Common Foods & Drinks Which Are Considered Taboo

It’s a common knowledge that pork is forbidden to the Jews, Muslims and other religious groups basically due to

traditional and religious beliefs that pigs are the most unclean animals. Here are some of the commonest foods

consumed by majority of the world’s population but are considered taboo for others.

Banana

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Bananas are very popular fruits from tropical regions of the world. It is tagged as a “complete food” by dieticians.

Sounds funny but for some people like Polynesians, the banana was traditionally taboo for women. In addition to

this, pregnant women are discouraged to eat twin bananas in the Philippines so that they will not bore twin babies.

Papaya

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Another vitamin-rich fruit of the tropics is the papaya but in some parts of China, the papaya can be taboo for

men. I presume, the reason for this is that – consuming or eating papaya will lessen their sexual desire because it

is believe by some that papaya is a coolant.

Spices

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Can you imagine the taste of foods cooked without spices? Spices make foods taste and smell better but to

Buddhist spices like garlic, Allium chinense, asafetida, shallot, and Allium victorialis (victory onion or mountain

leek) are forbidden.

Spicy Foods

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It's fine with me if foods are not spicy. Kashimiri Brahmins forbid strong flavored foods. They believe that garlic, onion, and spices such as black pepper and chili pepper’s pungent flavors on the tongue inflame the baser emotions.

Root Crops

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Living in a tropical area, many of our basic foods are root crops like camotes, potatoes, carrots, shallot to name a

few but in Jainism; any kind of roots are considered taboo, since the process of uprooting causes the organisms

associated with the root in the soil to die.

Lettuce and Butterbeans

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I love lettuce and I ocassionaly eat beans. In Yazidism (a Kurdish religion with ancient Indo-European roots and

most live in northern Iraq), the eating of lettuce and butterbeans is taboo. The Muslim religious teacher and

scholar, Falah Hassan Juma, links the sect’s belief of evil found in lettuce to its long history of persecution by

Muslims and Christians.

Beans

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The followers of Pythagoras were vegetarians (in fact “Pythagorean” at one time came to mean “vegetarian”),

however their creed prohibited the eating of beans. The reason is unclear: perhaps the flatulence they cause,

perhaps as protection from potential favism (a disorder characterized by a hemolytic reaction to consumption of

broad beans, with a name derived from the Italian name of the broad bean (fava)), but most likely for magico-

religious reasons

Coffee and Tea/Cola Drinks

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Millions of people drink coffee and tea from around the world but hot drinks are taboo for members of The Church

of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and some other Mormon groups. It is also a taboo for them to drink cola

drinks.

Coffee

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Likewise, coffee is also taboo for Rastafaians (a monotheistic, new religious movement that accepts Jesus Christ

and Haile Selassie I, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, as incarnations of God, called Jah or Jah Rastafari. Haile

Selassie is also seen as part of the Holy Trinity and as the returned messiah promised in the Bible).

Onion

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Another religious group that forbids the consumption of onion, one of the most popular spices use in the world,

are the members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Members abstain from all vegetables of

the onion family. They believe that these excite damaging passions. The spice asafoetida (hing) is used instead

of onion or garlic and provides a somewhat similar taste in their vegetarian cookery.

Beef

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Large quantity of the world food supply is from beef. I love steaks, and any food made from beef but Hinduism

forbids consumption of beef because cow is regarded as the holiest animal of all animals.

Shellfish, Lobsters, Shrimps and Others

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Judaism forbids the consumption of these creatures. Judaism has one of the longest lists of food taboos; these

include eel, catfish, crawfish and all fish with no fins and scales, amphibians, reptiles, rabbit, dog and many more.

So, it’s a common fact that certain foods are consume or eaten by others but not by some. In your place, are there foods considered taboo?

Hope you enjoyed this. Thank you!

See also

Most Favorite Foods from Around the World

The Most Popular Dishes from Around the World

(Bukisa ID #93409)

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