One would wonder if Ayurveda can ever be tolerant of Non-vegetarian food. The humble answer is YES!

Irregular consumption of meat has been propounded in the vedic texts and Charaka speaks at length the nourishment that meat gives the human body. He recommends meat for the alleviation of certain diseases and when the body is dehydrated, emaciated, weak or convalescing. But it is to be remembered by the reader that these suggestions were under seriously different conditions. The animals were not factory-reared like how they are now! They lived in their natural habitats and they were hunted for consumption. That makes a lot of difference, indeed. Consider what follows, for instance.

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Charaka Samhita mentions that meat is “unwholesome” when it comes from an animal that has been raised in a habitat that is not its natural environment or in an area that it is not native to. Animal meat is toxic if the animal has eaten food that does not form part of its natural diet or does not come from its normal environment. Given that the word is out on the consumption of meat, how does the modern meat consumption rate in Ayurvedic circles? Await the next post!