The Physical advances of being vegetarian
Posted by spiritual4u | Posted on 12:08 PM
LACTO-OVO VEGETARIAN: Eats no meat, poultry, or fish, but includes dairy products and eggs in the diet along with plant-based foods.
LACTO VEGETARIAN: Excludes all animal products except dairy products. Includes all plant-based foods in the diet.
OVO VEGETARIAN: Excludes all animal products except eggs. Includes all plant-based foods in the diet.
VEGAN OR PURE VEGETARIAN: Vegan is pronounced "vee gun." Some people distinguish between vegan and pure vegetarian, considering the pure vegetarian one who eats no animal flesh, no dairy products, or no eggs, and follows a strict plant-based diet for dietary reasons only. While vegans follow a diet consisting of plant-based foods only, some are further committed to a philosophy that respects animal life and the ecology of the planet. As a result, vegans also do not eat honey because many bees are killed in the process of forced procreation to maintain the beehive and the continued production of honey. Vegans do not eat sugar, because sugar is clarified over animal bones in the final steps of refining the sugar. Vegans also avoid gelatin, which is made from the bones, skin, and connective tissue of animals.
Because vegans consider the ecology of the planet a priority along with concern for animal rights, they shun the use of leather, wool, silk, goose down, and any foods or goods that have been processed using animal products. Their concern is that the planet's future resources have been harmed and animals have suffered in order for these products to come to market.
FRUITARIAN: The fruitarian has a simpler diet consisting only of fresh fruits and some vining foods that are technically considered fruits, but have been used as vegetables. These vegetable/fruits include cucumbers, tomatoes, and avocados.
RAW FOODIST: Those who follow the raw food diet include all fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and soaked and sprouted grains and legumes. Further, the raw foodist does not cook or heat the foods, but eats them only in their natural, raw state in order to preserve their valuable enzymes.
LIVING FOODS DIET: Those who follow the living foods diet include a broad variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, soaked and sprouted grains and legumes. In addition, they will warm some of their foods in a dehydrator with a temperature regulator. In order to preserve the valuable enzymes that raw foods contain, some foods can be warmed to temperatures no higher than 105 degrees, while others will tolerate a little higher heat at 115 degrees.
I am a vegan, however, I wear leather and will eat things with honey in them. Ironically, I rarely advocate people to become vegan. Regardless if one is a vegan or vegetarian, this way of life provides abundant physical benefits. Vegetarian diets low in fat or saturated fat have been used successfully as part of comprehensive health programs to reverse severe coronary artery disease. Vegetarian diets offer disease protection benefits because of their lower saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein content and often higher concentration of folate (which reduces serum homocysteine levels, antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, carotenoids, and phytochemicals. Not only is mortality from coronary artery disease lower in vegetarians than in nonvegetarians , but vegetarian diets have also been successful in arresting coronary artery disease .Total serum cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels are usually lower in vegetarians, but high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels vary depending on the type of vegetarian diet followed.
Vegetarians tend to have a lower incidence of hypertension than nonvegetarians. This effect appears to be independent of both body weight and sodium intake. Type 2 diabetes mellitus is much less likely to be a cause of death in vegetarians than nonvegetarians, perhaps because of their higher intake of complex carbohydrates and lower body mass index.
Incidence of lung and colorectal cancer is lower in vegetarians than in nonvegetarians Reduced colorectal cancer risk is associated with increased consumption of fiber, vegetables, and fruit. The environment of the colon differs notably in vegetarians compared with nonvegetarians in ways that could favorably affect colon cancer risk. Lower breast cancer rates have not been observed in Western vegetarians, but cross-cultural data indicate that breast cancer rates are lower in populations that consume plant-based diets. The lower estrogen levels in vegetarian women may be protective.
A well-planned vegetarian diet may be useful in the prevention and treatment of renal disease. Studies using human being and animal models suggest that some plant proteins may increase survival rates and decrease proteinuria, glomerular filtration rate, renal blood flow, and histologic renal damage compared with a non-vegetarian diet.
Plant sources of protein alone can provide adequate amounts of essential amino acids if a variety of plant foods are consumed and energy needs are met. Research suggests that complementary proteins do not need to be consumed at the same time and that consumption of various sources of amino acids over the course of the day should ensure adequate nitrogen retention and use in healthy persons. Although vegetarian diets are lower in total protein and a vegetarian's protein needs may be somewhat elevated because of the lower quality of some plant proteins, protein intake in both lacto-ovo-vegetarians and vegans appears to be adequate.
One of my favorite benefits of having a vegetarian diet is that there is no cholesterol in any vegetable source of food. Even peanuts are rich in fat but have zero cholesterol. Coconuts are very rich in fat but no cholesterol. Any animal product has tremendous amounts of cholesterol. But our body does not really need the intake of cholesterol (LDL). Our liver produces healthy cholesterol (HDL). High cholesterol deposits in the body cause gallstones, gall bladder problems, rheumatoid arthritis, muscle, tendon and joint problems, not to mention heart-related diseases. When children are given cholesterol, when even proper growth has not taken place, they become hyperactive or lazy; they get cancer, obesity, nervous and irritable at a younger age. It has been researched that you don't need anything more than complex carbohydrates to provide all the nutrients in a perfect diet. If you eat three different types or varieties of complex carbohydrates per day you can get all the amino acids.
There are many physical disadvantages to eating meat. Some of these disadvantages are:
- A meat-eater not only takes in the animal cells and fats, etc. but also the waste products, e.g. chemical food stuff fed to the animals, drugs injected into the animal in the slaughter house, and the intoxicants, coloring and tenderizers sprayed on the dead animal by the market suppliers. By the way, hamburgers are made from Cow with the four D’s (Dead, Dying, Disabled, or Diseased) This is way so many children and young adults have died from eating hamburgers.
- It is also suspected that meat-eaters are prime candidates for degenerative diseases, e.g. arthritis, gout, etc. Meat is one of the major sources of internal pollution. When an animal is slaughtered, uneliminated waste products remain in the tissue of the animal, which often give the meat its stimulating flavor. Uric acid and adrenaline, these toxins are secreted into the bloodstream and muscles of animals and get deposited. The fear and struggle to escape death stimulates the secretion of hormones like epinephrine, norepinephrine and steroids. No edible plant product has similar toxicity. The human body has to work 15 times more to get rid of that toxin, in spite of which some toxins remain and get accumulated in each and every cell
- A parasite, known for inducing miscarriage and causing blindness, jaundice and nervous disorders in newborn babies, was found in samples of animal meat from abattoirs and markets, particularly in third world countries. An article in the German Bunte magazine, entitled 'Karnka von Tiere' (Diseases from Animal) pointed out the diseases that arise from consumption of meat, apart from the reckless wastage of precious land and natural resources for livestock breeding. The article also emphasized on the benefits of meatless diet, and the current trend towards vegetarianism by an increasing number of Germans and in other European countries, notably amongst the younger generation. As a result of overall concern for a healthy diet, meat consumption in the west is declining. According to the Vegetarian society in UK, 7% of the population in UK and US are complete vegetarians with the number constantly increasing.
- To preserve fish and prawns and other crustaceans, boric acid is widely used by food manufacturers. It attacks the liver and the brain, causing fits and coma before the victim dies of liver damage. Fruits and vegetables, however heavily sprayed, don't grow hormones, antibiotics and other drugs common in meat products.
- Pigs carry trichinosis bacteria that cling to the walls of the stomach and intestines, which can be fatal. Beef and pork are highly acid forming and release into the blood-stream toxic poisons and microbes. But the WBC in blood may not be sufficient to destroy these microbes and so the toxic reactions set in.
Dr. Gary Fraser, Professor of Epidemiology at Loma Linda University, affirms that fruit, vegetables and fiber protect one against heart diseases. It has been clinically tested that because of less fat and zero cholesterol, vegetarian diet is much better. So, when you try a fruit and vegetable diet, you will find yourself light, relaxed and spiritualized. Remember that what you eat and what you think is what you are. The food taken into your body is what gradually, but surely forms your thought-patterns. And your thoughts, both conscious and subconscious, are in total control of your body's health or lack of it. So, you have a responsibility towards yourself. One of my mottos is: Choose health! Choose Vegetarianism!
The correlation between meats, diseases and obesity
In my research I have found evidence on how animal products are linked to colon cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, strokes, osteoporosis, heart attacks, chrons disease, allergies, impotence, etc. This may explain why strict vegetarians, those that avoid all animal products, have lower cholesterol and LDL levels and lower rates of heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, non-insulin dependent diabetes, and colon cancer compared to non-vegetarians. Many strict vegetarians, or vegans, also maintain an overall healthy life-style, maintain weight close to desirable levels, participate in regular physical activity, and abstain from smoking, alcohol and drugs, which may relate with these findings.
Heavy cream, whole milk, fried eggs, bacon, pork rinds, beef, cheese, and butter -- all these contribute to long-term obesity, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer, reproductive cancers, prostate enlargement, auto-immune diseases, and other diseases.
Many people are trying this popular fade diets that are high in protein and vegetables with little to no carbohydrates. One of the biggest fade diets toady is the “Atkins Diet”. These types of diets have been popular lately, being marketed as a "miracle" diet. Nothing could be further from the truth. Animal products contain outstanding amounts of anti-biotic (what the meat industry refers to as “Bio-security”). This term is further explained as the levels of drugs “they” [the meat, dairy, and poultry industry] consider safe levels. There are also residual amounts of anabolic and androgenic steroids within the fat and muscle of the animals and dairy products. Eating a meal high in protein is not healthy. Some nutritionist neglect to note that having animal fats coursing through our blood makes the blood fat [lypemia], which stays that way for up to four hours. During this time fats actually cover the surface, actually preventing insulin from penetrating the cell to bring any glucose molecules present inside the cell.
Furthermore, diets high in animal fats contain the very pro- inflammatory fat [Arachidonic acid] that causes the release of a particular type of hormone that causes inflammatory conditions within the body [arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, to name just a few]. These diets also intensify the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, PMS and other auto-immune diseases and disorders.
Dr. Atkins insists that all carbohydrates are responsible for high cholesterol levels, obesity and other health problems. He fails miserably to note that there is a difference between refined, beached flours, and refined sugars and whole grains, and lower glycemic index carbohydrates. Atkins further neglects to note that cholesterol only occurs in animal products, and many carbohydrate foods are low in fat, devoid of cholesterol and contain fiber. Atkins' book sales have risen, as have cattle, egg, dairy, pig and poultry prices. Pork rinds, the one and only fried snack the Atkins’ diet permits, have climbed in popularity by more than 15% in one year.
The numbers of those who have jumped on the high-protein, high-fat kick are staggering, and portend of disastrous health consequences in these individuals in their future. It is a known fact that high protein intake can damage the kidneys and leach calcium from the bones.
The lack of fiber disrupts the digestive tract, leading to constipation as water is pulled from the colon to aid the kidneys in diluting the ammonia load that results in the breakdown of animal proteins in the body.
George Blackburn, director of the Center for the Study of Nutrition and Medicine at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center as researched high-protein diets over the years. He points out that there are many annoyingly common side effects: bad breath, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, irritability and lightheadedness. [35] In addition, and somehow conveniently omitted is the fact that when carbohydrates are limited or severely restricted as in the Atkins’s diet muscle mass is digested first, resulting in the quick weight losses that are typically noted in the early stages of the diet. This occurs in a process known as “gluco-neo-genesis” (the making of new glucose from storage sites in the skeletal muscle, smooth and even cardiac muscle) as well as liver stores of glycogen. You see the brain “eats first”, in other words, the brain requires a continual supply of carbohydrates in the form of glucose or blood sugar and oxygen. If this fuel is restricted in the diet [low carbohydrate intake] the brain will look for the easiest source; in this case glycogen storage within the muscle.
As muscle are broken down to liberate glucose, water is also liberated to be excreted and creating a quick and very exciting weight loss on the scale for the unsuspecting, trusting dieter. This creates a cascade of events, including a loss of body muscle mass, a reduction in BMR [basal metabolic rate], or the number of calories your body burns throughout a 24-hour period to maintain homeostasis balance. As the muscle is lost, strength is lost with it, as well as the body’s ability to burn calories (primarily from fat) while you are sleeping, working etc. The auto-immune system is depressed as the body is placed under this great “unnatural stress” of consuming proteins at 40-50 percent more than we need, or can properly digest and utilize.
Dr. Atkins has managed to ignore the many population studies, notably the Framingham Heart Study, which has demonstrated that diets high in meat and saturated fat increase risks for heart disease, colon cancer, prostate cancer, diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, obesity, and a shortened lifespan. He also ignores the fact that the planet's thinnest and healthiest humans in the world live in Asia and the Pacific Rim, where rice, noodles and other high-carbohydrate foods make up 70 percent of the daily diet.
For the supporters of the Atkins’ diet that are quick to claim genetics play a role in the Asians ability to eat this way and not become obese are not staying up to date on the following. When Asians abandon their traditional diets that are high in carbohydrates and fiber and low in fat for foods for the traditional western diet high in protein and fat, obesity and degenerative diseases becomes routine. Research studies show that, on average, people switching to a vegetarian diet lose an average of 10% of their body weight.
Indeed, without limiting calories at all, a vegan diet (free of all animal products) trims about one pound per week, and that's even without getting beneficial exercise and without dodging spaghetti, rice, and bread. Imagine the results if these same individuals ate these same types of foods in as unrefined a state as possible and added exercise.
Atkins and the other peddlers of high protein, low carbohydrate diet would never consider suggesting a vegetarian diet in light of the research of Dean Ornish [Reversing Heart Disease], John MacDougall [The MacDougall Plan] and others. How do these individuals and their toxic diets explain the fact that heart attacks are the most common form of death in the United States, and yet the risk of heart attack for a man consuming a non-meat diet is cut dramatically? Atkins has noting to say about vegetarians having one-third the incidence of colon cancer as meat-eaters?
The American Dietetic Association has called the Atkins Diet "a nightmare," or that thousands of doctors and dietitians are speaking out against this irresponsible medicine. The work of Michael Klapper, M.D. [Diet for all Reasons], and T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. [The China-Oxford- Cornell Study] have found conclusively that diets high in protein and animal fat are just plain deadly.
Protein diets only works when dieters also cut calories. The regimen is a throwback to old low-calorie diets of the 1970s and early 80’s (Cambridge Diet, Medifast Diet, etc.). They all promised great weight loss, but delivered only temporary weight loss, and long-term health consequences.
Those who are serious about taking off pounds, keeping them off and improving overall health should know that carbohydrates actually boost overall metabolism. Foods rich in complex carbohydrates, such as brown rice, pasta's (artichoke, spinach, whole wheat, corn, tomato, spelt, barley flours to name a few), fruits, vegetables and beans, nuts, help the thyroid gland burn calories more efficiently.
The adrenal glands are not over-taxed, which calm the Thymus gland, and prevents the lymphatic system from becoming clogged and sluggish. The pancreas works better to maintain a stable blood sugar level, and the colon moves waste matter along its merry way and out.
We as Americans have to take responsibility for ourselves and think of what we are reading and being told. Many of these books use the Eskimo's as examples of those individuals who consume a high protein, high fat diet as the shinning example of how the body can thrive in a constant state of ketosis [metabolic acidosis]. Again these authors fail to note that thousands of years of evolution are in place with this race, not to mention the health problems these people endure and that the Eskimo’s eat their meat raw.
We can live without bogus and potentially dangerous diet plans to lose weight and stay healthy. Following a good, old-fashioned common sense eating lifestyle of keeping fat and cholesterol low, and a diet of fresh fiber-rich foods. Teaching people to eat more in line with vegetarian foods, and never fear eating good quality unrefined carbohydrates again. This will lead to better health, and less of a fixation about foods and hopefully less stress at least in this part of our life.
Source: Spiritual4u.com
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