Wednesday, November 23, 2011

World Meatless Day, Nov 25 (Friday)

Would you go meatless for the environment? What about for health?

This Friday, Nov 25, is World Meatless Day also known as International Vegetarian Day.

According to Dr P. Vythilingam, current president of the Malaysian Vegetarian Society, there are more than one billion vegetarians in the world today, with about one million in Malaysia. And the numbers continue to grow, which should be proof enough that human beings can and do survive on a non-meat diet.

Research has shown that vegetarians are less at risk of heart disease, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, cancers, bowel disorders, gall and kidney stones and osteoporosis.

If not for health, other compelling reasons for us to go vegetarian would be for the sake of the environment and animal welfare. And most importantly, anatomically, humans are not equipped to handle consumption of meat.

Industrial farming practices do indirectly lead to the health problems faced by non-vegetarians in terms of how the animals are bred and slaughtered, and the meat produced, according to Dr Vythilingam.

The good doctor further pointed out that there are a lot of antibiotics pumped into the animals to keep them healthy in otherwise harsh living conditions. There are the pesticides and DDT sprayed on the corn used for feeding livestock. And to make chickens grow faster, they are injected with hormones which can cause hormone-related cancers.

And whenever a cow is taken for slaughter, it becomes stressed and this increases the adrenaline inside its body, and this, in turn, affects the person who consumes the meat.

Further stress is inflicted on the animals in the form of the cutting of a pig’s tail (to prevent them biting each other in crowded pens), or the “debeaking” of a chick, all done without anaesthesia.

“They say the amount of DDT that is in livestock feed is 13 times more than the DDT on vegetables,” said Dr Vythilingam. “That’s a very dangerous level.”


Source: TheStar.com

Many people believe that a vegetarian diet lacks certain nutrients and vitamins needed for balance and health. It need not be so. A vegetarian meal that contains grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables will ensure a balanced diet. Iron and calcium can be found in leafy greens. Almonds, chickpeas and soyabeans also contain calcium, while grains provide protein and fibre. Vitamin B12 is only needed in microscopic amounts, and most breads today are fortified with it.

On the other hand, a non-vegetarian diet contains more fats and cholesterol. The fact is, because the stomach has to work harder to digest meat, people often feel tired after a non-vegetarian meal.

Non-vegetarians are also exposed to preservatives like nitrites and nitrates which are carcinogens. Animal diseases including mad cow disease, Japanese encephalitis, bird flu are also hazards to contend with which there are no such things in vegetables.

Let's take a look at the movement in the US and what people are doing.

From Wikipedia:

Meatless Monday – Every Week, go totally meatless on Monday – an international campaign that encourages people to cut out meat on Mondays to improve their health and the health of the planet. Reducing meat consumption by 15% (the equivalent of one day a week) lessens the risk of chronic preventable illness and has a strong positive impact on the environment. MeatlessMonday.com offers weekly meat-free recipes, articles, tips and news. Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative of The Monday Campaigns Inc. in association with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The program follows the nutrition guidelines developed by the USDA.

Source: MeatlessMonday.com


Sources:
- The Star.. Greens for Life
- Wikipedia
- Meatless Monday

11 comments:

  1. We have no plastic bag on Saturdays and not meatless on Mondays. Wonder we have Blogless day in future as its 'killing' our time & our eyes if we are not careful haha? tQ for the info Bananaz got no problem becoz he is a vegemeatarian..hehe ~;).

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  2. I'm like Bananaz. "Vegemeatarian"kakakka

    And I love my bananas too. One banana a day, keep "unplugged" colon at bay. wakaka

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  3. ooopss, there's such a day?? i don't even know and aware of!! errr, sorry but i think i had some heavy pork chops for dinner yesterday~~ :D

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  4. Surely the want every day also OFF. :p

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  5. I have just come back from Kuala Lumpur, if I go there again are there any places that you would particularly recomenc eating at?

    If you want to see where I did go check out:

    http://i-am-right-here.blogspot.com/

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  6. I'm moving towards for a fish and vegetable diet. Chickens are incredibly hard for me to give up... they taste too good. =p

    Hello there, my Happy friend!

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  7. Bananaz, vegemeatarian, I like that! LOL

    Lina, bananas help for you? Bananas are supposed to work for diarrhea. Perhaps your fiber diet is the real hero? LOL
    Oh well, whatever works..

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  8. SK, this day is Friday, yesterday. So, did you go vegetarian?

    Tekkaus, I'm sure but then again it's Monday off for pigs in the country. Did you know that?

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  9. Hi Ranrah, hope you and Josh enjoyed your visit with us. You mean vegetarian restaurants?

    Here in Malaysia esp in the bigger cities there are vegetarian restaurants serving authentic 100% meat-free food. Unfortunately, they are just not many enough to be spotted easily. However, if you don't mind not having a strict veg diet, you can order vegetarian dishes in all Chinese restaurants whose chefs would be happy to cook up some delicious meatless dishes with all sorts of greens available, tofu, mushrooms and the like.

    Thanks for stopping by.

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  10. Hi there Shingo! That's healthy living and which we should all move towards, really. How are you? Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to stop by. :D

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  11. "Research has shown that vegetarians are less at risk of heart disease, hypertension, obesity, diabetes, cancers, bowel disorders, gall and kidney stones and osteoporosis."

    - truly indeed, but some research tells that you need to have a balance diet, where meat is in the food pyramid.

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