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                      BIOLOGY  AND VEGETARIANISM
                                  Dr. Chiranjee Lal Bagra

  Any birds-eye study of the human anatomy and physiology would reveal that human beings are essentially vegetarian animals.
  As Such, all humans are bestowed with intestines, measuring four times the length of the body and consequently their bowels encompass the intermingled intestines, twined back and forth with several twists and turns. Whereas, in the case of carnivorous animals the size of the intestines provided by nature, is almost the same as of their body and in effect the food consumed by them takes a relatively direct and straight route and subsequently also the transition period for digestion of the food is considerably less, to that taken in the case of a human being.
  As, since the human bowel twines back and forth along a convoluted pathway with many twists and turns, the bowels of carnivores also enables the animal to handle cholesterol and fat, the main contents of a flesh diet and have much less need for fibre to move things along.
  We can also draw the authentic notion that as the gastric secretions of carnivores animals are highly acidic in nature, they assist digestion of highly portentous and fatty flesh diet, whereas the human gastric secretion being alkaline or of low acidity, hinders speedy digestion of animal food.
  So, we can easily visualize the process of digestion, when a human consumes animal flesh as food.     
  * Humans perspire through body pores whereas flesh eating animals perspire through their tongue. 
  * Vegetarian animals sip water and liquids whereas carnivorous lap or lick liquids.
  Consequently, we can summarize  that as the structure of a humans’ bowel including the intestines differs completely from that of a carnivorous animal, the span of time, taken to digest the animal food consumed is relatively much more compared to the digestion time-period taken by a carnivorous animal.
  This lengthy time-process taken in the digestion of animal food, in the case of humans, is also because of the absence of high-acidic secretions from their gastric tracts. Carnivorous animals, on the other hand, can easily digest and that too in a very short span of time, flesh diet containing good quantities of protein and saturated fats, primarily by the help of their saliva, which is acidic in nature.
 * Humans do not have claws like carnivore to tear flesh. Whereas meat eating animals see in darkness while vegetarian animals and humans find it extremely difficult to see in darkness.
Thus, we can straightaway come to the conclusion that for the healthy and smooth functioning of the machinery called human being, encompassing - body and mind, the fuel or food intake has to be in consonance with nature’s design and not against the rules prescribed by nature, for its efficient nourishment and development of herbivorous (vegetarian) humans.
Any biologist shall vouch to the above statement .
 Nature has designed the human body and rather tailor - made it to survive on a vegetarian diet, in the most efficient manner, possible. John Robbins in his book Diet for a New America has quoted Dr. William S. Collins -
  “.... recent studies, many of them in my lab appear to indicate that the carnivorous animal has almost unlimited capacity to handle saturated fats and cholesterol, whereas the vegetarian and herbivorous animals have a very restricted capacity to handle these food components. It is virtually impossible to produce atherosclerosis in the dog even when 120 gram of butter fat is added to his meat ration, on the other hand, adding only two grams of cholesterol daily to a rabbits’ chow for two months, produces striking changes in its arterial walls.”
 By the above observations, Dr. Collins is emphatic in his stance, regarding the human anatomy, that vegetarian diet is the natural diet of humans. He is also clear in signifying that the digestive system of humans is incapable to handle the excess of saturated cholesterol and fat, which are the prime constituents of meat and eggs, besides animal protein and thus a continued consumption of meat and eggs, is bound to give rised to malfunctions of the body system, which could at times also prove to be fatal.
 “A good reliable set of bowels is worth more to man than any quality of brains.” says Henry Wheeler Shaw. 
To cap it all, we can safely conclude that regular and indiscriminate consumption of meat and eggs is destined to lead the person, consuming it, to biological dysfunction or disorder. Against this backdrop a balanced vegetarian diet would assist to maintain a healthy and disease - free body and mind.
The quote of a famous western thinker George Bernard Shaw would not be a misplaced one, in this context 
“ We are the living graves of murdered beasts slaughtered to satisfy our appetites we never pause to wonder at our feasts if animals like man could possibly have rights.” 
    
 

    
 

 

  


     

                                                                                                                                                                 

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