Animals are very disciplined species. They follow their natural food cycle without questioning it. And animals as we know do not attempt to experiment, jump, or skip their respective food cycles. This means if you offer grass to a carnivore animal i.e. lion or tiger they will not eat it, even if they are starved to death. Similarly, if you offer a herbivore animal like Cow, horse, or deer to eat meat, they too will not have it, and can starve to death without eating it. 

And, there is a pre-defined Natural food cycle and every animal or bird follows their staple food cycle without being taught about it. Each animal species, their bodies and digestive systems are designed to eat specific types of food that helps maintain the harmony & equilibrium in nature.

This implicit diet rule applies to humans too, ie. we also have a natural food cycle considering the type of teeth, digestive juices and length of large and small intestine we have. And we are supposed to eat that food only without experimenting or eating other things which our bodies are not designed to digest. 

But, we have learnt how to cook food, and can make all types of food edible for human consumption. And Chinese are leading this path by eating everything on the earth whichever is moving or crawling. 

According to the our ancient scriptures too, we should consume Sattvic food, and avoid Tamasik and Rajasic food. From time immemorial, our ancestors, through scriptures, have been advising us to eat only food that purifies the body and keeps us healthy, safe and fresh. It is only possible with Sattvic food. Sattvic foods are those fruits and vegetables that don't go to any extremes as far as taste is concerned, and they have zero negative effects on our bodies. 

 

Health Benefits -

Vegetarians have longer and healthier life with reduced risk of all the major diseases i.e. heart disease, cancer, diabetes, irregular blood pressure, asthma 

There are lot of meat substitutes available nowadays that approximate certain aesthetic qualities (primarily texture, flavor, and appearance) or chemical characteristics of a specific meat. Plant-based meat includes meat made from plants, such as soybeans (and other legumes), wheat gluten, lentils, tofu, yuba, tempeh, avocado, and a variety of nuts. (Vegetarian meat contains non-vegan ingredients, such as egg and dairy)

Financial Benefits

If we compare the costs of veg and non veg food, the cost of non vegetarian food is always higher across the world. In India, its atleast five times more than the same quantity of vegetarian food with similar nutritional value. Average price of fruits and vegetables is around Rs. 80 - 100 per kg while that for meat is Rs. 520 - 640/- per kg in India (2021-22). Hence, clearly the cost of living is higher and lesser savings for non vegetarians. This leads to further social comparisons and lifestyle complications which we will not discuss it here. 

Community and Environment Benefits

If we disrupt the food cycles of other animals and species, those animals will gradually get extinct. All the climate disasters are caused by our food habits. Can we change our food habits and help save our planet from a premature collapse? Humans are the custodians of earth, where the responsibility to make efficient use of available resources solely lies with us as we have BRAINS. 

Mahatma Gandhi defined Ahimsa (non violence) as

The avoidance of harm to any living creature in thought or deed

Hence, killing animals for food is an act of violence and should be avoided consciously.

Athletes perform better when they are on vegetarian diet. Check out THE GAME CHANGERS documentary on Netflix - https://gamechangersmovie.com/

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