The Pros and Cons of Vegetarianism

By Billy Shonez Singh, M.S., L.Ac., Dipl.Ac., Dipl. C.H. (NCCAOM)

                                                ©2010

            Recently my father became a vegetarian a couple of months ago.  Since then, he has lost weight, his psorasis has cleared up, and he is much calmer and reserved than before.  On the other hand, a 44 year old woman comes to my clinic with insomnia and irregular menstruation with blood clots and PMS and feels very cold especially during the summer.  When I asked her about her diet, she says that she has been a vegetarian when she first came to this country from India.  Now, these two highly different cases are related to being a vegetarian.  Some people become vegetarian for political reasons as is the case in a few PETA members I have met.  Other reasons are because of religious issues as in the case of Hindus and Buddhists.  Whatever your reason is for getting into vegetarianism, you should know that there are a few pros and cons to becoming one.  The pros of becoming a vegetarian are weight loss, lowered intake of chemicals and toxins that are associated with eating meat, and a much calmer disposition than non-vegetarians.  According to history, Buddhist monks and those from the Brahmin caste in Hinduism would adopt a strict vegetarian diet not just for spiritual reasons, but the cooling nature of vegetarian foods helped them with their focus during meditation.  However, based on my experience of what I have seen in my clinic, vegetarians present themselves with a disease pattern in Chinese medicine known as blood deficiency.  In blood deficiency, the signs and symptoms are not typically related to Anemia; putting it simply, the quantity of blood has not been compromised; it's the quality of the blood.  Therefore, a person with blood deficiency pattern associated with a vegetarian diet will have the following signs and symptoms:

• Chills
• Cold limbs
• Pale complexion
• Insomnia
• Irregular menstruation
• Intolerance to cold
• Small and pale tongue
• Thin pulse

Therefore, the only solution to all of this is either to start incorporating meat into their diet.  If that is not an option for Hindus and Buddhists, then herbal medicine is a good solution to taking care of blood deficiency based signs and symptoms listed above.  However I find that herbal medicine and dietary changes (such as eating meat) will produce better results together.  For Hindus that cannot eat meat, there is a justifiable way you can get around that rule.  The only caste within the caste system that can eat meat are the Kshatriyas (the warrior caste).  "Vegetarianism is prescribed only for the Brahmin priests among the Hindus.  This is not the original Vedic tradition, because if you go to the source texts in Ayurveda, they all contain tonic recipes and prescriptions for meat, including beef.  Hindu fundamentalists have tried to resurrect Ayurveda in a vegetarian form after independence there in 1948, and this form is the dominant one in the US.  But the actual source texts recognize the tonic qualities of meat (pg.2, Bergner)."

            In conclusion, vegetarianism has its benefits while at the same time it has its downsides.  After all according to Paul Bergner, "...in the vegetarian south India, there is a higher rate of heart disease, hypertension, and type II diabetes than in the US and Canada (pg2.)."  In my experience, a balanced diet blending both vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods ultimately ends up being the stand-alone preventative to the signs and symptoms associated with a long-term vegetarian diet.  If having a vegetarian diet is nearly impossible to give up because of religious restrictions, at least make sure that all foods are cooked before eaten as opposed to having them raw.  In Chinese medicine, raw food that has been eaten has a tendency to disturb the normal functioning of the digestive system resulting in the above mentioned signs and symptoms along with stomach cramps, nausea, and vomiting.  A good solution when eating vegetables is to incorporate spices such as ginger, garlic, fenugreek, and cinnamon.  The properties of those particular spices are very warming and allow for proper digestion of raw vegetables in the stomach without any ill effects. 

 The Tao of Food: Diet in Taoist Practice states, "If you are a young healthy person, with no sickness, than a vegetarian diet is possible.  But if you have lack of energy or some other deficiency, then meat broth should be consumed from time to time."  It further states that, '...the diet should be composed of 30% leafy vegetables, 20% meat and 50% grain."  Take care everyone and eat well.

Bibliography

Bergner, Paul Thinking Critically About Diet, http://chineseherbacademy.org/articles/critical_diet.html, April 4^th, 2006. 

Hon, Sat Chuen, Tao of Food: Diet in Taoist practice. http://www.qigongtherapy.com/dec.html, December 18^th, 2006