The plant eating breed is rising!!!
We all eat to live. Our food is a fantastic repertoire of distinct cuisines and extremely variated methods of cooking, spreading from use of the simplest ingredients and methods of preparation to the most exotic and complex methods of finishing and presentation. Though we often find folks who claim to eat only to live, one cannot but wonder at the vast expanse of people who spend conflictingly intriguing amounts of time choosing what to eat, where to eat, how much to eat and so on.
Various factors are determinant of the food habits of people around the world. For people in the tropics and the temperate, moderate consumptions of meat is common. For the ones at the frigid and polar zones of the earth, consumption of meat is certainly much higher as their bodies do require higher amounts of protein and fat to keep up with the temperatures, where, in order to maintain the average temperature of the human body the metabolic rates have to be much higher necessitating higher requirement of energy, which meats undeniably provide. Contemporary lifestyles and food habits have however changed drastically with emphasis on health and nutrition. Studies and research which have been held extensively for ages unmistakably assure us of healthier benefits of vegetarian food in contrast to meat consumption. Our bodies are differently constituted when compared to either carnivorous animals or the herbivorous. We cannot ingest or digest raw meats or most raw vegetables but only a few natural fruits or nuts as our systems are not designed to assimilate the same. However it is easier for us to absorb cooked vegetarian foods faster. A vegetable diet can provide us with richer antioxidants, fibre, minerals, complex carbohydrates poly unsaturated fats and other macro and micro nutrients. Vegetables contain a high range of amino acids which can keep our bodies functioning effectively. Any diet largely consisting of meat certainly contributes to the accumulation of excessive body fat. Though rich in protein, the saturated fats that meats contain, do compromise our health and immune systems. Being less in antioxidants, meats tend to provide minimum dietary benefits in convalescence involving natural sicknesses.
The few reasons why people are turning to vegetarian diets are quite noteworthy.
1. Awareness in general nutrition and health concerns
2. Vast increase in diabetic and cardiovascular diseases
3. Environmental concerns
4. Religious reasons
5. Moral reasons
6. Animal welfare concerns
7. Cost concerns
Irrespective of the reasons why vegetarianism is becoming rampant today, there is definitive evidence of a gradual transformation of people from relishing the tastes of variously and colourfully prepared, elegantly presented carcasses of dead animals, to simple but tasty and highly nutritious vegetarian food. Vegetarians are seldom overweight or obese. Since vegetarian diets contain lesser amount of fats, they are therefore less capable of adding to the adipose tissue around our tummies or the posterior rump. Since a high fat food is the chief reason for the accumulation of dietary cholesterol many folks fear suffering from CHD (Coronary Heart Diseases) which is the obvious outcome of excessive non vegetarian diets compounded with poor exercise. Vegetarian foods are less acidic than meat diets, they cause less flatulence, hence contribute to lesser gastric troubles. Being high in ph levels, meats contribute to high acidity in the gastro intestinal system, which seldom can one escape experiencing, especially when an extensive non vegetarian meal is had. Meat diets generally are more prone to contamination with such bacteria such as Salmonella, Escheri Coli, Campylobacter, Lysteria, Staphylococcus, Shigella etc., which are rampant in raw and semi cooked meats or poorly stored prepared meats. Meats degenerate very quickly in contrast to vegetarian foods due to the presence of such dangerous bacteria. Unless care and caution are exhibited at every level in the processing and preparing of meats till their consumption, there are extensive possibilities of severe food contamination in consumers.
USDA in a survey published in 2006 says that contaminated meat has been responsible for over seventy percent of food poisoning cases in the United States. Now that is staggering!! Our human body requires macro nutrients such as Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats and micro nutrients such as minerals, fibres, amino acids etc. A proper combination of both of these nutrients helps in a healthy body which can be resistant to a number of diseases. A plant diet consisting of vegetables, roots, leaves, lentils and fruits with a balanced cereal such as rice, wheat or sorghum or corn can provide excellent range of nutrients. While the variety of meats is quite limited and the constitution of most meats being more or less the same, the range that is promised by vegetarian foods is amazingly high. A beautiful garden fresh salad is a treat to the eye with lovely colours, random textures and unique flavours, while the same may not be attributed to a dish of meats. Howsoever it may seem, it is inevitable that health concerns will beat every other in line for everyone, and sooner or later a silent, but a gradual shift from the meat eaters to plant eaters is imminent.
While the concept may not truly be digestible to sworn meat eaters, vegetarian diets are arguably the best for humans, leading us to a healthy and active long life.
We all eat to live. Our food is a fantastic repertoire of distinct cuisines and extremely variated methods of cooking, spreading from use of the simplest ingredients and methods of preparation to the most exotic and complex methods of finishing and presentation. Though we often find folks who claim to eat only to live, one cannot but wonder at the vast expanse of people who spend conflictingly intriguing amounts of time choosing what to eat, where to eat, how much to eat and so on.
Various factors are determinant of the food habits of people around the world. For people in the tropics and the temperate, moderate consumptions of meat is common. For the ones at the frigid and polar zones of the earth, consumption of meat is certainly much higher as their bodies do require higher amounts of protein and fat to keep up with the temperatures, where, in order to maintain the average temperature of the human body the metabolic rates have to be much higher necessitating higher requirement of energy, which meats undeniably provide. Contemporary lifestyles and food habits have however changed drastically with emphasis on health and nutrition. Studies and research which have been held extensively for ages unmistakably assure us of healthier benefits of vegetarian food in contrast to meat consumption. Our bodies are differently constituted when compared to either carnivorous animals or the herbivorous. We cannot ingest or digest raw meats or most raw vegetables but only a few natural fruits or nuts as our systems are not designed to assimilate the same. However it is easier for us to absorb cooked vegetarian foods faster. A vegetable diet can provide us with richer antioxidants, fibre, minerals, complex carbohydrates poly unsaturated fats and other macro and micro nutrients. Vegetables contain a high range of amino acids which can keep our bodies functioning effectively. Any diet largely consisting of meat certainly contributes to the accumulation of excessive body fat. Though rich in protein, the saturated fats that meats contain, do compromise our health and immune systems. Being less in antioxidants, meats tend to provide minimum dietary benefits in convalescence involving natural sicknesses.
The few reasons why people are turning to vegetarian diets are quite noteworthy.
1. Awareness in general nutrition and health concerns
2. Vast increase in diabetic and cardiovascular diseases
3. Environmental concerns
4. Religious reasons
5. Moral reasons
6. Animal welfare concerns
7. Cost concerns
Irrespective of the reasons why vegetarianism is becoming rampant today, there is definitive evidence of a gradual transformation of people from relishing the tastes of variously and colourfully prepared, elegantly presented carcasses of dead animals, to simple but tasty and highly nutritious vegetarian food. Vegetarians are seldom overweight or obese. Since vegetarian diets contain lesser amount of fats, they are therefore less capable of adding to the adipose tissue around our tummies or the posterior rump. Since a high fat food is the chief reason for the accumulation of dietary cholesterol many folks fear suffering from CHD (Coronary Heart Diseases) which is the obvious outcome of excessive non vegetarian diets compounded with poor exercise. Vegetarian foods are less acidic than meat diets, they cause less flatulence, hence contribute to lesser gastric troubles. Being high in ph levels, meats contribute to high acidity in the gastro intestinal system, which seldom can one escape experiencing, especially when an extensive non vegetarian meal is had. Meat diets generally are more prone to contamination with such bacteria such as Salmonella, Escheri Coli, Campylobacter, Lysteria, Staphylococcus, Shigella etc., which are rampant in raw and semi cooked meats or poorly stored prepared meats. Meats degenerate very quickly in contrast to vegetarian foods due to the presence of such dangerous bacteria. Unless care and caution are exhibited at every level in the processing and preparing of meats till their consumption, there are extensive possibilities of severe food contamination in consumers.
USDA in a survey published in 2006 says that contaminated meat has been responsible for over seventy percent of food poisoning cases in the United States. Now that is staggering!! Our human body requires macro nutrients such as Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats and micro nutrients such as minerals, fibres, amino acids etc. A proper combination of both of these nutrients helps in a healthy body which can be resistant to a number of diseases. A plant diet consisting of vegetables, roots, leaves, lentils and fruits with a balanced cereal such as rice, wheat or sorghum or corn can provide excellent range of nutrients. While the variety of meats is quite limited and the constitution of most meats being more or less the same, the range that is promised by vegetarian foods is amazingly high. A beautiful garden fresh salad is a treat to the eye with lovely colours, random textures and unique flavours, while the same may not be attributed to a dish of meats. Howsoever it may seem, it is inevitable that health concerns will beat every other in line for everyone, and sooner or later a silent, but a gradual shift from the meat eaters to plant eaters is imminent.
While the concept may not truly be digestible to sworn meat eaters, vegetarian diets are arguably the best for humans, leading us to a healthy and active long life.
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