5-30-20 speaker series for Dharma Voices for Animals

1. REVERSIVE
MEDICINE AND
IMMUNITY
Ashwani K. Garg, MD
Family Medicine
Lifestyle Medicine
Reversive Medicine

2. Reversive Medicine™ is the area of medicine that
studies and demonstrates the reversal of human and
planetary disease through the scientific evidence of a
plant-based structure.
View the full guideline at WFPB.ORG/Guideline

3. Human health is interdependent on planet health
What we consume influences to a great extent our health,
economic health of nations, and the health of the planet we
share.
Climate health in particular affects our health and the well
being of all the living beings that inhabit it.
WFPB.ORG/Guideline (Disponible en Español)

4. It has been demonstrated clearly that only a
plant-based dietary pattern, with whole foods
and low content of fat, reduces the risks of many
chronic diseases. It has been shown for decades
that it is associated with the well-being of all
aspects of human health.
WFPB.ORG/Guideline (Disponible en Español)

5. HUMAN & PLANETARY
In human health, a whole
food, plant-based diet
accompanied by lifestyle
factors such as sleep,
exercise, stress reduction,
and sunshine are the basis
for a healthy human body.
In Environmental Health, a
plant-based dietary pattern is
the most significant solution
toward reducing global warming
and improving the health and
future of the planet.

6. GLOBAL
PANDEMICS
OVER ¾ OF GLOBAL PANDEMICS
ARE CAUSED BY THE
CONFINEMENT AND
EXPLOITATION OF ANIMALS
- bird flu of 1918 started on a small
farm in Kansas
- H1N1 flu (swine flu) started on a
hog farm in North Carolina and
spread to the world
- Ebola
- HIV
- MERS, SARS-1, AND SARS-2
related to animals

7. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1807873

9. THICH NHAT HANH, BLUE CLIFF
LETTER
As a spiritual family and a human family, we can all help avert climate change with the
practice of mindful eating. Going vegetarian may be the most effective way to stop climate
change. Being vegetarian is already enough to save the world. – from Thich Nhat Hanh’s
2007 “Blue Cliff Letter”
We can eat in such a way that “stops
contributing to climate change, and heals and
preserves our precious planet”

11. LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH IN
PERSPECTIVE

12. RISK FACTORS FOR SEVERE COVID
• Obesity
• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Smoking/vaping, lung disease
• Autoimmune disease
• Transplant
• Meat-eating and poor nutrition?

13. NUTRITION

17. THESE FOODS DO NOT HAVE
LABELS

18. NUTRIENT COMPOSITION
Plant and Animal-Based Foods (Per 500 Calories of Energy)
USDA Nutrient Database for Standard
Reference. http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/.
Holden JM, Eldridge AL, Beecher GR, et al.
“Carotenoid content of U.S. foods: an update
of the database.” J. Food Comp. Anal. 12
(1999): 169–196.
The exact food listings in the database were:
Ground Beef, 80% lean meat/20% fat, raw;
Pork,fresh, ground, raw; Chicken, broilers or
fryers, meat and skin, raw; Milk, dry, whole;
Spinach,raw; Tomatoes, red, ripe, raw, year-
round average; Lima Beans, large, mature
seeds, raw; Peas,green, raw; Potatoes,
russet
*B12 is from soil bacteria and is variable; can be
obtained from supplements or supplemented foods

19. WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR
PROTEIN?

20. PROTEIN REQUIREMENTS
A balanced plant-based diet with adequate calories will always contain enough
protein.
For a 150 lb. person, minimum is about 1/3 of the weight or 50 gm.
50 gm = 200 calories worth
Even a “low protein” diet of 10% will give enough if 2000 kCal/day

21. ANIMAL PROTEIN IS DIRTY FUEL
• Elevated cholesterol, heart disease
• Inflammation and autoimmune disease
• Asthma, skin conditions and allergy
• Acidity promotes osteoporosis
• Kidney Disease
• Gout
• Growth hormones/cell division (cancer)
• Hormonal effects
• Alzheimer’s disease, kidney stones…

22. PLANT PROTEINS ARE THE BEST FUEL FOR THE
BODY
• Nutrient-dense
• Anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative stress
• Increased energy
• Optimized athletic performance
• Reduction and treatment of cancer
• Prevention AND reversal of heart disease

23. PHYTONUTRIENTS
• Phytonutrients are compounds only
in plants that promote health
• There is no daily reference intake for
phytochemicals
• New research shows they may very
well be essential to life, and for
prevention of cardiovascular
diseases and cancer
• ONLY about 1/5 of Americans meet
the minimum intake

24. Plant foods naturally
contain antioxidants,
phytonutrients, and
fiber which can
reduce inflammation,
scavenge free
radicals, optimize
immune function and
angiogenesis,
improve overall

26. OVERVIEW OF DISEASES

30. CANCER
• 2nd leading cause of death in the US
• We have cancer cells in our bodies every day, there is a balance between
cell death and cell division
• Plant-based diet shifts the balance and modulates inflammation and blood
flow (angiogenesis)

31. DIABETES

32. OSTEOPOROSIS
• Calcium paradox identified by WHO – countries with highest calcium intakes
have the most osteoporosis
• Acidification by high intake of proteins leaches out calcium
• Other factors – lack of sun, sedentary lifestyle, caffeine, salt
• Yoga for osteoporosis – sciatica.org
• Osteoporosis drugs benefit but also harm

33. HEART DISEASE
• NO OTHER diet has been shown to reverse heart disease, not the
Mediterranean, not a low carb diet, not the standard diet or the AHA or
DASH diet.
• Whole food Plant-Based is the only one that reverses heart disease.

35. FRUITS

36. VEGETABLES

37. LEGUMES, NUTS, SEEDS, GRAINS

38. HERBS/SPICES

40. IS EATING
“PLANTS ONLY”
HEALTHY?
Statement by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:
It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that appropriately planned
vegetarian, including vegan, diets are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide
health benefits for the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. These diets are
appropriate for all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood,
adolescence, older adulthood, and for athletes. Plant-based diets are more environmentally
sustainable than diets rich in animal products because they use fewer natural resources and are
associated with much less environmental damage. Vegetarians and vegans are at reduced risk of
certain health conditions, including ischemic heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, certain
types of cancer, and obesity… Vegans need reliable sources of vitamin B-12
https://jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(16)31192-3/abstract
Las dietas vegetarianas, incluidas las veganas, planificadas
adecuadamente son saludables, nutricionalmente adecuadas y pueden
proporcionar beneficios para la salud para la prevención y el tratamiento
de ciertas enfermedades.

41. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER (CREDIT
JULIEANNA HEVER, MS, RD)

42. VEGANISM
Growing trend worldwide
Climate change report
Ethical concerns about animals,
seeing animals as sentient
beings
“Just as a mother would protect
her child, so should one have a
boundless compassion for all
beings” -Dhammapada

43. How is the above child
different from the child
below?

44. MINDFULNESS EXERCISE
• What do you see?

45. MINDFULNESS EXERCISE
• What do you see?
• Do you just see a lotus flower?

46. MINDFULNESS EXERCISE
• What do you see?
• Do you just see a lotus flower?
• Or do you see the rays of sun that
gave photons of energy to nourish
the leaves?
• Do you see the drops of rain that
nourished the roots?
• Do you see the mud at the bottom,
yesterday’s trash that became the
inputs of this holy and beautiful
flower?

48. WHAT DO YOU SEE?

49. WHAT DO YOU
SEE?

50. MINDFULNESS OF EATING
There is a long process from
start to finish from birth to death
of the animal that involved
cruelty
* What was life like for animal?
* What was death like for
animal?
* Did animal get to fulfill its full
potential, and live a long, happy
life? Or was it just an illusion on
a package? Photo Credit: PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)

51. Photo Credit: Mindah Lee Kumar, The Enthusiastic Buddhist

52. WHY VEGAN AND NOT JUST
VEGETARIAN?
“…we should eat and drink in such a way that can preserve
compassion in our heart.
We should consume in such a way that helps reduces the
suffering of living beings
And that way we can preserve compassion in our heart.
A person who does not have much compassion in his heart can
not be a happy person anymore.
So, to be vegan is not perfect, but it helps reduce the suffering
of animals.”
-Thich Nhat Hanh (“Thay”)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDMwYC9qZ-w

53. ARE FISH A
VEGETABLE?
Are fish any different in their
capacity to suffer?
They suffer, but do so in silence.
“By Catch”: For every 1 lb. of edible
seafood, 10 lbs. are thrown back in
the ocean as waste. The world’s
oceans are becoming rapidly
depleted

54. EGGS
When you look at what
we are eating with the
eyes of mindfulness, we
are eating a food that
comes out of the hen’s
cloaca, the same place
that she would exit her
excrement and urine.
And we eat that,
everyday, in many
foods.

58. Moong daal, red rice,
brussels sprouts, cucumber

59. Vegan food (with vegan
cheese and cashew crema)
Veggie Grill, Chicago

60. Purple Sprout Café:
Daal, buckwheat, sprouts,
vegetables

61. Noodles & Co – Korean bowl
with gochujang sauce,
zucchini noodles and tofu

62. Tacos with soy chorizo,
portabello, and avocado
(Los Takitos, Palatine, IL)

68. OTHER LIFESTYLE
FACTORS
(FROM A BUDDHIST
PERSPECTIVE)• Feet - physical activity, strength, stretching
• Forks - plant-based diet (1st precept)
• Fingers – no smoking/drinking (5th precept)
• Sleep – at least 6-7 hours/night – self care/loving-kindness
• Stress – mindfulness in everyday life / meditation practice
• Love – cultivate loving-kindness for self and others, always engage
the 3rd precept, right conduct
Dr. David Katz, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/healthy-lifestyle_b_884062.html

69. Albert Einstein:
“Nothing will benefit human health
and increase the chances for
survival of life on Earth as much as
the evolution to a vegetarian diet.
National Academies of
Sciences, Washington,
DC

70. “OUR OWN LIFE
HAS TO BE OUR
MESSAGE”