Interview with Anurag

Today I am interviewing Anurag an Indian who is a practicing vegetarian.

CB: Please describe your diet. What foods you do not eat? What foods make up the largest part of your diet?

Anurag: I am a vegetarian. My diet mostly consists of vegetable, wheat breads (called as chapattis), rice, fruits etc. I do drink milk and do not mind eggs. The food that I do not eat is basically any kind of meat. Although there is lot of controversy involved in whether milk and egg constitute a vegetarian diet, I consider my self vegetarian.

CB: When and why did you become a vegetarian? Why do you remain a vegetarian?

Anurag: I have been vegetarian since I was born. Part of the reason was the society in which I was brought up. We never cooked meat at home. Also with the large variety of vegetarian dishes available in India I have never felt a desire to eat meat. The reason for me remaining vegetarian is not religious at all. There are many people belonging to my religion who eat meat however I just prefer to remain vegetarian.

CB: How do you address the potential nutritional deficits of a vegetarian diet?

Anurag: I have not done any research on nutritional benefits or deficiencies in vegetarian diet but I believe that vegetarian diet is more than capable of fulfilling the basic nutritional requirements of human body.

CB: How does your vegetarian diet differ from the standard Indian diet?

Anurag: India has so much cultural diversity that every 200 miles or so you would come across different regional diet. Hence it is difficult describe any diet as standard Indian diet. The part of India where I come from, the daily meal consist of wheat bread, rice, cooked vegetable (1-2), lentil soup (called as ‘dal’) pickle or chutney etc. The vegetables are cooked with oil and spices. There is also a particular order in which food is served in plates, but it is not followed very strictly. The diet also changes depending on what time of year.

CB: How hard is it to be a vegetarian in the United States in comparison to India?

Anurag: It is tough (but not impossible) if you do not want to cook at home. In India since majority of population is vegetarian, every eating place has ample vegetarian dishes to choose from. However in US on an average there 2-3 vegetarian dishes per restaurant (at least at the places I have been to in US). But if you decide to cook at home then it is not a problem at all. Almost all the vegetables and spices are now-a-days available everywhere in US. Hence cooking Indian style food is very easy.

CB: What foods are associated with specific nutritional benefits in Indian culture?

Anurag: Again I won’t be able to comment on that since I have not done any nutritional analysis of Indian food. However I would like to point out to one interesting eating style often seen on special occasions. People eat food on banana leaves which are otherwise generally thrown away. These leaves contain chemicals very similar to green tea which get mixed with food and add to the nutrition obtained from the diet.

CB: What was your change in diet after coming to US?

Anurag: There is not enough time to cook a complete meal every day. Hence normally we cook one vegetable and eat it with rather rice or breads which comprises the dinner. And if there are any leftovers they make up for the lunch for next day. In India we generally cook two times a day and prefer to eat home cooked food for both lunch and dinner. However after coming to US eating out for lunch has become very regular. Also the intake of fruit juices has increased since coming to US. When I was in India I would often eat fruits after meals, but fruit juices were not regular.

CB: What are your favorite cuisines?

Anurag: Indian food is of course my favorite cuisine. Apart from that, Mediterranean since it is very similar to Indian, Italian, and Thai etc. Any vegetarian dish that has various mixed spices. I am not a big fan of sweet food.

CB: Any eating habit that you would like to change?

Anurag: I like too much salt in my food which is not a good habit. I have been trying to cut down on it and I think so far I have been pretty successful. Also, few months back I realized that I am drinking too much soda. Now I think I have cut down on it as well to acceptable level.