It is not the intention here to attempt to persuade readers to become vegetarians. Instead, this is an objective answer to those who want to know the advantages of vegetarianism.
A vegetarian is one who eats no animal products. Some people call themselves vegetarians but still eat fish and chicken; be assured those two species still belong to the animal kingdom-they have flesh and blood just like a cow or a human or a deer. Also he or she uses a minimum of leather, only where necessary.
Nutritionally, the alkaline-based digestive system of humans will not properly break down substantial acid substances, the greatest of which is meat.(Also, the amount of cholesterol in meat is unhealthy.)
Many meat eaters believe that meat is the sole source of protein. However, the quality of this protein is so poor that little of it can ever be utilized by humans because it is incomplete and lacks the correct combination of amino acids, the building blocks of protein.
It is a common medical fact that excess protein is dangerous, the prime danger being that uric acid(the waste product produced in the process of digesting protein) attacks the kidneys, breaking down the kidney cells called nephrons. This condition is called nephritis; the prime cause of it is overburdening the kidneys.
More usable protein is found in one tablespoon of tofu or soybeans than the average serving of meat!
Have you ever seen what happens to a piece of meat that stays in the sun for three days? Meat can stay in the warmth of the intestine for at least four days until it is digested. It does nothing but wait for passage. Often, it usually stays there for much longer, traces remaining for up to several months. Colonic therapists always see meat passing through in people who have been vegetarians for several years, thus indicating that meat remains undigested there for a long time. Occasionally this has been documented in twenty year vegetarians!
Tigers or lions who eat meat and grow strong on it have acid-based digestive systems. Also, their intestines are in a straight run of about five feet long, not twisted and turned, layer over layer, compacted into a small area like the human intestine, which is twenty feet long.
Frequently, when certain animal carcasses are found to have cancerous growths in the butchering and trimming process, they are simply carved out by the butcher before it hits the market. How safe is this for human consumption?
Poultry is often frozen for up to two years. Cold temperatures do not kill all species of bacteria. Worse than this, as it is shipped and stored, most frozen meat is thawed and refrozen many times. This is almost unavoidable.
Meat is costly and it is the most wasteful source of resources. When one removes meat from his or her diet, a whole new world of eating opens up. Cooking and preparing vegetarian style is no more time consuming than
cooking meat. It costs less than half as much to eat vegetarian as it does to eat meat. There are excellent, nutritious, and easy to prepare vegetarian dishes that are Italian, Chinese, Indian, Mid-Eastern, French, Spanish, etc.
The moral aspect goes along with the spiritual one, in which one must question the necessity and the method as well as the karma of killing animals. However, everyone has their own mores which they must determine for themselves. It is not the purpose of this article to force a specific moral behavior on anyone