WRONG CONCEPT OF "PURE" VEGETARIAN DIET

WRONG CONCEPT OF "PURE" VEGETARIAN DIET IN TWO COMMUNITIES -
THE JAINS AND THE SINDHIS

O P Kapoor
Hon. Visiting Physician, Jaslok Hospital and Bombay Hospital, Mumbai, Ex. Hon. Prof. of Medicine, Grant Medical College and JJ Hospital, Mumbai 400 008.

In my 40 years of practice I have been watching these two communities - the Jains and the Sindhis who are very proud to say that they are "pure" vegetarians and in whom their ill health is because of vegetarian diet. Yet there is vast difference of presentation in these Jains and Sindhis.

The average Jains are markedly underweight and poor in height and weight since childhood because of the wrong diet. Most of them skip breakfast. Most of them do not take milk and milk products (curds, butter, cheese and ghee) or take a small cup of milk or curds at meal time. Most of them are proud that they take only one meal per day and yet many others take only lunch and dinner. Many of them like to eat supper (light dinner) before sunset and do not eat after sunset. They have no concept of milk at bedtime or evening snacks or intake of fresh fruits or vegetable salads.

Sindhis are just the opposite. Although, many Sindhis are non-vegetafian, many of them who "convert" are proud to become vegetarian. On an average they have a heavy breakfast consisting of lolis, kokis or chappatis with a big glass of milk with cream. Most of these people have a heavy lunch and heavy dinner but in addition take evening snacks which are full of calories. Most of them have again milk at bedtime (a very common habit in Sindhis cultivated by their mothers).

Most of the Sindhis are overweight and fat and obesity increases because they use 2 wheelers and avoid walking. Unlike Jain community where most of them although they are rich still prefer to walk and commute by public transport and thus remains underweight because of spending excessive calories.

Finally many Sindhis love to have alcohol which adds to their calories but positively avoid consumption of pan parag and tobacco. While the Jains do not believe in alcohol and at,,- very fond of Pan Parag and Gutka.

Sindhis also omit fresh fruits and salads in their food and are very fond of taking a couple of cups of tea per day which adds to the calories. This intake of tea is very rare in Jain community who are used to starving and keeping the stomach empty and hold prolong fasts many times in a year where unlike the Muslim rozas, they only drink water. This further keeps the weight down and keeps them under weight.

Sindhis do not believe in total fasting. Even on a fasting day, the one meal which they have is equivalent to the heavy night meal of the Muslims during their Rozas. Even the prasad of the "pooja" during the fasting day is high in calories because of excess of ghee in "kadda" followed by a fat Sindhi papad or a "Puri" which itself is of 100 calories!