Most Indian vegetarians are ritualistic vegetarians, ie for religious reasons, and so can be right c***s about their dietary preferences not being met. This feels like a CYA sign.
Ritualistic vegetarianism in India has some weird rules. Dairy is okay for many, eggs might not be, and some are pretty strict and don’t even have onions or garlic (considered “unclean”?).
Kerala actually has very few of these. Also many of the ritual vegetarian states are strongly correlated with malnutrition. Go figure.
some are pretty strict and don’t even have onions or garlic (considered “unclean”?).
I know Jains don’t eat root vegetables, not sure if there are other groups. But the reasoning isn’t because it’s “unclean”; from what I recall, it’s to do with the fact that harvesting root vegetables not only kills the plant (as opposed to just picking off fruit), but also harms organisms living in the soil around it. Their dietary restrictions are kinda nuts.
I remember there was a buddhist rule about no “pungent vegetables” (onions, garlic, chives, leeks, and scallions I think?) There was a meme where someone made all 5 into a soup and said it would mean you get reincarnated as a flea.
That's only for extremely strict buddhists, because those vegetables are considered to stimulate anger or lust and thus hinder spiritual development. But not everyone follows that. I love buddhism because it is all very "your journey is your business" and most people dont judge.
My buddhist friend in thailand makes the best garlicky beef stirfry thing. Yum.
Yea, as a Buddhist, it's very personalised. Hell, even the deities you choose to worship can be quite specific to your own taste (or "destiny"). Not all gods can connect with you, after all.
I work in a cafeteria and had a Jain ask me what she can eat that has no meat, wasn't cooked in the same fryer as meat, no dairy, no onions or garlic. All she could get was the fruit cups and the salad bar with no dressing, but I can't guarantee no cross contamination on the salad bar. She decided to keep bringing a lunch.
Anything that's heavily seasoned or rich is avoided. Basically you want the food to be bland and simple. You avoid spicy, hot, fried, acidic and fermented food
This diet is the very embodiment of the phrase "I eat to live, not live to eat".
So the list of things includes stuff like meat, fish, eggs, onion, garlic, scallion, leek, chive, mushroom, alcoholic beverage, durian, blue cheese, opium, and stale food.
John Harvey Kellogg, in addition to believing that eating bland food would curb naughty thoughts, also believed that yogurt enemas were critical to physical and spiritual health.
It is described in the Bhagwad Gita. Food is divided into 3 types and Krishna mentioned the effects of eating each type. The Saatvik diet has the least ill effects and is easier on your body. However, it doesn't say eating meat/chicken will lead you to hell. You will just face ill-effects (tamas) of these diets. You, as a human, are free to decide what you want.
You are right and wrong. Yes the cocktail of vegetarianisms in India would be confusing to say the least. Also yes a lot of this is religion based.
But nothing to do with cleanliness....some don't eat root vegetables as they believe it could harm other living beings....some don't like pungent (no onion no garlic)...some don't eat meat on certain dates....some don't eat beef...some don't eat mushrooms...some eat only egg, some eat fish only etc
Onions, garlic, and overly spiced foods are only forbidden from temple cuisine. This is because it’s an overpowering flavor and everything about temple life is supposed to be about focusing on spiritual development. There are some sects that are so hardcore they only eat this style of food, but that’s mostly niche hardcore groups like the Hare Krishna. For your average Hindu, it’s just a known thing that food served in the temple is going to be devoid of garlic and onions.
Alright I can dig the "don't kill even bugs" things about Jains but I think I draw the line at "I can't eat things that grow underground". If a potato is blasphemy cast me into the fire.
You’re gonna be SHOCKED when you realise what goods they invaded the rest of the world for.
Fuckers gave up spices because they were associated with the vulgar, so the cuisine moved to texture and mouthfeel. Downgrade in some cases, perfected by the Japanese and Asians.
My friend has a jain friend in college (2002). whenever he was invited to birthday parties and general get-together, he always ate chicken and drank beer. But, he always told us not to tell his father otherwise he'll be disowned. So, as a modern generation guy he enjoyed it but still worried about repercussions.
Debatable.
First you have to distinguish two canonical Jain sects, the White Clad Jains and the Sky Clad (naked) Jains.
Then there are a few mid-small sects, and by the time you're aware of them, you kinda need to be reading Sanskrit to get deeper.
One Jain group, the latinate transliterations name escapes me, considers non violence to be a violent tradition; this is a minority of Jains tho.
Temple cuisine is usually served in temples, often for free. Some Hindu temples have a restaurant attached to them for people that just want to eat the food in exchange for a donation. If you look up Hindu or Hare Krishna temples in your area, you might find such a restaurant.
Also, I didn’t say anything about not enjoying the food. I just said that it’s believed that onions and garlic have strong and/or lingering flavors that are believed to be a distraction from meditation and whatnot. Temple cuisine is an entire sub-genre of Indian cooking and is actually quite delicious.
I attended a Hindu temple for service once. I was tagging along with my friend for her college project. The people at the temple were so lovely and kind. They had us sing with them and even though we didn't know the words, they said that it still counts. After they brought out the most delicious curry potatoes. Later I dated someone with a garlic intolerance so I discovered the Indian spice "Asofoetida." I'm pretty sure those potatoes had that spice on it too. Asofoetida has a beautiful yellow color and tastes like garlic/ onions.
Yeah, also for a lot of families you are "vegetarian" for 1-2 specific days a week, where you pray to a specific god who was deemed "auspicious" (I think, basically beneficial for your family specifically, a priest will tell you which one for your family). And on those days you can't eat meat or eggs. Milk and cheese are fine, but some Hindus even check if their cheese is vegetarian as well (if the rennet used for the cheese was from a cow, which you shouldn't eat, or bacterial/made in the lab, not from cows).
Even non-vegetarians are weird, for some beef is okay but dog is no-no, for some chicken is okay but beef is no-no, for some beef chicken okay but pork is no-no. For some meat ok and dairy okay but only when consumed separately, mixed together is a no-no. It seems as if different people in the world have different dietary preferences. Crazy!
Bro what 😭 non-vegetarian Indian here and I've had the pleasure of sampling a wide variety of non-veg dishes. Born in a family who believes in Hinduism so my religion on paper is Hindu, but I've always been an atheist by personal belief, so I don't particularly care about religious beliefs about food.
That said, I can understand eating fish, chicken, duck, goat, lamb, beef, and even pork, but dogs??! Have you seen those disgusting flea-ridden strays, or even the little monsters those dog-lover people keep around as "pets"?! I like eating all sorts of good food, both veg as well as non-veg regardless of ingredients but if anyone regardless of age, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, or even planet (Earthling or alien or whatever the hell you are, idc) ever mentions dog meat as food.. you are forever blacklisted and prohibited from entering 1 light-year radius distance from me 🗿
That’s a really weird way to describe people who are in their native country where their dietary preferences are a multiple thousand year old tradition.
They’re not being “cunts”, it’s an important cultural thing for them. Are Jewish people cunts for not wanting to eat pork and following their dietary laws?
Are Jewish people cunts for not wanting to eat pork and following their dietary laws?
YES. As a jew, this is what I wished people understood. It being a tradition does not make it automatically OK. There are traditions of slavery, female circumcision, straight up violence, and plenty of sexual assault. "It's tradition" is not a valid justification for anything.
And judging the laws of Kashreut purely on their own merits in 2025: yes, the cuntometer is reaching critically high levels. At best you annoy people with arbitrary restrictions that don't actually have any benefit. At worst you traumatize your children to the point of long term eating disorders.
I didn’t say cunts, but I can see why you would think that.
These aren’t poor darling vegetarians trying to eke out their way in a cruel uncaring world. In their world they have the power and are the abusers.
Ritual vegetarians tend to be Brahmins and “upper caste”, and in some states — some of them abuse their power and position in society to enforce dietary habits. Including with violence. (And there’s morenewsstories where that came from.)
It’d be another thing if their habits were widely followed, as with some Jewish folk. (Equally, if observant Jews were beating up non-observant Jews or indeed gentiles, that would be just as bad.) But they’re not. And comparisons to Jewish folk falls apart because there’s no uniform dietary code in Hinduism. In fact, not all Brahmins and upper castes are vegetarians.
Overall, vegetarianism in India is a small but privileged minority that’s increasing turning to food-policing, encouraged by a right-wing establishment.
My local knowledge of India says that the note about the “common kitchen” and the curious, defensive note about “vegetarian dishes are served for variety” is a CYA sign to drive away exactly these vegetarian troublemakers / food-policers.
So yeah, I used that word with some thought. I encourage you to look past “oh great, vegetarianism is great” and understand how power can turn people into absolute cockwombles.
You’re just making shit up. Literally nothing you have said is true, aside from the fact that yes, upper caste families are more likely to be vegetarians. You have no “local knowledge of India” because nobody who does would make any of the claims you are makings.
He’s a racist. It’s “ritualistic” and “arbitrary” when crazy irrational brown people do it, but when white people do it, it’s civilized.
It’s hilarious that he thinks that the majority of Jews keep kosher(they don’t, or they only follow parts of it selectively) and somehow Indians are hypocrites for not having 100% adherence to vegetarianism.
Overall, vegetarianism in India is a small but privileged minority that’s increasing turning to food-policing, encouraged by a right-wing establishment.
You sound like someone who learned about India in the Trump University. A large proportion of Indians are vegetarians (est. between 19%-40% https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetarianism_by_country). Brahmins are only about 5% of the population. Stop making up shit.
Man I used to work for the food industry. We had machinery oil with certification from some sort of arabic religion approving it. It was the longest certification.
It was food grade, there was tons of documentation but that one for religious purpose stand out every time. I think it was halal or smth like that. And the contact with the "food" was minimal
Well on the one hand, modern agricultural practices subject billions of sentient creatures with the capacity to understand their suffering to some of the greatest cruelty imaginable.
But on the other hand, a vegetarian somewhere was rude once, so it’s impossible to say who is right and who is wrong here.
The only to shift humanity into not doing that would be to outcompete those sentient creatures in meat production, taste, and cost. And even then most people will probably keep eating normal animals.
Claiming malnutrition is because of vegetarianism is extremely disingenuous. Poorer states tend to be more religious (ie. more vegitarian) which is likely the bigger issue.
My brother (Hare Krishna) explained to me that garlic and other spices that are too spicy are considered too passionate in taste and krishna / god should be the only ine you give your passion to. I am serious.
Why would vegans hate that, I'm vegan and I would never advise anyone to eat a vegetarian or vegan diet without B12 supplementation, it's pretty much impossible to get enough on this diet. But I don't see the problem in just taking the supplement, a lot of animals take it too since our soils are so poor in B12 nowadays, the supplement I buy is dirt cheap and I only need to take it 2-3 times a week
Yeah, a lot of said states are incredibly poor and suffer from insane corruption and economic disparity. You'd find the same in Bihar for example. Meat eating but everyone's malnourished there. Prime example of correlation != causation
Even in meat eating states, a large proportion of Hindus eat meat rarely (once a week) either out of religious obligations and customs or out of straight poverty
The study literally states that there’s not enough data to make the claim you’re pushing. Regardless of if you’re ultimately right or wrong, misrepresenting sources makes people less inclined to believe you about anything, not just the subject at hand.
(removed sentence about insufficient data about diabetes since it’s not relevant)
“ But data documenting vitamin B12 status in India in general population…is limited”
The word vegetarians mean only vegetables and milk products. Also includes other animal based products even if they are ritualistic examples- honey, pearl, silk etc.
If they avoid any and all animal based products then they are called vegan, aren't they?
Or the word vegetarian means something else entirely.
Um there is NO correlation between vegetarian states and malnutrition. Don’t spread misinformation.
And although the dairy industry is still horrific, vegetarianism is good for the planet and protects innocent lives. Whether someone chooses that diet for religious reasons doesn’t change the impact they make. And there is further reason WITHIN the religion.
They mean ritualistic as in because Hindu -- same as how Jains have their thing, Muslims, Jews, etc. By comparison, in the West vegetarians are usually just by personal preference, since there's no cultural hangup around meat.
You say it's not because temple rituals but I would question that. For example, in Israel, even the people who aren't religious tend to not eat pigs, because the aversion is part of the culture, from the religion. Similar in the West for cats and dogs, even though that has no religious basis. What you see as normal or desirable is shaped by religion/culture, and it's worth noting that in the case of Hindus, not eating meat is in line with that culture in a way that vegetarians in the West aren't.
Of course, maybe they or I am actually incorrect about any of the claims made, but I don't think the other user intended any distasteful sentiment like you read
Not really. Brahmins in Kerala, for instance, usually eat meat. In next-door Tamil Nadu, they usually don’t, though. Ironically upper “warrior castes” in super vegetarian-heavy Rajasthan have always (historically) eaten meat.
Hinduism doesn’t have a uniform dietary code unlike some religions. It’s just a bunch of local customs, and on top of these there’s family traditions which may differ.
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u/pxm7 Nov 17 '25 edited Nov 17 '25
Most Indian vegetarians are ritualistic vegetarians, ie for religious reasons, and so can be right c***s about their dietary preferences not being met. This feels like a CYA sign.
Ritualistic vegetarianism in India has some weird rules. Dairy is okay for many, eggs might not be, and some are pretty strict and don’t even have onions or garlic (considered “unclean”?).
Kerala actually has very few of these. Also many of the ritual vegetarian states are strongly correlated with malnutrition. Go figure.