Vegetarian Facts

-Approximately one quarter of the world’s population follows a vegetarian diet.

– Vegetarians live longer and get sick less often because they get more vitamins, minerals, fiber and unsaturated fats. It has been established that the diet of long-livers consists mainly of products of plant origin, primarily cereals, legumes, vegetables, fruits, nuts and sometimes dairy products. The use of meat food leads to increased formation of protein breakdown products, enhances the process of decay in the intestine, increases the load on the excretory system and other organs, and causes acidification of the internal environment of the body. It is generally accepted that excess animal food adversely affects health. The internal organs prematurely wear out, genetic errors accumulate, the body is full of slags, and the body quickly ages, burdened with numerous diseases. The diet of vegetarians is most consistent with the needs of the human body, contributes to the prevention of diseases and the achievement of active longevity.

– It is believed that on average, a vegetarian will save about 760 chickens, 5 cows, 20 pigs, 29 sheep, 46 turkeys and half a ton of fish.

– Many animals are vegetarians, including rhinos, elephants, giraffes, guinea pigs, rabbits, gorillas, hippos and goats.

– Vegetarians do not eat fish!

– Vegetarians are characterized by low rates of obesity, they are less likely to have coronary heart disease and high blood pressure.

– The word “vegetarian” comes from the Latin word “vegetus”, that is, lively and energetic.

– Vegetarians are no more prone to iron deficiency anemia than meat eaters! Even those who eat meat get a significant amount of iron consumed from vegetarian sources.

– Vegetarians have a higher rate of mental development. The British Medical Journal reports that the smarter you are, the more likely you are to be a vegetarian. The University of Southampton in the 70s conducted a 20-year observation of 8,000 people. Scientists have discovered that the mental development rate of people who became vegetarians by the age of 30 was 5-10 points higher than average.

– Vegetarianism promotes spiritual growth. Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, Shintoism forbid eating meat. True, undistorted religions such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism advocated vegetarianism. The basic commandment of all world religions is “Thou shalt not kill.”

– Vegetarians were our ancestors. Some people think that people have eaten meat throughout their history, but this is not so. Anthropologists claim that the person has moved away from a vegetable diet and began to eat meat since the last ice age, when ordinary food, consisting of fruits, nuts and vegetables, became unavailable, and ancient people had to eat meat in order to survive. And because a person eats meat, he did not add to himself either health or longevity. Unfortunately, the habit of eating meat was preserved even after the end of the ice age – either by necessity (as among the Eskimos and tribes living in the far north), or due to traditions and ignorance. Scientists’ excursions back centuries have shown that before many peoples ate plant foods. Historical documents indicate that the ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Jews considered fruits and cereals the main part of their diet. Priests of ancient Egypt never ate meat. There are ancient records that the Egyptians preferred to die better than to be accused of such a crime as eating meat. The Romans in the early period of the republic were also vegetarians. Caesar’s soldiers ate cereals. It was forbidden to eat meat to the inhabitants of Ancient Sparta. The first Christians were vegetarians. Vegetarianism was common among the greatest Incan civilizations. The Taoists of ancient China were also vegetarians. And now there are peoples – vegetarians.

– On pure vegetarianism you can live your whole life, on pure meat-eating – several weeks. In ancient China there was such an execution: the condemned was fed only one boiled meat. Putrefactive processes began in a person’s intestines, and after a few weeks he died in the most cruel agony from intoxication.

– Many famous historical figures were vegetarians. Among vegetarians there were many thinkers, philosophers, writers, athletes: Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, Plutarch, Leonardo da Vinci, Voltaire, Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Leo Tolstoy, Bernard Shaw, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Schweizer, Albert Schweizer Einstein, the phenomenal weightlifter Georg Gakkeshmidt (nicknamed the “Russian lion”), Yuri Vlasov, Valentin Dikul and thousands of other famous and respected people.

– Vegetarians are the best lovers. By the way, the Kama Sutra was created by vegetarians.

– Vegetarians are humane people who contribute to saving the planet. One vegetarian annually saves 80 animals and half a hectare of forest.

– Vegetarianism in most cases is more economical than meat eating.