It’s the season of Lent, and many Christians practise abstinence from non-vegetarian food. Give it a thought, on most occasions — be it a wedding or puja or festival or even during mourning — we are told to be vegetarian. Those who practise alternative medicine, like Nadi Vaidyam, nature cure or Ayurveda, insist on following a no-meat diet. Why is vegetarian food considered “pure”?
Experts explain
Satya Sindhuja, a Nadi Vaidyam practitioner, vouches for its effectiveness in curing ailments. One of the conditions for those who want to undergo this treatment is to follow a vegetarian diet. She’s a vegetarian too.
Sindhuja says, non-veg food is equivalent to killing an animal, that has a body, nervous system, vertebrae, a brain... just like a human body. “It’s ‘bali aharam’, gives negative energy, digestion takes very long and all the negative traits in an animal’s behaviour are passed on. It does affect one’s health,” she says. Nowadays, animals are injected with all kinds of chemicals and hormones, and we are taking that in too.
In simple terms, it’s much easier to digest vegetarian food and the diet is also rich in antioxidants, fiber, vitamins, low in calories, sugar, fat, and reduces the risk of diabetes, heart disease, obesity.
“The modern day definition of vegetarianism is to do with being good for the environment, but ancient India had different definitions,” says Meera Baindur, associate professor, Manipal College of Philosophy and Humanities. She adds, “Vegetarian food isn’t actually considered ‘pure’, rather it is seen in terms of sathvik or tamasik food. In the ancient scriptures, food eaten was based on caste. Sathvik food, considered to be good for meditation and thinking, was consumed by brahmins while tamasik food, which made people compliant, was consumed by castes who had labour-intensive work. Somewhere in the middle ages, with the popularity of great teachers like Swami Vivekananda and others, people were encouraged to consume vegetarian food.”
“The scriptures allow you to eat what you want, provided one doesn’t cause difficulty or trouble for others. In that respect, animal killing should be avoided,” says Stoka Krishna Dasa, President of the Hare Krishna Movement Chennai. He adds, “Also, there’s a belief that offering vegetarian food to the Gods, and eating the remnants as prasad, awakens the dormant God consciousness in a person.”
Although I turned vegetarian to promote animal rights, the primary reason was that I wanted to remove all negativity from my diet and the cruelty meted out to animals is irrefutably negative,” says Harrish Iyer, activist, who adds that the health as well as emotional benefits of being a vegetarian are also tremendous. “I’ve found that after leaving non-vegetarian food I have become much more emotionally calmer and balanced. Unlike earlier, now I don’t get angry at all.”
Non-veg food doesn’t fall under the ‘clean food’ category because ‘meat spells death, blood, killing, harm, pain, foul smell, dirty...’
“Plant foods on the other hand, define peace, harmony, fragrant, soothing, cleansing, nurturing, happy which give you the natural feeling of positivity,” says Nutritionist Tripti Gupta. “The truth remains that animal protein is far more thermogenic (heat producing) as compared to plant protein which mentally results in more anxiety, anger and stress if not channelised correctly through exercise or activity. Hence, the chances of agitation, nervousness and extreme behaviour can be more. However, it’s not necessary that vegetarians do not display such negative behaviour or emotions. Though I completely agree that behaviour of an individual cannot be based merely on food, but I also believe that vegetarian food is your true detox.”
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