A Whole Food Plant Based Diet | Mick Walker | TEDxJohnLyonSchool

A Whole Food Plant Based Diet | Mick Walker | TEDxJohnLyonSchool



The health implications of our diet. Why everyone should consider a Plant Based diet.' Mick is an Oxford-educated
Biologist and has spent most of
his career teaching Biology. He is
a keen cyclist and is currently
living in Harrow-on-the-Hill. He
has not eaten meat for around
40 years and in more recent
years has been consuming a
whole food plant-based vegan
diet. He is in no doubt that this is
contributing significantly to the
maintenance of excellent health
and is still able to cycle long
distances in his retirement. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

[Applause] i'm vegan now in saying that i'm giving some credence to a myth perpetrated by some non-vegans the joke being how do you know someone's vegan don't worry they'll tell you now the theme of these tedx talks is regeneration a look at the world of tomorrow its science its health its economics its and i want to talk about health in particular about what we need to do to improve the health of human beings now at this point i need to make it absolutely clear i'm not a doctor nor am i offering medical advice however i am a biologist and what i'm going to say is based on my understanding of how the body works and indeed on my own experience in his introduction to the man who mistook his wife for a hat oliver sacks refers to the quintessential human condition of sickness he says animals get diseases but it's only humans who fall radically into sickness and he quotes the 19th century philosopher nietzsche as for sickness are we not almost tempted to ask whether we could get along without it the problem is that so many people believe that sickness and poor health is a normal part of the human condition and that all others should expect to be unwell from time to time and many will suffer from long-term chronic disease the nhs and other health authorities around the world are battling against a rising tide of chronic disease coronary heart disease cancer type 2 diabetes and so many more all of which are contributing to people's lives being cut short why is it that we're not stumbling over the bodies of other animals dying on a regular basis from these diseases why is it that we're not tripping over obese mice or rabbits why is it that we're not surrounded by the corpses of magpies or pigeons having fallen from the skies following massive heart attacks well the reason as oliver sacks says is that such sickness is quintessentially human and these sorts of diseases simply don't exist in other species of animals so why is it that the health services around the world are struggling to cope and in fact the situation only appears to be getting worse the reason i would contend lies in what people eat to reduce or even eliminate all this chronic disease the answer lies not in more drugs and medication but in advising people on what they eat there's a huge amount of evidence beginning to suggest that if people were to adopt a plant-based diet then all of this chronic disease would disappear so how have we got into this situation it's explained very well in rohan milson's book why animals aren't food milson suggests that what people eat can be put into three categories number one animal products meat dairy and eggs number two processed refined manufactured products the sorts of things that are sold in packets with a list of ingredients the supermarket shelves are full of them and milson and many other people refer to these products as junk number three are plants whole unprocessed plants consumed as close as possible to the form in which they have grown and been harvested milson argues that it's only the third of these whole plants which promote good health reduce chronic disease and should be regarded as food the first two categories animal products and processed products should not be regarded as food and it is the consumption of these that causes so much sickness and chronic disease advocates of a plant-based diet for health promote the consumption of only whole plants and they refer to this as a whole food plant-based diet now it's very clear that all chronic disease is caused by a similar number of underlying factors these include chronic inflammation oxidative stress and atherosclerosis the laying down of fatty material inside blood vessels and these conditions are further exacerbated by the development of a less than healthy population of bacteria in our gut so why is it that animal products and refined products promote such poor health well in short animal products contain many components which are detrimental to our health they're either carcinogenic or they cause chronic inflammation oxidative stress and atherosclerosis and they're certainly not conducive to the development of a healthy population of gut bacteria the so-called gut flora or gut microbiome of particular importance is the fact that animal products contain no fiber whatsoever and it's impossible to over emphasize the importance of fiber in a healthy diet as far as processed refined foods are concerned what everyone needs to understand is that these are manufactured according to recipes and created in factories they're composed in such a way that people will enjoy eating them and will want to come back for more but they contain ridiculously high levels of salt sugar and fat and they're certainly not the types of products that our digestive system is designed to process and they certainly don't encourage a healthy population of gut bacteria so where's the evidence well most people won't take these claims at face value the power of a plant-based diet to promote good health and eliminate chronic disease in 2005 t colin campbell a professor of nutritional biochemistry at cornell university in america published the china study after several decades of investigation he came to the conclusion that the types number and distribution of cancers all across china were entirely diet related in 2006 neil barnard published his program for reversing diabetes a scientifically proven system for reversing diabetes without drugs he has demonstrated time and time again that type 2 diabetes can be reversed on a plant-based diet quickly and easily in 2007 dr coldwell b esselstyn a cardiologist from cleveland ohio published prevent and reverse heart disease based on his experience of treating his heart patients by giving them advice on a plant-based diet rather than resorting to drugs or surgery he also demonstrated that coronary heart disease need never exist and it's entirely diet related so are the authorities taking much notice well i think that's probably quite hard to say but what i do know is there are more and more doctors and health professionals beginning to realize the huge health benefits of a plant-based diet and are starting to advise their patients on what they should be eating rather than immediately resorting to more drugs and medication as long as 1985 neil barnard in america founded the physicians committee for responsible medicine their mission statement is the physicians committee is dedicated to saving and improving human and animal lives through plant-based diets as well as effective and ethical scientific research in 2018 plant-based health professionals uk was launched by dr shireen kasam a consultant hematologist at king's college hospital in london the purpose initially was to organize plant-based health conferences to bring together like-minded individuals to exchange views and ideas and generally promote the huge health benefits of a plant-based diet their mission statement is to provide education and advocacy on healthy plant-based diets for health professionals the public and policy makers earlier this year after two years of consultation henry dimbleby and his committee published the uk's national food strategy they are in no doubt that the type of diet consumed here in the uk is contributing to very poor health i quote how have we ended up with a food system that can feed the world but makes us so ill it's bizarre but not surprising that here in the uk we can buy 28 different kinds of kit kat a chocolate snack is an easier sell than runner beans and therefore a more interesting commercial proposition 18 of the largest food and drinks companies rely on product portfolios 85 percent of which are considered so unhealthy has to be unsuitable to be marketed to children under world health organization guidelines children's diets are simply not good enough during primary school age obesity rates more than double and on average a secondary or primary school student fails to consume the daily recommended five portions of fruit and veg a day and actually no age group or income quintile meets that recommendation the uk climate change committee has suggested that if we're to meet zero emissions by 2050 we need to cut our meat consumption by between 20 and 50 percent the national food strategy have suggested we need to target a 30 reduction in the next 10 years and i want to finish with another quote from t colin campbell he's recently published a book called the future of nutrition and he refers to the typical american american diet as actually being malnutrition and i'm sure it applies here equally in the uk and he says malnutrition is undoubtedly the main cause of death thank you [Applause] you

#Food #Plant #Based #Diet #Mick #Walker #TEDxJohnLyonSchool

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