Its role in the various stages of human life

Its role in the various stages of human life
While deciding to be a complete vegetarian, a I person may wonder whether such a move is right for certain stages in life - stages when the person is on the verge of radical changes in mind and body. He may, as a result, ignore the major plus points of vegetarianism, namely, the recommendations of dieticians, the relation of food I with the anatomy and the nourishing properties of vegetarian food and he may be carried away by what people say on the issue. Further, he may be assailed by doubt about whether his practise of vegetarianism is having the right effect, i.e. whether he is getting sufficient nourishment. Of course, there could be reasons for such doubts, Perhaps a two year old has just started taking a bit of solid food but, compared with the other children of his age; he is not in the pink of health, is very thin and does not seem to be putting on weight. A doubt crosses one’s mind whether

this state of health has something to do with the vegetarian food given to the child. Then, say, there is an adolescent boy or girl who is growing fast, has the right weight and height but lacks in form and comeliness. Is there something deficient in the food that he or she has been eating? , A fine sportsperson misses being number one just by a very narrow margin, when all things are otherwise favourable. He just fails to make it to the top and always ends up as number two or three, instead of winning the medal. Is something wrong with his diet? Or, plagued by an unexpected ailment after retirement, an old man just fails to regain the lost energy and zest. From these examples, it is clear that the results achieved at these important stages in life are unsatisfactory. This makes a person wonder whether there is a food - health link and he begins to harbour doubts about the efficacy of the vegetarian diet regimen.

Obviously, this is not true. There is no room for doubt | about the adequacy of nutrients in vegetarian food. It has been found that even at the crucial stages in life, a vegetarian diet can provide sufficient nourishment. Of course, one has to pay careful attention to some of the malpractices (like over¬eating) and eliminate them. Healthy eating is based on variety and moderation. The right amount of food should be taken in a proper manner and at a proper time. Allowing a child to drink milk any time he wants it is incorrect. It adversely affects his general appetite. A drink of milk early in the morning, repeated at 11am, with biscuits or cakes, puts the child off his staple food. Milk is just a supplementary food. The child cannot eat adequate quantities of his main diet of rice and dal, chapatti with vegetables if he has had some milk just before his meal time. Evening snacks like biscuits, bakery products, spiced rice flakes, semolina cooked in milk [sanja) or semolina cooked with sugar and ghee (shira) will certainly decrease his appetite for his supper. That is why the child’s snack time should be early, around 4.00 pm. Children should be fed with proper food items after intervals of four to five hours but only if he is hungry. A time table formula for meals and snacks and the right amount of basic substances required for growth would ensure sufficient nourishment and assist proper growth in terms of weight, height, healthy looks and a sturdy body.

The Teenagers - the time for growth
It is difficult to keep track on the diet of teenagers. They go out on their own or with friends and are likely to eat snacks between meals. The family meal times may not suit them. It should be ensured that they get enough nourishing food to promote healthy growth. Teenagers are likely to need a heavier breakfast than either infants or adults. At lunch they must eat at least two chapattis, a medium bowl of boiled and spiced vegetables or a salad. The teenager’s between-meals snacks should not affect his appetite for his main meals which are likely to be the really nutritious foods of the day. If they do, then the result is a foregone conclusion - for want of adequate nourishment, his growth (height, weight and physique) will be adversely affected. A teenager should, therefore, reserve one day in a week for indulging in fast food but should take regular meals and snacks at home on all other days. That is how he would get sufficient nutrients. Teenagers have their strong likes and dislikes. Some favour potato items only. They might turn up their noses at vegetables and pulses and refuse to eat them. This obviously results in an imbalanced diet, the beginning of malnutrition. For building up a sound body, a teenager must eat chapattis and rice in satisfying quantities and supplement this staple diet with items like boiled vegetables (properly spiced), dal or ussad (a dish of boiled and spiced pulses), a plate of salad and curds or a glass of buttermilk.

Renowned sports persons are vegetarians
A sports person’s diet is much talked about and even gossiped about, particularly when they are playing in international tournaments. If an Indian sports person fails to I reach the top, the failure is often blamed on his diet which is vegetarian. Dieticians have, however, a different story to tell - the vegetarians, both human and animal, are extremely agile. Several sports persons of international repute are vegetarians. Just to name a few of the celebrities - Pearl Lewis, Ramesh Krishnan, Martina Navratilova, Vishawanathan Anand, J. Shrinath, Anil Kumble, V. Prasad are all vegetarians. Satpal, the wrestler, and Mrinalini Sarabhai and Yamini Krishnamurthy, the dancers, were all vegetarian. Vijay Merchant, the world famous cricketer and a vegetarian, had been in the U.K. from 1936 to 1946 to play Test Cricket. He has stated, in effect, that his vegetarian life style did in no way affect his performance adversely. He further made it clear that it is wrong to believe that cricket can be played effectively only by meat eaters. Prakash Padukone, the world famous badminton player, is a vegetarian. Bill Pickering, who set a record of crossing the English Channel in 1955, proudly announced himself a vegetarian. Murray Rose had a swimming record to his credit in 1956. He was a vegetarian. While on his research expedition to Chile, Charles Darwin saw the mine workers engaged in arduous physical labour. He was very much surprised to know that all of them were vegetarians. Let us turn to the world of animals. It is well known that carnivorous animals cannot cany out the tasks that call for perseverance, that they are not fit for sustained work. Lions, tigers, jackals, wolves and dogs demonstrate their physical strength in flashes, lasting just for a few minutes only. On the other hand, bulls, buffalos, elephants and horses are tough and tenacious, and have durable stamina - and these are vegetarian animals. All over the world, the majority of the people are employed for jobs that require physical strength. The manual labour that they put in is very arduous and hard. They have to earn their bread by the sweat of their brows. They are, however, I too poor to afford a diet of meat and fish. Still, there is nothing I on record to show that their vegetarian diet has caused any I difficulties, such as fatigue or exhaustion, in cariying out their I work. It is interesting to note that an experiment was conducted I in this field in Holland. Various sports competitions, mostly I from the general category of sports, were held between I vegetarian and non-vegetarian teams of players. Significantly, I vegetarian teams won all the matches.

Sports persons require mainly carbohydrates for energy. I Obviously, everyone is in need of proteins and fats in certain I quantities. But the carbohydrates meet the demand for I additional energy necessary for playing the strenuous games. I For one thing, this energy is instantly available. In I competitions like cycling, marathons or in I exhausting prolonged games like football and tennis, there is I an urgent need to make up for the lost energy and this can be supplied by fruit juices, sorbets laced with glucose powder, snacks made of carbohydrates and energy snacks like cheese, chikki and chocolates. At the same time, it is essential to replenish the body with water which has been lost through sweat. If these sports persons are given large and excessive quantities of proteins, the waste products left after digestion remain deposited in the body in the form of lactic acid. This leads to health complaints like muscle cramps, shooting pains and a slowing down of the rhythm of expansion and

contraction. Again, excessive intake of fats is a sure cause of obesity. Anyway, non-vegetarian foods have much less carbohydrate content. That is why it is proper and advisable to give vegetarian food to sports persons. A person may have many health complaints immediately following retirement. The typical symptoms include a lack of zest and a feeling of exhaustion. This could be due to the change in the routine lifestyle of fixed innings for breakfast, meals and sleep - a life style practised almost religiously for, perhaps, over thirty five years. The remedy lies not in changing the diet but in returning to the old, habitual time table, as far as possible. The complaints will vanish in no time. The following menu chart gives guide lines about the vegetarian diet and its nutritious value at the four major stages in human life. Changes may be made to suit individual taste. The chart should prove useful for identifying the deficiencies, in the diet. A daily menu card, such as is given here, is easier to remember than arithmetical quantifications of proteins, fats, carbohydrates and calories.

A Daily Menu Chart
Food requirements for a child in the age group 1.5-2 years:

•Calorie requirement for a day: 1200 calories.

•Milk required: between 450 and 500 millilitres (about four small cups).

•Breakfast: supplementary foods like Farex or a small bowl [vat0 of kheer made of semolina or rice or gram or barley flour with milk and sugar.

•Lunch: Half a bowl of boiled rice and one fourth bowl of dal with a spoonful of pure ghee.

•Dinner: A chapatti and a boiled or fried potato (shredded or grated) mixed with vegetable soup.

•Sugar: Six spoonfuls of sugar or jaggery a day to be taken with milk or any other food item.

•Snacks: In addition, in case a child feels hungry in between the meal times, he may be given biscuits and other snacks that adults eat.

•For a teenager (boy or girl) in the age group 14 - 18 years:

•Calorie requirement for a day: 2500 Calories.

•Milk: A glass of milk (200 ml.) in the morning. Milk products throughout the day in the form of curds, buttermilk, tea, coffee (200 ml.).

•Breakfast: two chapattis and a vegetable or two sandwiches made of coconut chutney, sprouted grains, tomato, and

•Lunch: three chapattis or phulkas i.e. a chapatti baked without oil or ghee with a small bowl {vatij of dal / ussal / pulse broth, a bowl of rice, half bowl of salad made of tomatoes, cucumber, and cabbage, cauliflower, and spinach, green stems of onion, carrot, radish, and lettuce.

•Tea time snack: a bowl of upma (salty dish made of semolina) or shira (sweet dish made from semolina, milk and sugar) or rice flakes fried and spiced (kandapohe). One apple / banana /guava custard apple / sapodilla.

•Dinner: Two chapattis, a bowl each of rice and boiled and spiced vegetables, a thick curry made from green gram, lentil, black gram, horse gram or gram flour. Deep green vegetables, sprouted grains, coriander and onion stems should be used liberally in order to get iron, calcium, proteins and vitamins. All these assist proper growth of a teenager. Throughout the day not more than five cups of tea or coffee and not more than two bottles of carbonated drinks should be taken in order to safeguard from a loss of appetite. During the week, at least five varieties of vegetables should be feature in the menu. Oil and spices should be used in moderation. They contain no vitamins.

For a top sportsman in the age group 20-25
•Calorie requirement for a day: 3500 calories.

•Of these, 2200 calories would be obtained from standard daily meals that average persons take. In this context, the daily menu chart for the teenagers may also be consulted. In addition, 1300 more calories should form part of the menu on every practice day.

•Additional calories:
•Add two spoonfuls of protein powder and two spoonfuls of sugar to the morning glass of milk.

• Add a glass of fruit juice or two spoonfuls of glucose powder and a twenty five gram slice of cheese to the usual breakfast. •Evening snack (after practice hours) : One Imhiu ■: (sweetmeat) made from a mixture of groundnutM UM<I Ittygppy, or chikki (contains the same ingredients) or 100 grmiiM chocolate.

•Fresh Fruit: Two bananas or two guavas or an apple or large slice of papaya or dry fruits (30 - 50 grams) i.e. dry figs, cashew nuts, almonds, currants, raisins, apricots etc. may be eaten throughout the day as energy boosters.

•Economical substitutes: In place of expensive foods like fruit, dry fruits and protein powder, the following can be substituted: Freshly made unleavened bread made from mixed flour (1 bowl each of horse gram, jawar and millet) with 2 spoons of oil or ghee and 3 spoons of kareli or groundnut chutney. This is a healthy addition to the three meals.

Additional Nourishment for the age group 10 to 70:
Sometimes, it so happens that a person continues to feel exhausted long after his illness is over, or there is a recurrence of illness, although all the tests are normal. In such cases nutritious supplements to the diet may prove useful. To meet this situation, vegetarian supplementary food items can be made available in a variety of tastes so that everyone finds something to his liking at a price he can easily afford. Such food can be consumed in the morning or in the, evening, depending on the appetite. The food is available in the form of laddu (home made or from the shops).

Note: Proportion of sugar in the laddu can be adjusted according to preference. Jaggeiy, too, can add taste. The use of ghee or vegetable oil makes no difference either to the nutritious value or to the calories. Milk powder also may be used in the preparation of the laddus which adds to the proteins and calories. Laddus made from gingelli (Sesmum) are highly palatable and are favourite sweets during the Sankrant festival (14th January). Typically, they are small in size and low in weight.

Vegetarian Diet during convalescence
Sometimes, a patient may develop nausea after illness. He has no relish for food, not even for his favourite dishes. This condition often recurs in the case of old stomach troubles or liver complaints. There are several food items that can help a vegetarian patient in such situations and restore him to normal health. These food items help the patient to regain relish for food, help him to digest food easily and also supply sufficient nutritious ingredients. Here is the menu chart: Note: The calories that a patient gets from the above mentioned items total up to 1100. Besides, tea, coffee and milk provide 300 calories. The menu should help the patient to regain health and he may in due course shed the feeling of illness.

Famous Vegetarians: -
Among the vegetarians, there are several politicians, writers, painters, poets, actors, cine stars, musicians, dancers, singers, merchants, businessmen and reformers. •Demi Moore •Carl Lewis •P.B. Shelley •.Madonna •Martina Navratilova •Bernard Shaw •Newton •John Milton •George Washington

Some prominent vegetarians, besides Mahatma Gandhi :
1.Murli Deora: Politician

2.Amitabh Bachchan: Cine star

3.Maneka Gandhi: Politician

4.MS. Subalakshmi : Singer

5.R K Lakshman: Cartoonist

6.Baba Amte: Social Worker

7.Vishwanathan Anand: Cbess Grand Master

8.Mahesh Bhat: Film director

9.MM Joshi: Politician

10.Hinduja brothers: businessmen

11.Maharshi Mahesh Yogi: Meditation Guru

12.Man Mohan Singh: Prime Minister

13.Ramesh Krishnan: Tennis player

14.Vivek Goenka: Newspaper baron

15.Shakuntala devi: Mathematician

16.Rajni Kothari : Writer

17.Nanaji Deshmukh; Social worker

18.Gurumayi Chidvilasnanda: Spiritual Leader

19.Jerry Rao : Banker

20.Chandrakant Garware: Businessman

21.S Venkatraman: Politician

22.Ambani brothers: Businessmen

23.Sundarlal Bahuguna : Ecologist

24.Ashoka Jain: Newspaper baron

25.Samir Jain: Times Of India

26.S.D. Sharma : Ex President of India

27.Bharat Ram: Businessman

28.Bhagyashree: cine artist

29.T N Seshan: Ex election commissioner

30.Subramanyam Swami: Politician

31.P V Narasimha Rao: Ex prime minister

32.Anuradha Modi: Social worker

33.Jagdish Tytler: Politician

34.Anuradha Paudwal: Singer

35.Kapila Vatsayan: Educationist

36.Harshad Mehta : Stock broker

37.Sanjay Dalmia : Businessman

38.Swami Chinmayananda: Spiritual Leader

39.K T Dholakia: Surgeon

40.P N Bhagwati: Judge

41.Nitin Mukesh : Singer

42.Yamini Krishnamurty: Dancer

43.R D Lele: Doctor

44.Rekha: Cine Star

45.Lai Krishna Advani: Politician

46.C Subramanian: governor

47.Alarmel Valli: Dancer

48.Anupam Kher: Cine star

49.L M Singhvi: Diplomat

50.Chandrakant Birla: Businessman

51.Homi Sethna: Film producer

52,Swami Agnivesh: Spiritual Leader

53.Shashi Ruia : Businessman

54.Ravi Ruia: Businessman

55.Mrinalini Sarabhai : Dancer

56.R P Goenka: Businessman

57.Harsh Goenka : Businessman

58.Arvind Mafatlal: Businessman

59.Hrishikesh Mafatlal: Businessman

60.Bharat Mansata: Ecologist

61.Vandana Sheva : Eco-feminist

62.Ila Bhat: Social worker

63.Shobhana Bhartiya : News paper owner

64.Rahul Bajaj : Businessman

65.Lekha POtdar: Designer

66.G P Goenka: Businessman

67.Bittu Sehgal: Editor

68.Ashoka Singhal: Politician

69.Abhaya Oswal: Businessman

70.Gurumurthy: Businessman consultant

71.Medha Patkar: Social worker

72.B K Modi: Businessman

73.G Ramaswamy: Advocate

74.B K Goyal: Heart specialist

75.Prabhu Chawla: Editor

76.Bharat Shah; Financier

77.Firoze V Gandhi: Politician

78,Pandit Ravi Shankar ; : Sitar Player

79.Liham Iqbal: Assistant Film Director

80.Akshaya Kumar: cine artist

81.Asha Kochar: Model ,

82.Mukul Deo: Model

88.Javagal sShrinath: Cricketer

81.Venkatesh Prasad: j Cricketer

85.Chandra Shekhar: Ex Prime Minister