FRUITS AND VEGETABLES MAY PROLONG YOUR LIFE

FOODS RICH IN ANTIOXIDANTS
MAY REDUCE THE RISK OF DEATH, STUDY

WebMD Health News - The study shows that eating foods rich in antioxidants, like vegetables and fruits, fights disease and may prolong life. Researchers found that people with the highest levels of the antioxidant alpha-carotene in their blood had a 39% lower risk of death from any cause, including heart disease and cancer, than those who had the lowest levels of the antioxidant during the 14-year study. “These findings support increasing fruit and vegetable consumption as a means of preventing premature death,” write researcher Chaoyang Li, MD, PhD, of the CDC and colleagues in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Alpha-carotene is part of a group of antioxidants known as carotenoids, which also includes beta-carotene and lycopene.

Vegetables particularly high in alpha-carotene include yellow-orange vegetables, such as carrots, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and winter squash, and dark green vegetables, such as broccoli, green beans, green peas, spinach, turnip greens, collards, and lettuce.
Although previous studies have suggested eating more fruits and vegetables is associated with a lower risk of disease, studies have not shown that taking beta-carotene supplements reduces the risk of dying from heart disease or cancer.
In this study, researchers looked at the relationship between blood levels of alpha-carotene and the risk of death. The results showed the risk of dying during the follow-up period was consistently lower in people with higher levels of alpha-carotene in the blood. The protective effect of alpha-carotene also increased as blood levels of the antioxidant increased.


The habit of eating orange and dark green vegetables is linked to longer life, this study suggests. Researchers say higher levels of the antioxidant were also linked to a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer as well as from any other cause. They say alpha-carotene is truly effective at protecting cells in the brain, liver and skin. There are more than a few Hindus today who guiltily abandoned the vegetarian ways of their own parents and grandparents when they decided to be “secular” and “modern.” But we must return to the sources; vegetarianism is a worldwide movement, and its adherents are interested not only in their own health, but also in animal welfare.

WHAT DO THE VEDIC TEACHINGS TELL US?

The book, “Food for the Spirit, Vegetarianism and the World Religions”, observes: “That vegetarianism has always been widespread in India is clear from the earliest Vedic texts. This was observed by the ancient traveler Megasthenes and also by Fa-hsien, a Chinese Buddhist monk who, in the fifth century, traveled to India in order to obtain authentic copies of the scriptures. These scriptures unambiguously support the meatless way of life. In the Mahabharata, for instance, the great warrior Bhishma explains to Yudhishthira, eldest of the Pandava princes, that the meat of animals is like the flesh of one’s own son, and that the foolish person who eats meat must be considered the vilest of human beings [Anu. 114.11]. The eating of ‘dirty’ food, it warns, is not as terrible as the eating of flesh [Shanti. 141.88] “Similarly, the Manusmriti declares that one should ‘refrain from eating all kinds of meat,’ for such eating involves killing and leads to karmic bondage (bandha) [5.49].”

“What Is Hinduism?” :
Chapter 43 - “The Meat-Free Life”
“Hindus Were the First Vegetarians”
Hinduism Today Magazine
Himalaya Academy, India - USA - 2007
http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/wih/