Jesus Christ was far from the first preacher of vegetarianism, but for us, perhaps, the most authoritative. Speaking of the great sin of eating meat, fish, eggs, and other things, he “described” the results of this in the “Gospel of Peace”: “And your blood becomes thick and foul-smelling, your flesh is overgrown with fat, becomes watery and begins to rot and decompose. Your insides are filled with vile scum, streams of decomposition, and many worms find shelter here, and all the gifts of the Earthly Mother are taken from you: breath, blood, bones, flesh … life itself.
Humanity has turned to vegetarianism throughout its history. The high development of physical culture in Ancient Greece, the religious zeal for the pacification of the flesh in medieval Europe, and the current boom in a healthy lifestyle invariably elevated vegetarianism to the pedestal of a holy and righteous life. And yet, vegetarianism has always been an outcast, and “empty” cereals and liquid stew – the lot of the poor. Today the craze vegetarianism (in the West) provoked the appearance of regular vegetarian dishes not only in the most luxurious restaurants, but also on the menu of many airlines. At the same time, meat is generally considered bad form. So the request to bring “something vegetarian” no longer surprises proud European waiters. On the contrary, it is a symbol of a modern, stylish and very wealthy life. Well, we in Russia still have to explain what it is, what they eat and what we, in kind, don’t have enough for meat? So, vegetarian diets consist only of plant foods with the complete exclusion of animal protein. That is, no meat, fish, and eggs. But vegetables and fruits – as much as you like. Mushrooms have a place of honor on the table. Lactic acid products, liquid sour cream, cream, low-fat cottage cheese, yoghurts are a holiday for the body. And yet without fats we can’t live, they are the main source of energy in the body. But fats are different. Natural unsaturated fats found in nuts, low-fat dairy products are not only beneficial for their beneficial effect on the heart, but simply irreplaceable. So, we will fry and soar only on vegetable (ideally olive) oil !! And of course all kinds of cereals and cereals. The bulk of vital substances are in them. Open any cookbook and delve into the table of fat-protein-carbohydrate-vitamin content in the usual cereals. Many surprises await you. What do you think is the most valuable source of protein? Meat? Mushrooms? Didn’t guess. Peas. By the way, it would be nice to cook vegetarian dishes without adding table salt. The effect would be twofold. Salt can be substituted spices. So what are the benefits of this diet? Plant foods are a complete source of vitamins C, P, mineral salts, phytoncides, organic acids, cell membranes, etc.. In addition, the low content of sodium salts in plant foods, which prevent the rapid removal of fluid from the body, its “washing”, is useful for everyone and healthy, and especially for patients with hypertension, renal and chronic cardiovascular insufficiency, obesity, gout. At the same time, a variety of plant foods provides the body with a significant amount of ascorbic acid, potassium salts And other mineral substances. Therefore, the use of vegetarianism provides a fairly rapid decrease in the level of end products of nitrogen metabolism in patients with renal insufficiency, a decrease in blood pressure, a pronounced diuretic effect, and a decrease in the level of harmful uric acid. Even a short-term vegetarianism can significantly cleanse the body, “unload” protein metabolism and exclude intake from food. purine, (substances that slow down the action of the gastrointestinal tract, which leads to chronic constipation and self-poisoning of the body), create a predominance of alkaline valences over acidic ones (that is, slow down the oxidation processes in the body). Even ballast, so to speak, empty substances in the composition of plants are useful and necessary for our body. Vegetables contain a large amount of fiber, which stimulates intestinal motility and its regular emptying. Besides, cellulose, passing practically unchanged through the intestines, collects, absorbs all the harmful products of decomposition, all the poisons contained in the original food and obtained in the process of assimilation of food. But perhaps the biggest benefit of being a vegetarian is the following. Plant foods, due to their significant volume, but low nutritional value, cause a false sense of satiety. All vegetarian diets eliminate the feeling of hunger much faster than they saturate the body. A person is constantly accompanied by lightness – a feeling of emptiness in the stomach during instant saturation. Needless to say, this state is better and more natural than other methods to help reduce body weight. The body does not need energy costs for the processing of animal food (and they are very significant and practically equal to the energy received). Therefore, vegetarians feel constant cheerfulness, unusual performance. Soviet writer Veresaev even devoted pages of his diary to this phenomenon. In the post-revolutionary years, his family was forced to go without meat rations for several months. Not very happy about this, the writer, however, objectively noted that his well-being and performance during this period had improved significantly. To vegetarian rations can safely be attributed to fruit and vegetable days off. And the most radical form of vegetarianism is raw foods. The entire diet consists of raw vegetables: tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, carrots, various fruits, berries. Proponents of a raw food diet note such positive aspects: the complete assimilation of vitamins and mineral salts, since with any most gentle technological processing, some of them are lost. Low content of sodium salts, ensuring active intestinal motility, good saturation with low energy value of food. High palatability of raw vegetables and fruits, active work of the chewing apparatus (which strengthens teeth), reduction of oxidation processes in the body. In addition, raw plant foods reduce putrefactive processes in the intestines. This is the effect of a raw food diet in healthy people. And for patients, diets of raw vegetables and juices are prescribed for 2-3 days for gout, uric acid diathesis, obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular and chronic renal failure, and chronic constipation. At acute colitis с diarrhea appoint apple diets. Patients are given a kilogram and a half of peeled, raw, grated apples during the day. The pectins contained in apples help to stop diarrhea. In general, apple fasting days are the most affordable and popular with us. The positive aspects of such events are countless. Apart from the benefits of a purely mechanical unloading and cleaning of the gastrointestinal tract, the apple itself is just a storehouse of useful properties. It cleanses blood vessels, absorbs cholesterol, prevents iron deficiency anemia, which is so common today, fights bleeding gums and cleans teeth. True, these properties are mainly our local “natural” apples. Antonovka is the best. Imported ones, which are sold all year round, are often deprived of many properties and, first of all, of vitamins. By the way, since we are talking about imported curiosities, one cannot but mention the latest findings in the science of nutrition. The fact is that in our body there is a limited set of enzyme sets that correspond to the chemical structures of food. Each type of food has its own enzyme. This set was formed and laid down in the genes over many centuries and millennia on the basis of the food that is characteristic of the area. Therefore, in our body there is, for example, an enzyme for the assimilation of strawberries or sorrel, but, alas, not for the assimilation of papaya. What should the body do with such “unidentified food”?! It’s good if the protection just works: throw everything away … That’s why digestive disorders are so common when traveling to distant countries or visiting exotic restaurants. So modern nutritional science comes to the conclusion that you need to eat foods that are characteristic of your climate regionwhat Hippocrates said. And they – local plant products of the middle zone – are extremely diverse and fully satisfy all the needs of the body. It is especially convenient to use their diversity in these summer months. I must say that it is not necessary to join the ranks of vegetarians “suddenly”: from tomorrow or from Monday. Change the habits of the body can be gradual. To begin with, give up all kinds of meat delicacies и sausage, leaving in the diet a small amount of natural boiled or stewed meat. Spend purely vegetarian days one or two per week. And when you feel that they do not bring you only joy and good health, gradually reduce the “meat” days to nothing. Try to become a vegetarian at least for a while. For example, which is very convenient and very easy psychologically – for the summer “cottage” season. Yes, and the raw food method is best to try it in these generous months.