Did you know that your average UK doctor only receives one hour of training on nutrition in their career? Did you know that this training is still rooted in misinformation about an “omnivore” diet? Well, finally some change is taking place and it only took a pandemic for the UK medical professionals to wake up.
As we know, a non violent, vegan, plant-based diet is the key to high immunity, individual and collective healing along with many other ayurvedic benefits. Universal design also shows us that coronavirus is also an anagram for carnivorous, need I say more.
Progressive, leading UK doctors are finally backing a plea for the public to stop eating meat if we are to prevent future global health disasters, while over 33,000 people have signed a pledge to give up meat for the month of May – and beyond – with many ditching animal products in a bid to prevent future pandemics caused by zoonotic diseases.
The global No Meat May campaign which we reported on last week, has teamed up with plant-based doctors in the UK to call on the general public to make the connection between major disease outbreaks and animal agriculture.
From reports that Covid-19 began in a wet market in Wuhan, and other pandemics being caused by our direct contact with animals – including Swine Flu (pigs), Avian Flu (birds), Spanish Flu (poultry) SARS-CoV (civets) MERS-CoV (camels) and HKU1 (mice) – to the looming threat of antibiotic resistance, our relationship with farmed animals is causing global health crisis.
With zoonotic diseases such as coronaviruses infecting 2.5 billion people each year, No Meat May, Dr Gemma Newman, and the non-profit organisation Plant Based Health Professionals UK, led by Dr Shireen Kassam, are calling on the public to give up eating meat this May – and ideally other animal products including dairy and eggs – to help prevent future crippling global health disasters such as Covid-19.
Dr Gemma Newman – who is also known as the Plant Powered Doctor – who is a senior partner at a UK medical practice, said:
“Some politicians and commentators blame China for Covid-19, but they do not mention that all of the recent major disease outbreaks have been caused by tampering with animals and their habitats, or that our chicken salad and pepperoni pizza could be the next big health risk.
“The inconvenient truth is that factory farms put a strain on animal health, which means we treat them with antibiotics and small doses end up in your meal. A UN report suggests an extra 10 million people may die by 2050 as a result of antibiotic resistance, and we can add viral pandemics to these figures too. This current crisis shows us that we are not prepared for the future we are creating.
“Our industrial scale factory farms are like a ticking time bomb – yet I can guarantee that lentils will not spark a viral pandemic anytime soon. Many of us are sitting at home wondering what we can do to help this situation. Taking some time to reflect on what we eat, limiting the meat we put in our supermarket trolley and shifting to a more plant based diet will help us move towards a safer future. Signing up to the No Meat May campaign is a lovely way to feel supported in reducing meat consumption moving forwards.”
No Meat May urges consumers to pledge to give up meat for four key reasons: their health, the environment, for animals, and to ensure a more sustainable food system for all. Research from the University of Oxford has shown that a plant-based diet is one of the most significant ways to improve our health.
Doctor Shireen Kassam, a Consultant Haematologist and Director of Plant-Based Health Professionals UK – an organisation led by health professionals which provides information on healthy plant-based diets – said: “There is an urgent need to reduce meat consumption globally for both human and planetary health. More than 90% of the meat we consume is produced in industrial scale factory farms, which provide the perfect conditions for the generation of novel infections with epidemic and pandemic potential. In addition, intensive farming of animals necessitates the widespread use of antibiotics, which has contributed to a dramatic rise in the number of antibiotic-resistant infections affecting humans. We have now entered an era where it is not uncommon for doctors to find themselves treating patients with bacterial infections for which there are no effective antibiotics.
“One of the many lessons we are learning from the current COVID-19 pandemic is that people with underlying health conditions have a higher risk of requiring hospitalisation, admission to the ICU and ultimately of dying. In the UK, almost 90% of people who have died from the infection have at least one underlying health condition. We should therefore look to ensure that we improve overall public health and minimise the potential for underlying health conditions such as cardiovascular disease, obesity and type 2 diabetes, by opting for a predominantly whole food plant-based diet.
“We have known for decades that a healthy plant-based diet, which minimises or eliminates meat, is associated with some of the lowest rates of chronic disease and a longer and healthier life. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans help reduce inflammation in the body and promote a healthy immune system, both of which are essential aspects of fighting an infection such as COVID-19.”
No Meat May offers a continuous stream of plant-based recipes, cooking demonstrations and live feeds from a range of top chefs and dietitians (with a few celebrity cameos likely along the way). The campaign aims to help those cooking at home to eat well and feed their families with healthy, affordable, immunity-boosting meals during this global lockdown period.