When we kill the animals to eat them, they end up killing us because their flesh, which contains cholesterol and saturated fat, was never intended for human beings.
— William C. Roberts, M.D. editor of the American Journal of Cardiology

Right Eating (Foods natural to human beings)

“Let food be thy medicine.” This chapter explains the health and other benefits of a plant-based diet and why an organic, whole food diet can keep the doctor away.

Primate Ancestry

Our digestive system and anatomy is similar to those of our ancestors the primates. Eating food that is not meant for our anatomy causes disease.

Comparison between our Anatomy and that of Herbivores and Carnivores

This chart provides a comparison between our anatomy and those of other classes of animals, clearly showing our herbivorous anatomical features.

Human beings and Herbivores Carnivores
Teeth - many molars and premolars. These are useful for eating plant-based foods. Teeth - mainly canines for tearing flesh. (Even the bear, which is an omnivore, has large and prominent canines).
A long intestinal tract about 12 times the length of the spine. (When we eat meat, toxins from its decomposition are absorbed during the long journey out). A short intestinal tract about 3 times the length of the spine. (Animal proteins pass through faster to prevent toxicity).

The human digestive system
A carnivore's digestive system
Absence of claws and other physical features for attacking and killing prey. Presence of claws besides sharp teeth to attack and kill prey.
Method of drinking water is by gulping. This is true of all herbivores. Method of drinking water is by lapping. This is true of all carnivores.
Jaws can move horizontally and vertically. Jaws move only vertically and open much more widely to accommodate the prey.
Saliva is alkaline. Digestion begins in the mouth. There are no digestive enzymes in the mouth.
Frequent small meals to eating (grazing) all day. A kill is usually followed by a large meal followed by a long period of not eating.

For more details please see www.earthsave.bc.ca/materials/articles/health/comparative.html

But if you will contend that yourself were born to an inclination to such food as you have now a mind to eat, do you then yourself kill what you would eat. But do it yourself, without the help of a chopping knife, mallet or axe-as wolves, bears and lions do, who will kill and eat at once. Rend an ox with thy teeth, worry a hog with thy mouth, tear a lamb or hare in pieces, and fall on and eat it alive as they do. But if thou hadst rather stay until what thou eatest is to become dead, and if thou art loath to force a soul out of its body, why then dost thou against Nature eat an animate thing?
Plutarch (46?-120? A.D.; Greek biographer and historian, from Of Eating of Flesh)

Health aspects of a plant based diet


Fruits and vegetables are the best for our anatomy.
Today, two of the biggest threats to human health are heart disease and hypertension. A major underlying cause of these is high cholesterol. Only animals produce cholesterol. We, being animals, produce as much cholesterol as we need. The excess is obtained from animal foods.

Dr Dean Ornish, a cardiologist has testified in his book Reversing Heart Disease that patients who are recommended by-pass surgery can reverse their disease completely without the use of medication or surgery simply by reverting to a purely plant based diet.

Cow’s milk is not healthy for human beings

Female mammals secrete milk for their young. As the needs of human infants are quite different from the needs of infant animals, the milk composition differs as well. Most mammals attain full size in a short span of a several months to a couple of years. Human beings take about eighteen years to reach physical maturity. Cow’s milk contains about three times more protein and two times more fat than human milk since calves attain full size in about eighteen months! Thus, when humans consume dairy products, we are forced to process more protein than our systems were designed for.

Cow's milk — a health food, but only for the calf.
The human growth rate is the highest in the first year of life. The infant doubles its birth weight in 6 months and triples in one year. After this, the rate of growth slows down. Proteins are essential for growth, and especially crucial early in the infant’s life. Human milk, the ideal food at this age, contains a similar percentage of protein as fruit juice. We never need a higher percentage of protein in our diet than this. We exceed this percentage several times with our diet of dairy products and animal flesh.

A high protein diet is harmful because it increases acid in the body. To neutralize this acid calcium is leached from the bones resulting in osteoporosis. Even though cow’s milk contains a high percentage of calcium our body cannot retain much of it because of it’s high protein content. Osteoporosis is more prevalent in countries with a high milk intake, like the USA and Sweden.

Considering the harmful effects that a high protein, meat or dairy-filled diet has on the human body, it is clear that a plant-based diet is ideal.

Beyond the deleterious effects of high protein, there are other harmful aspects of dairy consumption to human health. Animal milk also contains growth hormones and other hormones that stimulate early adolescence as well as a variety of cancers (specifically breast, ovary and prostate cancers). Furthermore, cow’s milk contains casein, a glue-like substance that lines the intestines and obstructs the absorption of certain nutrients, notably iron, resulting in anemia. Milk also contains IGF-1, (Insulin like growth factor) which promotes diabetes.

Milk is not easily digestible by adults (because of the lack of enzymes in the stomach) resulting in gas and abdominal discomfort and constipation or diarrhea. The cholesterol in milk is responsible for high blood pressure and heart disease. The high fat content contributes to obesity. The consumption of dairy is also linked to exacerbation of allergies and acne.

Today cow’s milk is a cocktail of pus (due to a disease common in cows called mastitis which results from being milked by humans), hormones secreted by the cow, pesticides (from the foods fed to them) and the antibiotics needed to keep the mastitis under control. Despite these facts, it takes a lot of willpower - or, sadly, a very severe disease - for most people to stop using milk products.

Commercial interests have propagated the myth about milk being a necessity for human beings. Recent data reinforces age old-wisdom: every species can get all it needs from nature. Adult humans need cow’s milk no more than adult cows need dog’s milk or adult dogs need pig’s milk!

Who was the guy who first looked at a cow and said, 'I think I'll drink whatever comes out of these things when I squeeze 'em!'?
   Calvin & Hobbes

(For a detailed account of this subject see Cattle and Milk)

Taking responsibility for one’s own health

I found, in my practice as a doctor, that 80% of the patients who changed their diet reported quantum changes in their state of health and state of mind. When the patient takes responsibility for his own health far more can be achieved then when he merely relies on the doctor.

There are several books citing similar experiences. Dean Ornish, an American cardiologist, talks about a similar diet along with stress release as a cure for even the severest of heart conditions in his book ‘Reversing Heart Disease’ (1990). Ann Wigmore and others talk about similar diets, which have proven to be effective for curing a multitude of diseases including cancer. If these extreme diseases can be reversed by a natural diet, would it not make sense to prevent them in the first place by following nature’s laws of eating?

Organic is healthy

The foods we eat should be as natural as possible - whole (not refined), fresh, not pre-prepared or packaged, organically grown, and free from pesticides and genetic modification and if possible seasonal and locally grown.

T. Colin Campbell’s excellent book, ‘The China Study’ (2004) cites numerous studies that show that the refined and processed foods that we eat from plant sources as well as foods derived from animal sources are linked to our most common diseases. He speaks about the effects of our diet on our health in Section II – ‘Diseases of Affluence’. Studies have shown links between regular exposure to malathion (a commonly used pesticide) and various human maladies, including non-Hodgkins lymphoma, childhood leukemia, anemia, chromosome damage, and weakened immune systems. Meanwhile, aerial sprayings have been known to cause allergic reactions or flu-like symptoms for people inadvertently exposed on the short term, and malformations and cancer on the long term.

In the Punjab State of India, the effects of the ‘Green Revolution’ are now beginning to unfold. The incidence of cancer has multiplied manifold and this has been linked with the high pesticide residues in the blood of people living in these areas (reference: Down to Earth, June 15, 2005). Recent studies also show that the effect of pesticide residues in the blood is not limited to the person exposed but can effect up to 2 generations!

A change in the diet leads to a change in the state of mind

Transport to the slaughter-house: no stop for food, water or rest.
I have observed that when patients change their diet to a vegetarian one, or vegan one (no animal products at all), they also experience an emotional change. The accounts of Dean Ornish’s patients in his book ‘Reversing Heart Disease’ also testify to this.

I suspect that much of the fear, insecurity, forsakenness, and despair rampant in our society is transferred through meat and milk. My explanation for this is as follows - when we are stressed we produce a hormone called adrenaline, which prepares our body to react to the situation. In terms of emotions this is experienced as fear, anger, etc.

Much like ourselves, animals also feel pain, fear, longing, despair, frustration, and have the desire to live. Stressed animals also produce adrenaline. When animals are raised under stressful conditions or when they are taken for slaughter, or when a cow is milked, adrenaline is secreted by the animal. This energy is transferred to the consumer through the flesh, dairy and eggs.

My experience, and the experience of several of my patients, is that by avoiding food from animal sources completely for a period of time, a quantum change on the emotional state is experienced. Fear, insecurity, lack of confidence, forsakenness as well as anger and violence and other stressful emotions seem to miraculously dissolve, paving the way for personal and spiritual growth. Consuming foods from animal sources even in minute quantities brings back these negative feelings and the difference is clearly perceptible.

Dr Nandita Shah

For ideas on how to substitute your everyday recipes with vegan and whole ingredients readily available in India, as well as some new recipes please see our vegan recipes section.

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