A Little Knowledge about Vegetarianism

A Little Knowledge about Vegetarianism

 https://ramamohanraocheruku.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-little-knowledge-about-vegitarianism.html

The following is the response by Srimathi Seshu Bhandaru 

from Australia for my article on 'Vegetarianisms' on 28th 

October 2013. As she suggested I now add a little about 

Veganism and republish the article.

 

Seshu Bandaru

Informative Ramamohanrao garu. You left out Vegan Diet. 

A total vegetarian (vegetable) diet with no diary products at 

all. I thnik there is a sect of followers in India who are 

Vegans.

 · Reply · 7y

Seshu Bandaru

Sorry I should say Plant produce not vegetable

 · Reply · 7y

Cheruku Ramamohanrao

IThat's true amma. I got the idea of writing this on aquestion 

posed by a face book friend in a group. My concentration 

went on answering his doubts and hence I lost this point 

from the track. we will discuss about that after some time.

 · Reply · 7y

Seshu Bandaru

Thanks your postings are always interesting informative and 

some are hilarious

 · Reply · 7y

Cheruku Ramamohanrao

Thank you very much Amma

The original article

A simple question arose in my mind that if milk fruits

Seeds leaves all go under nonveg where the word does

Veg exists and if veg doesn't exist how can nonveg be a

word. So if veg is taken out only 'non' remains and

certainly it sounds nonsence. 

We know the human body according to our sastras is

'Trigunaatmakm' which are 1.satva 2.Rajas 3.tamas.

Whereas the human body when emerges will imbibe

the permutation and combination of these three

qualities, and as infinite number of combinations we can

get from these things, we find different qualities in

each individual. The food irrespective of veg or nonveg

contribute to these qualities in different proportions. All

the living thing are distinguished into staavara

and jangama. 'Staavara' means immovable and

'Jangama' is movable. Though both are living beings the

Jangama will have more emotions and the Staavara less

as we know. The Jangama dies with all such emotions

like anger revenge and helplessness etc. these qualities

percolate into the body of the jangama and its flesh or

meat harm the user of food. Fish is included in non-

vegetarian food and has marginally less Tamasa

 component than white and red meat hence bangaly

Brahmins are used to consume it. When we keenly

observe, a fish will have very less emotions as it would

not be knowing when it would be pulled out of water

and more over it would also not know that it is being

tried to be pulled out. In the non-vegetarian food

category, mutton and chicken differ marginally from each other in terms of their Sattva, Rajasa and

 Tamasa components. The reason for the increased Tamasa in meat after the animal dies is because of the extent of suffering when it is being killed. Also the thoughts of anger and revenge in the animal are

far more pronounced as compared to a plant which has

a rudimentary mind and intellect as explained earlier.

This is the main reason for the increased Tamasa 

Component.

A vegetarian diet would have a higher proportion of the

subtle Sattva component. As a result of the Tamasa 

predominance in meat, the act of eating non vegetarian 

food is a tāmasik activity. On vegetarian means food obtained by killing living animals, birds, and other living creatures. Vegetarian food does not mean killing of 

any such living creatures.

Eggs are live. They have life and if hatched they give

birds. This is how birds are born. It is the first stage of life

for birds. Eating eggs means killing the birds in first stage

itself. So these are considered non vegetarian. Milk is a

food given voluntarily by animals for feeding its kids.

Even for this there is a stipulation that the milk is to be

drawn from the animal only when it satiates its

offspring. Drinking milk is not resulting in killing of

animals or birds. Similarly honey is collected by bees

from flowers and stored. These are vegetable products.

Drinking honey is not killing birds. A lacto vegetarian 

(Sometimes referred to as a lactarian; from the Latin

lactis, milk) diet is a vegetarian diet that includes dairy

products such as milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, ghee,

cream, and milk kefir, but excludes eggs. 

Lactovegetarians also abstain from cheeses that include

animal rennet and yogurts that contain gelatin. The

concept and practice of lacto-vegetarianism among us

is from our ancestors who were more sages and seers or very highly pious people.

We are really blessed to have born in this great nation

where everything is scientific and to have ready to serve

dishes.

Let me say a little about veganism a latest cult developed

in the west and now crossing the continental barrior.

Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of

animal products in diet, as it rejects the commodity status

thereof. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy

is known as a vegan.

The following is an excerpt of the content in Wikipedia.

They refrain from consuming meat, eggs, dairy products,

and any other animal-derived substances. An ethical

vegan, also known as a "moral vegetarian", is someone

who not only follows a vegan diet but extends the

philosophy into other areas of their lives, and opposes the

use of animals for any purpose. Another term is

"environmental veganism", which refers to the avoidance

of animal products on the premise that the industrial

farming of animals is environmentally damaging and

unsustainable.

Well-planned vegan diets are regarded as appropriate for

all stages of life, including infancy and pregnancy, by the

American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the

Australian National Health and Medical Research

Council, the British Dietetic Association, Dietitians of

Canada, and the New Zealand Ministry of Health. The

German Society for Nutrition—which is a non-profit

Organisation and not an official health agency—does not

recommend vegan diets for children or adolescents, or

during pregnancy and breastfeeding. There is inconsistent

evidence for vegan diets providing a protective effect

against metabolic syndrome, but some evidence suggests

that a vegan diet can help with weight loss, especially in

the short term. Vegan diets tend to be higher in dietary

fiber, magnesium, folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, iron,

and phytochemicals, and lower in dietary energy,

saturated fat, cholesterol, omega-3 fatty acid, vitamin D,

calcium, zinc, and vitamin B12.[h] A poorly-planned

vegan diet may lead to nutritional deficiencies that

nullify any beneficial effects and may cause serious

health issues,[30][31][32] some of which can only be

prevented with fortified foods or dietary

supplements.[30][33] Vitamin B12 supplementation is

important because its deficiency causes blood disorders

and potentially irreversible neurological damage, though

this danger is also present in poorly-planned non-vegan

diets.

Swasti.