I became a vegetarian in 1993.
The reason was that I lived in Taipei in Taiwan at that time
Met many European who are vegetarian,
whether I read yoga books or Buddhist books, vegetarian food seems to be good,
and Taiwan is a vegetarian paradise, has plenty of vegetarian restaurants.
Also my grandfather in Japan was vegan in 19th Century.
I guess many people might have some anxious about nutrition to be Vegetarian
I met many Taiwanese and Indians who were born and raised up in a vegetarian family.
They were no doubt healthy.
I met a Taiwanese yoga teacher, who was over 70 years old (in 1993),
who had been weak as child,
but her grandfather recommended her to do yoga, fasting and vegetarian diet,
which made her completely healthy.
Recently, vegan athletes have been attracting attention.
Novak Djokovic is one of them, who has switched to vegan,
who has benefited positively in all aspects of mental, physical and stamina.
They take vegetables, fruits, grains, and plants based protein.
Now I will talk about the reason to be Vegetarian and how to switch the diet.
What is the reason to be vegetarian / Vegan?
There are four main reasons :
1) For physical health
2) Charity for animals
3) Impact on emotions, thoughts, and aura levels
4) Environmental problems
1.For physical health
The human body does not appear to be made for carnivorous purposes.
Carnivores have
strong saliva
sharp teeth,
strong gastric juice,
and intestines four times as long as their bodies
On the other hand, about humans
the saliva and gastric juice are weaker than carnivorous animals
have only 4 sharp teeth,
the intestine is 10 times longer than the body.
Also, from the view of Ph balance,
it is better to have a large amount of vegetables and fruits.
In fact, there are many cases where the disease has improved
by switching to a vegetarian diet.
Even carnivores eat the grass in the gastrointestinal tract of herbivores.
2.Charity for animals
In West there are more Vegetarian who consider about the life of animals
than the reason about own health.
From a spiritual point of view,
the types of souls are different between animals and plants.
It is said that there are a lot of animals have emotions as well as human-being.
The difference is that plants can produce many seeds and increase their lives.
When I think of an animal that has been killed and bleeding, I feel sad and sorry for it.
3.Impact on emotions, thoughts, and aura levels
There are effects from killing on emotions, thoughts, and aura levels.
The coarse part of food becomes blood and meat.
And although the body is invisible, it is said in yoga and Ayurveda
that it affects emotions, thoughts, and aura levels.
You can imagine that the fear of animals when they are killed affects us.
Ayurveda says that food makes you.
Meat, fish, and eggs belong to the element of “Tamasic (bluntness)”,
and are classified as malaise, lack of noble ideals and goals, and depressing.
On the other hand, vegetables, fruits, nuts and legumes belong to the element of
“Satovic (purity) “
which create purification, purity, positiveness and creativity.
There was a report in Switzerland that
“the child calmed down after switching to organic food”.
This also confirms how food affects the spiritual side.
4.Environmental problems
It is said that the amount of CO2 emitted from livestock feed, slaughter, manure, etc. is
about 7.8 kg per 1 kg of meat in stores.
The World Wildlife Fund reports in Germany that
if you make a weekly non-meat day, you can reduce CO2 emissions,
which is equivalent to a car’s 75 billion kilometers of mileage.
How to change to a vegetarian diet
The recommendation is to gradually get used to the body.
There are many types of vegetarians.
Pescatarianism,
who eats fish and eggs.
Ovo vegetarian,
who doesn’t eat meat and fish, but eat eggs.
Lacto vegetarian (Indian style) ,
who doesn’t eat meat, fish, eggs, but eat dairy products
Vegan,
who doesn’t eat any animal products.
Buddhist vegetarian,
who doesn’t eat any animal products, plus no garlic, onions, leeks and scallions
Macrobiotic,
who is vegan and think about the balance of yin and yang
It will be good to change gradually
beef to pork, pork to chicken, chicken to fish, fish to eggs, and eggs to dairy products.
Or, it will be a good idea to proceed as much as you can,
such as vegetarian diet only for the full moon and new moon,
or veggie only every Monday, etc.
Thinking about vegetarian diet is
the issue of vitamin B12, calcium and protein.
Vitamin B12 is found in green laver, seaweed, dried shiitake mushrooms,
and dairy products.
Calcium is found in soy products, broccoli, rape blossoms, dried white radish, dried figs, seaweed, and dairy products.
Vitamin D, which promotes the absorption of calcium, is probably the most natural act of going outdoors and producing it in the proper sunlight.
Protein is found in legumes, nuts, whole grains, broccoli, asparagus, green soybeans, and avocados.
Also, protein does not need to be overdose, says Dr. Campbell, author of “The China Study”.
Studies have shown that Chinese people
who do not take dairy products have far fewer osteoporosis
than Westerners who take dairy products that produce calcium in their urine
that the body should absorb on a high-protein diet.
Ideally, you should get 0.8-1g of vegetable protein per kg of average body weight,
with 1g per kg of body weight for children
and adolescents, and 0.5g per kg of body weight for adults who do not move much.
Reference : Hinduism Today April/May/June 2008, p.60-61
The late Dr. Naram of Ayurveda also found that
South Indians have a lower incidence of heart disease than
North Indians who consume more dairy products.
Reference : Hinduism Today April/May/June 2008, p.62
In other words,
we may be eating too much animal food
because of the prejudice planted,
also because of the desire to relieve stress
and of the lust to eat tasty food.