My Visit to a Dairy Farm

Author(s): Pravin K Shah
Publisher: JAINA Education Committee

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However one should remember that thinning of the bones occur among older people regardless they consume the milk or not. This problem is more severe among the older people who use more dairy and other animal products. This is due to the protein effect (large amount of protein in diet and calcium is leached out) as indicated above. Postmenopausal women are particularly at risk for osteoporosis. Milk does not seem to protect the bones of older people. In conclusion vegetarians get enough calcium and protein as long as they eat good variety of plant foods such as dark green vegetables in sufficient quantities to maintain their natural weight. They are less susceptible to osteoporosis, and the failure of their kidneys. Cholesterol: Only the lever of animal and human bodies makes cholesterol. Hence externally the cholesterol is found only in animal products such as meat, milk, cheese and other dairy and nonvegetarian food. Pure vegetarian diet (fruits, vegetables, grains, and lentils) has no cholesterol at all. Cholesterol is a material similar to wax. It makes hormone and other elements for our body. Generally the lever of human being produces cholesterol in sufficient quantities for its body need. However when we consume dairy or meat products, we also consume its cholesterol. This way we will have excess cholesterol. This excess cholesterol in the body is harmful because it gets deposited in our artery. Ultimately artery gets clogged, which results in heart attack. For pure vegetarians (vegan), their lever makes only needed cholesterol and hence they will not have high cholesterol condition. Saturated and Unsaturated Fat: Saturated fat aggravates human lever to produce more cholesterol than normal body requirement. Almost all animal fats, butter (ghee), and some vegetable oils (coconut, palm etc..) are saturated fat. Some vegetarians have high cholesterol is due to high content of saturated fat in their diet. Hence one should totally avoid saturated fat to maintain low cholesterol. Most vegetable oil is unsaturated fat. Also both saturated and unsaturated fats are the storage media of calories. Hence one should minimize the consumption of unsaturated fat in its diet. Healthy diet is pure vegetarian food (vegan) without any oil or fried food. A person will not have any cholesterol problem with this diet. In summary the extra cholesterol (externally consumed using animal and dairy products or generated by our lever due to saturated fat) is accumulated in the blood and deposited in the arteries which causes heart attack. Vitamin B-12: Vitamin B-12 is needed for healthy blood and healthy nerve. However human body needs only 2 micro gram of B-12 per day. Vitamin B-12 is not produced by plants or by animals but it is produced by the bacteria in the digestive system of animals and humans. Humans produce B-12 in their digestive system but some how human body can not absorb B-12 from its digestive system. However the cows can absorb easily B-12 produced by them. Hence there exists lots of vitamin B-12 in meat and dairy products. If you are a vegan (absolutely no animal products), you may not be able to get enough vitamins B-12. However if you decide to get B-12 from animal products, you will also get whapping dose of cholesterol and fat, which will displace complex carbohydrate and fiber that body needs which are the sources of vegetarian diet. Hence vegetarians should get B-12 from other than animal products, such as fortified cereal, other fortified products, multiple vitamins, one a day vitamin, and other products from health stores which contain B-12, but not from dairy or meat products. Milk and Prostate Cancer: