Why should we eat vegetarian food?
Why should we eat vegetarian food? In our society, many of us no longer like vegetarian food so much. We love meat very much. In fact, In the long run, it will be very bad for the body. Let’s share why we should eat vegetarian food and related information. Why eat vegetarian food 1
1. First of all, this is because if we eat more vegetarian food, we can protect endangered animals and protect the natural ecology. Nowadays, people like to eat meat, and there are many wild animals, so if we eat more vegetarian food, we can protect endangered animals to a certain extent.
2. Secondly, eating more vegetarian food can also improve our body’s immunity. This is mainly because vegetarian food is rich in vitamins, and if we take in enough vitamins, we can improve our immunity, so we should eat more vegetarian food.
3. Finally, eating more vegetarian food can help us prevent cancer. Many of us suffer from cancer, mainly because the meat we eat contains a large number of parasites and bacteria, so if we replace meat with vegetarian food, we can very well prevent cancer.
Notes:
In a society like ours, there are fewer and fewer vegetarians, so we should still promote vegetarianism and protect our natural ecology. This is the only way , our society and environment will be better. Why eat vegetarian food 2
1. Vegetarianism is a food culture, and people who practice this food culture are called vegetarians. They do not eat the meat of any living and emotional animals, and vegetarianism has now become a new and healthy lifestyle. In European and American countries and major domestic cities, more and more people are becoming vegetarian. A "vegetarian trend" of eating more vegetables and fruits and less meat is emerging. In recent years, with the increase in the incidence of "diseases of affluence" such as hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and obesity caused by overnutrition, as well as the influence of the weight loss craze for health and body beauty, vegetarianism has gradually become a A fashion.
2. Vegetarianism is a well-known concept in European and American countries, and vegetarians will be respected by others. In Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, due to social progress, it is also a common concept. In more developed areas of the country, people are gradually understanding and recognizing vegetarianism. But in other vast urban and rural areas, most residents still just have enough food and clothing. For them, vegetarianism should be a very distant and difficult thing to understand. Some people want to be vegetarian but are afraid of being viewed as alien by others. Since our vegetarian diet is both civilized and healthy, we should declare it confidently and describe the benefits of vegetarianism in a way that others can accept without causing resentment to others. Gradually, people around us will shift from understanding to recognition. The stress is reduced.
3. This is our declaration: Whatever has wings to let him fly, whatever has fins to let him swim, whatever has feet to let him walk, whatever has breath to let him breathe, whatever has life to let him live long. If you could save 5,000 or more lives without doing anything, would you be willing to do it? The vast majority of people will answer simply: yes. This thing is vegetarianism. (Let us make the simplest calculation. Since you no longer eat any meat, you will eat at least one less chicken or duck every month. From now on, let us assume that you still have 40 years to live, so 480 chickens and ducks have survived because of you; because you don’t eat fish, at least 4 fish (including small fish) survive every month, so in 40 years, 1920 fish have survived because of you; because you don’t eat fish, Eat all aquatic animals, such as shrimps, razor clams, crabs, and eels. Since you have saved thousands of lives, you have saved more than 5,000 lives in 40 years, but you spend very little to do such a thing. , just need to change your eating habits
4. Benefits of eating a vegetarian diet
1. Prolong life;
2. Lose weight;
3. Reduce cholesterol levels;
4. Reduce the chance of cancer, especially rectal cancer and colon cancer;
5. Less parasites. and the like;
6. Reduce the burden on the kidneys;
7. Easy to store. Plant-based proteins are usually easier to store than animal-based proteins;
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8. Low price;
9. Vegetarian food can purify the large intestine, prevent constipation and hemorrhoids, beautify the skin, and stabilize the mood;
10. Vegetarian food can purify the large intestine Blood vessels reduce the occurrence of chronic diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity;
11. Vegetarian food has very low saturated fat content, which can lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels;
12 , The human body is alkaline. Eating too much meat can easily make the body acidic, which increases the chance of getting sick. A vegetarian diet can help neutralize the acid-base of the body.
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2. There is also a vegetarian diet, which means eating vegan for a few days in a month;
3. There is also a long-vegetarian diet, which means not eating all foods for many years. Meat;
4. Foreign new vegetarians have found a compromise, mainly vegetarian food, supplemented by dairy products, eggs, and even a small amount of fish and chicken.
In order to facilitate others when socializing, it is more appropriate to eat convenience foods.
Five internationally popular types of vegetarian food
Lacto-vegetarian (eating dairy products, no eggs, meat);
Ovo-vegetarian (eating eggs, Do not eat dairy products and meat);
Lacto-ovo vegetarian (eat both eggs and milk, but not meat);
Vegan (do not eat meat, eggs, milk, honey and other animal products) Food);
Strict vegetarian diet (no meat, eggs, milk, honey, nor the use of furs, leather shoes, belts, etc.). Why should we eat vegetarian food 3
1. Is it human nature to eat meat or vegetarian food?
The word vegetarian was first seen in "The Book of Songs·Fa Tan": "That gentleman is not a vegetarian." . There are many terms for vegetarian food, and the "Book of Songs" calls it "vegetarian meal". There is a record of "Qi (Zhai) Precepts" in "Book of Rites·Fang Ji"; in "Zhuangzi·Nanhua Sutra" it is called "vegetarian food", such as: "Traveling on a vegetarian diet is like a boat without ties."
In ancient Chinese, "vegetarian" has three meanings. One refers to vegetarian food. As stated in "Kuang Mao Zheng Su" and "Nanhua Sutra", "Vegetarian food refers to those who only eat vegetables, fruits and food. "There is no meat or wine"; the second refers to eating raw fruits and melons; the third refers to eating well without merit. The "vegetarian meal" in the Book of Songs includes the above three meanings. The vegetarian meal we are talking about today only involves the first meaning.
According to the modern definition, a vegetarian diet is a diet that does not eat meat, poultry, seafood and other animal products, as well as dairy products and honey. Some strict vegetarians are extremely averse to animal products and do not use products that come from animals or engage in occupations related to killing animals.
Strictly speaking, vegetarian food refers to temple dishes and Taoist dishes that prohibit animal raw materials and "five pungent" or "five meat" dishes. "Five meats" is also called "five pungents", which refers to the five pungent vegetables, namely onions, garlic, buckwheat, leeks, and onions. But to modern people, any plant that grows from the land and water is considered vegetarian.
The earliest vegetarian book is "Qi Min Yao Shu" written by Jia Sixie (sixth century AD), an agriculturist in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The ninth volume of the book contains a special chapter on "vegetarian food", which is the earliest and most comprehensive one so far. Concentrated vegetarian recipes.
The so-called "equalizing the people" means living a good life, which is the key to "equalizing the people and optimizing the people". Vegetarian food was very popular in the Song Dynasty. According to records in "Tokyo Menghua Lu" and "Mengliang Lu", there were vegetarian restaurants specializing in vegetarian dishes in the shops in Bianjing in the Northern Song Dynasty and Lin'an in the Southern Song Dynasty.
"Shan Jia Qing Gong" by Lin Hong of the Northern Song Dynasty recorded for the first time the techniques of "vegetarian and meat dishes" such as "fake fried fish", "wine meat sandwich" and "vegetarian steamed chicken", and also about mushrooms. Detailed records of species, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, etc.
There are also very detailed records about vegetarianism in "Eating Medicine" written by Jiu Yin in the Tang Dynasty and "Vegetarian Theory" written by Xue Baochen in the late Qing Dynasty. Xue Baochen was an envoy to foreign countries in the late Qing Dynasty. His former residence is in Suzhou. If you go to Suzhou, you can visit it. I have visited it and it is very elegant.
Is it human nature to eat meat or vegetarian food? It is said that the founder of Buddhism, Sakyamuni, believed: "Eating meat is just an acquired habit. We are not born wanting to eat meat."
From the perspective of vegetarians, eating meat will definitely endanger life. , this is not the innate nature of human beings, nor is it what human morality should promote.
People have different views on fasting. Some people say it is a dirty bath. In fact, vegetarianism also refers to bathing and fasting. During the Han Dynasty, Buddhism was introduced to China, and vegetarianism became more popular. Ordinary people would eat vegetarian food when they encountered it, and meat when they encountered it.
In the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, advocated vegetarianism and took the lead in being a vegetarian for life. He wrote the "Essay on Cutting Out Alcohol and Meat" to advise his disciples not to drink alcohol and eat meat, because "if you eat meat, you will hinder the Bodhicitta and have no way to practice Bodhisattva." , there is no four immeasurable hearts, no great compassion.” Under the strong advocacy and promotion of Emperor Wu of Liang, Han Buddhism began to form a vegetarian tradition, which continues to this day.
In ancient China, vegetarianism often meant sacredness, solemnity, modesty and solemnity. For some major events such as sacrifices and the eve of a monarch's accession to the throne, the person involved must "be vegetarian for several days to purify his body and clear his mind." From the emperors and generals to the common people, everyone must unite their thoughts and implement them conscientiously.
Lu You of the Song Dynasty recorded in "Notes of Laoxue'an": "When he ascended the throne at the beginning of this year, he ordered vegetarian meals to be eaten on the third, seventh, seventeenth and twenty-seventh of every month." Sometimes executions were even carried out. When serving prisoners, the emperor would also eat vegetarian food to show his caution.
"Zizhi Tongjian·Twenty-two Years of Emperor Taizong's Zhenguan" records: "Every time your Majesty sentences a heavy prisoner, he must order three repetitions and five playings, eat plain food and stop music, because he values ??human life." In addition, the "Book of Rites" records that even when a king or family member dies, they must also be vegetarian. Various rules such as the length of time for vegetarianism are very detailed, so I won't go into details here.
2. Respect for vegetarianism by sages at home and abroad in ancient and modern times
There are many people who have been vegetarians throughout their lives. In addition to Sakyamuni and Master Huineng, thinkers and philosophers Socrates and Rousseau , Plato, artists Leonardo da Vinci and Wagner, writers Shakespeare and Tolstoy, philosophers and mathematicians Pythagoras, scientists Darwin and Newton, Mahatma Gandhi and Nobel Prize winners Rabindranath Tagore, Einstein, Bernard Shaw, Schweitzer and others are vegetarians.
Vegetarian food is very consistent with the health concept of traditional Chinese medicine. Our country has begun to advocate a balanced diet as early as the "Huangdi Neijing" era, which is the so-called "five grains for nourishment, five fruits for help, five livestock for nourishment, five kinds of animals for nourishment, five "Vegetables are for filling" ("Huangdi Nei Jing Su Wen Zang Qi Fa Shi Lun"), among which cereals and fruit vegetables are actually vegetarian.
There are different understandings and classifications of cereals, fruits and vegetables. Many Chinese medicine works have different classification methods, so I won’t go into details here. The "Huangdi Nei Jing" emphasizes that "the thick taste of the paste will cause big boils" ("Suwen·Qi Tongtian Lun"), reminding people to pay attention to dietary coordination and not eat too much greasy food.
Sun Simiao of the Tang Dynasty said in "A Thousand Gold Prescriptions for Emergencies": "Eating will not only cause trouble for people, but the freshest dishes should be eaten sparingly. Food should be frugal. If you are greedy, you will be harmed." The gastrointestinal skin of the elderly is thin, and it is not necessary to eat more. "The "fresh food should be kept simple" means that you must eat less meat food, and do not harm the body due to greed for fresh food, especially the digestion and absorption function of the elderly. Weaker, more attention should be paid.
Sun Simiao further said: "The reason why the elderly are often sick is that they often take too much cold food in spring and summer, and their food is too cold, so their fish, lettuce, raw meat, fishy and cold food are harmful to people. It should be discontinued frequently. "
Regarding vegetarian food, in addition to cereals and fruit vegetables, "Compendium of Materia Medica" also includes tofu, and specifically traces the origin of "the method of tofu to Liu An, the king of Huainan in the Han Dynasty." Liu An of the Western Han Dynasty was the grandson of Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty. He was very passionate and wrote many poems. He was an alchemist and discovered the method of making tofu during the process of refining alchemy.
As the basic ingredient for vegetarians, soy products have greatly enriched the content and varieties of vegetarian food and have been gradually promoted to Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and European and American countries.
Mao Zedong once said to some people, and also to Mr. Yue Meizhong, my professional teacher who treated him: "Movement is the guideline, regular habits, work and rest properly, don't be happy or angry, drink alcohol" A small amount". The few sentences he summarized make sense.
Many poets in ancient times also advocated vegetarianism, and the vegetarian life in Wang Wei's works is also poetic and picturesque, such as "I am the same age as the commoner, eating sweet and vegetable food without having teeth" ("Li She Humanities for Human Sacrifice") , "Set up a crocodile to guard the hare, and fish to watch for the swimming scales. This is for food and drink, not for the sake of hiding. I was born to be pure, and I eat vegetables to get rid of the dust of love." ("Three Poems by Zhang Wudi"). He believes that a vegetarian diet can nourish people's gentle and pure aspirations, be beneficial to indifference to material desires, and make people happy and calm.
Lu You, a poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, praised vegetarian food and was proud of his long vegetarian diet: "If we don't eat meat during the year of Fang Weng, the chopsticks will be extravagant. Jade grain rice is cooked softly with pine and cinnamon, and the eggplant is made with self-made silver sauce." ( "Vegetarian Rice"); "Green water, green leeks, ancient Jia vegetables, water shield and white wild rice are named Sanwu. The heart of the Taiwan is short and the yellow Fengtianchu is not as beautiful as the bear's legs and hump." ("Vegetable Soup"), which is fascinating.
Mr. Sun Yat-sen, the great forerunner of the democratic revolution, also advocated vegetarianism: "Vegetarianism is a wonderful way to prolong life and has been recognized by today's scientists, hygienists, physiologists, and medical scientists. And the Chinese It is especially suitable for vegetarian food.”
He believes: “What ordinary people in China drink is clear tea, and what they eat is light rice, with vegetables and tofu added. These foods are what today’s health experts have discovered. It is the most beneficial to health. Therefore, people in remote areas of China who eat less than alcohol and meat often live longer."
His views on the relationship between vegetarianism and meat and human race are also quite interesting: " Only after the improvement of human livelihood methods did people learn to eat plants. China is a country with ancient culture, so most Chinese people eat plants, while most barbarians eat animals. ”
Early representative of modern Neo-Confucianism. One of them, Mr. Liang Shuming, is known as "China's last Confucian". He has also been a vegetarian throughout his life. In 1960, I accompanied him to Xiamen for a meeting. For more than ten days, he ate vegetarian food every day and felt the richness and deliciousness of vegetarian food.
Speaking of this, you can think about it, if vegetarianism has no real benefits to physical and mental health, how can it be praised by so many sages at home and abroad, both ancient and modern?
3. The positive effects of vegetarianism on health
So, what other reasons make us pay attention to vegetarianism? Is it simply because of protein? Does animal-based diet contain more protein? The answer is not entirely.
Nuts contain a lot of protein, such as peanuts, walnuts, pistachios, cashews, sunflower seeds, etc. These nuts contain a lot of protein.
I once diagnosed Mr. Ji Xianlin, who was 90 years old at the time. When talking about his health regimen, he said: "I have one tomato and ten peanuts every day. I must eat some peanuts every day." . So it seems that eating a few nuts every day is beneficial. Likewise, legumes and grains are also high in protein and should be eaten daily.
Some of the latest foreign reports have also confirmed the positive effects of vegetarianism on health.
In February 2014, a meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) introduced the impact of vegetarian diets on blood pressure (Vegetarian diets and blood pressure, a metaanalysis). This study was retrieved There were 222 articles, of which 7 clinical controlled trial studies and 32 observational studies met the inclusion criteria of this meta-analysis, that is, all were clinical controlled trials or observational studies.
The age of the study population is >20 years old. A vegetarian diet is the exposure/intervention method. The main indicator is blood pressure. The average difference in blood pressure is used as the outcome indicator to evaluate the impact of vegetarianism on blood pressure. This study was designed very carefully, some were parallel controls, some were unblinded studies, and some were randomized controls.
From the results of 32 studies, it can be seen that the blood pressure of most vegetarians has decreased, although the degree of blood pressure decrease is not high. According to international research, if blood pressure drops by 8%, the risk factors for hypertension will be significantly reduced, so this research is still very meaningful.
Overall, 7 clinical controlled trials*** involved 311 participants with an average age of 44.5 years old; compared with omnivores, vegetarians had an average systolic blood pressure reduction of 4.8 mmHg and an average diastolic blood pressure reduction of 2.2 mmHg. mmHg; 32 observational studies*** involving 21,604 participants with an average age of 46.6 years; compared with omnivores, vegetarians had an average systolic blood pressure reduction of 6.9mmHg and a mean diastolic blood pressure reduction of 4.7mmHg.
The researchers concluded that vegetarians have significantly lower blood pressure than omnivores of the same condition, and that a vegetarian diet may be used as a non-drug treatment for lowering blood pressure.
So, should we go vegetarian to improve cardiovascular health? Regarding this issue, in 2014 we published the article "Vegetarian and Cardiovascular Health: Evidence-Based and Thoughts" in the "Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine", hoping to provide some reference for everyone.
In 2012, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Nutrition in Clinical Practice) published a Chinese study (Chinese Lacto-Vegetarian diet exerts favorable effects on metabolic parameters, intima-mediathickness, and cardiovascular risks in healthy men).
Researchers studied the body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, blood lipids and glucose metabolism levels and carotid artery intimamedia thickness (BMI) of 169 lactovegetarians and 126 omnivores aged 21 to 76 in China. IMT) conducted an analysis and calculated the 5- to 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease among people aged 24 to 55 years.
The results show that compared with non-vegetarians, vegetarians have significantly lower BMI, non-HDL cholesterol levels and systolic blood pressure, and their risk of ischemic heart disease is reduced by about 32%;
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Compared with omnivores, lacto-vegetarians have significantly lower blood pressure, non-HDL cholesterol levels, fasting blood sugar and IMT, and their 5-10 year risk of cardiovascular disease is significantly lower.
Judging from the cardiovascular risk curve, vegetarians have a lower risk, while omnivores have a higher risk.
In 2013, JAMA Internal Medicine reported another study (Vegetariandietary patterns and mortality in Adventist health study 2), which involved 73,302 participants at baseline through a quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Evaluate your diet.
The study’s dietary patterns were divided into five types, namely non-vegetarian, semi-vegetarian, pescetarian, lacto-ovo-vegetarian and vegetarian; the number of deaths before 2009 was then determined from the National Death Index to evaluate the vegetarian diet Relationship between patterns and all-cause and cause-specific mortality.
During a mean follow-up of 5.79 years, a vegetarian diet was associated with reduced all-cause mortality and was significantly associated with reduced mortality from cardiovascular, renal, and endocrine diseases. This relationship was stronger among men than among women. Significantly.
The mortality rate of vegetarians is relatively low, while the mortality rate of omnivores is higher. The results of this study confirm that vegetarian food is better than meat food, so don't eat too much meat.
4. Vegetarian food is diverse and has high nutritional value.
I feel that people have different understandings of vegetarianism. Some people are too nervous, and some people are completely negative. There are some misunderstandings in understanding. :
First, it is believed that genetic research will eventually bring us new drugs that can cure all diseases, while ignoring more effective solutions that can be used; second, there is too much emphasis on controlling the intake of certain nutrients, such as Carbohydrates, fats, cholesterol, etc., which makes it difficult to achieve a long-term healthy diet.
Therefore, the diet must be balanced and reasonable to live longer, look younger, lose weight, reduce waist circumference, lower blood lipids, prevent or even reverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and reduce prostate cancer. cancer or breast-cancer risk, prevent diabetes, and relieve constipation.
In short, it is beneficial to eat more vegetarian food and more fruits. Here are some suggestions for people who are trying to be vegetarian. There are several points to consider when choosing a vegetarian diet: First, in the long run, vegetarian food is cheaper than meat; second, you should try to find a vegetarian variety that suits your taste; third, you should try your best to Eat enough; finally, the vegetarian diet should be diversified to ensure that the body receives sufficient nutrition.
A vegetarian diet is not only beneficial to cardiovascular health, but also has particularly significant benefits for human health such as strengthening the body, enhancing immunity, anti-cancer, removing freckles and beautifying the skin. Many studies have shown that compared with meat-based diets, vegetarian diets help people lead healthier lives, and vegetarians tend to live longer.
Currently, many people actively advocate and practice low-carbon lifestyle, and low-carbon life starts with vegetarianism. Vegetarianism is no longer a religious rule or doctrine, but a way of life recognized by many people.
Choosing a vegetarian diet means choosing a dietary habit that is beneficial to your own health, respects other lives, and is in line with the laws of nature. Some people may worry that a vegetarian diet may lead to insufficient nutritional intake. This is indeed unnecessary. Simply check the nutrient content of various meat and vegetarian foods and it will be clear.
Speaking of which, are you interested in trying a vegetarian diet? Let me introduce to you some vegetarian places: Beijing Quan Su Zhai and Gong De Lin, Hangzhou Quan Su Zhai and Xiamen Nan Putuo Temple, as well as Lantau Island in Hong Kong and many other places.
Finally, I would like to summarize my opinion. I believe that no matter whether you are vegetarian or omnivorous, you should still pay attention to the balance between diet and body nutrition supply and demand.