Veganism Is Bliss - 2

By Advaita Shukla

(vegetarianism is cruelty free, deficiencies, stroke risk)

Namaste!

Dear readers, welcome to the second post in the series on Veganism. This post is going to primarily address the topics mentioned above which I have taken from the comments received on the last post. Since these topics will need quite a lot of explaining, I am aware that this post is probably going to be quite elaborate, but to try to keep it as succinct as possible I will get straight to it.

Since Veganism is a philosophy primarily professing the truth about the ineffable cruelty animals are put through by the billion every single day, I would like to start by addressing the misconception that, ‘vegetarianism is cruelty free’ first. I am from a primarily vegetarian background and remember being utterly confused as a child at how some of my non-vegetarian friends at school could eat animals. I occasionally discussed this topic with my friends and asked them if they didn’t feel bad about taking someone’s life to eat their bodies. As a proud vegetarian, I used to believe that my diet was completely cruelty free and I was doing what was best. So I can relate to you and understand why you would have such a misconception.

To make this clearer, let me throw light on what the process of obtaining milk actually is like. Well, cows, just like humans, are mammals, and lactate only when they reproduce. After giving birth to their calf, the lactation begins and lasts for up to 300 days. The dairy industry, just like any other, is profit based, and waiting for cows to reproduce naturally, will ineluctably prove to be unprofitable for the industry. Thus, a few days after the lactation period is over, the cows are artificially impregnated by putting either a hand, or an elbow deep into their anus, holding the cervix of the cow with one hand, and then inserting the semen into her uterus using a vial. This by itself is an utterly disturbing and highly repulsive, yet legal and ‘most humane’ method of artificial reproduction, but what follows is even worse. In most nations, where beef and veal (meat obtained by slaughtering male calf) is consumed, the calves are separated from their mothers almost immediately after birth. The male calves, are taken away to slaughterhouses when they are not more than a few days old, ready to be sold off as veal as they can’t produce milk, while the female calves are kept in the same facility, but still away from their mothers - to be used just like their mothers are being used - in the future. Taking a newborn away from their mother, never to be seen again, is the epitome of cruelty!

(Image Source: Internet)

You might be thinking that this is what happens in other nations, not in India, but the situation is not much different! We revere cows as sacred beings, worship them, but still thousands are sent off in trucks to be slaughtered for ‘food’, or worse, for their skin. Even in India, these innocent beings are exploited to the absolute extreme throughout their lives and finally either left on the streets, or mostly sent to slaughterhouses once their bodies cannot take it anymore, and they can’t produce any more milk. The harmful effect these abhorrent activities have on the cows, is evident! As per several studies, a cow which can naturally live for up to 20 years, has an average life of just about five to six years, when subjected to such torture. The physical torture these animals live their pitiable lives through, is vast; ranging from the casual beatings given to them by farmers which are sometimes exposed by animal rights activists who sneak cameras into their farms, to the inevitable, annual artificial insemination, and separation from their offspring after each birth, to the unhygienic conditions in which they are kept in, till the eventual painful death, that awaits them. Such simple, innocent beings being tortured throughout their lives, and then finally being forced to walk to their death is unbelievable and extremely saddening.

There is much more that takes place behind closed doors in the dairy industry and other animal based industries, which is kept hidden and protected by the various propaganda and myths carried on by several generations, including the portrayal of ‘extremely happy cows’ being illustrated on the packages of dairy products, among many other strategic steps taken to give a sense of false reassurance. I could elaborate on this topic further, but feel the need to move to the next topic before losing the interest I hope you have acquired, in reading this account.

The most frequently asked question to any vegan on Earth, is, “Where do you get your protein from?”. People have developed a stereotype that vegans are protein, B12, Zinc, Choline, etcetera deficient, and grow weak and develop diseases easily. In reality, all a person needs, to meet their daily requirement of protein, is a meal that satiates their hunger. If you think about it, all the protein that you consume every day is primarily coming from plants, passing through different organisms before you consume their milk/ muscles. If you think that we cannot get all the protein we need from plants, then how do you think the various hefty and powerful herbivores like gorillas, elephants, giraffes, etcetera, get their protein from? You might be thinking,“Well, herbivores like them are equipped with an intricate ‘biological machinery’ which helps them process the plants better, and get the most out of them, and that is why they can do it, but we omnivores are never going to be able to do that.” Several doctors, and scientists, are now reconsidering this. There is actual biological evidence, which proves that we might not be biologically equipped to be omnivores, although we have become behavioral omnivores. Since I would like to keep this as short as possible, I think it would be best if I elaborate on this later, but for now, you all have access to the internet, on which you can research yourselves, as truly, looking for answers by oneself is the most satisfying way of learning about a new topic, especially such a radical one.

Apart from proteins, there are hundreds of nutrients which vegans are said to be deficient in, so let us look at the most common one- vitamin B12. Vitamin B12, is a nutrient that is exclusively synthesised by bacteria. In early times, when humans used to forage for food, they used to get this vitamin from sources like river water, fruits with a little dust/dirt on them, etcetera, but due to the overly sanitized environments we live in currently, we often tend to not eat the required amount of this vitamin. Non-vegan foods like milk, meat, cheezes, etcetera are often fortified with vitamins and minerals like vitamin B12 and non-vegans get closer to their daily requirement by consuming these fortified products. Which means, they are still supplementing their diets with vitamin B12 indirectly. So if they are supplementing B12 anyway, why not stop eating these products?

A new theory has recently surfaced, which states that vegans develop a higher risk of stroke, even though their lifestyle reduces the risk of heart diseases. This study was first published by the BBC, and was later copied by several other sites, which helped it spread like wildfire. Since I believe that I am not really the best person to discuss this with you, I am sharing the link to a Youtube video made by MictheVegan (he is well acquainted with subjects related to diet, health and environment), in which he explains briefly, why this might not be the truth after all; and even if we believe that this is the truth, why vegans, are still better off. He has backed each fact he has presented, with reliable studies and has sufficiently debunked this myth. I highly encourage you all to take the time to watch this video and try to grasp what he is trying to convey. The studies conducted so far have proved that living a vegan lifestyle is not harmful to the body, and current science is what we have to rely on at present.

(Click here for the video.)

With this, I would like to conclude the second post of the vegan series :)

Thank you for reading.