein. Only ten percent ofthe protein and calories we feed to our livestock is recovered in the meat that we eat; that is, ninety percent goes down the drain. Vast acres ofland are used to raise livestock for food. These acres ofland could be used far more productively ifplanted with grains, beans, and other legumes for humans to eat directly. For example, one acre used to raise a steer will provide only about one pound ofprotein in the form ofconsumable beef, but this same land planted with soy beans will produce seventeen pounds ofprotein. In other words, to eat meat, we need to use seventeen times as much land as the amount needed to plant soy beans. In addition, soy beans are more nutritious, contain less fat, and are free from the poisons ofmeat.

Raising animals for food is a tremendous waste of the world's resources not only of land, but also ofwater. It is estimated that raising food for a meat diet uses eight times as much water as growing vegetables and grain. This means that while millions ofpeople all over the world are starving, vast amounts ofland, water, and grain are wasted to feed us the meat which is slowly destroying our bodies. Including grain fed to meat producing livestock, Americans consume over a ton ofgrain per person per year. The rest ofthe world averages about four hundred pounds of grain per person (Fuerbringer C6). The primary solution to the global food crisis is to gradually convert from a meat eating diet to a vegetarian diet. Because futurists are saying that the bulk of future foods needs will be met by plant proteins, several western countries are currently financing much research to develop delicious vegetable based proteins made from soy flour. But the people of Asia, among others, are advanced of this high level of research; they have been obtaining excellent protein by eating tofU and other soy products for thousands ofyears. Mahatma Gandi

summed up this philosophy well when he said:

"The earth has enoughfor eve7yone 's need, but not enoughfor everyone 's greed"

-Mahatma Gandi

Despite the numerous reasons to give up meat the process of change is never easy. A common problem many people encounter when attempting a vegetarian diet is that they really like the taste of meat. When I was first trying to give up meat I often thought of an ancient principle ofyoga that suggests the best way to change a deeply embedded habit is not to "pull it out by the roots", but rather to plant, nurture and cultivate an opposing habit next to the old one-and to give the new habit a lot of care, love and attention. Very soon this new habit will grow strong and beautifUl. Changing fiom a carnivorous diet to a diet ofliving, fresh, nutritious foods is much easier than it might initially seem. Learning vegetarian cooking is probably far easier than imagined. Many beginners report enjoying cooking for the first time in their lives. There are literally thousands of highly nutritious, tasty dishes non-vegetarians have never had the opportunity to sample due to habit, conditioning, and lack ofinformation. Most people are astonished to discover so many high protein dishes made from ingredients they are totally unfamiliar with. Such as, brown rice, millet, buckwheat, bean, lentils, and tofU, to name a few.

If all else fails in efforts to become a vegetarian, take an afternoon off and visit a slaughterhouse, this may be all ofthe encouragement that may need. Any difficulty experienced in making the transition in the beginning is not nearly as much as in quitting smoking, for instance. Most people find the immediate rewards (higher energy level, cleaner digestive system, increased mental clarity) so gratifling that the process of change becomes an exhilarating experience.

Due to our human physiology, health reasons, and world starvation it is far wiser and ethical to eat a vegetarian diet. This is the trend of the future- the diet we humans must adopt if we are to save our natural resources and, even more important, the precious lives ofpeople all over the world. Eating a vegetarian diet, the natural diet for human beings, does the least harm to living creatures on our earth, and it helps us become more and more aware of the unity of life. Our bodies are intricate and beautifUl creations which are to serve us a lifetime. It therefore stands to reason that they should be given the food which they were built to consume- a natural diet of fruits, grains, nuts, vegetables, and dairy products. The man who brought us the theory of relativity said it well:

"lt is my view that the vegetarian manner ofliving, by itspurelyphysical effect on the human

temperament, would most beneficially inJluence the lot ofmankind. "

-Albert Einstein.

Works Cited

Dombrowski, Daniel. The PhilosoDhv of\ieaetarianism. New Haven: Yale UP, 1984.

Farley, Dixxie. Ve~etarian Diets: The Pluses and the Pitfalls. Rockville, MD: Dept. OfHealth

and Human Services, Public Health Service, Food and Drug Administration, 1994.

Fuerbringer, Jonathan. "Health Cost ofMeat Diet is Billions." New York Times 21 Nov. 1995,

late ed.. C6.

Hill, John L. The Case For Vegetarianism. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers,

Hunvitz, Johanna. Vegetarianism. A Way oflife. Flagstaff: Northland, 1988.

Janes, Gerald E. Victory Throu8h Vegetables. Carbondale: Souther Illinois UP, 1990

Sheth, Tarang. Why Be a Vegetarian? Remont, CA: Jain Pub. Co., 1995.

Tucker, Cynthia. "Becoming a Vegetarian: The Risks and The Benefits." RN. Mar. 1991: 73-