Going
Vegetarian is a new trend all over the world. There are several factors that
has contributed to the rise in number of vegetarians.
Coming to
Ayurveda the situation is bit ambiguous. Ayurveda does not endorse 100% vegetarianism.
There are chapters in old classical ayurvedic books where there is explicit description
about meat and alcoholic beverages. It was not a taboo in ancient India.
But coming
to the current day practice most ayurvedic doctors ask their patients to follow
a vegetarian diet. This is due to the fact that when a patient is on ayurvedic
treatment the decoctions and medicated ghee are given to patient enterically. Especially
in detoxification treatments like panchakarma procedures. If we eat
nonvegetarian food, which in turn are complex proteins and fats can impede with
the absorption of medicines. In some situations, they combine to form toxins.
Moreover,
the meat might contain chemical toxins which might get lodged in deeper cells
of our body, mostly in liver and kidneys, but if the amount goes higher it can
even be stored in other parts of the body like bones and muscles.
The purpose
of Panchakrma procedure itself is detoxification and this is why
meat and panchakarma procedure do not
go hand in hand.
In many
cases doctors insist the patients to on a vegetarian diet even for ‘shamana’
(symptomatic or palliative) treatment. Especially if they prescribe you
medicines that contain shilajith or gulgulu.
There is
also statistical evidence to prove that incidence of many diseases like coronary
artery diseases, hypertension and various types of cancer are more prevalent
among meat eaters.
Being vegetarian is a noble idea, but one must
do that with care because sometimes avoiding meat altogether can derail the nutritional
and absorptive capacity of people. Some even may end up in malnutrition and
poor immunity. Some may feel bloated and more gas formation in our gastrointestinal
tract; especially while trying to eat lentils instead of meat as a suitable protein replacement.
But some people
are able to shift to a vegetarian diet overnight without any problems, especially
if they have a spiritual inclination.
Even though milk and milk products do not come strictly under vegetarian food, it is widley accepted as a 'Satwik' food (the food that nourish our saitly qualities) and this can be a good replacement for protein and fats. Milk products like cheese, yoghurt, butter milk and curd contain probiotics. Probiotics contain many food materials normally milk does not have, this is due to fermentation and other microbial activities. Ayurveda says milk products like curd must not be eaten at night or on a daily basis.
We are
facing unprecedent global warming and climate change; one contributor to excess
carbon to atmosphere is large scale cattle farms, more and more forests are
cleared for grazing and also cattle is the biggest contributor of methane gas
which also adds to carbon in the atmosphere.
So be a
vegetarian for your health and health of our planet Earth.
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