Valuable Veggies Offer Food for Thought

Want to Live Longer? Then Eat More Veg!

A dramatic upsurge of interest in all things vegetarian has been fuelled by the ongoing bird flu outbreak which has once again made many people think twice about what they eat.

A number of worldwide health scares involving meat have thrown the spotlight as never before on diet and how it affects our wellbeing.

Certainly there is no shortage of scientific evidence to support Einsteins bold statement. Indeed it doesn t take a genius to figure out that vegetables play a significant role in a healthy diet. But just how significant?

Inuits, Laplanders, certain Russian tribes and Greenlanders consume more meat than almost anyone else on the face of the earth but have the shortest longevity. Yucatan Indians, East Indian Todas and Pakistan Hunzakuts, the majority of whom are vegetarian, typically live for 90 or 100 years.

The results of research conducted after the Second World War by a group of European scientists have been backed up by countless follow-up studies. Decades on, more and more people are convinced that vegetarians, or people who eat little meat, tend to enjoy longer, healthier lives.

Vegetarian Food in China

China is no exception to a worldwide trend towards vegetarianism. While animal-rights activists have always advocated a meat-free diet, they have since been joined by a wide variety of people ranging from those concerned about reducing high blood pressure to trendy young city girls watching their weight.

As early as the fifth century, with the spread of Buddhism to China, vegetarian food started to appear in temples. Buddhism flourished in the following centuries with numerous emperors amongst the new believers.

Vegetarian restaurants started to spring up from the 13th century in China. Up until the 17th century, there were essentially three kinds of vegetarian food in China: that found in temples; imperial fare and the folk variety, all of which could be distingusihed from one another by their ingredients.

The Buddhist diet excludes any egg, garlic and onions amongst other things. The imperial version could include eggs and seafood soup while the folk diet majors on bean products and vegetables.

Bean products in general play a significant role in the Chinese vegetarian diet alongside a plethora of naturally grown vegetables.

Since 2000 years ago during the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), bean curd has been enjoyed by the Chinese and used extensively in Chinese vegetarian diets. Another kind of ingredient called youpi in Chinese also very significant in Chinese vegetarian diets. Youpi, the thin surface of soyabean milk, is dried after the soyabean is stewed. It is used to help give vegetarian food a taste like chicken, duck and goose.

Can You Beat Meat?

Scientists say that when frightened animals are killed, their physical reaction is often to release a large amount of toxin that quickly spreads throughout their bodies. This toxin can actually cause a number of human illnesses. That's one reason why many Chinese people stew meat with some seasoning to get rid of the toxins. On some farms in Japan, melodious music is played before pigs are to help them relax as much as possible in order to reduce the amount of toxin produced.

In addition to dietary and health considerations, an increasing number of people are coming to appreciate the humanitarian aspects of vegetarianism. The unnecessary slaughter of innocent animals upsets some people who not only refuse to eat meat but also wont wear clothes made of animal skin.

Veggie Diets Beijing-style

Have you heard of vegetarian diets using flowers and tea? Lotus, peonies, sweet-scented osmanthus, chrysanthemum, plum blossom and roses can be added to a great deal of vegetarian dishes after a special processing in Lu Se Tian Shi Vegetarian Restaurant.

Even more novel, in some restaurants in Beijing, fragrant Chinese tea can be cooked with bean curd as well as vegetables.

Still Thoughts Vegetarian Restaurant is marked out with its delicate Buddhist adornments. Here, a dish composed of mushrooms wrapped with the above-mentioned youpi, thin pancakes, cucumber and sweet sauce convincingly recreate the impression of eating Beijing roast duck － without the duck!

Quan Su Zhai, the most famous vegetarian restaurant in Beijing, was opened by Liu Haiquan, who was a chef in the imperial palace in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), after his retirement. In addition to the most representative and traditional Beijing vegetarian foods, noble imperial vegetarian fare can be enjoyed there. It's a fantastic introduction to vegetarianism, Chinese-style!

Did You Know?

The proportions of vegetarians in selected countries:

• France 1.1%
• Germany 1.45%
• Netherlands 4.9%
• Italy 3.4%
• Britain 7%