Go vegetarian with a vengeance

Being a vegetarian is good for your health in more ways than one. In Australia, a group of men were made to go on a vegetarian diet for six weeks. In this time it was noted that their blood pressure was lower as compared to the one record-ed earlier, says Anup Deb Nath.

VEGETARIANS are not in a minority in India, yet are often perceived as "weaker" particularly by those who are non-vegetarians. But as this ‘back to the roots’ culture is catching on, health experts are realising many health benefits of being vegetarians.

A fact that more and more health experts now agree upon is that a diet with excessive meat can damage the arteries and lead to coronary heart disease. Cancer of the bowel, pancreas, prostrate and colon can also occur due to a diet with too much of meat in it.

Most people feel that as vegetarians do not eat any meat, fish or eggs, their diet, lacks protein. This is because meat, fish and eggs are considered to be protein rich foods. This is not true, since it is now recognised that the best sources of protein (in declining order) are eggs, milk, fish, cheese and whole rice. These actually provide the body with better quality of proteins than are found in red meat or poultry.

Other foods rich in protein and readily available to vegetarians are nuts, seeds, grains as well as pulses. These may not provide all the proteins that the body needs but they do provide some part. There are 22 amino acids in proteins and out of these there are eight that the human body cannot make. They have to be supplemented in the body through proper food. An egg is considered a valuable source of protein as it contains all these eight amino acids and that too in the correct concentrations. Grains and pulses contain different, though complementary, acids. When they are combined correctly, you will get all the essential amino acids needed. Beans on toast, pulses (dal) and rice these are easy vegetarian options, which are perfectly balanced for what the body needs in the lacking amino acids.

A study carried out in Israel on two groups of people of similar age, and social strata where one group was vegetarian and the other non-vegetarian, revealed that only 2 per cent of vegetarians suffered from high blood pressure while in the non-vegetarian study group there were about 26 per cent.

Eliminating meat from our diet will in no way reduce our protein intake. In fact, it would also cut down on the fat we consume along with the meat. Even lean meat, with all visible fat removed from it, still contains large amounts of fat (up to 60 per cent or more of the total weight) once the water content is discounted. For those who are unable to entirely eliminate meat from their diets even cutting down on the number of times you eat non-vegetarian food is a step in the right direction.

Being a vegetarian is good for your health in more ways than one. In Australia, a group of men were made to go vegetarian for six weeks. In this time it was noted that their blood pressure was lower as compared to the one recorded earlier. When they returned back to eating meat after six weeks, their blood pressure rose up to the original levels again. So eating less meat and chicken could actually lower your blood pressure without any medication.

Vegetarians should ensure that they get enough of vitamins B12, B1, B2, D and iron. Dairy foods such as milk, butter, cheese curd etc are rich in vitamin B12. Pulses, wheat, cereals and yeast are good sources of vitamin B1 (thiamine) and vitamin B2 (riboflavin). Your body can get all the vitamin D it needs from sunshine, though the secondary food sources for this vitamin are fish, fish oil and margarine or butter.

Meat and fish, particularly sardines, are considered to be the best source of iron, but soya and dark green vegetables like spinach can provide you with all the iron your body needs. Supplementing your diet with a fruit or vegetable that is rich in vitamin C will actually help you increase the iron absorbed by the body from food by as much as four times.

A vegetarian diet has enough variety, as nature has provided us with abundant fruits and vegetables. These can help keep our food different and exciting. A vegetarian diet, which includes a variety of foods like vegetables, fruits, nuts, cereals and dairy products can actually give you a diet that is lower in fat and higher in fibre content, with an adequate amount of protein in it.

Best of all vegetarians have been found to be slimmer, healthier and longer living. So eat healthy and live healthy.

Rabbits do eat carrots, but human beings too can benefit from them.

This feature was published on November 21, 1999