VeganEra - NEWS/Health & Wellness

Hey guys,My name is Jess and I’m new here, so please be kind. The lovely Vegan Era people have asked me to join them as their wellness writer. It’s kind of intimidating being the newbie. There’s all that angst wondering ‘Will they like me?’ Will they call me names?‘Will they pull my hair and giveme wedgies?’But then I remembered that this is nothing like being the new kid in school.This is Vegan Era – a place where everyone practices love, peace and kindness. So now that I’ve gotten over my first-post jitters I am totally amped to be contributing to this awesome site.Once a week I will be getting all preachy about natural health and wellness – a subject I am incredibly passionate about.Living a healthy lifestyle is not something I do just for kicks; it’s something that keeps me kicking.Almost two years ago I was diagnosed with a very aggressive, rare form of cancer called Epithelioid Sarcoma, which is in my left hand and arm. After having a high dose of chemo pumped through my arm following scans showed I was clear of cancer. Little did I know it would come back, not even a year after going into remission.After being told by doctors that my only real chance of long-term survival would be to have my arm amputated at the shoulder I decided to take matters into my own hands (excuse the pun). I politely refused their offers of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation and began searching for natural, alternative cancer treatments. The way I saw it I had two choices. I could rely on the slash, poison and burn method offered to me by the medical profession and become stuck in the ‘cancer patient’ category for who knows how long, or I could take responsibility for my illness and bring my body to optimum health so that it can heal itself. For me it was an easy decision. Chemo and radiation do not have great success on the type of cancer I have, and there is no way I’m going to let them cut my arm off.I quit my magazine job in Sydney, swapping a lifestyle of back-to-back parties for one of relaxation and meditation. Ditching a diet that consisted mostly of champagne, canapés and late night Lean Cuisine I became a carrot juice guzzling, lentil-loving vegan.I packed up and moved back to the Sunshine Coast to live with my family and began devoting all my time and energy to restoring my health. I am now all about cleansing, detoxing and nourishing my body with delicious organic, vegan wholefood – the recipe for my new wholesome existence.I will be coming at you each week to share musings from my healing journey. I hope you are able to get something out of my posts.Until next week, happy healing!Jess x

VeganEra - NEWS/Health & Wellness

“Government Set to Ban Meat Across UK ”

Britain will be totally vegetarian within this century

MOVES are afoot to make Britain meat-free, latest Government papers have revealed.

Recently published agricultural figures from Defra* show the numbers of animals Brits are eating is fast diminishing. Whilst the Government hasn’t yet vowed to ban meat, it might not need to – as it is no April fool’s to say that Britain is already going veggie.

According to Viva! – Europe’s largest campaigning animal group – if current trends continue, the UK will be fully vegetarian by later this century**.

The latest official statistics show that last year over 13 million fewer farmed land animals were slaughtered in the UK than the year before. The group maintains that the trend is continuing downwards, with nearly 50 million fewer killed in 2008 than in 2005.

The group also argues that this fall is not because we are importing more. Figures show that consumption of poultry meat in the UK last year fell by a massive 67,000 tonnes (four percent); pig meat consumption fell by a staggering 74,000 tonnes (down by over five per cent).

Viva! maintains an increasing number of Brits are embracing a kinder, healthier lifestyle. The timing couldn’t be better and gives a boost to the group’s national event, The Incredible Veggie Show, which is being held in London on April 18.

“Even if the Government currently refuses to promote the ethical and environmental benefits of a meat-free diet, it is great that so many British consumers are making their own minds up and going veggie!”, says Viva! campaigns manager Justin Kerswell. “However, almost nine hundred million animals are still killed for meat each year in the UK , most of them living appallingly short lives in squalid conditions and facing a terrifying death so we clearly have a long way to go but we are winning. Concerns about animal cruelty, health and the state of the planet are growing daily and vegetarianism and veganism provides a solution to all of them. It’s needed like never before.”


ENDS

Notes for editors

According to Mintel (2006), 5-6 per cent of the population is now vegetarian and the number is rising. A 2007 survey for Linda McCartney Foods, found that around 10 per cent of Brits eat no red meat, and there is a huge amount of ‘meat reducers’, with 31 million people eating vegetarian most of the time. The number of vegans has increased ten fold in the last 10 years, up to a million ***.

The average Brit eats 11,047 animals in his or her lifetime: 1 goose, 1 rabbit, 4 cattle, 18 pigs, 23 seep and lambs, 28 ducks, 39 turkeys, 1,158 chickens, 3,593 shellfish and 6,182 fish. Viva! provides help for those wishing to give up or cut down on meat. Anyone can check their own animal slaughter rate at http://www.timetogoveggie.com

For more information on Viva!’s campaigns go to http://www.viva.org.uk.

* For details on the figures in this media release please see

(note: these are the most up to date figures provided by Defra and will next be updated in March 2010). Or contact Viva!’s press officer Helen Rossiter or Justin Kerswell for a breakdown on 0117 944 1000 or justin@viva.org.uk.

** According to Defra statistics 881,801,000 land animals (chickens, ducks, turkeys, pigs, sheep and cattle) were slaughtered in the UK in 2008. 881,801,000 divided by 13,035,000 (the number it went down in 2008) = 67.64 (the number of years before Britain goes fully vegetarian if current trends continue).

**
Viva!’s The Incredible Veggie Show – the largest event of its type in Europe – takes place on Saturday, April 18, at The Royal Horticultural Halls, Lawrence Hall & Conference Centre, Greycoat Street, London from 10am – 6pm. Entry is just £4 (under 18s free). For more details seewww.viva.org.uk/london

WHY HUMANS ARE MEANT TO BE VEGETARIANS

Studies of human evolution have shown that our
ancestors were vegetarian by nature. The structure
of the human body is not suited for eating meat.
This was demonstrated in an essay on comparative
anatomy by Dr. G. S. Huntingen of Columbia University.
He pointed out that carnivores have short small and
large intestines. Their large intestine is
characteristically very straight and smooth.
In contrast, vegetarian animals have both a
long small intestine and a long large intestine.
Because of the low fiber content and high protein
density of meat, the intestines do not require a
long time to absorb nutrients; thus, the
intestines of carnivores are shorter in
length than those of vegetarian animals.

Humans, like other naturally vegetarian animals,
have both a long small and large intestine.
Together, our intestines are approximately
twenty-eight feet (eight and a half meters)
in length. The small intestine is folded
back on itself many times, and its walls
are convoluted, not smooth. Because they
are longer than those found in carnivores,
the meat we eat stays in our intestines for
a longer period of time. Consequently,
the meat can putrefy and create toxins.
These toxins have been implicated as a
cause of colon cancer, and they also increase
the burden on the liver, which has the
function of getting rid of toxins.
This can cause cirrhosis and even cancer
of the liver.

Meat contains a lot of urokinase protein
and urea, which add to the burden on the kidneys,
and can destroy kidney function. There are
fourteen grams of urokinase protein in every
pound of steak. If living cells are put into
liquid urokinase protein, their metabolic
function will degenerate. Furthermore,
meat lacks cellulose or fiber, and lack
of fiber can easily create constipation.
It is known that constipation can cause
rectal cancer or piles.

GOING VEGGIE CAN SLASH YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT : STUDY

Tue Aug 26, 11:19 AM ET
BERLIN (AFP) - Giving up meat could drastically reduce your carbon footprint, with meat-eaters' diets responsible for almost twice the emissions of those of vegetarians, a German study said on Tuesday.

A diet with meat is responsible for producing in a year the same amount of greenhouse gases as driving a mid-sized car 4,758 kilometres (2,956 miles), the Institute for Ecological Economy Research (IOeW) said.

But the food a vegetarian consumes in 12 months is responsible for generating the same emissions as driving 2,427 kilometres, the IOeW said in a study commissioned by independent consumer protection group Foodwatch.

The calculations are based on emissions of greenhouse gases, including methane produced by the animals themselves, as well as emissions from food production including manufacturing feed and fertiliser and the use of farmland.

Going vegan -- giving up meat and dairy products -- would cut the emissions released in making what you eat more than seven-fold, to the equivalent of driving 629 kilometres, it said.
And if it is all organic, your food footprint is almost a 17th of that of a meat-eater -- the equivalent of driving 281 kilometres.

Beef is particularly environmentally unfriendly, it said, with producing a kilo (2.2 pounds) the same as driving 71 kilometres compared with 26 kilometres for pork.

Switching to organic farming can cut emissions dramatically, "but what counts is the way we feed ourselves ... production and consumption first and foremost of beef and milk must be cut drastically," the study said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080826/sc_afp/lifestylegermanyclimateagriculture

SAVE OUR PLANET GO VEG! BE GREEN

Research by University of Chicago geophysics professors Gordan Eishel and Pamela Martin concluded that going vegan for one year saves 1.5 tons of emissions relative to the standard American Diet, 50% more than swithcing from an SUV to a Toyota Prius.

I recently watched EARTHLINGS and after 20 minutes the cruelty of animals was too much to bare. I urge all non vegetarians to watch this as I cannot see our Planet's level of consciousness rising very much whilst there is such great slaughter of our fellow beings.

This is a message to all humans who say they are "Spiritual", if you are not a vegetarian you are NOT "Spiritual" I am sorry to say. How can someone even contemplate on saying that they are healers, people of the light, light beings, watcher over this planet and whatever else you call yourselves when they are committing one of the greatest sins by killing other beings? Please ask yourselves these questions, your higher self already knows the answer.

Wake up to yourselves, do you really think you can save the world, heal this planet, heal others and continue to kill innocent beings the way you are doing now???? You know you are fooling yourselves don't you?????

My message here is "WALK THE TALK" you are either a "SPIRITUAL" loving, caring being or you are a normal meat eater with a lot of Karmic Debt or Sin (for Christians). How do you think your debt to those poor souls are going to be paid? What about this Planet Earth?

What about the Commandment in the Bible "THOU SHALL NOT KILL"? Isn't this clear enough?

Many say that the Indians are very spiritual beings, well they are however they are only on the first or second level, please read about the five levels below. To pass from the second to third level one needs to be Karma Free and with all the killing of those innocent beings it is impossible to progress towards being a total "Spiritual Being". Just on the second level there are many powers such as magic, astral travel, healing powers and more, this does not make one "ENLIGHTENED". An "enlightened being" is a totally "Karma Free Being".

Cosmology

The first level ASTRAL

The first level of enlightenment, corresponds to the subtle, or “Astral” level of heaven. It is said to be the emotional level. The Astral level is made up of many varied sub-levels. Souls at this level occupy the astral body and are bound by feelings and emotions. It has at least 6 kinds of miraculous power (e.g. clairaudience, clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition, healing and astral travel)

The second level CAUSAL

The second level of God-knowledge is the “causal”, or intellectual level. The most striking abilities that one achieves are eloquence and highly developed IQ. The Physical, Astral and Causal levels make up the "three worlds". Although the Astral and Causal levels might seem increasingly magnificent according to human conception, the three worlds are said to be still mainly under the influence of dark forces.

The third level DEBTS (KARMA)

Only after clearing all the debts (karma) of the physical world, then the soul could go beyond the three worlds and is said to be liberated from the authority of the dark forces. However the worlds of the third level are still not everlasting and although the soul is not required to enter the physical world again, if it wishes to perform good deeds in order to climb further into the eternal world. At this level the soul has creative power and still "believes itself to be something which it is not"(ego).

The fourth level SOUL REALIZATION

At the fourth level, the soul is said to be highly realised and with greater degree of freedom. At the peak of the fourth level is a vastly dark region, like a pitch black city night. The only light comes from the souls existing here, which are waiting for a chance to encounter a master to show them how to enter the fifth level. The fifth level cannot be entered on account of any merit gained as can the levels below it. A fifth or above level soul must accompany a soul wanting to enter this level therefore that soul must already be on the Fifth or above levels.

The fifth level ENLIGHTENMENT

The fifth level is the origin of all individual souls. Here we experience eternal happiness and unchanging joy and here we have absolutely reunited with our essence..

TO BE CONTINUED.....

appreciate constructive comments and articles to support this one.