They are educated, usually young people, most of them life in big cities. They live longer and complain much less about health problems. They constitute about 2% of society and do not divide animals on those to love and those to eat. For some, they are the embodiment of harmonious life, for others a bunch of hysterical idealists who attack the traditional cuisine. However, their number is constantly increasing. Vegetarianism – a vain fashion or global rise of awareness?
Vegetarianism in Poland
For centuries in Poland meat was a symbol of wealth, strength and luxurious lifestyle. It was a property desired by the medieval serfs and the cause of strikes of workers during the PRL period. Probably the majority of Polish young poor eaters had the opportunity to hear the incitements of parents: “but at least eat the meat…” or to witness reaction of dad to the June dumplings with strawberries made by mom “dinner without meat is not a dinner!”. Over the years, vegetarianism in Poland was perceived as an extremely sporadic phenomenon, a kind of fad or dietary quirk. Along with the political-moral transformation, the ridiculed image of vegetarian has gained a deserved status relatively accepted in Poland. Nowadays, a vegetarian diet, as an alternative to the traditional model of nutrition, becomes more and more popular in Poland. Every year since 2005 dozens of cities join the National Week of Vegetarianism, which takes place in the last week of May. The World Day of Vegetarianism (October 1) and the Vegetarian Day (January 11) are also celebrated in Poland for a few years. Since December 20, 2003 the Fish Day is also celebrated, which promotes vegetarian Christmas and opposes killing and inhumane treatment of carps around the Christmas Eve.
Despite the massively carried happenings, educational meetings and demonstrations against KFC, McDonald’s or shops that sell fur garments, it is estimated, however, that Polish vegetarian only constitute 2-3% of population, which is several times lower than in Western Europe and USA. An average Polish vegetarian is about 27 years old, has higher education and follows vegetarian lifestyle for six years. He or she lives in a big city and decided to become a vegetarian on moral, ethical and health reasons, while religious in lesser extent. Most Polish vegetarians are convinced that they eat healthy and cheaper, and after changing their diet for vegetarian they menu has become tastier and more varied. Forecasts for vegetarianism in Poland seems to be optimistic. This March, as a result of research and analysis under the influence of scientists and practitioners, the vegetarian diet has been accepted by the Polish Ministry of Health, Food and Nutrition Institute, and the Ministry of National Education. It can also be assumed with high probability that the Polish vegetarians, most of whom are now entering the reproductive age will in future make their own families, partially or fully vegetarian.
Vegetarianism, let’s bust the myths and focus on facts!
In environments of skeptics the same phrases and stereotypes are uttered for years: “Vegetarianism is the main cause of anemia”. “Typically poor meatless diet leads to serious health problems”. Meanwhile, the leading experts on health are agreeably convinced that vegetarianism is the best investment in our health and the health of our families.
A balanced vegetarian diet provides protections against many diseases, including the most lethal ones of modern civilization: cancer, heart attack and cardiovascular diseases. Independent, non-veg state institutions such as the American Dietetic Association, the World Health Organization, the National Committee of Science in the UK or the U.S. Department of Health unanimously show that vegetarians have twice lower mortality rates caused by the coronary heart disease, lower blood cholesterol levels, and significantly lower morbidity of type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, asthma and impotence.
As reported by the British Medical Journal, biologically justified phenomenon of low blood pressure among many vegetarians protects them against cardiovascular disease, and a higher concentration of so-called antioxidants in blood of vegetarians is an effective defense against heart disease. The same are statistics on the morbidity of cancer. According to the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine 40% less vegetarians fall for cancer in comparison to the eaters of steaks and sausages. Vegetarians also have lower risk of obesity, are more lively, rarely turn out to be smokers and on average live 6-10 years longer.
What is more, as indicated by the American Dietetic Association, properly formulated vegetarian diet is appropriate for men at every stage of development, including infancy, adolescence and pregnancy. In addition, clinical studies have shown that vegetarian children are taller, have a higher IQ level than their carnivorous peers and are less likely to suffer from heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other health ailments. It is also undisputed that thanks to so-called “health consciousness” vegetarians have stronger immune systems than omnivores, therefore are less likely to fall sick to everyday illnesses such as the flu or headaches. Finally, research of epidemiologists from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine brings good news for neophytes of vegetarian lifestyle. The research claim that switching to a vegetarian diet, even late in life, also prevents the development of many chronic diseases, and even causes them to withdraw.
What else if not meat?
What do vegetarians eat and what they should eat to maintain good health? The answer is simple. You just have to recall the famous diet pyramid, which we know very well from visits to health centers or biology classes. At forefront are the whole grains, vegetables, fruits and dairy products. Meat is just ahead of sweets and fats, which can be omitted without negative consequences on health. Potential protein deficiency may be replaced without any hassle or health repercussions by vegetable protein, which is the most concentrated in leguminous plants: beans, broad beans, soybeans, chickpeas, lentils etc. As research shows, the vegetable protein is neither worse nor less valuable than the one contained in meat, on the contrary, it is healthier, because it has no fat or LDL – the so-called “bad cholesterol”. Removal of meat from the diet does not allow eating sandwiches with cheese, purely vegetables or eating a large amount of chips and sweets. A vegetarian diet should be varied and take into account all the needs of our body. Although many associate complementation of nutrients with tedious reading of professional literature, mathematical calculations and scrupulous running of nutritional journals, in fact, a vegetarian diet is based on five basic components:
1. Wholegrains – an essential source of carbohydrates, protein and group B vitamins
2. Vegetables – that is, vitamins, mineral salts and antioxidants
3. Legumes – the protein base of vegetarian diet
4. Fruits – source of carbohydrate energy, vitamins and dietary fiber
5. Nuts and seeds – rich in fatty acids, protein and micronutrients such as zinc, iron, magnesium and selenium.
In case of lacto-vegetarian diet this list ends on eggs and dairy products, which contain calcium and vitamins D and B12. These products are not only nutritionally wholesome, but with a little culinary imagination it can fill menu, making it rich in diversity and finesse of flavor combinations.
Vege means development
Latin word “vegetare” means “to develop”. Therefore vegetarianism is a development, but not only from a linguistic point of view. Vegetarianism is also, and perhaps primarily a lifestyle and modification of mentality towards the development of health, spirituality, moral attitude and concern for the planet’s ecosystem.
Both the great religions of the East – Hinduism and Buddhism, as well as some of the fractions of the monotheistic religions see it as the way to achieve happiness, maintain optimal health, to establish a closer relationship with God or the universe, and the ability to show respect for the value that is the existence of each animal.
The mystery of life and consciousness, a thirst for water, food, security, companionship, shelter, freedom of movement and fear of pain and death makes the animals similar to us – the humankind.
Ancients were already aware of this. Ancient Pythagorean school, authoritative in many ways, treated meatless diet as one of the basic assumptions of the way of life worthy to a man, allowing his intellectual and moral development. The Pythagoreans believed that as long as man will kill animals, people will kill each other. One of the judgments of Athenian Areopagus passed into history, which sentenced a boy to death because he blinded a bird. According to the ancients, an act of killing and torturing of animals reflected on the destiny of a man, depriving his life of joy and love. Though ancients times are long gone into the abyss of history, many great people of modern world grasped and still understand the reality in the same way. Among them were: Leonardo da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Voltaire, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Leo Tolstoy, Maxim Gorky, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Isaac Singer, Bernard Shaw. They are also: Dustin Hoffman, Goran Bregovic, Paul McCartney, Natalie Portman, Małgorzata Braunek, Kuba Sienkiewicz, Zbigniew Hołdys, Barbara Labuda, Maja Ostaszewska, Kayah, Alexander Kwaśniewski and athletes: Andreas Cahling, Edwin Moses, Carl Lewis, Kenneth G. Williams and Polish mountaineer Wojciech Kurtyka.
Vegetarianism also has also a purely ecological notion. Several decades ago Albert Einstein was already convinced that nothing will increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution towards a vegetarian diet. Today, these words are a fact, because it is commonly known that the industrial livestock farming, fishing and fish farming are largely the reason of devastation of the environment, decrease of biodiversity and a drastic decline of the planet’s water supplies. Meat production also has a terrible impact on the fight against famine. It is estimated that the amount of grain needed to end hunger in the world is 40 million tons, while the amount of grain eaten by the slaughterhouse animals each year just in the Western world reaches 540 million tons! This statistic is also elevated by the fact that maintaining a single meat-eater requires two hectares of land that could secure a healthy lifestyle of eighty vegetarians!
Therefore, vegetarianism contributes to reducing of air, water and soil contamination, and inhibition of processes destructive to Earth, such as global warming, desertification, soil erosion and deforestation. Those, who choose the vegetarian way of live contribute to solving the global feeding problem, elimination of slaughter and torture of sentient beings, which are bred massively in cruel conditions, and bring new life and health measures to their own lives.
So become a veg and choose life!