Health File

New Delhi, 14 July 2008

Watch Your Diet

GROWING APPEAL OF VEGETARIANISM

By Radhakrishna Rao

The once predominantly meat-eating West is slowly, but surely discovering the virtues of vegetarianism, whereas an increasing number of Indians are gradually turning to high calorie non-vegetarian diet. A sedentary lifestyle, along with the consumption of high calorie food including non-vegetarian dishes is being blamed for a variety of disorders and ailments affecting the upwardly mobile urban Indians. Not surprisingly then many western nutrition experts are driving home the point that Indians’ shift in dietary preference could be an invitation for a variety of health hazards.

In fact, a recent countrywide survey of food habits carried out by the Hyderabad-based  National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in association with the country’s premier institution, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Lady  Irwin College, Delhi and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, has revealed that today 64 per cent of Indians are non-vegetarians compared to 40 per cent in the early 90s.  

Chief researcher Dr. Kalpagam Polasa, points out that “barring North India, where 40 per cent of people eat meat, in other regions a majority are non-vegetarians”. Even as Indians are increasingly relishing non-vegetarianism dishes, there are growing numbers of health conscious westerners taking to vegetarianism, not long back considered an integral part of India’s cultural and spiritual tradition.

Recently, in Taiwan, a million people, including intellectuals and opinion leaders vowed to give up their non-vegetarian dishes as part of the campaign “No Meat, No Heat”. Their argument was that livestock farming meant to support the feeding habits of a large section of the global population contributes to the green house gases emissions responsible for global warming. On a more practical plane, research studies have gone to show that while it takes 20.9 sq.m land to come out with one kg of beef, to produce the same amount of vegetables, just 0.3 sq,m of land  is sufficient

The argument of nutritionists is that with more than 800-million people leading a semi-starvation existence, diverting a huge volume of water, grain, energy and land to support feed stock farming to satiate the gastronomic taste of a section of the population can not but be an “atrocious luxury.” Besides, haven’t we recently been told that the ever-increasing affluence in China and India are to blame for a huge growth in the demand for food and meat needed to produce it, despite are finding it offensive?

Meanwhile, the movement for vegetarian way of life has received a shot in the arm from a research study carried out by Martha Clare Morris and her team at Rush University Medical Centre. The study has suggested that a diet packed with vegetables might shore up memory and afford protection against Alzheimer’s. “People who ate more vegetables could think faster and had better memories,” she stressed. 

In the mid-90s, following the outbreak of mad cow disease (BSE), there was a massive shift towards vegetarianism in many parts of West Europe. According to a spokesman of the London-based Vegetarian Society, vegetarian food is the “food of the future and a veritable taste of things to come”. He points out that more and more people are switching over to a vegetarian diet because they are more in tune with debates revolving round compassion.

Another significant factor contributing to the growing strength of vegetarian population is the increasing health consciousness among the younger generation.  Indeed, the increasing incidence of cardiac disorders in India is traced to the growing shift towards junk food and a non-vegetarian diet, which is heavy in cholesterol and saturated fatty acids.

Recent researches go to show that in a non-vegetarian diet only 60 per cent of the content is useful for the human body, whereas the remaining 40 per cent contains harmful and toxic substances. In distinct contrast, vegetarian food is rich in fibres, credited with sustaining a “healthy and active life”. Moreover, the fibre-rich vegetarian food reduces the chances of contracting coronary diseases.

Not very long back, a vegetarian diet used to be considered inferior to a non-vegetarian diet, with many under the impression that mutton, chicken fish e al made for energetic ingredients. However, now there is a growing realization of the “healthy and environment-friendly” nature of vegetarian food. About four decades back, vegetarianism was an unthinkable proposition in the west. However, following the resurgence of interest in the West in Hindu philosophy and yoga, vegetarianism started gaining ground in the West. Today, food chains offering exclusive vegetarian food are flourishing all over Western Europe and North America.

Vegetarian food is also known to induce a peaceful state of mind. A study of about 4,000 central jail prisoners in Gwalior showed that about 80 per cent of the 250 prisoners, who were non-vegetarian were irritable and belligerent. In contrast, almost 90 per cent of those subsisting on a vegetarian diet were cool tempered and docile. It is surmised that non-vegetarian nutrients release certain “excitatory” neuro-transmitters which cause a short temper. On the other hand, a vegetarian diet releases “inhibitory” neuron-transmitters that help develop a docile personality.

Hunza tribls, who live in the depths of the mountainous areas of Pakistan occupied Kashmir are free from all sorts of ailments because they lead an intensely natural way of life and depend largely on a lacto vegetarian diet. A study on these tribals between the ages of 90 and 110 years, has revealed that even at the advanced age they had normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels on account of the vegetarian food.

The American Journal of Nutrition attributes the greater immunity of vegetarians to cancer and heart strokes to dietary fibres. America’s Yale University conducted a comparative study of 116 vegetarians and an equal number of non-vegetarians and established a psychological logic for the superiority of vegetarian diet.

In all, vegetarians who would complain of being the butt of jokes now have reason to be proud of their diet, which makes for a healthier and longer life.—INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)