“The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking is more than just a collection of 120 Indian recipes: it is a taste of that special fusion of wisdom and beauty that is Ancient India. The recipes are so easy to prepare that you’ll wonder how they could taste so good. Once you try some, you’ll know why they have become worldwide favorites of the friends and guests of the Hare Krishna movement. You can read about the advantages of vegetarianism and the arts of eating, of serving, and of combining dishes to get the most pleasure and the most nutrition from your meals. And, for the spiritually curious, there is an introduction to Krishna Consciousness, the world’s oldest philosophy. Whatever you’re looking for in a cookbook - a few new recipes, a healthier diet, or a new outlook on life - The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking will fulfill your desire with the magic touch of Old India.”
Scott Smith, Associate Editor, “Vegetarian Times” Magazine
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Health and Nutrition
From the book "The Hare Krishna Book of Vegetarian Cooking" by Adiraja Dasa
"Can a vegetarian diet improve or restore health? Can it prevent certain
diseases?
Advocates of vegetarianism have said yes for many years, although they
didn't have much support from modern science until recently. Now,
medical researchers have discovered evidence of a link between
meat-eating and such killers as heart disease and cancer, so they're giving
vegetarianism another look.
Since the 1960s, scientists have suspected that a meat-based diet is somehow related to the development of arteriosclerosis and heart disease. As early as 1961, the Journal of the American Medical Association said: "Ninety to ninety-seven percent of heart disease can be prevented by a
vegetarian diet." Since that time, several well-organized studies have
scientifically shown that after tobacco and alcohol, the consumption of
meat is the greatest single cause of mortality in Western Europe, the
United States, Australia, and other affluent areas of the world.
The human body is unable to deal with excessive amounts of animal fat
and cholesterol. A poll of 214 scientists doing research on arteriosclerosis
in 23 countries showed almost total agreement that there is a link between
diet, serum cholesterol levels, and heart disease. When a person eats more
cholesterol than the body needs (as he usually does with a meat-centered
diet), the excess cholesterol gradually becomes a problem. It accumulates
on the inner walls of the arteries, constricts the flow of blood to the heart,
and can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, and strokes.
On the other hand, scientists at the University of Milan and Maggiore
Hospital have shown that vegetable protein may act to keep cholesterol
levels low. In a report ot the British medical journal The Lancet, D.C.R.
Sirtori concluded that people with the type of high cholesterol associated
with heart disease "may benefit from a diet in which protein comes only
from vegetables."
What about cancer? Research over the past twenty years strongly suggests
a link between meat-eating and cancer of the colon, rectum, breast, and
uterus. These types of cancer are rare among those who eat little or no
meat, such as Seventh-Day Adventists, Japanese, and Indians, but they are
prevalent among meat-eating populations."
Another article in The Lancet reported, "People living in the areas with a
high recorded incidence of carcinoma of the colon tend to live on diets
containing large amounts of fat and anmal protein; whereas those who live
in areas with a low incidence live on largely vegetarian diets with little fat
or animal matter."
Rollo Russell, in his Notes on the Causation of Cancer, says, "I have found
of twenty-five nations eating flesh largely, nineteen had a high cancer rate
and only one had a low rate, and that of thirty-five nations eating little or
no flesh, none had a high rate."
Why do meat-eaters seem more prone to these diseases? One reason
given by biologists and nutritionists is that man's intestinal tract is simply
not suited for digesting meat. Flesh-eating animals have short intestinal
tracts (three times the length of the animal's body), to pass rapidly
decaying toxin-producing meat out of the body quickly. Since plant foods
decay more slowly than meat, plant-eaters have intestines at least six
times the length of the body. Man has the long intestinal tract of a
herbivore, so if he eats meat, toxins can overload he kidneys and lead to
gout, arthritis, rheumatism and even cancer.
And then there are the chemicals added to meat. As soon as an animal is
slaughtered, its flesh begins to putrefy, and after several days it turns a
sickly gray-green. The meat industry masks this discoloration by adding
nitrites, nitrates, and other preservatives to give the meat a bright red
color. But research has now shown many of these preservatives to be
carcinogenic. And what makes the problem worse is the massive amounts
of chemicals fed to livestock. Gary and Steven Null, in their book, Poisons
in your Body, show us something that ought to make anyone think twice
before buying another steak or ham. "The animals are kept alive and
fattenned by continuous administration of tranquilizers, hormones,
antibiotics, and 2,700 other drugs. The process starts even before birth
and continues long after death. Although these drugs will still be present
in the meat when you eat it, the law does not require that they be listed on
the package."
Because of findings like this, the American National Academy of Sciences
reported in 1983 that "people may be able to prevent many common types
of cancer by eating less fatty meats and more vegetables and grains."
But wait a minute! Weren't human beings designed to be meat-eaters?
Don't we need animal protein?
The answer to both these questions is no. Although some historians and
anthropologists say that man is historically omnivorous, our anatomical
equipment - teeth, jaws, and digestive system-favors a fleshless diet. The
American Dietetic Association notes that "most of mankind for most of
human history has lived on vegetarian or near-vegetarian diets."
And much of the world still lives that way. Even in most industrialized
countries, the love affair with meat is less than a hundred years old. It
started with the refrigerator car and the twentieth-century consumer
society.
But even in the twentieth century, man's body hasn't adapted to eating
meat. The prominent Swedist scientist Karl von Linne states, "Man's
structure, external and internal, compared with that of the other animals,
shows that fruit and succulent vegtables constitute his natural food." This
chart (under construction) compares the anatomy of man with that of
carnivorous and herbivorous animals.
As for the protein question, Dr. Paavo Airo, a leading authority on
nutrition and natural biology, has this to say: "The official daily
recommendation for protein has gone down from the 150 grams
recommended twenty years ago to only 45 grams today. Why? Because
reliable worldwide research has shown that we do not need so much
protein, that the actual daily need is only 35 to 45 grams. Protein
consumed in excess of the actual daily need is not only wasted, but
actually causes serious harm to the body and is even causatively related to
such killer diseases as cancer and heart disease. In order ot obtain 45
grams of protein a day from your diet you do not have to eat meat; you
can get it from a 100 percent vegetarian diet of a variety of grains, lentils,
nuts, vegetables, and fruits."
Dairy products, grains, beans, and nuts are all concentrated sources of
protein. Cheese, peanuts,and lentils, for instance, contain more protein
per ounce than hamburger, pork, or porterhouse steak.
Still, nutritionists thought until recently that only meat, fish, eggs, and
milk product had complete proteins (containing the eight amino acids not
produced in the body), and that all vegetable proteins were incomplete
(lacking one or more of these amino acids). But research at the Karolinska
Institute in Sweden and the Max Plank Institute in Germany has shown
that most vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, and grains are excellent sources
of complete proteins. In fact, their proteins are easier to assimilate than
those of meat-and they don't bring with them any toxins. It's nearly
impossible to lack protein if you eat enough natural unrefined food.
Remember, the vegetable kingdom is the real source of all protein.
Vegetarians simply eat it "direct" instead of getting it second-hand from
the vegetarian animals.
Too much protein intake even reduces the body's energy. In a series of
comparative endurance tests conducted by Dr. Irving Fisher of Yale
University, vegetarians performed twice as well as meat-eaters. When Dr.
Fisher knocked down the nonvegetarians protein consumption by twenty
percent, their efficiency went up by thirty-three percent. Numerous other
studies have shown that a proper vegetarian diet provides more
nutritional energy than meat. A study by Dr. J. Iotekyo and V. Kipani at
Brussels University showed that vegetarians were able to perform physical
tests two to three times longer than meat-eaters before tiring out-and the
vegetarians fully recovered from fatigue three times more quickly than the
meat-eaters.
1989, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.