The Waiting Room
Vegetarianism
Philosophies of eating
Julie Chaplin CHHP
What do Paul McCartney, Carrie Underwood, Pamela Anderson and the Dalai Lama have in common with deer, horses, and elephants? Before you start getting too creative, the answer is that they’re all vegetarian. In fact, millions of Hindus, Buddhists & Taoists have been eating a vegetarian diet for over 2500 years.
There are many different types of vegetarians:
Vegans eat no animal or animal-derived products of any kind. Some adhere to a raw vegan or raw food diet, eating unprocessed vegan foods that have not been heated above 46ºC (115ºF) to avoid nutritional loss.
Lacto-ovo-vegetarians do not eat animal flesh including fish, poultry or shellfish, but eat eggs and dairy products.
Pescatarians abstain from eating all meat except fish.
Macrobiotic is a vegan diet with occasional fish. Sugar and refined oils are avoided. Emphasis is on Asian vegetables and sea vegetables.
Flexitarian/Semi-vegetarians eat a mostly vegetarian diet, but occasionally eat meat.
The most common question asked about being a vegetarian is “How do you get enough protein?” Some people are surprised to hear there are many other forms of protein than from animal sources, including whole grains (quinoa, kamut, spelt, amaranth, brown rice, oats); legumes (beans, lentils and peas); micro-algae (spirulina, chlorella and wild blue-green algae); nuts, seeds and nut butters; tofu and simulated meat products (veggie burgers, veggie dogs, etc).
Although some question whether a meat-free diet can provide enough vitamin B12, there are numerous other sources. These include fermented foods (yogurt, kefir, tempeh, miso, soy sauce, pickles, unpasteurized sauerkraut, amasake, sourdough); micro- and macro-algae (spirulina, chlorella, wild blue-green algae, nori, wakame, and kombu seaweeds); nutritional yeasts, bee pollen, royal jelly and sprouts.
Why eat vegetarian?
Only a certain portion of meat is actually digestible in the human body. Eating too much meat results in heavy mucus conditions that make one sluggish and attracted to stimulants such as coffee, refined sugar, and alcohol. When animal protein is eaten in excess (the average Western diet contains more than 50 percent animal products, over 60 percent in the States), the result is an overload of uric acid which can lead to acidic blood, calcium deficiency, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and compromised mental health.
Then there are the moral issues around eating animals. The view that Paul Pitchford takes focuses on the fact that animals carry their own consciousness, strengths and weaknesses—as do humans—and when we eat animals, we assimilate these traits.
“Most people’s protein requirements are satisfied by a simple vegetarian diet based on whole grains,” he says. Exceptions include: pregnant and lactating women; very young children; hypoglycemics; people experiencing stress, anxiety, grief, infections or surgery; recovering alcoholics; recent vegetarians, and those with protein deficiencies. These people will generally benefit from higher-profile vegetable proteins. To obtain vegetable protein resembling that of meat, you can choose a grain and a legume (bean, lentil, or pea) in a two-to-one ratio. The amino-acid spectrum is increased when nuts and seeds are eaten with grains. Note that these foods can be eaten at different times of the day to still receive the benefits.
Here are some tips to help ease your transition into a vegetarian diet:
Be creative: experiment with ingredients and recipes for meal ideas;
Avoid consuming too much non-animal protein to avoid digestive upset;
Avoid saturating vegetarian meals with salty and oily foods;
Take your time. This is a process and a gradual approach will help curb meat cravings;
Chew your food thoroughly.
Decide why you are choosing a vegetarian lifestyle—whether it’s for your own health, the health of the planet or for animal rights reasons—and believe in yourself and your choice despite other people’s opinions.
Is it healthy to be a vegetarian?
Tracy Morton MD
It has been known for decades that vegetarians enjoy longer and generally healthier lives than meat eaters. Because vegetarians, as a general rule, make many other healthy lifestyle choices, it is difficult to determine the sole contribution that avoiding meat plays in achieving these better health outcomes. For example, vegetarians are more likely to maintain a healthy weight, use safer cooking methods, and exercise more, and are less likely to smoke—all of which contribute to less heart disease, stroke, cancer and emphysema (the top four killers in Western society).
Nevertheless, some well-designed studies suggest that adherence to a vegetarian or low-meat diet (meat less than once weekly) adds two to three-and-a-half years of life expectancy.
Let’s look in more detail at the vegetarian diet. First, as Julie explains, there are several types of diets, from the absolutely animal-free vegan to the liberal pescatarian who eats fish, eggs and dairy products. Obviously, there is a corresponding range of nutritional variety with these diets. Let’s look at some general principals of plant vs. animals as a source of nutrition:
1. Plants contain less saturated fats and no cholesterol. As discussed in a previous Northword article, there is a “hierarchy” of fats, with certain fats being very healthy (monounsaturated and omega-3-polyunsaturated) and other fats being much less healthy (saturated and trans-fats). Animal fats contain far more of these unhealthy fats, which are closely linked to the development of heart disease and stroke.
2. Plants contain more fibre, which reduces cholesterol, lowers colon cancer risk and reduces constipation. All three of these problems are more prevalent in meat eaters.
3. Meat eaters have a more difficult time maintaining a healthy weight. Associated with obesity are higher rates of high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.
4. Animal products are more likely to transmit diseases such as E.coli, Salmonella and Listeria infections, due to some farming and slaughtering practices and food processing. The well-publicized “mad cow” crises affecting Canadian cattle stocks is another high-profile risk of eating meat.
Looking at pre-civilization diets and our own biology gives us a clue as to which we are best adapted to. While it is true that we can digest meat, our long digestive tract is better designed to handle plant food sources. Thousands of years ago when we were hunter-gatherers, we may have incorporated some meat in our diets in times of scarcity, but it is not necessary today. Says Dr. William C. Roberts, editor of The American Journal of Cardiology, “Although we think we are, and act as if we are, human beings are not natural carnivores.”
There are many aspects to the choice to become vegetarian, only one of which is the nutritional effects of avoiding meat. Others include cultural, moral, financial and religious elements. To me, a very compelling reason to consider giving up meat is environmental: for one, raising animals for meat comes at a very high cost in water usage, not to mention the 90% loss of food energy resulting from the conversion of plant food to meat. Out of necessity or choice, it is certain that in the coming years, more and more of us will consider adopting a vegetarian diet.
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