guys...we have to realize one thing. in the western context "meat" means red meat. it DOES NOT include white meat (like chicken) or fish/seafood. all western studys about the ill effects of meat are carried out on red and fatty meat (beef, pork etc), which is high in unhealthy cholestrol. but till date no study has claimed that sea food is harmful to health. seefood is hailed as one of the most complete sources of protein and Omega 3 fatty acids. lean white meat is also a great source of protein and no study has disputed that. indian vegetarians proclaiming the ill effects of non-veg food either ignore this truth or are ignorant of it. if only anyone has travelled outside india, they woould know that in most countries, "vegetarian" may include sea food and sometimes chicken too. the nearest word for "vegetarian" in the indian sense is "Vegan" (which is also not entirely right since "Vegan" diet should exclude milk products too).
as far as india is concerned, the only state where vegetarians out number the meat eaters is Rajastan. and tamil nadu is a state with one of the highest consumption of meat (incl chicken n seafood) in the country.
