One man stood in the presence of the king’s guard, with his three friends faithfully behind him. Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Misha’el, and Azariah were enslaved by the kind of Babylon from Judah. They, among other Israelite captives, were chosen by the king to be educated in the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king generously gave them food and drink from his very own table – rich meats and extraordinary wines. However, Daniel and his friend refused to eat the fatty and unhealthy foods.
Daniel asked for just ten days. Ten days to eat only vegetables, fruits, and grains, and drink only water, and after the ten days were finished, appearances of Daniel and his three friends could be compared with the other men. At the end of the ten days the four men were better nourished and healthier than the rest of the men. Their minds were open and clear, and their bodies strong. The rich meats and wines were replaced with Daniel’s diet, and the king himself proclaimed this as healthier for his men.
A vegetarian is directly defined as “a person who does not eat meat, and sometimes other animal products, especially for moral, religious, or health reasons. Vegetarianism is an old and respectable doctrine, and its popularity seems to be growing. It is a choice made my many to exclude meat from their diet and replace it with fruits, vegetables, seeds, and grains. Vegetarianism chosen as a person’s lifestyle for his or her own reasons, whether it be for health benefits, religious beliefs, or moral issues.
Hippocrates, the founder of modern medicine stated, “let food be your medicine and medicine your food”. A meal full of healthy nutrient filled vegetables is a natural healer for the body, especially when it wasn’t made for processed foods. A vegetarian diet is typically low in fat and high in fiber, resulting in a cleaner and more energetic body. However, its all up to a person how healthy he or she is really going to be. Even a veggie diet can be high in fat if the diet includes constant snacking, a high amount of sweets, fatty and fried foods, and whole milk dairy products.
If one excludes these foods from their diet, the benefits can be endless. Vegetarians run a lower risk for developing heart disease, colorectal, ovary, and breast cancers; diabetes; obesity; and hypertension. Many meats today are so processed you don’t even know what you’re eating anymore, so excluding those from your diet can be safer than you know.. What are the secrets of a long life? In a study to see who had the highest life expectancy in the world, five cities were identified.
Only one city of five was in the United Sates. Loma Linda California has some of the healthiest and longest living people around. In the study, researchers found that Loma Linda is where a great community of Seventh-Day Adventists lives. The majority of Seventh Day Adventists are vegetarian, and if not, according to their beliefs, they eat only certain meats like beef, turkey, chicken, and certain fish. The researchers discovered that the residents suffered from a fraction of the diseases that common Americans suffer from.
Vegetarianism has many healthy benefits, but this isn’t the only reason why people may choose the vegetarian lifestyle. Besides for health reasons, some people exclude meat from their diet for religious reasons. Some religions exclude meat all together, while for some, it’s a choice. In this day and age where freedom of choice is adored and greatly practiced, what you eat has become more of your own choice as well. For example, Hinduism strongly encourages a vegetarian diet, but it’s not required.
Not only do they not eat beef for their belief in the sacredness of cows, but also Hindus believe strongly in nonviolence toward all things. They believed that if they showed harm to animals, karma would show harm to them. Mahatma Gandhi even went to the extent of declaring, “the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured by the way in which its animals are treated. ” Furthermore, in many other religions as well as Hinduism, if animals are treated fairly, they help fertilize the land that creates healthy food for people, which can be distributed.
This brings us to Christianity. Christians strive to act how Jesus acted, by giving to the poor, sheltering them, and feeding them. However, this has become much more difficult in the American society. “In the United states 66% of grains raised are fed to animals being raised for slaughter, wasting most of the grains calories and proteins. For many vegetarians the diet is chosen in order to “help the world”, as well as themselves, so not only is it a religious choice, but for some a moral choice. Some people just do not like the idea of eating something that used to have a face.
PETA (people for the ethical treatment of animals) has s slogan saying “Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way. ” Animals help with fertilization and the spreading of nutrients in plants. Some members of PETA say that animals can help us a lot better alive then in our bellies. For example, India is much healthier because they feed grains to the people, not all the animals to prepare for a slaughter. Many people attempt the vegetarian lifestyle without the knowledge of doing it effectively.
If you suddenly quit cold turkey, you may not get the nutrients you need by the foods you’re replacing meat with. So if you’re a vegetarian how do they get enough calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B 12, protein, or iron in your diet? The key is to add a wide variety of foods to your diet. Calcium can be found in dark leafy greens like kale, spinach, bok choy, or mustard, as well as broccoli, beans dried figs, sunflower seeds, and even calcium fortified cereals. Vitamin D, a natural antidepressant also helps your body absorb and use calcium.
The 200 IU can easily be found in a vitamin supplement, as well as other important vitamins like B 12. Iron can be found in dark green vegetables, fortified breads and cereal, and even cooking your food in iron pots and pans will add to your iron intake. With the necessary vitamins being replaced by the correct intake of these alternatives, the benefits of a vegetarian life style only get higher. Daniel’s choice has become a source of a new lifestyle called Daniel’s diet, where people do the exact thing Daniel did.
Personal testimonies state the happier lifestyle they now live because of their personal choice. Daniel and his three friends showed the King of Babylon himself that a healthy diet full of water, vegetables, and grains has its benefits. No matter where the belief is stemmed from, it keeps us healthy, focused, while keeping our environment healthy as well in certain ways. Vegetarians know why they do what they do, how to do it, and receive their own personal benefits from the lifestyle.