Debunking the vegetarian myths

Sehat Tanpa Daging (Healthy Without Meat) Hussar Djamin Kurniawan Mahayana Budhist Council Indonesia (Majabumi), 1996 304 pages

JAKARTA (JP): Anthropologists believe that the first humans ate mostly fruit, nuts, seeds and probably some insects and scientific analyses have proven that our ancestors were vegetarians.

Many prominent figures in the world have been vegetarians, including Albert Einstein, Alexander Pope, Francois Voltaire, Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, George Bernard Shaw and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The word vegetarian itself doesn't stem from the English word vegetable but from the Latin word vegetus, which means "live, active, strong, and tough".

Few Indonesian books have focused on the vegetarian lifestyle, let alone the origins, history, development and medical aspects. Because the vegetarian lifestyle is not popular here, the topic is rarely discussed from a scientific point of view and discussion tends to focus on the religious aspects.

A new book by Jussar Djamin Kurniawan changes that. Sehat Tanpa Daging (Healthy Without Meat) presents a new look at vegetarian diets from medical and biological points of view. The book faces a challenging task given that most people in Indonesia believe that meat is the best source of protein and that a vegetarian diet leaves one undernourished and frail.

Myth vs fact

Sehat Tanpa Daging discusses the superiority of vegetarian foods and vegetarian diets. While meat is considered by many to be tastier and more nutritious, scientists continue to point to the many negative impacts of consuming meat. Almost all nutrition experts agree that there is a correlation between meat-heavy diets and coronary disease.

The book lists some interesting myths and facts about vegetarian foods and meat.

Myth: plant food is less delicious than meat.

Fact: a meat diet contains five types of meats: beef, pork, lamb, poultry and fish. Vegetarian foods are made up of between 40 and 50 different vegetables, 24 legumes, 20 fruits, 12 seeds and nine cereals of various tastes, nutritional content and color.

Myth: Vegetarian foods contain more of the carbohydrates that can cause one to gain weight.

Fact: Vegetarian foods contain more carbohydrates, but contain less fat. One gram of fat produces nine kilocalories (kcal) and one gram of carbohydrates produces only four kcal. The calorie excess will become fatty deposits, which lead to weight gains.

Myth: Vitamins and minerals can only be found in meat.

Fact: Vegetarian foods contain 11 different vitamins and many minerals. Vegetarian foods contain twice as many vitamins and minerals as meat.

Myth: Vitamin B12 can only be found in meat.

Fact: Vitamin B12 can be found in dairy products and tempe.

According to this book there are five types of vegetarians. They are: semi-vegetarian, one who consumes meat occasionally; partial vegetarian, one who doesn't consume red meat but still consumes fish, eggs and milk; lacto ovo vegetarian, one who doesn't consume any kind of meat but eats eggs and dairy products; lacto vegetarian, one who doesn't consume any kind of meat, fish or eggs, but will consume milk and dairy products; and strict vegetarian or vegan, one who doesn't consume any kind of meat, fish, egg, milk or dairy products.

It has long been assumed here that one who consumes only vegetarian foods or leads a vegetarian lifestyle is at risk of protein and vitamin B12 deficiency. However, a balanced diet of vegetarian foods will fulfill the body's protein, vitamin and mineral requirements.

Plant proteins combined with lower-quality protein foods will give mixtures that have the same nutritional value as high- protein animal foods. Therefore, nutritional knowledge is particularly important for vegetarians to prevent malnutrition, overnutrition and toxic nutrition. In short, a diet of properly selected vegetarian foods can be nutritionally adequate.

Information about the required levels of carbohydrates, fat, protein, minerals and vitamins for vegetarians is provided along with a number of informative tables. Hussar also describes the medical benefits of fiber in preventing internal diseases such as, diverticulosis, hiatus hernia, appendicitis, varices, hemorrhoids, obesity, coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus and cholelithiasis.

The anxieties about consuming meat are supported by the following facts: meats have a high content of saturated fat and cholesterol, chemical toxins and can carry disease.

High intakes of saturated fat have been linked to a high rate of coronary deaths because dietary cholesterol is more likely to be deposited in the arteries than indigenous cholesterol which is found naturally in the body. Those who have a diet devoid of animal products have lower levels of plasma triglycerides, cholesterol and phospholipids.

In countries where people consume more fat, such as Finland, the U.S., New Zealand, England and Ireland, the death rate from coronary disease is high. In countries where people consume more vegetables, such as Italy, Poland, Greece, Spain, and Japan, the death from coronary diseases is low.

Beef, fish and poultry contain twice as many pesticide residues than milk. The levels detected in vegetables and fruits are generally one tenth of the residues in meats. Furthermore, compounds damaging to humans can accumulate in fish by thousands, or even millions, of times, greater than in the water from which they were caught, says Dr. Robert Harris of the Environmental Defense Fund.

Dr. Michael Jacobson from the Center for Science in the Public Interest says almost every brand of bacon, sausage and luncheon meat in the supermarket is cured with sodium nitrite. When nitrite hits the human stomach, it sometimes mixes with amine to form nitrosamines, the deadliest family of carcinogens.

The physiological transformation of would-be slaughtered cattle results in secretions of toxins as the cattle are shocked and scared when they are driven to the slaughterhouse. These hormonal and enzymatic changes secrete toxins which are circulated to the small capillaries in all of the tissue organs.

More than 70 known animal diseases can be transmitted to man and most beef cattle sold at market contain salmonella bacteria. To destroy the bacteria, beef must be heated to a temperature of 248 degrees Fahrenheit for two hours.

Dr. R.W. Bernard of Columbia University writes that a meat diet violates health laws for adults. Meat diets, he says, are particularly wrong for young children as their immunizing organs, such as the thyroid gland, are not yet developed enough to help destroy the toxic substances produced by meat in the intestines.

This 13 chapter book is good reading for vegetarians and non- vegetarians alike. But for vegetarians, the information should prove especially useful and help them maintain their choice of lifestyle.

-- Wahyuni Rizkiana Kamal