Vegetarian

[BatesMotel]

How many of you are vegetarian's? And if you are, did you switch your diet to that because of martial arts?

Kathy

[Mr. Bao]

Being a vegetarian is good for monks or spiritual minded people who aren't interested in mudane things. I am not kind of spiritualist nor believe it's moral wrong to eat meat like a tiger doesn't question his feeding habits.

We human beings have teeth designed by nature or god to eat meats and vegs. I eat both with much great pleasure and thank god or nature for those simple things.

[David]

Mr Bao, I take issue with you logic! What we were given primariily by God was adaptability. Adaptability in having a learning and discerning mind and adaptability in having a non-specific physiology.

There is NOTHING in our makeup which makes it clear that we should eat meat - only that we can. Meat-processing teeth and enzymes are just tools for us to use when we need them.

BateMotel, I turned vegan partly as a result of training ie it came about partly because of the way training makes me think about myself and the world at large. Later I found that the UK's senior instructor in my style had been vegan for many years which, obviously, I found reassuring.

What brought the question up?

-David

[Repulsive Monkey]

I moved from vegetarianism to meat eating when I found that it elavated my level of health through blood deficiency, and I have never felt better. If the abstaining from meat is for religious or spiritual purposes thaen so be it, but even from a Chinese Medicine point of view, for one's health it reallycan be a good idea to include some kind of meat in your diet especially as a martial artist.
This is my own view and opinion, and also that of TCM so please feel free to ignore it if it doesn't apply to you.

[Mr. Bao]

David:

Greetings. I hope you didn't get me wrong. I am not telling people what I think God meant for humanity to eat? Because I don't know god personally and never met the old man. My point was that we have teeth which can process both meats and vegs. I personally eat both meats and vegs.

But you say: "There is NOTHING in our makeup which makes it clear that we should eat meat - only that we can. Meat-processing teeth and enzymes are just tools for us to use when we need them."

Can we argue the same for vegs. too accordingly? What does our make ups tell us then? If you want to purly eat Vegs only, that is your own choice.

[Laughing Cow]

I would say go with what your Body demands.

Some people will need certain foods more than others.
I also think that your lifestyle will have an influence on your diet.

A person that is day-in & day-out physically more active than your average Desk pusher will need a different diet.

Personally, I think we have both so that we can survive hard times.
During the ice-age Fruits and Vegetables were at a minimum and humans needed to rely more on meat for sustance.

Cut either out completely and you might deprive your Body of nutrients it might need to reach optimum health.

Just my thoughts naturally.

[prana]

my 2 cents:

I think human beings can and are made to consume meat. On the other hand, I also think that human beings are consuming too much more than their fair share of meat. I am not 100% sure of this, but I think in the old days, when people hunted and came home, they would share the catch between family. However, most of their food consisted mainly of grains, vegetables and fruits.

Today, we are consuming too much meat. More so that we ever. Our omnivorous colon is not as "straight" as those of a carnivore and will require much more fibre to help flow.

From the perspective of spirituality, again humans are eating too much meat. Taking into perspective, if humans killed their own catch by hand and slaughtered it for food, I think many would become vegetarian and those that wont, will reduce the consumption of meat. There will be a few of course, who will find slaughtering does not hurt them, hence will have more meat.

I think eating meat can be a spiritual act, but one that requires a great deal of samadhi (single pointed concentration). As taking of meat, one bears also some of the karmic debts of the deceased, and carries it with him/her. Especially the ones that did the slaughtering. However, if one is a good person, and kills only to provide as food, and not prone to overeating of meat (or any food for the matter) this could also be considered neutral.

Since the level of samadhi is extremely high for those dedicated onthe spiritual path, it might be worthy of abstaining from eating of meat, in fact, the Lankavatrata sutta was added with this as a precept (if I remember correctly). THe historical Buddha DID say that we should respect and follow the precepts layed out by his disciples as precepts to be followed. Hence those who follow the lankavatara sutta, those of the Hinayana and Mahayana paths, should abstain from eating meat as the rules layed out.

For the layperson, who hasnt got much regard for meditative spirituality, it might be worth just eating "enough" and not worry about it too much. I think that would be better for the benefit for all beings.

Of course these are my opinions and it is based strongly on Buddhism, and are only my 2 cents worth. But this be a can of worms so I leave it at that

[StarBoy]

I'm kind of a vegetarian...not really by choice. I'm a poor-ass grad student and can't afford meat.

Seriously though, I eat meat. I don't often red meat often (a burger once in a long while, or venison whenever I can get my hands on some), I get plenty of iron elsewhere (and I think that's pretty much the only boon of specifically red meat, right?), but I eat a decent amount of white meat and fish.

The whole "our jaw was designed for this or that" is kinda iffy. It's really personal choice/belief on that one. As for the colon/intestine/appendix deal, I agree only as it applies to red meat, but not so much with lean meats like chicken or fish. It takes quite a while to push all the waste from red meats through. Not to say you shouldn't eat red meat (I'll never stop), but a small amount now and again isn't such a bad thing.

However, the most compelling debate is the taste of venison or burgers from Shady Glen (greatest burger joint under the sun). 'Nuff said.

Man, I'm getting hungry...

[SevenStar]

There's speculation that meat consumption is what was responsible for the change in the size of our brains.

[TkdWarrior]

well i m vegetarion due to 2 reason.
culture
habbitat...
in India mostly ppl r vegs because of these two reasons...
Meat in our terms r considered Hot food item which is not good for Warm places like india they normally gel with our climate
the consumption of Meat is more in Winter time due to very same reason, but those ppl who eat doesn't care much(much like my aunt's family they eat it daily)

kathy i m just intrested what brought this question??
-TkdWarrior-

[Cheese Dog]

Well Kathy, I tried vegatarianism in the past, for a couple of months. It didn't work for me at all, I was tired, weak, lost muscle, lacked energy, and couldn't lose fat. However, I know a few people who are healthy and happy on a veg diet. So I beleive it is a matter of individual metabolism.

If you are interested, you should read "Eat Right for your Type" by Dr. Peter D'Adamo. It explains how different bloodtypes are differant body chemistries and need different diets. IMO, he makes a lot of sense.

[David]

Mr Bao, good come-back! I answered you incompletely. There is medical evidence that eating meat as a staple is terminal. Most cancers only happen to meat-eaters.

Sevenstar, you're probably right: vegetarian neanderthals probably did have larger brains than us omnivorous cro-magnon 'fighting monkeys'

Cheesedog, I had exactly the same experience as you when I first tried vegetarianism (not veganism). After 2 months I was so depressed and weak that I gave up and perked up. Because now I'm fine as a vegan, I think the metabolism is irrelevant - the problem I had was that I didn't then know how to be vegetarian. The only eating ideas I had were what I couldn't eat. Now, it's different. I know how to shop, cook and eat vegan and I know what I need and everything's cool.

I heard the blood-types diet has been discredited. I looked into it and then left it alone for that reason.

As various people have mentioned, in our natural state dietary selection is dependant on environmental conditions. That does not signify that eating in accordance with our environment is healthy it's just expedient, a manifestation of our adaptability. There are health/availability circumstances under which I would eat meat rather than be sick.

I've said it before, veganism is the Diet of the Future. Our level of understanding of nutrition and dietary health has more or less proven that veganism is the only way to go. Every other option has health drawbacks.

Just going vegetarian is one big step for man and one small step for mankind.

Where's BatesMotel?

-David

[Ish]

what health drawbacks would there be for eating as a vegan but also having chicken a few times a week?

[TkdWarrior]

The only eating ideas I had were what I couldn't eat. Now, it's different. I know how to shop, cook and eat vegan and I know what I need and everything's cool.

ok anyone having problems with eating ideas in vegeterians
then i should say "Look for Indian food"
need ideas? just give me a Ring

what health drawbacks would there be for eating as a vegan but also having chicken a few times a week?

well hav a go once a while but eating few times would be almost being like Non Veggies
i eat Non Veg just for change of taste.
-TkdWarrior-

[Laughing Cow]

I ocassionally used to eat at a purely vegetarian restaurant.

They even served steaks and Burgers that tastes like the real thing.

Yummy.