素食與健康 Health & Vegetarianism（2）（中英文）／嚴國銘

(接上期）
其次，由表二可知身心關係。在《晨鐘》中指出了儒家五常、佛家五戒、五情及五臟的關係。例如，當某人殺生時，便缺乏仁愛之心，而對肝臟便產生不良影響。若一個人遵守禮儀且不好色，則心功能便可能較佳。而當太高興則可能傷心，太悲傷則可能傷胃。

儒家五常 佛家五戒 五臟 五情
仁 戒殺 肝 怒
禮 戒色 心 喜
信 戒妄 脾 憂
義 戒盜 肺 傷
智 戒酒 腎 驚

表二：身心間之關係

最後，食物和健康也是習習相關。美國健康部表示，不健康的飲食是美國第二大致命主因（造成美國一年約三十萬到四十萬人的死亡）。陳昭妃博士指出，改善免疫系統的最佳方式，便是補充其所需的營養。以下是依照中醫理論，用以強化健康：
綠色食物: 有益於肝臟，例如各種綠色蔬菜。
紅色食物: 有益於心臟，例如胡蘿蔔、蕃茄、紅棗等。
黃色食物: 有益於胃腸，例如黃豆、地瓜、糙米、燕麥等。
白色食物: 有益於肺，例如杏仁、竹筍、瓜類等。
黑色食物: 有益於腎，例如香菇、海帶、芝麻等。
除營養免疫學及中醫理論這些東西方醫學理論外，也可從表三得知素食的確較適合人體結構。此表清楚地表達了人體的生理構造較類似於草食動物，例如人們主要依靠平的臼齒，而肉食動物則靠尖銳的犬齒。人們的唾液是鹹性的，並含酵素以消化澱粉；反之，肉食動物唾液則是酸的，且不含酵素。

  人類 草食動物 肉食動物
牙齒 ◆ 扁平，有臼齒 ◆ 扁平，有臼齒 ◆ 長形尖銳犬齒

唾液 ◆ 鹹性 ◆ 鹹性 ◆ 酸性
◆ 含酵素以消化澱粉 ◆ 含酵素以消化澱粉 ◆ 不含酵素

上下顎 ◆ 左右移動以咀嚼 ◆ 左右移動以咀嚼 ◆ 上下移動以嘶咬

胃 ◆ 長方形 ◆ 長方形 ◆ 構造簡單之圓袋形
◆ 構造複雜 ◆ 構造複雜 ◆ 分泌二十倍胃酸以消化骨質食物


小腸 ◆身長之十二倍長，以提供足夠時間消化食物 ◆ 身長之十到十二倍長，以提供足夠時間消化食物 ◆ 僅身長之三倍，以快速排掉腐肉毒素
排汗 ◆ 由皮膚排汗，有毛細孔 ◆ 由皮膚排汗，有毛細孔 ◆ 非由皮膚排汗，且無毛細孔

表三：身體構造比較表

有些人可能仍認為素食不能提供足夠的營養，而上述也僅為學術理論罷了。因此，筆者在此便以下列名人作為明證：
Carl Lewis ,“世紀奧林匹克選手”奧林匹克競賽金牌。
Ruth Heidrich，鐵人三項，分齡記錄保持人。
Martina Navratilova，網球冠軍。
Desmond Howard， 當選最有價值足球運動員，Heisman 獎得主。
Stan Price，平舉舉重世界紀綠保持人。
Bill Walton，NBA名人榜。
Phoebe Mills，奧林匹克體操金牌。
Billie Jean King，網球冠軍。
Bill Manetti，舉重冠軍。
Bill Pearl， 四次健美比賽冠軍。
Al Oerter， 四次奧林匹克擲鐵餅金牌。
Keith Holmes， WBC 世界中量級冠軍。
Robert Parish， NBA “50位最偉大選手”之一。
Jack LaLanne， 媒體明星及健康傳奇。
Edwin Moses， 兩次奧林匹克跨欄金牌 。
（資料來源：Vegetarian Times 雜誌)
上列中之奧運名人或冠軍選手，如劉易士等，都是非常精力充沛且肌肉發達的。令人驚訝的是，連一些需要強大爆發力的運動員，如籃球選手、拳擊手和健美先生也是素食者。例如Bill Walton和 Robert Parish都是美國職籃的著名選手，Keith Holmes 是中量級的拳級冠軍，而 Bill Pearl則是四次的世界健美先生。

Health & Vegetarianism (Part 2)
Yen, Kuo-Ming


In The Morning Bell, it mentions about the relationship between five constant virtues of Confucianism, the five disciplines of Buddhism, five emotions and five internal organs. For example, if one kills, his lack of benevolence will not be good for his liver. On the other hand, a person obeys propriety and who is not lustful; his heart may function well. Also, if a person is overjoyed, his heart may be hurt; and if he worries too much, he may hurt his stomach.

Five constant virtues of Confucianism Five discipline of Buddhism Five internal organs Five emotions
benevolence Slay not liver anger
propriety Lust not heart happiness
trustworthiness Tell no lie stomach worry
righteousness Steal not lung sadness
wisdom Drink no wine kidney terror

Chart II: The relationship between mind and body

Last but not least, the relationship between five food colors and health is also very important. According to the US Department of Health, a poor diet is the second biggest killer in the U.S. (300 thousands to 400 thousands deaths a year) Dr. Chen announced that the best way to improve an immune system is to supplement the nutrients that it needs. Following are the five food colors that Chinese medical theory use to suggest you to enhance your health:
◆Green food: Nourish your livers, such as all kinds of green vegetables.
◆Red food: Good for hearts, such as carrot, tomato, Chinese date…etc.
◆Yellow food: Good for your stomachs, such as soy beans, sweet potato,
brown rice, oat, corn…and so forth.
◆White food: Good for lungs, such as almond, bamboo shoots, melons.
◆Black food: Good for kidney, such as mushroom, sea weeds, sesame…etc.
In addition to the Nutritional Immunology and Chinese medical theory these western and eastern medical theories, we can also assert that vegetarian diets are more suitable for human beings from our body structures. From the chart, it is clear that many of human physical characters are more similar to plant-eaters. Such as people have flat molars while meat-eaters have sharp canine teeth. Human saliva is alkaline and contains enzyme to digest starch while meat-eaters’ is acid and contain no enzyme.

humans fruit, grass-eating animals meat-eating animals

teeth ◆ flat molars ◆ flat molars ◆ long, sharp, pointed
◆ canine teeth

saliva ◆ alkaline ◆ alkaline ◆ acid
◆ contain enzyme to digest starch ◆ contain enzyme to digest starch ◆ no enzyme to digest starch

jaws ◆ move from side to side for grinding ◆ move from side to side for grinding ◆ move up and down for tearing and biting

stomach ◆ oblong in shape ◆ oblong in shape ◆ simple, round sack
◆ complicated in structure ◆ complicated in stricture ◆ The gastric juice is 20 times acid for digesting bones.

intestines ◆ 12 times the length of trunk, enough time for extracting all nutrients ◆10-12 times the length of trunk, enough time for extracting all nutrients ◆3 times the length of trunk for fast expulsion of rotten meat

perspiration ◆ sweat through the skin ◆ sweat through the skin ◆ do not sweat through the skin
◆ have pores ◆ have pores ◆ have no pore


Chart III: Body structure comparison chart

Besides, there is a myth that vegetarian diet can’t provide enough nutrition, and you may think that things mentioned above are just academic theories. I would like to take the following list as examples, and you can see much strong evidence from these famous people:
Carl Lewis, “Olympian of the Century,” Olympic medalist in track
Ruth Heidrich, Ironman triathlete, age-group record holder
Martina Navratilova, tennis champion
Desmond Howard, Heisman trophy winner
Stan Price, world-record holder in bench press
Bill Walton, NBA Hall of Famer
Phoebe Mills, Olympic medal-winning gymnast
Billie Jean King, tennis champion
Bill Manetti, powerlifting champion
Bill Pearl, four-time Mr. Universe and bodybuilder
Al Oerter, discus thrower and winner of four Olympic gold medals
Keith Holmes, WBC World Middleweight Champion
Robert Parish, one of the NBA’s “50 Greatest Players”
Jack LaLanne, fitness legend and media star
Edwin Moses, two-time Olympic Gold medalist in hurdles
(Source: Vegetarian Times Magazine)
These Olympic medalists and trophy winners, such as Carl Lewis, are very energetic and muscular. Moreover, it’s really hard to believe that some of them are sportsmen who need strong explosive force, such as NBA player, boxer, and bodybuilder. For example, Bill Walton and Robert Parish are both famous NBA players, Keith Holmes is the middleweight boxing champion, and Bill Pearl is the four-time Mr. Universe and bodybuilder.
（To be continued）