A doctor’s journey– Dr. Shubhra Goel, Ideation (Leaf)
I come from a typical Indian family with vegetarianism as the cornerstone of our way of life. While growing up, I was the least bothered about the source, form, and the nutritious value of the food I was eating on a daily basis. I was focussed on fulfilling my dream of becoming a doctor. My love for nature and animals was dormant. While doing my super-specialisation, I was diagnosed with Polycystic ovarian disease and subsequently with hypothyroidism. Thus, began a cycle of gaining weight and sinking into depression. I followed the obvious path of treating myself through pills.
Due to my background in athletics, I never stopped working hard, but somehow the cycle of gaining and losing weight, along my self-confidence, continued. In 2016, I rescued my first abandoned dog, which I sadly lost in the process, but the experience touched my soul at a completely different level. And suddenly, my thus far dormant, connection with nature and animals came to the forefront. I started questioning whether killing and torturing of living beings was justified for a lifestyle. I felt compelled to ask myself who has given us the right to do so. I strongly believe, if slaughterhouses had glass walls, no one would be a meat eater. And hence began my journey into veganism and animal activism.
I got exposed to the word “vegan”, when it wasn't commonplace in India. I started experimenting and reading more about the benefits of vegan living. It was not always easy as there were not as many alternatives available then, but I persevered due to my sheer love, empathy, and care for nature and animals. Slowly, the awareness and market trends showed a positive change and veganism became more mainstream. At around the same time, the most motivating change was on my health. It was unbelievable for me, when I was able to reverse my chronic diseases and manage my weight more effectively. With time, the real meaning of veganism - which means an alternative lifestyle and a thought process became my motto. Global trends, increased awareness and the vegan movement started to support vegan lifestyle in India. Thankfully, we now have ever increasing number of vegan innovators and entrepreneurs in Hyderabad and India. And thus, came a desire in me to “be the one” to be part of the movement to bring about the change.
Luckily, or as they say, some things are destined - my little sister- Prerna and her childhood friend - Aparna, were also in the same boat around the same time. We brainstormed and launched Vriksh Impact partners. Indian subcontinent was an obvious choice to start our journey. We had our soft launch in the month of September, and it received encouraging feedback. We have pledged to make it bigger and better in the coming years.
The global vegan industry is on the rise due to increasing health and environment awareness. In Asia Pacific region, India stands second in the list of fastest growing vegan markets. The recent pandemic has helped fast-track this trend. As reported by University of Oxford, plant-based living could save approximately eight million lives (humans and animals) by 2050.
In India too, the word ‘vegan’ is gaining interest with 50% more searches than previous year since 2016. From not knowing how to pronounce the word vegan, to having exclusive grocery stores, cafes, cosmetic outlets, vegan bakeries, and much more, the change is unprecedented. Doctors and animal activists in India have now urged our honourable Prime Minster to promote plant- based diet for ethical, moral, and scientific reasons. This is also supported by increasing research in India by prestigious institutes like IIT for lab grown meat and more options for mock meat in addition to cruelty free silk, dairy alternatives etc.
Being a health professional, I cannot emphasize enough the health benefits of a vegan diet. Humans are anatomically built to be herbivorous (our teeth and digestive system provide this evidence).
I will just take the example of milk! Most mammals produce milk for their infants. Human is the only animal who consumes another animal’s milk. A cow is a herbivore and produces milk full of protein, then why do we need to overload our system with additional protein when our body can make its own protein? A calf grows to its full size in 18 months vs a human child who takes 18 years to do so. The composition of humans and other mammals differs and so does the requirement for food / protein. So, it is obvious that cow’s milk will have more protein and fat for the growth of its calf, which in turn will be an overload for a human system. Science has proven that this overload leads to chronic inflammation and acidic environment in our system leading to chronic diseases including cancer and osteoporosis. Milk is a cocktail of pus, blood, urea, hormones, pesticides, and antibiotics. So why do we continue to load our systems with it?
Meat and dairy are full of antibiotics, preservatives, hormones and carcinogenic agents. In fact, World Health Organisation, had published back in 2015 that consumption of processed meat is “carcinogenic” to humans.
There are many questions like this- how do I get enough protein, B12, vitamins etc., through a vegan diet? Or what is wrong with organic milk? I can’t go into all these details in one post but I promise to come back with facts in future posts.
Plant-based food is packed with micro and macro nutrients, fibre and lacks cholesterol, which automatically reduce dependency on medications. Vegan diet has shown to reverse and or slow down diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, acne, aging, cancer, constipation and irritable bowel syndrome, gout, Alzheimer’s, allergies and much more. High fat content, casein, growth factors leading to more acidic and inflammatory environment in the system are few reasons for it.
The verdict is out there: Eat and live the way nature intended us to and one can reduce occurrence of many lifestyle diseases. Being plant-based in my opinion, is the only way to end suffering, fear and deprivation of millions of animals.
Vriksh Impact partners may be a small drop in the ocean, but this drop surely wants to bring in more awareness and support plant-based start ups to help grow the vegan movement in India. As Mahatma Gandhi once said, “the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged the way animals are treated”. We have a choice to make - do we rise up to the occasion and show our greatness or do we destroy the very planet that has allowed us to get to progress to dizzying heights we have!
Sources
Evelyn Medawar, Sebastian Huhn, Arno Villringer & A. Veronica Witte .The effects of plant-based diets on the body and the brain: a systematic review. Translational Psychiatry volume 9, Article number: 226 (2019)
Song, M. et al. Association of animal and plant protein intake with all-cause and cause-specific mortality. JAMA Intern. Med. 176, 1453–1463 (2016)
Appleby, P. N. & Key, T. J. The long-term health of vegetarians and vegans. Proc. Nutr. Soc. 75, 287–293 (2016)
Eichelmann, F., Schwingshackl, L., Fedirko, V. & Aleksandrova, K. Effect of plant‐based diets on obesity‐related inflammatory profiles: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of intervention trials. Obes. Rev. 17, 1067–1079 (2016)
Hu, F. B. Plant-based foods and prevention of cardiovascular disease: an overview. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 78, 544S–551S (2003)
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