Okay, so the reason I'm writing this is because, I honestly cannot stress how much this issue is important to me and how passionate I am about it. I wrote a lot of articles and talked a lot about this. But a lot of people still don't realize the seriousness of this issue. This is my attempt at organizing my thoughts, writing them down, and perhaps even influencing others. So before I start I'd like to explain the term 'vegetarianism'.
There are many types of vegetarians out there and the most common ones are:
- Pescatarian : the word “pescatarian” is occasionally used to describe those who abstain from eating all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish.
- Flexitarian/Semi-vegetarian : “Flexitarian” is a term recently coined to describe those who eat a mostly vegetarian diet, but occasionally eat meat.
- (Lacto-ovo- vegetarian) :People who do not eat beef, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish or animal flesh of any kind, but do eat eggs and dairy products
- Vegan :Vegans do not eat meat of any kind and also do not eat eggs, dairy products, or processed foods containing these or other animal-derived ingredients such as gelatin.
- Raw vegan/Raw food diet: A raw vegan diet consists of unprocessed vegan foods that have not been heated above 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius).
- Macrobiotic : The macrobiotic diet, revered by some for its healthy and healing qualities, includes unprocessed vegan foods, such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and allows the occasional consumption of fish. Sugar and refined oils are avoided.
Now that you know the types of vegterians, I'll talk about my experiences with them. I was flexitarian basically all my life, cause my mom doesn't cook as much and I have a tendency to eat salads a lot so I ate red meat like once a month and chicken perhaps once a week or so, and I used to eat fruits and vegetables all day long because I just loved it.
Then in my teenage years I started dieting and exercising I used to really care about calories and stuff and I basically ate a lot of healthy foods and educated my self more about it .
4 years ago I watched a documentary on tv about animals and how they are being slaughtered and stuff and I just couldn’t bare it. Then I went a head and read some books about being vegetarian and vegan.
So about 4 years ago I became a vegan for a month. And I must say that was the hardest thing I ever had to do, because I couldn't eat red meat, white meat, fish, eggs, dairy products " CHEESE :( " I love cheese so that was so hard .. I couldn't eat chocolate or ice-cream because they contained milk so I was about to die hahaha. it was basically one month of torture. I didn't miss red meat and chicken as much as I missed dairy products and fish.
So I decided to become Pescatarian so that I can eat fish :D and dairy products but then i couldn't eat fish cause i just couldn't be a part of killing any innocent animal anymore .. I am vegetarian since 3 years now and i couldn't be more happy.
I believe that you need to do whatever makes you feel happy but also try to think about those animals and your health. I wanted to be vegan so bad but I couldn't especially because of the environment I live in and our society. Arabs are known to be meat eaters and without it they'll just die!!. Cutting meat from my diet was really easy however cutting dairy products and fish was really hard. At least I'm trying here okay :P and fish don't suffer as much like chickens or cows.
Why do I think this is good for me?
I think being a vegetarian is good because of TWO things. First your improving your health in ways you can't even imagine, I'll explain later. And you're stopping cruelty to animals which is my main concern here.
Prevent cruelty to animals:
Nobody wants animals to suffer, but it's easy to forget that when they are in our burgers!!! The easiest action a person can take to reduce animal suffering is to simply stop eating them .
There are many types of vegetarians out there and the most common ones are:
- Pescatarian : the word “pescatarian” is occasionally used to describe those who abstain from eating all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish.
- Flexitarian/Semi-vegetarian : “Flexitarian” is a term recently coined to describe those who eat a mostly vegetarian diet, but occasionally eat meat.
- (Lacto-ovo- vegetarian) :People who do not eat beef, pork, poultry, fish, shellfish or animal flesh of any kind, but do eat eggs and dairy products
- Vegan :Vegans do not eat meat of any kind and also do not eat eggs, dairy products, or processed foods containing these or other animal-derived ingredients such as gelatin.
- Raw vegan/Raw food diet: A raw vegan diet consists of unprocessed vegan foods that have not been heated above 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius).
- Macrobiotic : The macrobiotic diet, revered by some for its healthy and healing qualities, includes unprocessed vegan foods, such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and allows the occasional consumption of fish. Sugar and refined oils are avoided.
Now that you know the types of vegterians, I'll talk about my experiences with them. I was flexitarian basically all my life, cause my mom doesn't cook as much and I have a tendency to eat salads a lot so I ate red meat like once a month and chicken perhaps once a week or so, and I used to eat fruits and vegetables all day long because I just loved it.
Then in my teenage years I started dieting and exercising I used to really care about calories and stuff and I basically ate a lot of healthy foods and educated my self more about it .
4 years ago I watched a documentary on tv about animals and how they are being slaughtered and stuff and I just couldn’t bare it. Then I went a head and read some books about being vegetarian and vegan.
So about 4 years ago I became a vegan for a month. And I must say that was the hardest thing I ever had to do, because I couldn't eat red meat, white meat, fish, eggs, dairy products " CHEESE :( " I love cheese so that was so hard .. I couldn't eat chocolate or ice-cream because they contained milk so I was about to die hahaha. it was basically one month of torture. I didn't miss red meat and chicken as much as I missed dairy products and fish.
So I decided to become Pescatarian so that I can eat fish :D and dairy products but then i couldn't eat fish cause i just couldn't be a part of killing any innocent animal anymore .. I am vegetarian since 3 years now and i couldn't be more happy.
I believe that you need to do whatever makes you feel happy but also try to think about those animals and your health. I wanted to be vegan so bad but I couldn't especially because of the environment I live in and our society. Arabs are known to be meat eaters and without it they'll just die!!. Cutting meat from my diet was really easy however cutting dairy products and fish was really hard. At least I'm trying here okay :P and fish don't suffer as much like chickens or cows.
Why do I think this is good for me?
I think being a vegetarian is good because of TWO things. First your improving your health in ways you can't even imagine, I'll explain later. And you're stopping cruelty to animals which is my main concern here.
Prevent cruelty to animals:
Nobody wants animals to suffer, but it's easy to forget that when they are in our burgers!!! The easiest action a person can take to reduce animal suffering is to simply stop eating them .
Around eight billion animals are killed for food every year in the (U.S. alone ) -- a number greater than the entire human population of the planet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Animals are beautiful creatures, they are meant to eat, drink, love, play and simply enjoy their lives in a big farm where they can move freely and be exposed to the air and the sun.
But this is not what's happening, animals are being raised in cramped confinement operations instead of big green farms .. a process called factory farming CHICKENS are crammed into cages with no free space they can't even move their feet, they are injected with so many hormones and they're so fat that their feet cannot bare the weight so alot of them have broken legs and injuries! Chickens are also DEBEAKED and that means their beaks are removed so that they don't peck each other to death. They are also completely pumped with various powerful drugs to kill diseases resulting from filthy living conditions and to also make them grow faster. That’s why I think vegetarianism or veganism are easy ways NOT to participate in this kind of cruelty.
Islam's way of slaughtering:
A lot of people disagreed with me and said, well that happens in none Muslim countries. But we have the "Halal" way of killing. Yes we do have the "Halal" way of killing but is that being implemented in our Muslim countries? Or if I may rephrase, is it being implemented right?
Our profit Mohammed had always talked about animal rights and about preventing cruelty to animals, and he always insisted that when killing an animal like for instance in 'Eid Al Adha' there must be rules or steps.
For example you should pet the sheep on it's head, play with it a bit make it feel comfortable and most important DO NOT slaughter the animal in front of other animals and always use a sharp Knife to make the process faster, easier and less painful to the animal.
Now this is perfect. But unfortunately this is not what happens, as I saw on TV with my own eyes. How they kill the sheeps on eid. They gather many sheeps in the same place and kill them one after another while other sheeps are watching and screaming so loudly you can actually see their eyes pop out with fear and anger. When we slaughter the sheep while it's in fear and anger we are harming ourselves as we are eating all these negative emotions so therefore we become angry and negative. Just imagine how the other sheeps felt while watching their friend being slaughtered in front of their eyes.
Our profit Mohammed asked us to something and what's being done is totally the opposite.
Here are some of our profit's sayings:
( لا تمثلوا بالبهائم , لعن الله من مثل بالحيوان)
( من رحم ولو ذبيحة عصفور , رحمه الله يوم القيامة)
(عذبت امرأة في هرة حبستها حتى ماتت فدخلت فيها النار , لا هي أطعمتها وسقتها اذا هي حبستها, ولا هي تركتها تأكل من خشاش الأرض)
(إياكم أن تتخذوا ظهور دوابكم منابر , فإن الله إنما سخرها لكم لتبلغكم إلى بلد لم تكونوا بالغيه إلا بشق الأنفس , وجعل لكم الأرض, فعليها فاقضوا حاجتكم)
( أما بلغكم أني لعنت من وسم البهيمة في وجهها أو حز بها في وجهها)
Being healthy:
Being vegetarian actually makes you feel good inside and outside. Your digestive system will improve tremendously :P and you will feel clean and energized all day long. I remember that month when I went vegan, it was soooo hard but! i felt really light and I was breathing easier ,feeling good and smiling all day long, im not kidding it felt amazing because I was eating a lot of fiber and raw food and consuming loads of vitamins and minerals . Now that im back on fish and dairy products it's not quite the same. But it's okay as well. I do feel light sometimes and I absolutely feel much better than before when I was eating meat and chicken.
Vegetarians are less likely to get cancer, heart diseases diabetes or osteoporosis and are far less likely to be over weight! They also have a lot more stamina and they consume far less pesticides in their food, and their immune system is more than amazing.
At the end this is your body, and you choose what or what not to put in it, but every time you eat do some thinking and let your conscious decide weather you want to put this peace of meat in your mouth of not.
Our profit Mohammed asked us to something and what's being done is totally the opposite.
Here are some of our profit's sayings:
( لا تمثلوا بالبهائم , لعن الله من مثل بالحيوان)
( من رحم ولو ذبيحة عصفور , رحمه الله يوم القيامة)
(عذبت امرأة في هرة حبستها حتى ماتت فدخلت فيها النار , لا هي أطعمتها وسقتها اذا هي حبستها, ولا هي تركتها تأكل من خشاش الأرض)
(إياكم أن تتخذوا ظهور دوابكم منابر , فإن الله إنما سخرها لكم لتبلغكم إلى بلد لم تكونوا بالغيه إلا بشق الأنفس , وجعل لكم الأرض, فعليها فاقضوا حاجتكم)
( أما بلغكم أني لعنت من وسم البهيمة في وجهها أو حز بها في وجهها)
Being healthy:
Being vegetarian actually makes you feel good inside and outside. Your digestive system will improve tremendously :P and you will feel clean and energized all day long. I remember that month when I went vegan, it was soooo hard but! i felt really light and I was breathing easier ,feeling good and smiling all day long, im not kidding it felt amazing because I was eating a lot of fiber and raw food and consuming loads of vitamins and minerals . Now that im back on fish and dairy products it's not quite the same. But it's okay as well. I do feel light sometimes and I absolutely feel much better than before when I was eating meat and chicken.
Vegetarians are less likely to get cancer, heart diseases diabetes or osteoporosis and are far less likely to be over weight! They also have a lot more stamina and they consume far less pesticides in their food, and their immune system is more than amazing.
At the end this is your body, and you choose what or what not to put in it, but every time you eat do some thinking and let your conscious decide weather you want to put this peace of meat in your mouth of not.
