Guest guest Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 Hello: I've been self studying Ayurveda for about 4 years now. From what I've read in books by David Frawley and Atreya Smith, Vegetarianism is the way to go for karmic reasons and also for yogic reasons. My meditation teacher Roy Davis, a disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda also recommends a vegetarian diet, although he has said that fish and chicken are ok on occasion. I've perused the Charaka Samhita and do note that it advises certain meats for different constitutions and also different illnesses. Lately I've met a chiropractor who has gotten interested in nutrition. He seems to think I'm slowly killing myself by being a vegetarian. He has provided the following information to support his case. The following quoted material is from an email he sent me... "http://www.mercola.com/2005/may/28/cholesterol_heart.htm The links at the bottom of the article are good for learning about insulin and leptin which can't be controlled on a carb based, low fat diet. On that subject I am including a link to an article on the weston price page about some nutrition myths about vegetarianism and beef. _http://www.westonaprice.org/mythstruths/mtvegetarianism.html_ (http://www.westonaprice.org/mythstruths/mtvegetarianism.html) Leptin is a very new discovery and correcting leptin and insulin levels are the only was to correct degenerative diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. No amount of high fiber, low fat diet can do that. _http://www.westonaprice.org/mythstruths/mtbeef.html_ (http://www.westonaprice.org/mythstruths/mtbeef.html) " Lately from his coaxing I've dabbled in eating meat again. Although I do recall that for the last four years that I was a strict vegetarian (I did eat dairy and eggs) I had not one instance of sickness and was quite energetic and mentally calm. Since adding a slight amount of meat back to my diet I have caught at least 2 colds in the year and have noticed a dullness and mental unrest in my mind. It is subtle, but noticeable. (Maybe I'm making it up?) I know that there are articles and theories out there to support any assertion if one looks hard enough. Can anyone help me put to rest my new found questioning of vegetarianism? I would like to return to my diet of vegetarianism as I am pretty sure that if I eat a fresh organic whole foods diet I can remain healthy and live a long time. But I want to be sure that this is fact and I am not gambling with my well being just because I want to be a good yogi too. Your help is much appreciated. Om Namah Shivaya Ryan Kurczak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 Hi Ryan, It seems your own experiences validate the concept of vegetarianism. For an indepth study of leptin research in direct supportive relation to vegetarianism and ayurveda, I would highly recommend to read page 77-84 of of Dr Gabriel Cousens 2nd revised version of "Conscious Eating". You can also have a look inside the book at amazon.com. -Ole Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 hi ryan as far as problems such as immunodeficiency i only see problems in vegans - IMO it is not a long term sustainable diet, and I have seen too many patients wasting away, "feeling great" mind you, but also living in a parallel universe rather unconnected to this one however, you can be quite healthy being a lacto-ovo vegetarian, but it is important to address some important issues, many of which are discussed in some of the links you provide one of the problems with the vegetarian diet is the tendency to carbo load, and it is very common to see middle-aged vegetarians with a big belly currently, i am practicing in trinidad, where i see a lot of diabetes invariably, ALL of my hindu patients above the age of 35 who limit meat consumption have an unacceptable waist to hip ratio and mild to obvious indications of impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance and cardiovascular injury - some have diabetes by the age 45, diabetic retinopathy etc etc - its very sad to see but then i am also seeing lots of non-hindus with this problem as well, but not quite as severe - mostly I attribute this to major changes in the traditional diet, for e.g. eating a polished par-boiled rice instead of the traditional "local rice," which was a partially milled brown rice everyone there also eats an enormous amount of white flour roti and "whole wheat" bread, the latter of which is equivalent to what we call "brown bread" in Canada, and is something very far from a traditional whole grain bread that can double as a doorstop in Tamil Nadu for example, its common to eat a huge pile of rice for "meals" - if people eat idli in the morning they will eat 10-12 of them at one sitting, etc etc, - the prevalence of diabetes is very common in India - the WHO just reported that India has the fastest prevalence rate of diabetes in the world, IMO, all related to major technological shifts in the diet, away from traditional foods, vegetarian or not, as well as an emphasis of starchy foods that is directly proportional to the rise in poverty another major issue is that people in India and other 3rd world countries has been tricked out of eating their time-honored fats and oils, like ghee and coconut, for junk like soya oil and vegetable ghee if you want to be vegetarian and stay healthy you need to emulate both a low tech diet and avoid the tendency to load up on easily assimable carbs - avoids all refined grains and flours, and incorporate more high protein, traditionally-prepared vegetarian foods into your diet using plenty of fats like ghee and coconut to lower the glycemic index the choice to be vegetarian should be an adult decision - i think its dangerous to force children to eat this way - and once made, it should be done so with the correct philosophic intent, i.e. to see food not as a divine pleasure (like some spiritual movements), but as a necessary component of staying well - this way, you will avoid the pitfall of eating all those delectable refined starches and sweets on a regular basis that are essentially a kind of drug i used to to be vegetarian but find that i am much healthier for not doing so - in the West for e.g. celiac disease is now reported to be much more common than people think - and this poses problems for a grain-based, vegetarian diet vegetarianism has nothing to do with ayurveda, and is not recommended by ayurveda - we have been through this before on this list, but nobody will find any traditional ayurvedic text stating that it is healthier not to eat meat - above all, ayurvedic medicine is a practical and empirical system of health and wellness vegetarianism is a relatively recent practice in India that became widespread only in the last few hundred years it only really took off in India after the buddhistic doctrine of ahimsa was absorbed by reformist hindus, and remained more or less the preserve of the "higher" castes until very recently best... todd caldecott Caldecott todd www.toddcaldecott.com On 3-Jun-05, at 2:57 AM, ayurveda wrote: > Lately from his coaxing I've dabbled in eating meat again. Although I > do > recall that for the last four years that I was a strict vegetarian (I > did eat > dairy and eggs) I had not one instance of sickness and was quite > energetic and > mentally calm. Since adding a slight amount of meat back to my diet I > have > caught at least 2 colds in the year and have noticed a dullness and > mental > unrest in my mind. It is subtle, but noticeable. (Maybe I'm making > it up?) > > I know that there are articles and theories out there to support any > assertion if one looks hard enough. Can anyone help me put to rest my > new found > questioning of vegetarianism? I would like to return to my diet of > vegetarianism as I am pretty sure that if I eat a fresh organic whole > foods diet I can > remain healthy and live a long time. But I want to be sure that this > is fact > and I am not gambling with my well being just because I want to be a > good yogi > too. > > Your help is much appreciated. > > Om Namah Shivaya > Ryan Kurczak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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