I happened to stumble on this forum and I find it very interesting. I really appreciate that people seem to be able to exchange ideas without biting each others head of. :)
Now reading this thread on the myth of vegetarianism (well some of it not all 40 pages
) somehow doesn’t resonate with my experience of reality. I am a vegetarian for 20 years and feel great without meat, for several reasons.
I started to drop meat after having troubles digesting red meat, which I loved. Dropping red meat was just the start because pork wasn’t really appetizing to me, lamb was to expensive so I ate mostly chicken. Dropping meat altogether wasn’t difficult since I was already increasing vegetables, beans, and dairy products in my diet.
Looking at dietary habits of different nations I have come to realize that diet is a little bit like religion; you most often stick to what you are born into. Being a European and having traveled extensively I have seen people from different countries bring their own cuisine on their travels since they aren’t sure what kind of “food” they will get “abroad”.
It is my conviction that everyone has to choose what is best for him/her. What is good for one is not necessarily good for another, but to attribute vegetarianism to bad health is in my opinion based on ignorance. To be a vegetarian does not mean that you eat healthy; there is a lot of unhealthy vegetarian food. Just like meat eaters can eat healthy or unhealthy so can vegetarians.
To me the most important reason for being a vegetarian is that I feel twice as good after I eat vegetarian food compared to meat. This is because (healthy) vegetarian food is most often lighter than (healthy) meat diet and easier on the digestion. This translates into feeling more energetic, light and strong all day.
Another aspect is that I don’t need to kill an animal and eat it in order to live; it is only a question of taste. And for that reason I am not ready to condemn another living being to be tortured (through factory breeding) and killed to be devoured by me. I don’t feel it is right to create suffering (even in animals) so that I can enjoy a particular taste.
I believe (and you may disagree) that the violence that the animal is subject to, is transferred into the meat and those who eat it are consuming violence that is later manifested in them. In fact the whole of our society is fraught with violence and we don’t seem to notice it, in my opinion because of our consumption of meat.
These are only a few of my considerations in connection with vegetarianism vs. meat eating, It is worthy to remember that more than half of the world population is vegetarian; almost the whole of India and a large part of China is vegetarian. The vegetarian diet doesn’t seem to affect their ability to live prosperously.
As you already know meat is rich in protein and poor in vitamins; most of our vitamins come from other sources than meat. It is known in Yoga and other systems that food has to contain prana (energy) in order to be healthy. When an animal is killed its meat starts to rot and the prana disappears from it. In our intestines the meat continues its rotting process in 37 degrees C and 100% humidity, creating gasses and toxins that our body has to cope with. Vegetables are broken down trough another process, which is fermentation and does not create toxins during digestion.
This information that is not based on my own experience is learned from other people that have come to certain conclusions. Their findings resonate with my own experience with vegetarian food and meat. I therefore base my opinion on my own experience and the results others have reached through experimentation and research; provided that it is plausible and in context with what I already know.
But as I said before, everyone has to choose for him/her self, since the responsibility for our health rests only on our own shoulders.
