________________
The connection between infected animal and human illness is well established. Only recently, however, have scientists begun to suspect that there is a similar connection between animal meat and human cancer, birth defects, mutations, and many other diseases in humans. Our eliminating organs, the lever and the kidneys, have been framed to meet the demands of man's natural diet, but not adapted to handle the diet of civilized man in the excessive use of flesh and concentrated foods and the use of alcohol and beverage. Meat requires digestive juices high in hydrochloric acid. The stomach of human like other herbivores produce acid less than one-twentieth the strength of that found in carnivores. Another crucial difference between the meat-eater and the vegetarian is found in the intestinal tract, where the food is further digested and nutrients are passed into the blood. Carnivores have intestinal tract 3 times of their body length so rapidly decaying meat can pass out quickly. Since man, like other nonflesh-eating animals has a alimentary canal; twelve times his body length, rapidly decaying flesh is retained for a much longer time, producing a number of undesirable toxic effects.
Non-vegetarian food consumes more energy to get digested which leaves little energy for mind, which result in mental trances. Non-vegetarian food make the mind impure and degrade it. Moreover, it is a fact that producing non-vegetarian food requires far more water and other natural resources than plant food.
Food obtained by cruelty is not acceptable to Jain monks. Equally, food which have any life content is not acceptable by ascetics. Food might be lifeless by nature or is made lifeless by cooking. Vegetation not sub
25