Mystic Masala: Veg-o-ramic view!

Art o' Living'ers profess vegetarianism. I know of many ardent meat lovers who have to work real hard at saying 'no' to a portion of chicken tandoori masala. I guess I'm lucky in this regard coz' I am a veggie by birth and didn't need to 'convert'. :-)

A vegetarian diet is said to be good for the human digestion. It is said that it takes upto 72 hours for the average human being to digest a portion of meat (I said 'average'- can't speak for Superman though!). Now we all know that no one really waits for 72 hours before getting all set for the next meal. So that's how the human digestive system is made to work overtime.

Even our teeth are said to be more green-friendly. Check out our strong molars, for starters.

That said, I'm not criticizing meat lovers; only pointing them to t' other side of the dining table.

Now look at yet another table which has a comparative view of herbivores (eat only herbs) and carnivores (eat only meat). This was taken from an article online on vegetarianism. I reckoned it could be of academic interest to readers.

Carnivore	Herbivore	Human
has claws	no claws	no claws
no pores on skin; perspires through tongue to cool body	perspires through millions of pores on skin	perspires through millions of pores on skin
sharp, pointed front teeth to tear flesh	no sharp, pointed front teeth	no sharp, pointed front teeth
no flat back molar teeth to grind food	has flat, back molar teeth to grind food	has flat, back molar teeth to grind food
small salivary glands in the mouth (not needed to pre-digest grains and fruits)	well-developed salivary glands, needed to pre-digest grains and fruits	well-developed salivary glands, needed to pre-digest grains and fruits
acid saliva; no enzyme ptyalin to pre-digest grains	alkaline saliva; much ptyalin to pre-digest grains	alkaline saliva; much ptyalin to pre-digest grains
strong hydrochloric acid in stomach to digest tough animal muscle, bone, etc.	stomach acid 20 times weaker than that of meat-eaters	stomach acid 20 times weaker than that of meat-eaters
intestinal tract only 3 times body length, so rapidly decaying meat can pass out of body quickly	intestinal tract several times body length (plant foods decay slowly so can take their time to pass through the body)	intestinal tract several times body length

Well, that's the science of vegetarianism.

Speaking of the art of v., I came across this great looking veggie blog. Look at all the colors!

Here's a stunning veg 'art-la-carte' which I clicked at a recent wedding reception. Each veg- exhibit was lovingly carved with great care and creativity. Made of green pumkins and carrots and cucumber and turnips...