In the previous issue of The Voice we have started a discussion about vegetarianism. After a short introduction to the issue let us now further explore it. Meanwhile, should you decide to become a vegetarian, it is the right moment to do so. Summer brings us all its variety of vegetables and fruits.

Coming back to the interview with Kai Han Lo, a kung fu teacher at the sport center of K.U.Leuven and an experienced vegetarian, we asked him the following questions:

The Voice - Is there any age limit for people to become a vegetarian?

Kai Han Lo: No, there are no such limits. People can change their diet regardless of their age. Some people are born in vegetarian families and they follow this tradition from the first days of their life. As I have already explained, for me it is a matter of habit. Kids are given meat and as far as they grow up they consider the meat inclusive diet to be the only possible. Thus, what you can do is to ask yourself whether you really want to eat meat or you just do it because you have never tried something different. I would recommend to everyone interested to watch the movie “Food inc.” (http://www.foodincmovie.com) that reveals an interesting position on food industry and especially meat production.

The Voice - It is a widely recognized fact that most of the people lose weight after refraining from meat. Is that normal? Isn’t it dangerous to one’s health when one who has eaten meet for many years suddenly switches to a non-meat diet?

Kai Han Lo: It is not dangerous because physiologically our body is not designed to eat meat products. Our teeth look more like the teeth of grass-eating animals. Besides, a human body uses more energy to digest meat than to digest any other products. This explains the feeling of being sleepy, tired or stuffed that many of us experience after the meal. At the same time, vegetarianism does not mean that you should just exclude meat from your ration. You should compensate those vitamins that are normally can be found in meat with other healthy products. I would recommend everyone to check the following link www.suprememastertv.com because there you can see the interviews and stories of people who have been vegetarians for many years already. Besides, this resource broadcasts the videos with receipts and tips of vegetarian cooking to make your food healthy and tasty.

Indeed, many students who become vegetarians simply replace meat with pasta and vegetarian pizza and sandwiches. Though being simple, tasty and vegetarian, it is not a healthy diet. For this reason and taking into account the growing number of vegetarians in the world, a variety of vegetarian dishes are included nowadays in the menus of restaurants and cafes. In Leuven, the vegetarian dishes can be found almost everywhere including the popular University network of restaurants Alma. Besides, the markets that are organized in Leuven on Fridays, Saturdays (Brusselsestraat and Ladeuzeplein) and Sundays (Heverlee) are very useful because one can find there any fruits and vegetables all the year round.

We hope that this short investigation and interview will help you understand the idea of being a vegetarian better. To summarize it for now, vegetarianism has many positive aspects. That is why many people choose it as their diet but the final choice for filling your plate is made by you. |