We have
many people insisting to take only vegan diet and they distaste
non-vegan food giving various explanations. The reasons vary in their
point of issue from religion to health. I have been studying this
topic since a very long time and here I wish to put my findings on
both points, religion and health.
First we
shall see health point as I believe that is more important a point of
issue than religion however, some people consider religion point is
as important.
Amongst
Indians, Jains is a big group of people who insist for vegan food
exclusively as a part of their philosophy of non-violence. Therefore,
we shall see what happens to them due to this vegan food exclusively.
Next to them are Brahman people group, who are converted to vegan
diet after their mentor Adi Sankar was defeated by a Jain scholar
Mandan Misra (with help from his wife) from Gujarat. The terms of
condition were such that if Brahman win the argument Jains will forgo
Jainism and embraces Brahmanism (Sanatan Dharma) and if Brahman lose
to Jains they shall accept superiority of Jainism over Brahmanism and
abide by the conditions Jains put to them. Adi Sankar was defeated by
Mandan Misra's wife though Mandan Misra was earlier defeated by Adi
Sankar. Technically Adi was defeated and so he and his followers
accepted Jain superiority in part and for that his followers switched
over to veganism. Not all Brahman were his followers they continued
to take non-vegan food. Kashmiri Smarta Brahman, Bengali Kali
worshippers, Saraswat Brahman, Shenvi or Gaud Saraswat Brahman,
Devadnya Brahman are some to mention here are not followers of Adi
and so they are non-vegan until today.
Both
these groups are very honest in keeping their promise and so Brahmans
of Adi Sankar are practicing vegan diet since then. Interestingly, I
found that most Brahmans do not know why they are vegan. A study by
imminent doctors shows that pure vegan diet is not healthy diet, see
following findings.
Jain
people visit a pious place called Palitan situated in prabhas pattan
in Gujarat. Visiting that place is considered as a very pious act by
the Jains. Visiting that place involves climbing the hill seven to
eight times and for that they have to first climb and then alight,
continuing it in quick successions. It is observed that 30% pilgrims
those who do this pilgrimage of Palitan develop kidney failure. Lack
of animal protein in their diet is considered to be the reason for
it. Moreover, Jain people are not designed to do hard work, they are
generally occupying work that does not need hard work while this
pilgrimage involves hard work of climbing and that too in quick
successions. One renowned medial professional Dr. Umesh Khanna told
that in addition to regular exercise, if they take animal proteins in
their food it will be better; alas this advise is not acceptable to
Jains as they are madly fanatic about vegan food. It has been
observed that in this community complains of back pain at much
earlier age is common. Dry food, oily and food with much fat is very
common amongst these communities. This diet causes increase in
adiposity and that leads to complains of knee pain, back pains,
uneasiness and restlessness. In women of these vegan communities we
often see complain of anemic bones. Medical officers suggest them to
take (animal) protein diet but they instead of taking animal protein
prefer to take pulses and unduly extra intake of vegetable protein
cause further complications. This is because while our digestive
system is naturally designed to digest animal proteins (humans are
hunters and so naturally meat eaters) obesity becomes the end result.
Vegetable proteins while being digested some undue toxins are
produced as a bye product in our digestive system. They are duly
absorbed in blood and eventually they are removed in kidneys. Because
these toxins are not a part of our system removing them on regular
basis puts additional pressure on kidneys and quite often this causes
kidney failures. They become dysfunctional. Ultimately persons have
to take to dialysis. A very expensive treatment. Particularly soybean
proteins are very dangerous but somebody has popularized them as a
suitable alternative to animal proteins and so Jains as well as
Brahmans prefer that to animal protein as a suitable substitute for
animal proteins. Experts insist that if soybean is added it must be
predigested before used in cooking food preparations. However, we
experience that most time soybean seeds are not precooked at very
high temperatures before grinding. Unless it is done raw soybean is
consumed by cooking it without precooking and that makes it very
dangerous for those who consume it regularly. If we have to use
soybean we must make it a compulsory rule that only predigested seeds
are made available to consumers in the market. Today these seeds are
available in raw condition. If this care is taken soybean is good
alternative for animal proteins, they admitted.
Cholesterol
means blood fat. When we digest food digestive system converts some
carbohydrates and fats from food into human compatible fat. This fat
in very micro sized particle form floats in our blood and travels to
many parts of our body. So long as they are traveling properly every
thing is alright; but when blood veins become rough from inside these
fat particles get stuck up in that roughness and when that becomes a
common affair we say that we have cholesterol problem. Due to this
blood veins get clogged and ofter cause failure of blood supply to
many parts of our body. This causes many disorders in our body
culminating in some very serious illnesses. Dr.
Dwight Lundell has proved that cholesterol is more connected with
consumption of excessive sugar and starchy food and very little to do
with oil (any
Omega) consumption,
see my post on siliconindia blog of 10th July 2014 for
more details.
Vegetable
proteins cause formation of toxins (cytokinins, they are needed for
plants but bad for us) as mentioned earlier, these toxins along with
some other sugars (sucrose) cause this roughness. Too much sugar
inputs in our food is responsible for cholesterol. For sweet food we
should prefer fruit sugars to common sugar. Today people avoid oils
to save from cholesterol and continue food full of starch and sugar.
Amongst
Jains they have a delicacy prepared by adding pudina (mint), a spicy
leaf, to butter milk. They fondly call it Jain beer. Taking regularly
this butter milk is not good for health but Jains do not know it. For
healthy diet Jains prefer pulses of protein and carbohydrates or
starch food for supply of energy. Both of them in large quantity
cause development of many toxins because basically our digestive
system is not suitable for converting them to human compatible
proteins and energy. Small quantity of these vegetable products are
good but when we depend on them for all our need for protein and
energy they cause many disorders in our body, nevertheless, we do not
understand it so much so that we continue to take it inviting many
disorders. For example, we take wheat products regularly with no
concern for the bad effects of gluten in our intestines. If somebody
says, do not take bread, roti and such wheat products, nobody will
accept it but that is the need for good health. Our present diet is
not suitable for nature and so we have many health problems.
Nevertheless, Jains and Brahmans take a lot of milk and milk products
and we should understand that they are surviving because of this
non-vegan diet. If they do not consume milk and milk products their
health will deteriorate much faster. Some Jains have also begun to
eat eggs from poultry farms, that is a good sign and that will help
them keep better health. We see some Jains under pressure from their
munis try to practice veganism fanatically. That is not good for
them. We should understand that we cannot cross borders laid down by
Nature, we should follow it without making prestige issue of food
habits.
In non
vegan diet, we prefer animal proteins to supply our proteins and fats
to supply energy to our body. It is appreciated by all medical
professionals that a proper mix of both diets is the answer to our
food problem. Neither total non vegan or vegan food is suitable for
humans. Unfortunately, we have a habit of making prestige issues of
food and so we shall never be able to understand that both types of
food is best suitable for good health. By god, we are designed to
take both vegan as well as non vegan food in proper balance to keep
ourself in good health. Exclusively vegan or exclusively or in excess
non vegan food are not recommended by experts of this subject.
I feel we
should not bring any religion in this, as religions were told by
ignorant of health science but smart people many thousand years ago;
and their Inapt imaginations about food we should not allow to over
ride modern knowledge. We should take a note that Ayurveda does not
recommend vegan diet. We must appreciate that at present we are more
knowledgeable than all the prophets put together. We by now know that
those prophets were ordinary people with smartness with which they
created these religions. Concept of God has nothing to do with our
food. If we see Hindu religion, all male gods were hunters and they
are shown with arms of killing to do hunting that means, they are
shown to be non vegan. As for Jainism they do not have any god though
they pray before their Tirthankars as if they are gods! Sociologists
have admitted that the massage of vegan diet was propagated because
during the time of these Tirthankars much killing of animals was
happening on the alter of yajnas by Brahman. Who were beef eaters in
those Vedic period. To stop this over killing of animals they
proposed vegan diet and so non veganism became taboo for good.
There are
other things to be considered from Tantrik techniques of Shakta Hindu
system. It may not be accepted by some however, it is one way of
looking to food habits. In Tantra branch of Shakta practice to which
I belong, vegan diet makes one spiritually weak so much so that bad
spirits can take over one. That means, vegan diet makes one easy to
beat by evil spirits and so evil spirits encourage vegan diet in
humans so that they can control humans. In other religions evil
spirits are called Satan or Devil. That means, eating exclusively
vegan diet is not good for keeping bad spirits away. May be that is
why all Hindu Gods are non vegan! There are many ways to justify
vegan diet through the philosophy of non-violence (Ahinsa) but they
are not correct as we cannot kill anybody as it is given in Gita by
Krishna. It is not killing that matters, what matters is pain that
precedes death. If there is no pain before death there is nothing
wrong in death. A painless death to killed animal is the answer to
this problem. Devil or Satan is not interested in painless kill, evil
spirits need painful death but when that is not allowed to happen
Devil or Satan is not satisfied. Killing animals for food is allowed
in Aurveda also. Killing for pleasure or for nothing at all (just for
fun) are considered evil but killing for food is allowed. Painless
killing for food without cruelty is recommended. Modern technology
provides for all the suitable means to afford a painless kill to
animals.
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Email ID given below,
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Kothare
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reckon
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