OK. Perhaps you don’t feel particularly compassionate towards animals, birds and fish. Then consider a vegan diet for personal health reasons.
It is a thing of beauty to live a much more healthy and happy life from food growing out of the Earth.
Most primates, such as chimpanzees, gorillas and monkeys are herbivous – with rare exception. Numerous other animals are herbivorous such as horses, elephants, giraffes, cows, sheep and so on. Chimpanzees, our closest primates, similar in brain and bone strucure as ourselves, eat food grown out of the ground. The genetic difference between humans and chimps is less than 2%. We may have adapted to the comsumption of animals, birds and fish but that does not show that the diet of the omnivore benefits our genetic make up.
· On average, a vegan weighs 20 lbs less than a meat eater leaving less strain and pressure on every part of the body.
· A vegan does not consume cholesterol and saturated animal fat in meat, eggs and dairy products giving protection to the heart, vital organs and arteries.
· A vegan diet, rich in vitamins, antioxidants and fibre, decreases the chances of suffering from diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke and certain cancers due to unhealthy diet with excess of fat, sugar and salt.
We can find wonderful vegan meals world-wide. Exceptionally tasty, plant based diets include
- Greek salad (minus feta cheese)
- green and red curries with coconut milk from Thailand,
- hummus and falafels from the Middle East
- Mexican beans and tortillas.
- pasta, vegetables with herbs from Italy,
- rice, curry and lentils from India,
- tofu and stir fry from China and Japan,
Vegan food is often quick and easy to prepare with instructions from cookbooks, recipes on line and visual cooking on YouTube. We may view acts of renunciation, such as stopping eating creatures with a face, as an austere approach to daily life whereas such changes can contribute to opening up our world and our senses. The act of renunciation becomes an expression of compassion.
The concept ‘vegan’ sounds rather austere for a consciousness riddled and addicted to maximising pleasurable sensations through the taste buds, no matter what the cost to fellow creatures, the environment, present and future generations.
We don’t have a single concept in the English language that expresses delight in healthy vegan meals worldwide, tasty, nutritious and diverse.
May all beings eat mindfully, consciously and with wise discernment.