如今，素食主义者越来越流行。
作为从猪年开始吃素的Emily，
每每出去吃饭，总会经历一遍这样的对话：
在这个快速发展的时代，鸭梨山大，每天最纯粹的享受，就是一日三餐了。
每餐的那半个小时，终于可以稍做休息，抛开一切尘间的烦恼，享受食物带来的喜悦。
许多人都觉得：
没有了肉的饮食
就像知否里没了小公爷，
柯南里没了怪盗基德，
吸血鬼没了人血，
情人节没有配偶，
元宵节不吃汤圆
……
总之就是很难过！！！
在Emily刚开始吃素的一月份，
一遇到
红烧排骨
可乐鸡翅
叉烧肉
肉馅的包子饺子大粽子
哈喇子就止不住的往下流，
完全是凭坚强的意志力支撑着不去碰肉。
那么素食主义者坚定的意志力是从哪里来的？吃素真的可以降血脂血压变瘦变美排毒变健康吗？营养君来帮你盘一盘大多数人吃素的五大原因：
1. 宗教信仰 (Religions and Beliefs)
许多的宗教都提倡吃素，营养君最想提及的就是汉传佛教 ／印度教 （耆那教）。
Lots of religions promote a vegetarian diet. NutriPro wants to mention about the 2 special ones- Chinese Buddhism and Hinduism (Jainism)
1.1. 佛教 Buddhism
佛教讲究生命之间的平等，生灵没有贵贱之分。其一，中国佛教讲究慈悲为怀，而慈悲是扩充到包括动物在内的整体“众生”，杀生食肉正是对这一慈悲原则最严重与根本性的颠覆。其二，佛教还讲究生命的轮回。所谓善有善报，恶有恶报，食肉会造成无休止的冤报轮回。打个比方，佛教信徒认为吃牛肉，就等于间接性造成这头牛的痛苦和死亡，正所谓杀生之罪。每个食牛肉者都需要承担一部分的罪孽，若是不诚信忏悔并吃素，不光不能修行成果，来世还需接受相应的轮回报应。
Buddhism believes in the equality of lives. In other words, lives should not be divided into hierarchies. First, mercy and pity are significant in Chinese Buddhism. It means to be a mercy to all lives including animals. Killing animals for their meat is controversial with this concept. Second, Buddhism also believes in reincarnation. Virtue is its own reward, and evil will be rewarded with evil. They believe that there are indirect consequences resulting from the animal’s pain and death if they eat the flesh of this animal. This killing is considered as a sin, which means the person eating the flesh needs to be responsible for it. Therefore, if they do not make confession honestly and faithfully, not only that they cannot practice successfully, but also that they will get retributions in their next lives for their sins in this life.
1.2 印度教/耆那教 (Hinduism- Jainism)
印度教（耆那教）是非常严格的素食主义者（Vegan）。他们不吃任何与动物沾边的食物，包括鸡蛋和奶制品。他们也不使用任何带有任何动物原材料的生活用品。 Emily有一位印度朋友是虔诚的教徒，他曾经有一次见到了Emily做好的鱼肉，满脸嫌弃地让她放远一点且在离开时带走。他们吃素的理念主要归结于不愿杀生，和不想给生命制造痛苦。
许多人会问：难道植物就没有生命了吗？
耆那教对此的解释非常深切。他们把物种以感官分类。生物一共有5个感官，分别是触觉、味觉、嗅觉、视觉和听觉。
人类和大部分的哺乳动物都拥有5个感官，而植物却只有一个感官- 触觉。
用这种方式对生命体进行分类，且人类必须靠吃东西来补充营养，单单拥有一种感官的生命体，基本上指植物，是唯一被允许作为人类食物的。植物被杀死时，所承受的痛苦远比动物要小得多。这样的食物选择可以解释为“非暴力的”。
作为一个健康的群体，耆那教徒的实践者，是一个未见任何明显饮食缺陷的素食饮食的一个成功范例。所以如果你是素食主义者，可以去多多关注耆那教徒是怎么健康吃素的！
Jainism has a very strict vegan diet. They do not eat any animal product including eggs and dairy. They do not use any cosmetics or products that are made from animals for daily uses. Emily has a Jainism friend. He used to ask Emily to put the fish she cooked far away from him in the potluck. At the end of the potluck, he also asked Emily to leave with her fish. The reason for being vegan for Jainism is about avoiding killing and causing pain to lives.Many people might ask: What about plants? Don’t they have lives too? Jainist has a deep explanation for that. They classify species by senses. There are five identified senses: touch, taste, smell, sight and hearing. Humans and most mammals have five senses, while plants have only one sense--touch. Classifying life with this method, plus it is clear that human beings must rely on eating. Plants, the living bodies with only one sense, , is the only one used as human food. When a plant is killed, it suffers much less pain than an animal. Such food choices can be interpreted as “non-violent”.
2. 环境保护的观点 （Perspective of saving the environment）
动物的养殖是很消耗资源的，大量的水和粮食都需要用来支持动物的生命。据美国政府统计，每一头240磅美国养殖的猪平均要消耗500磅的谷物／黄豆／玉米，也就是说每一年美国的猪就吃下了上百万吨的粮食。动物也是需要依靠水资源生长的，一头猪每一天大约会消耗21加仑的水，一头牛每天消耗50加仑的水。计算下来，每生产一磅牛肉，就要消耗2400加仑的水。而一磅全麦面粉所用的麦子，只需要180加仑的水资源。简单来说，若是用来养殖动物的粮食被当作人类的食物，同样产量的粮食可以解救许多如今还在饥荒中度日的人们。
动物的养殖和生产同时也增加了碳排放量，生产大概2磅的牛肉需要释放的二氧化碳相当于开3小时的车释放的量。同时，动物的排泄物做成的肥料，最终都被排放到了河流／湖水／和使食用水中，所以也造成了一定程度上的水污染。还有呢，动物的养殖地通常在偏远的地区，运输过程也大大增加了废气排放。
许多环境保护者为了为这个世界减少一点饥荒和温室气体，或者是为了清澈的湖泊河流，选择了吃素。至于这样的方式究竟是否能够保护环境，在全民吃素以前没有人可以100%的得到确信的答案。
Cultivation consumes lots of resources. A huge amount of water and grains are needed to support animals. According to statistics of the government of America, pigs grow around 240 pounds, each hog consumes more than 500 pounds of grain, corn, and soybeans; this means that across the U.S., pigs eat tens of millions of tons of feed every year. Animals also need water for growth, one pig needs around 21 gallons of water while a cow needs 50 gallons of water per day. In summarize, 2400 gallons of water is needed for 1 lb of beef. In contrast, 1 lb of grain only needs 180 gallons of water. To simplify, if the resources used for cultivation are used as food for human, the same amount of food production could save a lot of people living with famine.At the same time, cultivation also leads to higher emission of carbon dioxide. Producing a little more than 2 pounds of beef causes more greenhouse-gas emissions than driving a car for three hours. In addition, the waste of animals is used as manure, which usually ends up at the river, lake, and drinking water. Therefore, cultivation also causes contamination of water in certain extent. Moreover, the farms for cultivation are normally located in the suburban area, which leads to higher greenhouse gas emission in transportation.A lot of ecologists choose to be vegetarians in order to not only let the world have less famine and greenhouse gas but also for cleaner lake and rivers. With regards to the impact of vegetarian on the protection of the environment, no one could be 100% certain about the answer before the whole world actually start to be vegetarians.
3.动物的生命意义和食物链的解释
有些人吃素不是因为宗教信仰，也不是因为环境，而是因为人道主义。许多的动物虽然不如人一般聪明，却也有幼童的智商和情感，比如猪和牛。
想象一下，如果是人类被关在笼子里，挤在一起动弹不得，时不时的就会有一只爪子伸进笼子勾走一个人，随后传来凄惨的叫声和血腥味。
站在动物的角度想，这样的绝望和破裂要如何去承受？
换一个角度，现如今无数的农场专门饲养牲畜作为食物供给。这些牛羊猪鸡生来就是被屠杀的，因为人类只需要它们的肉，那么这些生命还有属于自己的意义吗？被人类下好定义的生命是不是一种对生命的剥削呢？
带着这样的疑惑和人道主义的信仰而选择吃素的大有人在。
Some people are vegetarian not because they are religious, nor for environmental reasons, but because of humanitarianism. Although many animals are not as smart as humans, they also have the same IQ as young children and emotions, such as pigs and cattle.To put it another way, today's countless farms specialize in raising livestock as food supplies. These cows, mutton, and hens were born to be slaughtered. Because humans only need their flesh, do these lives have their own meaning? Are these lives defined by humans a kind of exploitation of life?
4. 健康角度 (Health Perspective)
平日里，我们听说的素食对人体建康的好处也是层出不穷，比如促进减肥，减少疾病风险，增强消化系统，神清气爽等等。这些传闻里有哪些是有科学依据的呢？
4.1 减肥
从能量角度来说，蔬菜水果蕴含的热量比肉类少得多，因此用蔬果来取代肉类确实可以减少能量摄取。但肉类中所含有的营养对人体来说也是必不可少的，如果真要在饮食中去除肉类，需要严谨和正确地从不同的素食来源补充相同的营养素。正确的素食习惯才可以真正地促进健康减肥以及避免营养失调。
Weight loss: From the point of view of energy, vegetables and fruits do contain much fewer calories than meat, so replacing meat with fruits and vegetables can actually reduce energy intake. However, the nutrients contained in meat are also essential to the human body. If you really want to remove the meat in your diet, you need to supplement the same nutrients from different sources carefully and correctly. Correct vegetarian habits can really promote healthy weight loss and avoid malnutrition.
4.2 减少疾病风险
根据现有的科学依据，结论是“可能”。成千上万的研究成果，大致可以总结出素食者有风险降低的趋势。最主要的原因包括大量的蔬果减少了不良脂肪的摄入同时增高了各种维生素和矿物质。这些改变对血脂平衡和血压控制都有很大的影响，从而会减少慢性疾病的风险并增长寿命。另外，素食者通常会有比较健康的生活态度，好的习惯比如规律地适量运动，而不良习惯包括抽烟和酗酒几率会比较低。在科学素食的基础上，各种因素加在一起，素食可以有效加强健康。
Reduce disease risk: Based on existing scientific evidence, the conclusion is “possible”. Thousands of research results can roughly sum up to the trend of risk reduction for vegetarians. The main reason is that a large number of fruits and vegetables reduce the intake of bad fat and increase that of various vitamins and minerals. These changes have a large impact on blood lipid balance and blood pressure control, which reduces the risk of chronic disease and increases longevity. In addition, vegetarians usually have a healthier attitude towards life, good habits such as regular exercise; bad habits, including smoking and alcohol abuse, are lower. On the basis of scientific vegetarianism, various factors are added together, and vegetarianism can effectively strengthen health.
4.3 增强消化系统
这里通常会指助于消化吸收和改善便秘。蔬果里含有丰富的益生元和膳食纤维，有助于肠胃里微生物的健康，从而加强营养吸收和排便。食肉的盆友如果摄入适量的蔬果，也可以有效改善同样的问题。
Enhance the digestive system: This usually refers to nutrient absorption and improvement of constipation. Fruits and vegetables are rich in prebiotics and dietary fibre, which help the health of microorganisms in the stomach and intestines, thereby enhancing nutrient absorption and defecation. Carnivorous friends can also effectively improve the same problem if consuming an adequate amount of fruits and vegetables.
4.4 神清气爽 （Feeling Fresh）
很多试验了短期的素食体验后会觉得从上到下一身轻。这个暂时还没有确切的科学依据，有可能的原因包括减少精神压力。
饮食更加清淡，还有一些很受欢迎的说法比如减少毒素的摄入，清理血液，美容养颜等等。这些说法还有待考证，但如果真的可以改善个人的精神状态，科学素食会是个不错的选择。
5. 纯粹不爱吃肉 （Simply do not like meat）
当然，有不少朋友单纯的不喜欢吃肉，原因包括口感、腥味或一些不好的回忆。有些是比常人更敏感，可以用香料来盖住肉本身的味道，但严重的甚至会感到反胃。如果你身边有类似的亲人或朋友，尽量用口味不同去理解他们，因为对这个话题百谈不厌经常会造成对方的无奈和难堪。
Of course, many people simply don't like meat, for reasons including texture, taste or some bad memories. Some are more sensitive than ordinary people and can use spices to cover the taste of the meat itself, but more severe ones could feel nausea. If you have similar relatives or friends around you, try to understand them with the concept of different taste preference, because talking about this topic endlessly often cause embarrassment.
每个人的身体情况都有所不同，如果你觉得自己不知道如何平衡饮食，营养君建议你多多了解自己的身体和分析自己的饮食，或是去看一看营养师做一个私人的健康计划。
饮食就如穿衣，没有所谓好坏，合适自己才是最重要的。
