The vegetarian lifestyle is gaining recognition worldwide.

In the United States of America alone, over ten million people have adopted vegetarianism. All major world nations have vegetarian societies, which are actively engaged in the promotion of vegetarianism: the United Kingdom; Switzerland, West Germany, Israel, Mexico; Japan, Russia, and many others.

In UK, the Rt. Honorable Bernard Weatherill, M.P., has stated that there would be tremendous economic savings of food and energy resources if more people began eating vegetables and grain instead of feeding it to meat animals.

When animals are raised for meat, large amounts of land are needed to support them. Meat animals such as cattle and goats cause great destruction of public lands by overgrazing. This is not a problem with wild animals in a diverse ecosystem.

Animals who appear 'useless' are in fact necessary for maintaining the fertility of land and preventing erosion. Vegetarianism promotes the preservation of animals and, thus, the conservation of forests.

The growing requirement for food energy resources has caused scientists to seek alternatives to present practices.

To produce a pound of meat, many pounds of grain (50 or 100) must be fed to the animal. Just to support one meat animal takes many acres of land. But if that same land were used for growing food for humans, it could grow large amounts of vegetables, fruits, grains, etc.

By vegetarianism, we can both protect the land and grow more food.

Commercial production of meat is very costly. The conversion rate of plant protein to animal protein is too low. It is, therefore, better to utilise vegetable food directly as human food rather than animal protein.

Not only is the conversion of plant protein to animal protein too low, but also the caloric conversion is even lower. It has been estimated that 7 vegetable calories are required for production of one animal calorie.

It is, therefore, evident that the plant-to-animal food conversion is not only too costly but also too wasteful in the present day, when all efforts have to be directed to relieve caloric malnutrition throughout the world. At a time when millions are dying of starvation, it is morally indefensible that over half the world's grain is fed to animals instead of to people.

Every human is born naturally vegetarian. A baby begins with milk, then vegetables. Meateating parents must introduce meat when he is older, because it is more difficult to digest and not so appealing.

The human body is not like a carnivore's. The intestines are different, the teeth, the nails. Predatory animals have sharper teeth and claws, not nails.

A python is really a meateater. He swallows his prey whole, raw, fur and claws and all, and can digest everything, no problem. Humans are not like that. We can eat fruit raw and whole, but for meat, we have to wash and cut off just a few special pieces and then cook or marinate. Obviously, it is not our natural diet!

Our natural diet is what we can eat in its natural state, without needing any processing: fruits, nuts, salads, milk.

The growth of medical science has been a major factor in converting people to vegetarianism. In the USA, UK, and Scandanavia, vegetarianism is being advocated by the medical community.

The high-fiber content of vegetables, low cholesterol, and prevention of zoonotic disorders have been the major reasons leading the medical experts to recommend vegetarianism.

The discsovery of human onchogene (mutation of genes caused by meat-eating) by Dr. Weinberg at MIT has revolutionized the approach to cancer prevention. Bowel cancer in particular is known to be due to the low fibre content of the animal diet.

For decades, the medical community has been recommending a fibre-rich diet to prevent hemorrhoids, varicosity, constipation, hiatal hernia, ulcerative colitis, peptic ulcers, etc.

Heart Attack and Stroke

Recently there has been much attention to the relation of animal food and myocardial infraction / stroke. In UK and USA, the trend is to recommend no animal food and less eggs.

The cholesterol content of animal food makes the atherogenesis faster. A 1985 Nobel Prize was awarded to Goldstein and Brown for their work on the relation of cholesterol receptor deprivation to high animal food consumption.

This is definitely a disease of the rich and famous.

Most animals cannot be as careful about what they eat as humans are. The animals eat grass and fruits whole, sometimes dirty. Thus many germs and toxins go into their bodies. These are stored in their tissues and when someone eats the animal's body, the toxins come along.

We might note, that even among non-vegetarian people, none of them like to eat the carnivorous animals. Imagine a fox-hunter eating the fox! No human wants to eat wolves, bears, lions, etc. The instinctive feeling is that the meat would be 'dirty, contaminated, rank.'

This is a valid instinct. By eating other animals, the carnivores have accumulated many toxins.

In July 1985, the World Health Organization cited 160 'zoonoses,' which are diseases transmitted to humans by animals as an intermediate host. They are spread either by eating the meat of the animals or contacting the live animals.

It is not only meat-eaters and animal handlers who fall ill with these diseases. Even a vegetarian can contract them by eating vegetables prepared in a non-vegetarian kitchen, or through other unsanitary conditions.

Though we still have some octogenerians, the average life-span in India is decreasing.

In contrast, in the Soviet Republic of Abkhasia, which is largely vegetarian, life often lasts over 100 years. At all ages, the people are healthy, vigorous, slim, and smart.

A study conducted by the Ethnographic Institute in Sukhumi revealed that arteriosclerosis is rare there except in extreme old age (after one hundred years). A nine-year study of 123 people over 100 years old revealed no reported cases of mental illness.

Johnny Weismuller, Pravo Nurmi, Chris Evert-Lloyd, and many other athletes -- marathon runners, body-builders, weight-lifters, etc -- have preferred to be vegetarian. Their endurance and stamina have been extraordinary. In fact, in scientific tests using a stationary bicycle, the subjects averaged three times longer when on a vegetarian diet than when on a meat diet.

Vegetarian wrestlers will do a warmup, then maintain their strength for hours. But after only 5 or 10 minutes, a meateater wrestler will get tired.

There is a popular myth that eating meat makes people strong. Some believe that the muscles of animals go directly into their muscles. But the fact is, that whatever is eaten is completely broken down by the digestive system.

Contrary to this myth, we may note that the strongest animals in nature, such as elephants, bulls, buffaloes, oxen, and gorillas, are the herbivores (vegetarians). No carnivores (meat-eaters) grow this strong.

The biggest, strongest creature on earth is the whale, who is purely vegetarian. He eats only algae, spirulina -- very rich in protein.

The lightest, most agile, liveliest animals are also vegetarians: such as squirrels and deer. They are agile and also they have stamina. Compare a deer and a lion. The lion is a meateater, and after he runs 5 minutes, he gets tired. But the deer can run forever! It seems he is not touching the earth, he is so light, so weightless! This is the beauty of vegetarianism.

Many famous and important people are vegetarians: Mahatma Gandhi, Bernard Shaw, Einstein. Even entertainers such as McCartney, Jackson, and Madonna! These are professionals, people who must keep their energy at a superior level for hours and hours, in stressful circumstances. They choose their diet as an athlete chooses his equipment, to improve their performance.

In Jainism and other Indian cultures, vegetarians may use large amounts of milk, yoghurt, etc. Or, if they choose, they may use a milk substitute such as soy milk. It is good to have some milk or milk substitute to provide protein.

Some people think milk is like meat or eggs and should not be used by vegetarians. But when we look closely at the matter, we see many differences.

Obviously, to get meat the animal must be killed. Killing is against all religions, especially killing animals, as they feel pain just as we do.

But to get milk does not harm the animal. In India, traditionally, the family cow is a beloved member of the family, a pet. We treat her well and feed her well, so she gives the best milk.

So, ethically, using milk is like using fruit. Picking ripe fruit does not hurt the tree, and milking a cow does not hurt her. She likes giving her milk to her calf and to us.

The trees produce fruit as food for the birds, to attract them, so they will spread the seeds, and produces extra, abundance. The cow produces milk as food for her calf and produces extra, abundance. In taking a little milk, in exchange for caring for the cow, we are part of an exchange of love, a peaceful symbiosis.

The Vegans say that because some modern farmers do not treat their cows well, we should give up eating any diary products. Their intention is very good. But we believe that the best way to improve the treatment of the cows is to encourage those farmers who are treating them well. If we boycott all the farmers alike, it is no encouragement to the good ones.