How to start a Vegetarian Diet
by Paul Murphy (aka Praghosa), There are many reasons why people decide to start out on the vegetarian path; health, weight loss, compassion for the animals, spiritual belief, to be eco-friendly to planet earth, all the above or various combinations of these factors. Whatever the motivation, the right choice is being made. It is NOT very difficult to stop eating meat. If you're worried about where to get your animal fat and protein then worry no more. Actually the protein issue is such a non-issue. Unless someone is in a seriously impoverished situation, like in a famine-inflicted desert country, or unless a person has an eating disorder like anorexia nervosa, it is virtually impossible not to get enough protein. The argument sometimes put forward, that a vegetarian is somehow lacking in nutrition, is a fairy-tale only believable by the purely uninformed. You can get more nutrition and protein in a vegetarian diet, than in a non-vegetarian diet. Follow the link below for Dr. Reed Mangel's vegetarian complete protein diet. This information is for vegans, who take zero animal fat. If you are a lacto vegetarian (minus the non vegetarian food that is often mistaken as dairy - eggs) then you'll have to watch out for protein overdose in cheese, ice-cream, yogurt, butter and other dairy!
Does a vegetarian take dairy produce? Most do. In regards to dairy, perhaps the most popular dish in our three Govindas restaurants in Dublin is curd subji, which is concentrated homemade cheese mixed into a tasty juicy tomato sauce. Of course, if you eat this on it's own you will OD on natural animalfat. It is said that milk (the basis of dairy) is the blood of the cow transformed. Traditionally in India the cow is revered as a mother and sustainer of life. In the village she is treated as a family and community member, and she, out of love and reciprocation, produces ample milk that easily satisfies both her calves and her human carers. Modern dairy methods are extremely cruel to mother cow, therefore one the aims of Govindas restaurants and Hare Krishna farm communities internationally, is to re-establish ideal dairy farming. Here is one example in Europe.
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