Veganism Is Good For Your Health
The world's most nutrition-conscious physicians recognize that vegetarians, and particularly vegans, are much healthier than meat-eaters and especially healthier than those who also drink cow's or buffalo milk. This is especially important for Indians to consider, since a whopping 5 million people die of cancer in India every year! Dr T. Colin Campbell of Cornell University reports that 'the vast majority ... of all cancers, cardiovascular diseases and other forms of degenerative illness can be prevented ... simply by adopting a plant-based diet.' Dr Dean Ornish of the University of California at San Francisco and Dr Caldwell Esselstyn of the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic have both demonstrated that artery blockages can be reversed with a low-fat vegetarian diet instead of invasive and expensive surgeries. When the arteries to one's heart are blocked, oftentimes so are the passageways to the brain and other organs.
'I don't understand why asking people to eat a well-balanced vegetarian diet is considered drastic, while it is medically conservative to cut people open.'
—Dean Ornish, M.D.
Aditi Govitrikar says, 'Being a doctor, as well as a model, I know that eating veg is the first and most important ingredient in keeping fit. If you eat chicken or other meat, you're consuming toxins, fat and cholesterol. Veg food is powered with all the vitamins and protein you need to be at your best.'
Click here to learn more about vegetarianism and your health from a doctor's perspective.
Meat and animal products are loaded with the fat and cholesterol that lead to heart attacks, cancer, stroke and other diseases. In fact, people who consume animal parts and products are at least 30 percent more likely to die of heart disease, 40 percent more susceptible to cancer and at increased risk for many other illnesses, including obesity, appendicitis, osteoporosis, arthritis, diabetes and food poisoning.
'The average age of a meat-eater is 63. I am on the verge of 85 and still work as hard as ever. I have lived quite long enough, and I am trying to die; but I simply cannot do it. A single beef steak would finish me; but I cannot bring myself to swallow it. I am oppressed with a dread of living forever. This is the only disadvantage of vegetarianism.'
—George Bernard Shaw
Vegetarian foods are typically low in fat and contain no cholesterol. What they do have is all the vitamins, minerals, protein, fibre and carbohydrates you need to be healthy and strong. No wonder many of India's athletes, such as Anil Kumble and Ramesh Krishnan, are vegetarian!
'Vegetarianism saves animals' lives and can't be beat for maintaining a muscular body and building endurance,' says Kumble. 'Vegetarian food contains all the vitamins and protein you need to be at your best and is free of all the fat, cholesterol and toxins found in meat.'
Veggie Foods Are Rich in Protein
There's no need to worry about protein if you're eating a varied vegetarian diet! It's easy to get protein from lentils, dal, beans, bean curd, rice, soy milk, cereals and potatoes. The real problem among the affluent is too much protein, which leads to osteoporosis, kidney stones and some types of cancers.
Drinking the milk of Cows and Buffalos Is Not Natural
How strange that human beings—adult humans—drink the milk
meant for babies of a completely different species! The milk of cows
and buffalos is suited for the nutritional needs of calves, who double
their weight in 47 days (as opposed to 180 for human babies), grow
four stomachs and can weigh 140 kilograms within a year. The milk
of cows and buffalos contains 50 percent more fat than human breast
milk. Buffalo milk contains even more fat!
Animal milk can lead to heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes,
allergies, asthma and osteoporosis. Knowledgeable doctors and nutritionists
are speaking out against dairy consumption. The world-renowned health
advisor to former US President Bill Clinton, Dr John McDougall, calls
animal milk 'liquid meat' because it is as bad for us as animal flesh.
The late Dr Benjamin Spock, America's leading authority on child care,
said that human infants should never drink animal milk because it
can cause anemia, allergies and insulin-dependent diabetes.
After the age of 4, a large percentage of people lose the ability
to digest lactose, the carbohydrate found in milk. Studies show that
Asians have the highest intolerance to it. This often results in symptoms
such as diarrhea, gas and stomach cramps.
|
|
|
Click above button to link to 'What's Wrong With Dairy' feature.
|
Cows and buffaloes used for dairy production are injected with dangerous
hormones to increase milk flow. One such hormone is prolactin. This
chemical filters into the animals' milk and ends up in the stomachs
of milk-drinkers. Prolactin is known to cause spasms and muscle contractions
in humans. Oxytocin is another hormone injected into animals used
for milk. Oxytocin is generally used to induce labor in pregnant women.
When injected into cows or buffaloes, it causes the animal's uterus
to painfully contract. Oxytocin causes a hormonal imbalance in women
and girls and is considered harmful to the eyes.
Sometimes a stick is poked into the uterus of the animal (a practice
called 'phookan' or 'dhoom dev'), causing great pain and distress,
to bring about the gush of more milk. This milk sometimes contains
blood. Urea is often added to animal milk to prevent it from curdling
as a result of the movement of the milk truck.
What's more, milk producers often add worse things than just water
to milk to increase their profits. They also add paint emulsifier,
detergent and even the deteriorating mush of dead worms.
The best sources of healthful calcium come from channa, dal, almonds,
cashews, figs and green leafy vegetables. Soy milk and bean curd are
excellent replacements for milk and cheese.
Dairy Foods’ Secret Ingredients Can Be Deadly
Milk is unhygienic, contaminated with hidden ingredients that are
unsavoury, such as earthworms and urea, some potentially devastating
to human health, like E. coli, staphylococcus, antibiotics
and cancer-causing pesticides. The reports that follow reveal dangerous,
common milk contaminants that have many researchers and health experts
agreeing that standards must be raised and consumption levels drastically
reduced-or eliminated altogether.
The
Hindu 12 February 2003
‘Unsatisfactory hygienic practices in the production and retailing
of milk in Kerala, particularly by societies, highlights the need
for strict quality control in the milk industry to safeguard public
health. This was the finding of a recent survey carried out by the
College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Mannuthy . . . The survey
showed that five out of the 40 samples contained E. coli,
indicating faecal impurities or contamination from water sources.’
Business
Line 25 July 2000
‘According to a recent news report, caustic soda and chemicals
such as hydrogen peroxide are used liberally to increase the shelf-life
of milk. Dairy owners also use harmful chemicals such as zentamycin
in the milk.
‘Intake of these chemicals can cause diseases in the intestine
and are harmful for the eye. They are particularly harmful for infants
and children and can be life-threatening. Continuous intake of zentamycin
has the potential to cause cancer as well.’
The
Hindu 17 March 2002
‘Aflatoxin is one of the mycotoxins that contaminate agricultural
products and it has assumed economic importance because of its influence
on the health of humans and livestock, and on the marketability of
agricultural products. Aflatoxins are carcinogens and their influence
to cause liver cancer is enhanced by the presence of the Hepatitis
B virus, Dr. Reddy told a three-day meeting on “Strategies for
reducing aflatoxin levels in groundnut-based food and feeds in India”
in Hyderabad recently.’
The Times of India 30 July 2003
‘A study conducted by Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI),
a city NGO, has come up with worrisome results - high quantities of
toxins like aflatoxins, anti-biotics, agro-chemical residues, pus,
spore-forming bacteria and chemicals like sodium carbonate and urea
have been found. The study indicates that Mumbaiites are consuming
a cocktail of contaminants which may cause illnesses like liver cancer,
gastro-enteritis, viral fever, body ache and weight loss.
‘Conducted by renowned testing expert Dr A R Shenoy, the study,
based on 100 samples collected from all over the state, emphasises
… the poor diet of cows and buffaloes and their unhygienic surroundings
as the main source of contamination.’
Pesticide
News September 1993
‘A recent nation-wide survey of food contaminants, conducted
by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), revealed excessive
levels of a cancer-causing fungal product in cereals and toxic metals
in other food products of India. It has also detected high levels
of pesticide residues in cows’ milk and metals like arsenic,
cadmium and lead in infant canned products and in turmeric.
‘Over 1,600 of the 2,205 samples of cows’ milk tested
had pesticide residues, with “widespread and excessive”
residues of DDT and HCH in samples collected and analysed from 12
provinces. DDT residues were found in 82% of the milk samples, one-third
of which were above the tolerance limit of 0.05 mg/kg. The maximum
level of DDT detected was 40 times above the tolerance limit. The
ICMR task force found HCH residues in at least 80% of the samples.
The intake of beta HCH in some parts of Andhra Pradesh were twice
the acceptable levels.
‘HCH, also known as BHC, which is more acutely toxic than DDT,
has been used in India since 1949. It is the most widely used pesticide
with annual consumption exceeding 60,000 tonnes. It is thought that
the average Indian dietary intake of HCH exceeds that of the US and
UK by a hundred fold.’
Pesticide
News September 1994
‘Dr GS Toteja, who summed up the ICMR report assessing residues
in milk and infant foods, pointed out that from 2,205 samples of bovine
milk 85% of the milk samples contained HCH isomers (alpha, beta, gamma
or delta) above the tolerance limits. In the case of gamma-HCH, 28%
of samples were above the tolerance limit of 0.01 mg/kg as set out
under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act on a whole milk basis.
In the case of DDT, 82% of the milk samples were contaminated, about
37% of these above the tolerance limit of 0.05 mg/kg on a whole milk
basis.
‘The highest HCH contamination was in the State of Andhra Pradesh,
followed by Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. In Maharashtra, 74% of DDT samples
exceeded the upper limit. Of the 186 samples of baby foods (of 20
commercial brands), DDT was present in about 70% of the samples and
HCH in 94%. Out of 32 Indian states, 25 had not been taking residue
samples from milk.’
InterPress
Service 3 January 2000
‘Infant milk formulas and bottled milk were no safer. Of some
186 samples of 20 commercial brands tested by the Indian Council of
Medical Research (ICMR), 70 percent showed DDT contamination. Dr.
Kathpal’s studies in north and north-western India also showed
80 to 90 percent of bovine milk in the region contaminated with DDT
resulting from pesticide contamination of fodder and feed concentrates.
“Up to ten percent of samples collected from the states of Haryana,
Gujarat, Delhi and Maharashtra showed DDT levels above the maximum
residue limit (MRL) of 30 ppm,” Kathpal said.’
The
Hindu 18 April 2003
‘The former Local Administration Minister, Theni C. Jayakumar
(TMC), today alleged during question time in the Assembly that milk
sold through some private agencies in Pondicherry was totally adulterated.
Earthworm and urea were being used by sellers and this adulterated
milk was freely available in the market.’
The
Tribune 5 August 1999
‘July was a revelatory month; on the 10th, two trucks with bags
of skimmed milk powder stopped at Udaipur in Rajasthan. Those instrumental
in the “stopover” of the trucks were found adulterating
milk powder with various substances, including crushed soapstone,
which is usually used for making sculptures.’
Eggs Are Cholesterol Bombs
The yearly consumption of eggs in India in the 1950s was 5 million. By 1993, it had reached 10 billion. This growth is largely due to National Egg Coordination Committee advertisements, which present eggs as desirable foods. Eggs are, however, cholesterol time bombs, containing more than 200 mg each. Each egg contains about 13.6 percent protein and 13.3 percent saturated fat. Any dal is better, with 24 percent protein and only 1.3 percent unsaturated fat per 100 g. Eggs are often contaminated with bacteria, especially salmonella (one of the leading causes of food poisoning), and worms and also contribute to heart disease and other serious health problems.
'Of all the diets we have out there to choose from, the vegetarian [diet] is obviously the best. Everything else [is] a compromise.'
—William P. Castelli, MD, Harvard Medical School
Vegetarianism Decreases the Risk of Food Poisoning
Food poisoning and bacterial infections are common occurrences in India; however, adopting a vegetarian diet can decrease one's risk of contracting infections like salmonella, listeria, campylobacter and E. coli.
Beauty Without Cruelty's 'A Vegetarian Lifestyle' tells us that the source of salmonella is usually raw meat, poultry, milk or eggs. Clostridium perfringens mainly come from poultry, meat, flies, cockroaches and animal excreta. Animals in Indian slaughterhouses are often killed on blood- and feces-drenched floors. Staphylococcus aureus is usually caused by drinking milk from cows and goats. Brucella, the source of which is milk, leads to arthritis, fever and infertility in humans.
