For three of the past four years, Ive taken a February hiatus to India. Its a rapidly emerging country and is fast becoming a major world player. Most of the people in India are vegetarian, because its against their religion to kill animals. After everything Ive told you about the health benefits of a vegetarian diet, you would think India would have the healthiest people in the world. But it does not. The reason will surprise you.
I started my trip by volunteering as a staff physician at the Maharaj Jagat Sing Charitable Hospital in Beas, India. Its the first time Ive worked inside a hospital since 1983. You cannot imagine the cases I saw. I was completely unprepared.
Theres an escalating epidemic of diabetes and vascular disease in people as young as their 30s. The fine Indian doctors did not have a clue as to why this was happening. They only knew that they faced a revolving door of disaster. I saw young people lose their feet, legs, and several suffered from strokes and heart attacks. I have never seen an overt case of scurvy in the U.S., but here I thought every other patient was a candidate.
While there is a growing problem with obesity in India, most of the people are not overweight. By and large, the people I saw were hard workers. They have fields to care for, so they got plenty of exercise. So why is it that they are vegetarian, exercising, not smoking or drinking, and are not overweight, but still have diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, and limb loss? What gives?
At first, I could not explain it. But after thinking about it, it hit me. All the health problems they are having are due to their diet. But the problem is not the fact that its vegetarian. No, its something else entirely.
On medical rounds the second day, I asked the team about the types of oil used for cooking in India. As expected, olive oil is almost unheard of. Its just too expensive. A common oil is cottonseed oil.
In the U.S., cottonseed oil is used mostly as industrial oil. But it is added to fast foods and processed foods. Its dirt cheap. Cottonseed oil is virtually devoid of omega-3 fatty acids. The ideal omega fatty acid ratio is 4:1 omega-6 to omega-3. Cottonseed is 100:1 (if that good).
But the problem only begins here. While there, I observed the preparation of typical Indian food. Now, in the U.S., I love to frequent Indian restaurants. They are very good about accommodating my vegetarian requests. And the food is so tasty.
In India, though, the value of the food is not good at all. Yes, they eat vegetarian, but they cook their food to oblivion. And worse, they cook it in oil. So the temperature of the stew exceeds 212 degrees F. In fact, the concoction is often cooked into a paste. You cant even recognize the original ingredients.
It tastes wonderful. But it contains almost no nutritional value whatsoever. And the amount of fat calories in the typical diet I observed was about 35%. A snack for them was sugar-coated fried dough (similar to our donuts). This refined carbohydrate mixed with the fat is a sure prescription for disaster.
What I originally thought would be a fairly healthy diet turned out to be a diet that is even worse than most found in the U.S. The high heat destroys virtually all nutritional value (thus, the scurvy — not enough vitamin C). The oil they use to cook is toxic cottonseed, which is devoid of anti-inflammatory omega-3s. And, at such high cooking heat, it easily becomes toxic trans fat.
What I saw was simply a much faster disease process than what we face here in the U.S. We have the same vascular diseases. But the difference is only relative — ours develops much slower than theirs. Our diet, to the degree it is superior, delays the inevitable. We get the same diseases 20-30 years later. I admit this was not a so-called controlled study. But I do not think that is necessary for what I saw. The best doctor learns from experience and observation, not from studies. India confirmed for me everything I have been telling you.
Being vegetarian is not synonymous with health unless you are eating a healthy vegetarian diet. I see vegetarians eat Twinkies and Hostess Cupcakes and still think they are eating a healthy diet. Cooking your food cooks your nutrients and destroys them. And cheap oil combined with carbs is a great prescription to get diabetes. Eat high-quality oil with a proper balance of omega fatty acids.
This was not the only incredible experience I had in India. I saw amazing results with several other treatments that Ill tell you about in future issues. One of the most amazing was with the red laser light Ive told you about in the past. Ill tell you about it next month.