Vegetarian Facts...
These simple vegetarian facts will hopefully help you to decide whether or not the vegetarian diet is in fact viable and if it is indeed a diet you think you would like to consider starting. Many experts will say, and have said in fact, that we humans are omnivores, capable of eating a mixture of foods including; starches, vegetables and meats. Well in my opinion, and I believe many other people's opinion too, is that although we are capable of eating meat, we aren't ideally designed to eat it at all really.
I would like you to ask yourself this one simple question; If you were out walking in an orchard, you were not hungry or starving, you were surrounded by fruit trees and a rabbit runs past, is it your true nature to consider trapping or chasing that rabbit, or do you feel more inclined to reach up and pick a fruit?
Now, if you found yourself in the same situation and you had your faithful dog with you and he had a full belly and was even a bit overweight let's say, he would absolutely most definitely feel the need to chase that rabbit for sure. Why? Because it is a dog's true nature to do so because unlike us, he is designed to eat meat and wants to chase any small living creature even when not hungry and therefore has no real need to catch it in order to survive. It is just his natural instinct to chase that rabbit and try to kill it. A domesticated cat will do exactly the same thing whether it's hungry or not.
Most carnivorous animals will instinctively chase other animals in this way because it is their true nature to chase, kill and eat the flesh of other living creatures. In many cases a dog won't even know what to do if it does actually catch the prey. I've seen this myself with a past dog of my family that once caught a squirrel. This is proof of his/her confusion between instinct, lack of real hunger and his/her domesticated lifestyle.
Domesticated dogs and cats just cannot switch off this ingrained instinctive reaction to chase potential prey. Cats usually kill and often eat what they catch even when not hungry though. They are superior hunters.
Canine Versus Human Digestion
Vegetarian Fact #1
Using a dog as an example for the purpose of making a comparison with us humans, their entire digestive process is very different to ours. Starting with the dog’s mouth, it is very large in relation to the size of the head to aid the seizing and killing of its potential prey, as well as aiding the method in which a carnivore grabs large sizes of flesh before swallowing whole. In the wild a carnivorous animal like this would need to get as much food in as quick as possible for obvious survival reasons.
Vegetarian Fact #2
There are few facial muscles on a dog as they would only reduce the wide gape of the mouth necessary to eat their diet of meat in the manner that they do (taking big bites and gulping their food down quickly). The jaw joint of a dog, as with all carnivorous mammals, is a simple hinge joint that lies in the same plane as the teeth. This type of joint does not allow the dogs jaw to move sideways like that of a human’s jaw, as a dog does not chew its food like us humans or vegetarian animals like sheep or cows do. The main muscle used to bring the upper and lower jaws of a dog together is called the temporalis muscle. It’s a very large and powerful muscle situated on the side of its head capable of applying the required force to tear muscle and break bone.
Vegetarian Fact #3
A dog’s teeth are obviously very different to ours with the rear molars shaped like cutting blades to slice the food, as opposed to our relatively flat molars that are used for grinding and similar to those of fruit and vegetable eating animals? The front incisor teeth of a dog are very pointed and sharp for gripping and tearing tough muscle, and the very long and sharp canines are obviously for more of the same type of thing. A dog’s teeth also have gaps between them to stop meat strands from getting trapped between them which allows for a more efficient gripping and tearing action. In addition to this, the entire shape and closing action of the jaw of a meat eating mammal encourages the blade-shaped molars at the back of the jaw to slide past each other to create a type of slicing motion similar to that of a pair of scissors.
Vegetarian Fact #4
A dog does not have the enzyme called Amylase in his saliva to break down starches as we do because he is a true meat eater and is not designed to eat starchy foods. We humans on the other hand do have amylase in our saliva to help break down the starch in our diet, and to help convert it into sugar before it leaves our mouth to enter our stomach. A dog has far greater stomach acid which is needed for its carnivorous diet. It needs the acid to break the meat down for digestion and assimilation by the body.
Vegetarian Fact #5
It is well documented that our internal digestive structure is more closely related to the fruit eating monkeys of Asia than any other creature on this planet. Do we humans resemble a lion or an Orang-utan??
Now I am not saying that I wouldn't eat meat if I found myself in a crisis, like being stranded somewhere for example and it was a matter of life or death if I didn't try to kill an animal and eat it. No, I am not saying that at all. What I am saying is, that I do not believe we humans are meant to eat dead flesh, and the vast majority of us today don't need to eat it either as there are so many healthy and tasty alternatives available on offer today that make being a vegetarian good for me and you and even better for the animals too.
We humans stand upright which suggests to me that we are spiritually superior to other animals and yet we still kill animals to eat them when we clearly have no need to. We have the intelligence and ability to prepare and eat other types of food that are not from slaughtered and butchered innocent animals and that are not only fit for human consumption, but actually very wholesome and tasty, and yet we still think we should eat meat or we might die of a lack of protein or malnutrition, seriously?
Now I am not in any way judging anybody for eating meat, no, I am only trying to point out, that in my opinion I think it would be a great thing if more people at least tried to have a go at eating some of the many meat alternatives that are available in abundance today.
Vegetarian Fact #6
It's definitely much cheaper to eat a meat-free diet and it's most definitely much healthier not to eat meat too, providing of course you're making certain that you are getting all the right nutrients that your body needs from all the healthy, vegetarian foods available today.
Vegetarian Facts about Protein
This one question is probably the most asked question relating to vegetarianism. The protein myth, that a vegetarian doesn't get enough protein, is in my opinion, absolute poppy-cock! Yes of course we all know that the body is made of protein and amino acids and vitamins and minerals etc. etc. and that meat does contain high levels of protein because it is in fact created by protein during its development and therefore made of protein.
A very important vegetarian fact is that meat is so much harder to digest for us humans than a natural carnivore such as a dog for reasons already discussed. This is a basic scientific fact let alone a vegetarian one. The human being does not have the fundamental basic requirements to consume animal flesh on a regular basis over a long period of time. The person's health will almost definitely suffer in the long run if this type of dietary lifestyle is continued.
So, if we humans don't have the same basic tools to consume meat as say a dog, then surely we aren't really supposed to eat meat at all? Surely not?
Getting back to protein, there is actually quite a lot of protein in vegetables, pulses and legumes such as; lentils, chickpeas, beans, nuts and seeds, as well as grains such as; rice, millet and quinoa. The soy bean is very high in protein too as is Tempeh and similar products. Also dairy products such as; milk, cottage cheese and yogurt all have good protein content too. All these foods are of course vegetarian as they do not consist of dead animal flesh. This simple vegetarian fact is a very important point that in my opinion throws the whole concept of 'not enough protein in the vegetarian diet' right out of the window!
If you eat a well-balanced diet of natural foods that your body was designed to eat your health will benefit tenfold. It may take a little time for you and your body to become accustomed to it, but with patience and continued diligence the simple vegetarian facts outlined on this page will hopefully seem more obvious to you so eating a vegetarian diet will become more and more natural to you over time. As a result, your health will benefit immensely, especially your heart and arteries!
Food For Thought
I believe all animals are equal and to me personally each is 'sacred'. They are living creatures created by nature/God, and we so-called 'intelligent' human beings should be more mindful of how we treat them. If you look at any animal that is in pain or suffering in any way and it remotely upsets you in any way at all, then that should tell you something about YOU...
Back To TopPlease Help the World's Wildlife by Supporting WWF and add your name to their petitions to help support their on-going great work. It won't matter what we eat if there's no world left!
Please click the link below to help...
https://www.wwf.org.uk
