Pari's Blog

For ages, sages, philosophers, and spiritual masters across many cultures (from Pythagoras to the Thirumoolar) have promoted a vegetarian diet, stressing that a meat based diet is detrimental to ones well being (mental, physical, and spiritual). It is only in this last decade people have come to acknowledge many health problems as directly related to the consumption of meat (such as cardiovascular diseases, colon cancer, kidney stones, liver disorders, blood poisoning,…).

Humans are essentially herbivores. Early humans started off as vegetarians (having evolved from small tree dwelling primates), cultivating crops, gathering roots and berries. They became hunters only after mastering the first stone weapons – this also allowed them to survive in in harsh/cold climates (where cultivation wasn’t possible, and they had to rely on meat). Also, there is mounting evidence that the first civilizations (Indus, Niles, and Tigress) were predominantly vegetarians. In these early civilizations, the evidence of cultivation, farming, and irrigation predominates that of advancements in hunting and butchering tools.

Evolutionary Evidence

“If you declare that you are naturally designed for such a diet, then first kill for yourself what you want to eat. Do it, however, only through your own resources, unaided by cleaver or cudgel or any kind of ax. [i.e. use your claws, teeth, and muscles to kill the animal]”

- Plutarch (Greek philosopher)

Evolutionary evidence #1: Meat putrefies (decomposes into toxic waste) very rapidly. Plants take much longer time to decompose (even then it is hardly toxic; it is usually easily de-toxified by our body). That is why in animals that are largely herbivores (cows, deers, monkeys, etc) the intestinal tract is at least 6 times longer than the body length. The longer length and longer time in the intestinal tract in herbivores is needed to efficiently break down the grass, roots, etc. and extract the nutrients. Carnivores (lions, tigers, leopards, …) have shorter intestines – only 3 times longer than body length because meat putrefies rapidly producing complex toxic waste that the body cannot handle – hence the shorter length to flush it out. The human intestinal tract is like that of herbivores – i.e. about 6 times longer than the body length.

Evolutionary evidence #2: Herbivores have stomach acid which is about ten times weaker than carnivores. Our stomach acid, like that of herbivores is ten times weaker than carnivores.

Evolutionary evidence #3: Herbivores have alkaline saliva and has the enzyme ptyalin. In carnivores the saliva is acidic, with no ptyalin. Our saliva, like that of herbivores is alkaline and has ptyalin.

Evolutionary evidence #4: Carnivores have well developed incisors and canine teeth to assist in tearing and shredding flesh. Herbivores have well developed pre-molars and molars to assist in chewing stems, roots, leaves, grass, … they have poorly developed incisors and canine teeth. Our teeth bears more similarity to herbivores – poorly developed flat incisors instead of pointed (your two front teeth) – and very small and blunted canine teeth.

Evolutionary evidence #5: Carnivores have sharp claws for tearing shredding into the meat/skin of other animals. Herbivores don’t. We, like herbivores also don’t have claws.

Evolutionary evidence #6: Carnivores perspire mainly through nose or tongue to keep cool. Herbivores perspire through millions of pores in their skin. Humans, like herbivores, keep their body cool by perspiration through millions of pores in skin.

Psychological Evidence

If a meat-eater were to not camouflage his meat (meat products are all factory processed, hiding the gory details), if one were to hunt his own food – such as taking a stone and bashing the life out of a chickens head, then skinning it, he/she would recoil from the suggestion of eating chicken.

The truth of animal slaughter is not at all pleasant. Commercial slaughterhouses are like visions of hell. Screaming animals are stunned by hammer blows, electric shock, or concussion guns. They are hoisted into the air by their feet and moved through the factories of death on mechanised conveyor systems. Still alive, their throats are sliced and their flesh is cut off while they bleed to death. Why isn’t the mutilation and slaughter of farm animals governed by the same stipulations intended for the welfare of pets and even the laboratory rat?

Many people would no doubt take up vegetarianism if they visited a slaughterhouse, or if they themselves had to kill the animals they ate. Such visits should be compulsory for all meat-eaters.

- from “Fit Food for Men”, A.D. Andrews, (Chicago: American Hygiene Society, 1970)

One might argue, “but plants have feelings too…”. Every living organism has pain in proportion to its level of evolution. For example, for protozoan (single-celled organism) if you poke it with a needle, it triggers a reaction in the cell membrane which in turn triggers a chain of events that causes it to react. For it pain is a very simple chemical reaction. As organisms become multi-cellular and more complex they develop more complex “reactions” to pain. They develop complex neural networks, which go on to developing different interpretations of pain… feelings, emotions. In addition, they go on to developing complex relations, social behaviors, paternal/maternal instincts, empathy, attachment, pain, sadness, suffering, longing, separation, awareness of life/death, expressions of joy, jubilation, playfulness, etc. One can observe this by separating a calf, baby elephant, baby chimpanzee, or baby whale from it’s mother.

One can also observe that, the more eggs/offspring an organism has the less well developed it is in terms of feelings, etc. Let’s go up the ladder: insects lay thousands of eggs, fish lay hundreds of eggs, birds even less. Cats, lions, tigers, bears, meerkats, lemurs, pigs, dogs have dozens of offspring. Mammals like cows, whales, sheep, monkeys, apes, usually bear one offspring. The higher up, the more likely they will have strong feelings, paternal/maternal instincts of nurturing, grooming, playing, playmates, etc. They will mourn their deaths, feel pains of separation from family, etc.

People are subconsciously aware of this, that’s why people moving to vegetarianism first tend to stop eating animals higher up in evolution like whales, monkeys, elephants, cows, pigs, sheep,… and work their way down to stop eating chickens, fish, crabs, shrimp, oysters, clams. The later not having the level of complexity found in animals higher up. A fish is not likely to mourn the loss of another fish, but still will suffer the pain of being speared and killed. Oysters and clams even less, because of their level of neural networks is very small (almost no brain).

So, it is really not about whether something has “feelings” or not, but really has to do with the complexity of the organism (its feelings, social behavior, maternal and paternal  instincts) to approach that of humans. It is all about where you draw the line. People do unconsciously draw the line. For example, not many people in a civilized society would eat domesticated animals (even if they “tasted good” – such as dogs, cats, parrots) nor eat other humans either for that matter. If a whale could talk (or conversely if you could understood its language) would you brutally harpoon it, drag it half alive for miles in blood, screaming, and slaughter it? Would you do that to a domesticated animal? So, people do have a good sense of ethics or compassion, but it is overridden by their lust for taste. So it is we who conveniently (and quite hypocritically) draw the line to suite our tastes (literally).

Applying the above reasoning to plants, the “neural network” of plants are not that evolved (you know that plants don’t have a brain right?). They also do not have complex relations (for example, no paternal/maternal social behaviors towards its young). Their sense of pain is not as accentuated as some might make it out to be. In addition plants are designed to be eaten. For example, plants in the course of evolution have evolved attractive flowers, fruits, vegetables, specifically to attract animals to take/eat them for seed dispersal. Without which plants will not be able to spread out and survive in a competitive environment.

Common Arguments

In spite of the above reasoning, meat-eaters bring up the following common (and lame) arguments:

• That meat is an important source of protein.
  One need only take a look at how muscular (and protein-packed) cows and elephants are. Or take a look at eastern masters of martial arts who have exceptionally fit bodies, and they are pure vegetarian (in fact, with very simple vegetarian diets). Not to mention there is close to 500 million vegetarians globally (if you include the growing number of vegetarians by choice, as well as the number of vegetarian Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains). Not only are vegetables a better sources of protein (with less long-term side-effects) but also have vital micro-nutrients that are not even found in meat (like rich in anti-oxidants).
• Vegetarians have health problems too.
  With processed foods and environmental toxins, health issues are there for everyone. Both meat-eaters and vegetarians have health problems. But meat consumption adds a host of additional diseases and ailments. In that regard, vegetarians are significantly healthier and at less risk for health problems than meat-eaters. Vegetarians are far more likely to be trim, fit, healthy, and live longer than meat-eaters.
• Vegetarian food is not tasty.
  Well, vegetarian foods when prepared properly is definitely tasty (Indian recipes being the masters of a rich variety of vegetarian preparations). I think what they really mean is that vegetarian foods don’t taste like meat. For that one might try vegetarian meat substitutes. These days you can get vegetarian hotdogs, bologna, fish, and chicken. However, the soy protein used in meat-substitutes is heavily processed to attain the meat-like texture and taste. So while it may be healthier than meat, it is not as healthy as straight/unprocessed vegetarian food.
• There is hypocrisy everywhere.
  Yes, but this is no small hypocrisy when one actual kills a sentient social being for a most petty thing as satisfying one’s lust for the taste of meat. Also, this is not really about hypocrisy, but about one’s sense of ethics or compassion.

Dangers

As mentioned in the Evolutionary Evidence #1, the digestive tract of carnivores are 3 times the body length versus the 6 times the body length of herbivores (and humans). So, what happens is that when we eat meat, the meat rots and putrefies in our intestines before it gets flushed out – harboring very toxic chemicals in the intestine – for a long time. This is why meat eaters have the highest risk of colon cancer, and also why doctors advice meat eaters to avoid red meat whenever there are any intestinal conditions. The human body was never meant to be bombarded with these foreign and toxic chemicals from meat, which the body just cannot and does not know how to handle/detoxify.

The animals are kept alive and fattened 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.

- Gary and Steven Null, in Poisons in your Body

The above quote includes adding preservatives like nitrates (which also gives meat its “fresh” bright red color – otherwise it would turn a corpulent grayish color by the time it reaches the shelves in grocery stores). It also includes the “fright/fight or flight” hormones that are rapidly released by the animals body into the blood stream of the animal when it is under extreme stress, duress, fear, or panic – which is the typical case in a slaughterhouse where each animal hears the wailing terrified cries of the animal before them or the sight of the animal being slaughtered, or for that matter when it itself is slaughtered/mutilated alive piecemeal at a time. These hormones don’t disappear. They remain in the meat that is consumed by humans. Because of the close similarity of animal hormones these same hormones trigger similar symptoms in human beings. Hence why you see a higher level of stress, anxiety, depression, aggressive behavior, short temper, impatience, etc. in meat eaters (especially the more raw you eat the meat). There is some truth in the saying, “you are what you eat”. This can be easily put to test: try switching to a healthy vegetarian diet for few months, and you’ll see a significant improvement in your mental well being.

Conclusion

The only justification for killing of other sentient beings for food is taste gratification. There no health benefits. The same goes for fur, leather, and animal-tested cosmetics. I find it particularly funny (and conflicting) when a meat-eater says he or she “loves animals”. I’m tempted ask them, “what, you mean on your plate?”.

It is a semi-personal choice about being meat-eater or vegetarian. I would only hope one takes time to reflect on the ethics of it at least once in a while as opposed to trying to rationalize it (which is quite dishonest). A time comes when one draws the line or sets the bar higher, and says “enough!” and starts to become a vegetarian. The change does come from within, but articles like this help at least make people more aware and get them to start thinking/questioning.

So do a favor (to the cruelty against animals and to people health), and pass this article on. Or read this article a few times to give you enough arsenal to defend yourself against irrational arguments of meat-eaters. Not to mention, start calling them by what they are – “meat-eaters”, why give them the honor of euphemisms like “non-vegetarian”?

Statistics:

Number of animals per year, killed for their meat (not including aquatic animals – fish, shrimp, etc – which can number in billions):

• in USA: 42 million cattle, 115 million pigs, 4 million sheep, 9 billion chickens, 300 million ducks, 300 million turkeys, 26 million ducks.
• Worldwide: 232 million cattle, 1.1 billion pigs, 470 million sheeps and goats, 17 billion chickens, 1.1 billion turkeys.

See Also

• Meet your Meat
• Hinduism and Vegetarianism