According to Amnesty International (AI), the oil pollution in the Niger Delta has deprived tens of millions of people from their most fundamental right to food, water, and health. In a thick report, AI describes the environmental degradation in the delta where about 31 million people live. The group calls it a tragedy of human rights that has fueled resentment and violence.

People who live in this region have to drink polluted water, as well as cook and wash their clothes with the dirty water. When they have a chance to catch some, these people eat fish contaminated by oil and other toxins.

Farmlands in the delta, a region as large as Scotland and one of the largest wetland systems of the planet, are destroyed by oil spills. The gas flares have also caused the air for breathing to be reeking of oil and gas.

According to AI, the residents complain of respiratory problems and skin lesions, but their complaints are not taken seriously. The organization, thus, condemns the Nigerian government and multinationals.

The poverty of the people, in contrast with the wealth generated by oil, has become one of the most absolute and disturbing proofs of how a natural resource can be transformed into evil, according to the group.

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Via Amnesty International/National Geographic

There has always been a debate on whether a vegetarian diet is healthier than the one with meat. Much has been said about the benefits of vegetarian diet on the physical well-being of a person. There is also, however, a correlation between a non-meat diet and a person’s emotional health.

A vegetarian diet does not contain animal fat that can cause hypertension that manifests in extreme emotions or moods. A vegetarian diet is low in cholesterol that animal meat contains. Cholesterol causes obesity which, in turn, causes hypertension. People with hypertension are said to have a bad temper.

Some people assert that risk factors in heart and kidney disease, as well as ill effects in the brain and blood vessels are the main outcome of hypertension. The manifestations are more on the physical, not emotional health, they say. However, a medical research reports that “Hypertension affects physical as well as emotional well being” (Hypertension: A common condition for older Americans, 2000). 25 percent of people with hypertension reported that they are in poor emotional health, as compared to only 15 percent of those without hypertension.

A vegetarian diet which is easier to digest and kinder to the digestive system gives a more comfortable feeling and balanced disposition to a person. Vegetarian diets are easier to digest than animal meat because of the high fiber content. Fiber needs lots of water. The combination of fiber and water bring about freer bowel movements and less constipation that causes discomfort.

Meat is harder to chew than vegetables. What is hard to chew must also be more difficult to digest. A meal of animal meat makes the stomach heavier, too. People who criticize the vegetarian movement argue that there is no difference between chewing vegetables and meat. According to them, it is in the person’s ability to chew and masticate the food before it enters the stomach that makes the difference. Not necessarily so because man’s basic anatomy illustrates that he is not a carnivorous animal. Man’s teeth are suited for biting and grinding and not for tearing (Kapoor, n.d.).

Chewing is not sufficient for the meat to be masticated before entering the stomach. Another source of information indicates that meat contains 5 to 10 times the amount of protein, as compared to vegetables, and man’s digestion is done in the intestinal tract. Man’s stomach cannot fully digest all that animal protein. The meat that is not digested proceeds to the long intestines, along with the parasites and flukes that were not killed by stomach acids. Also, the decaying meat produces toxins that the body absorbs (Animal Protein – why your body doesn’t want it!, 2008).

A vegetarian diet gives peace to a person thinking that she is not guilty of causing pain to animals during slaughter. Animal as food requires the slaughtering of animals that will feel the pain and cruelty during death. Animals have senses and reaction for pain and the extreme form of this pain is during their slaughtering. When animals squeal as they are about to die, the ripping sound is a cry of pain.

Non-vegetarians call vegetarians hypocrites because they claim that eating meat is cruelty to animals. These critics say that if vegetarians claim to respect life, plants are also living creatures that will die if made into food. They are missing the point, altogether. They fail to see the logic. Life means consciousness. Animals have this kind of consciousness while plants do not. Animals need to die for man’s food. But when man eats nuts, grains, and vegetables, the plants do not really die. On the contrary, they even live more and reproduce. Also, if nuts, grains, and vegetables are not taken from time to time, the plants eventually wilt and die (Dunn, 2000).

It can be concluded, therefore, that emotional health is an effect of a vegetarian diet. A vegetarian diet does not contain animal fat that can cause hypertension that manifests in extreme emotions or moods. A vegetarian diet which is easier to digest and kinder to the digestive system gives a more comfortable feeling and balanced disposition to a person. A vegetarian diet gives peace to a person thinking that she is not guilty of causing pain to animals during slaughter. Good mood, general happiness, well-balanced disposition, and peace of mind are all outcomes of a vegetarian diet.

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Via iBloggered.com

More often than not, it’s only the environmental pollution and toxins of the outer world that are rapt and talked about. We never tend to notice the flawed air quality of our own homes. Many attempts were made in the past to slip in plants indoors, but Paul Thomas took those a step further with his Breathe Easy aeroponic growing system.

Pros: Breathe Easy uses toxin absorbing Phalaenopis (Moth Orchid) plants, which produce oxygen in the night, flower for long periods and grow well in shades. Held in place by magnetic seals in the top opening, the system comprises a row of LED lights highlighting the exposed roots at the bottom that add an aesthetic touch to it. The extractor fan fitted in the system sucks in toxins, which are utilized by the microbes in the root system to provide nutrients to the plant.

Cons: Breathe Easy shares its flaws with its forerunners. The system isn’t self-sustaining enough, no matter how advanced the design is. It is difficult to an extent to look after and remember to change the water in the tank occasionally.

Source: Yanko Design

Vain people, much riddled with thoughts that their bodies are slowly but surely being poisoned by impurities, are heavy on the belief regarding the oh-so-in-the-moment buzzword of ‘detoxification.’ One look at the detox market and you can surmise that the ‘cleansing’ business is a huge global enterprise, with show business celebrities exalting the idea. Some of these celebrities have even endorsed cutting out major food groups from one’s diet. This, of course, is ultimately detrimental to one’s health but it seems that Hollywood can be far more influential than medical practitioners.

A detox diet rests on the principle of ridding the body of so-called ‘toxins’ from food that the body has received. Fasting and ‘cleansing diets’ are yet other strategies of detoxification. The whole idea is that because you have eaten a lot, including the foods you are not supposed to eat, then it’s time to reverse the process and deprive the body of those foods, and much more. The diet regimes are diuretic in nature, stripping the body of nutrients that will not be replaced any time soon since the name of the game is deprivation.

These popular endorsers of deprivation, which is really what cleansing diets and detox diets are, should be aware that their popular influence can actually reach impressionable individuals whose emulation of their fads can lead to eating disorders and imbalances in health and nutrition. No food is bad. What is wrong is steering out of the moderation mode. Toxins are found in those unhealthy processed food and packed quick meals, not in a balanced diet where no food group is eliminated for vanity’s sake.

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Via guardian.co.uk