Read the full transcript of Biologist Mick Walker’s talk titled “A Whole Food Plant Based Diet” at TEDxJohnLyonSchool 2021 conference.
Listen to the audio version here:
TRANSCRIPT:
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 identity.
The Human Condition of Sickness
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 of us should expect to be unwell from time to time, and many will suffer from long-term chronic disease.
The Rise of Chronic Diseases
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 Millson’s book, “Why Animals Aren’t Food.” Milsom 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 Milsom 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.
The Impact of Diet on Health
Millson 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.
The Problem with Animal Products
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 overemphasize 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. They’ll expect to see significant results of peer-reviewed clinical trials and comprehensive meta-analyses all demonstrating beyond doubt 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, Neal Barnard published his “Programme 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. Caldwell 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.
Progress in Plant-Based Medicine
So are the authorities taking much notice? Well I think that’s probably quite hard to say, but what I do know is that 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 ago as 1985, Neal 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 Kassam, 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 policymakers.”
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% of which are considered so unhealthy as 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 percent 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 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.
