Diet in Hinduism The Hindu Diet, something that had always seemed interesting to me, the general idea of what their diet consisted of and if their religion restricted a certain food. In researching their diet, I was extremely surprised on what I found out. Their diet is not what I, myself, thought it was. I, for example, had always thought that in Hinduism, a vegetarian diet was forced upon everyone, but to my surprise, it isn’t- but I’ll talk about that later in this essay. In this essay I will inform the reader on why the food they consume is valued exceptionally in their religion, why the vegetarian diet is preferred, but not forced, and finally why fasting from foods in Hinduism is significant. Food is valued at such stance in Hinduism because since it is a gift from God, it should be treated with great respect. Hindus offer food to God mentally before eating. " According to Manu, "Food, that is always worshipped, gives strength and manly vigor; but eaten irreverently, it destroys them both." Food should be eaten for the survival and strength of the body, with a religious attitude. Eating is therefore any other human activity which can be made into either a sacrificial act that would help in the liberation of soul or a mere pleasure activity that would lead to bondage and suffering, according to the Hindu religion. Certain foods, …show more content…
“Vegetarianism is commonly associated with the Hindu diet, but the majority of Hindus consume some type of animal products. While vegans refuse any food that comes from an animal, some Hindus will eat dairy products, fish and shellfish or even poultry. Pork is even consumed in regions where wild boar has historically provided a ready food source in lean times. The majority of Hindus don't eat beef- cows are seen as, "The Mother" - but beef can be consumed in small pockets of Hindu populations.”
Christopher McCandless, a young American who was found dead in summer of 1992 in wild land in Alaska, wrote in his diary about his moral struggle regarding killing a moose for survival. According to Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, Chris had to abandon most of the meat since he lacked the knowledge of how to dismantle and preserve it (166-168). Not only did he have a moral dilemma to kill a moose, but also had a deep regret that a life he had taken was wasted because of his own fault. He then started recognizing what he ate as a precious gift from the nature and called it “Holy Food” (Krakauer 168). Exploring relationships between human beings and other animals arouses many difficult questions: Which animals are humans allowed to eat and which ones are not? To which extent can humans govern other animals? For what purposes and on which principles can we kill other animals? Above all, what does it mean for humans to eat other animals? The answer may lie in its context. Since meat-eating has been included and remained in almost every food culture in the world throughout history and is more likely to increase in the future due to the mass production of meat, there is a very small chance for vegetarianism to become a mainstream food choice and it will remain that way.
Throughout time, food has always played a large role in every day life. One aspect of life that food really plays a large role in is religious life. It is important to recognize that the first commandment that God gave to us was a restriction on eating. Many religions have dietary laws or restrictions that explain to the people of their religion what they can and cannot eat. The first commandments that God gave to us were related to eating. In the Bible, we see the Mosaic dietary laws. These laws were set and regulated by Moses, as explained by God’s law. The Old Testament is full of restrictions regarding food consumption and what types of foods should not be consumed. I will be further examining the Mosaic dietary laws and the role they continue to play in the modern-day and in many people lives.
As believed, vegetarianism had been originally founded in ancient India and was generally formed on ethical and moral issues. There were two religions that were the first ones who accepted vegetarianism. Hinduism made a cow a sacred animal. Over the time, there were other reasons founded by Hindus that encourage them to be vegetarians: Ahimsa principle that obliges not to injure a living creature, a fear of negative karmic impact and dietary purity. Since there was no religious law prohibiting the consummation of meat, the strong commitment to vegetarianism was based mostly on moral reasons. Buddhism had distinctive reasons for supporting vegetarianism. One of them is the first precept that tells not to kill any living organism. In addition to prohibition of killing, there was also a requirement not to participate in the murder and not to be the cause of death of a living creature. However, there was an amendment that if the animal is already dead and the man did not kill him specifically ...
Vegetarianism finds its origins in numerous different cultures. Most prominent of these are the Native American and Indian backgrounds. Though the image resigning in all our brains of the Native American ancestors is that of carnivorous men adorned out in buffalo skinned loincloths. Conversely, very rarely were Native Americans privy to the luxury of meat or “game”. They were the earliest recollection of human beings surviving without meat. The regular diet for Choctaw Indians consisted of a stew with the main ingredients being corn, pumpkin, and beans eaten from an earthen pot. Also among their favorites were bread, roasted corn, and corn porridge. The reasoning behind their lifestyle mainly all that they could find amongst their land were fruits and vegetables. George Catlin, a famous 19th century historian, described the Choctaw land as grounds covered literally with lines. Grapes ...
Every day across America millions of people wake up to start their morning. Throughout the day the vast majority of these people will consume meat, but 3% will replace the pig, cow, and chicken products for vegetable or fruit made meals (Harris). These vegetarians all have many different reasons to make this choice. This decision is a huge change in one’s life and is not without questions. Some people may wonder why would anyone abstain from the amazing food that contains meat. This essay will briefly explain the history of vegetarianism, the reasons for vegetarianism, and answer questions about vegetarianism. Vegetarian diets are all around better than diets containing meat because of three main reasons; the abuse of animals, the environmental damage, and the health benefits for humans.
“Let food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.” stated Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine, 460-377 BC (Silverstone 15). Every American should live by this quote, but things have drastically changed since Hippocrates voiced that divine statement . Nowadays peoples personification of health has nothing to do with what we consume on an everyday basis. Our generation, most certainly will drive straight to McDonalds’s for a Big Mac without hesitation of the harm it is doing to your body. Education of health is essential; people need to learn what they are eating and how it will affect them in the long run. Due to mega rich corporations and institutions, they are keeping all of us in this denial because of pouring millions of dollars into efforts to keep us from knowing what is truly going on (Silverstone 16). Whether it’s to help reduce your risk of diseases, or purely to attain better health, leaving farmed animals entirely out of your diet is an effortless decision with life-long benefits. Plant-based diets will strengthen your immune system, beautify your skin, increase your energy, and reduce risk of various diseases (Silverstone 1). Being vegetarian is a step in the right direction by protecting your health, animals, and the environment.
Just like any other religion they avoided overeating and unhealthy food. People in Sikh religion follow stricken vegetarian diet, as they believe non-vegetarian is spiritually harmful. They believed eating meat causes distraction during meditation and concentration. Meditation is a necessity of Sikhism. People who took an oath to become Sikh for rest of their life, don’ t eat outside, as they believe in-home cooked food. These values started with village people who grow most of the things at home.
The vegetarian diet has become very popular in the United States. How does not eating meat affect a person's health? It is important for people to eat a nutritious diet that will fuel their body. Some people think the vegetarian diet is bad for a person because there are so many nutrients that we can only get from meat.The vegetarian diet has a stigma that it is not very healthy, however the vegetarian diet can be very beneficial to a person's health.
There were two religions that first accepted vegetarianism: Hinduism made the cow a sacred animal, something to be respected and admired, and over time, these ideals evolved from mere ideas to commonplace social practices. Ahimsa is the principle that teaches one to not to injure a living creature for fear of negative karmic impact and dietary impurity.... ... middle of paper ... ...
There are many factors to why some want be vegetarians. Many believe that it is more ethical to become vegetarian. That warm-blooded animals being slaughtered have emotions and connections and are sacrificed to satisfy the decedent meat eating lifestyle. Or let it be that we are supporting many genetically modified crops and feeding them to the animals we eat; only supporting an artificial lifecycle. Many vegetarians are born into the lifestyle; most people from India are vegetarians because of the animals they worship. It is called the Asian –Indian diets, which is predominantly lacto-vegetarian. Many choose the lifestyle because of health concerns and concerns of the environment; that we are a product of our environment. What ever we take from the world or put into it is the reason there are so many health problems, like a circle of life.
The amount of people becoming vegetarians these days is growing. There are a few different types of vegetarians for example; the lacto-ovo vegetarian doesn’t eat any animal products except milk and eggs. Another type of vegetarian is the vegan, they exclude all animal products.
At the age of five I questioned my grandmother why we do not eat meat. She told me that eating meat was against the Hindu religion and I never questioned her until today. A vegetarian is someone that follows a plant based diet consuming mostly fruits and vegetables. There are many different types of vegetarian diets, some choose to become vegan and do not even consume eggs or dairy products. Anti-supporters of the vegetarian diet believe that vegetarians are missing out on the vitamins and minerals that meat eaters are gaining. However, vegetarians believe that this plant based diet will lead them to a longer life, not only this but it is better for the environment and it will help save animals.
People choose a vegetarian lifestyle for many reasons. Health, environment, culture, religion and ethics are all factors that play into the decision to not eat meat. Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish or poultry. Vegans, in addition to being vegetarian, do not use other animal products and by-products such as eggs, dairy products, honey, leather, fur, silk, wool, cosmetics, and soaps derived from animal products (Vegetarian Resource Group). As veganism becomes more popular as a lifestyle and as a means of weight loss there has become a great amount of debate as to whether or not this type of diet is considered healthy or harmful because it has the potential to lack important vitamins, minerals and of course protein.
For several years the issue of eating meat has been a great concern to all types of people all over the world. In many different societies controversy has began to arise over the morality of eating meat from animals. A lot of the reasons for not eating meat have to deal with religious affiliations, personal health, animal rights, and concern about the environment. Vegetarians have a greater way of expressing meats negative effects on the human body whereas meat eaters have close to no evidence of meat eating being a positive effect on the human body. Being a vegetarian is more beneficial for human beings because of health reasons, environmental issues, and animal rights.
Consumption is one of the biggest areas of disagreement in regards to animal rights. Throughout the world there are many different laws and regulations regarding the treatment of animals. Each country has their own set of standards, many of them religious and others more along the lines of common sense. While it is normal to regularly consume cattle meat (such as cow) in America, many Hindu Indians refrain from it...