Today’s Healthy Living will be presented in Persian, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Welcome, marvelous viewers, to this week’s edition of Healthy Living, the first in a two-part series featuring the dietary and nutritional views of Iranian-American, raw vegan physician Dr. Zarin Azar of San Diego, California USA.

Dr. Azar specializes in gastroenterology, the study and treatment of the digestive tract and hepatology, the study and treatment of the liver. Besides her training in these nutrition-related specialties, Dr. Azar has 25-years of self study in the area and is a Life Member of the National Health Association and a Life Partner of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), both of which advocate the vegan lifestyle.

She is certified by the PCRM in the use of the plant-based diet in clinical practice and by Our Place International in natural care of the body and fasting. Let’s now find out why she chose to adopt the plant-based diet.

Since when did you become vegetarian and what led you to become vegetarian?

I have been vegetarian about 20 years. What happened was, when I came to the US I started to eat pizza and hamburgers and such things. Gradually I noticed that every day my size was increasing and not only that, but I also felt it affected my energy level. I was low in energy, I did not feel well.

Eventually, after two to three years, I thought to myself that this wasn’t how I wanted to continue living, and from that moment I started to read more and more about nutrition.

The first thing I did was to stop eating red meat. Like many other people, I thought that chicken and fish were better than red meat. Then I reduced the chicken and fish in my diet and eventually I started to do sports and physical exercise. I was following that process and also reading about nutrition, and at the same time, I encountered the issues with animals.

I have to say, although I became a vegetarian because of health reasons, animal issues became important to me, and in fact they became a fundamental issue in my life. And I really got to know the suffering that animals have to endure, the way they are raised, the way they get them to become fat, so that they would be consumed by us humans. Since that time, I became a strict vegan. I became a vegan and have been a vegan ever since.

As a raw vegan, Dr. Azar consumes only unprocessed, uncooked plant-based foods.

Followers of this diet do not heat food above 46 degrees Celsius as they believe this destroys its enzymes. They also believe that cooking decreases the nutritional value and “life force” of food.

What are the advantages of a raw diet over a vegetarian diet?

A raw diet enables us to be able to grow our own food, anywhere we live, in our gardens, or if we live in an apartment, on our window sills. By planting our own fruits in our gardens, we can drastically reduce all the transportation of our food, from far away locations.

A raw diet makes us very healthy, and as a result we do not have to resort to doctors and drugs so much and therefore it creates a revolution in the field of medicine. Leading a natural life helps our psychological health, so we can look at our lives, and re-assess all our beliefs and principles of our lives which we follow without even thinking about them, and then put them aside.

So, I thought and realized that many of the much needed changes for the benefit of humanity, animals and our natural world would be achieved simply by changing to a raw vegan diet (Right). And my experience, both from my personal life, as well as from my dealings with my patients, has shown that this is a very good diet.

No doubt, a vegan diet is very good and is superior to an omnivore or a meat diet, but because by cooking food, many of the nutrients of plant-based food and indeed other kinds of food are destroyed, so with a raw diet we can obtain more nutrients for our body while consuming much less food. So, I believe that a raw vegan diet is the final stage in the continuum of human nutrition, human health, and preservation of our environment and animal lives.

So, as a medical expert who fully understands the human digestive system, do you consider a raw vegan diet as the best diet for human health?

No doubt, no doubt about it. In my opinion, not only our social system is not healthy from a dietary point of view, which promotes the inappropriate diet for our physical health, but also from a mental and emotional viewpoint, the inappropriate diet causes many problems.

Therefore, in my view, an illness is not just a physical health issue. I think humans must fundamentally change their lifestyles, their world viewpoints, their beliefs in themselves, their beliefs about their health, their bodies’ strength, their belief that Nature has the cure for all illnesses.

After this brief message, we’ll hear more from Dr. Zarin Azar. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

A vegetarian diet and the raw vegan diet are returning to humans’ natural diet. Whether you are pregnant, you are old, for your children of any age, whatever illness you might have, whatever your doctor has diagnosed, the raw vegan diet is the best diet for you.

Welcome back to Healthy Living on Supreme Master Television featuring our interview with raw vegan gastroenterologist and hepatologist Dr. Zarin Azar. Dr. Azar is active in the field of public health and is very much involved in the initiatives of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

As a Life Partner of the organization, she works on important national legislation such as the Child Nutrition Act that affects school nutrition programs, makes presentations on heart health and diet to community groups, and writes many articles on wellness. Now let’s learn more about Dr. Azar’s treatment methods.

Dr. Azar, have you had cases where, in order to treat a patient, you recommended that they try a raw diet?

Oh, definitely, always. In fact this is the first option of my treatment methods. All the patients who visit me, I recommend the raw diet to them. Of course, this depends on the illness, depends on the patient who comes to me, and the lifestyle and depends on their diet in the past.

No doubt, my recommendation is that if they can, they should become a raw vegan, and if this is not possible for them, I strongly recommend to them, for the transition period, they should become vegetarian. And if possible, they should try an 80% raw vegan diet. Let me repeat here, that for each illness, there is an appropriate diet. For instance, a patient with a cholesterol problem will be different than a colitis patient.

I recommend a special diet for a colitis patient, such as particular fruits, which are not so stimulating, while for a patient with high cholesterol, or for a diabetic patient, the dietary advice will be different; for a diabetic person, more vegetables and for a high cholesterol patient a different vegetarian diet will be recommended. But overall, my advice is that patients should adopt a vegetarian diet and, at least an 80 to 85% raw vegan diet.

Yes. Alongside recommending a raw vegan diet, do you also prescribe conventional drugs?

Never. People come to me, and in fact they are already on prescription drugs. I do my best to help them to gradually come off these drugs. For some illnesses, for instance, like high cholesterol, I help them to give up drugs immediately.

For an illness such as colitis, some patients come to me who take steroids and prednisone, or even heavier drugs, which put their immune system to sleep. In fact, for such patients, we try to gradually stop their medications by lifestyle changes and dietary changes, and patients themselves are aware of my treatment methods.

How about special diseases like cancer? Do you think a raw vegan diet helps cure these diseases?

I am not aware of any illness which a raw vegan diet cannot help. I cannot say this can completely cure them, because that will depend on the progress of the disease, and also on the past diet of the patients and how much they follow the new diet. But I need to make one point clear. I do not view food as a drug.

Food is not a drug; in fact, our body does not have any need for drugs. The body is intelligent. Humans’ bodies as well as animals’ bodies, plants’ bodies, and in general, nature are intelligent, and this natural intelligence knows how to self heal and repair any illness, or bodily injury.

Therefore my point is not that in order to be healed we should avoid drugs and replace them with plants and food; the point is that we need to create a system whereby our bodies have more chances to utilize their own natural power, and heal the illness. What I mean is our bodies are fighting day and night with various symptoms.

About cancer, day and night, the cancer cells are being produced in our bodies, and from the metabolic activities in our bodies, waste material is produced. But our intelligent bodies consciously know how to cleanse and eradicate these cancerous cells.

Our bodies know how to get rid of the resulting waste material as the result of the metabolic activities in our body, which are harmful and expelled via our kidneys, as feces, through sweating, through our mouth, and our skin.

Do we need to use vitamin supplements in addition to our vegetarian or raw vegan diet?

Whoever asks me this question, I always answer that, “Well I don’t think someone who is vegetarian needs any dietary supplements, but someone who is a meat eater, most definitely needs food supplements.”

You see, as I mentioned before, vegetarian and raw vegan diets are the primary diet for humans. The point whether we should take or not take a particular food supplement tablet depends on the viewpoint, about attitude toward food. If we have a good diet, if we are vegetarians, if 80 to 85% of our food is from fresh vegetables and fruits, and if the rest of our lifestyle is healthy, there is no need to take any drug or medicine.

Dr. Azar, we deeply appreciate your sound nutritional advice and are happy that your patients are able to live healthier, more active lives after adopting the raw vegan diet. Respected viewers, please join us again next Monday on Healthy Living when we’ll present more of our engaging interview with the wise and knowledgeable Dr. Zarin Azar.

To contact Dr. Zarin Azar, please email: drzarinazar@yahoo.com

Thank you for your company on today’s program. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment, after Noteworthy News, here on Supreme Master Television. May your life be filled with happiness, grace and love.

Today’s Healthy Living will be presented in Persian, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

We are all related; this is my message. We really need to learn how to live a simple life. Observe nature and learn from nature. And we should try to ask ourselves in the morning, what can I do to benefit my health, the health of my environment and to help the health of the animals.

Welcome, hearty viewers, to this week’s edition of Healthy Living, the second and concluding part of a two-part series featuring the dietary and nutritional insights of Iranian-American raw vegan physician Dr. Zarin Azar of San Diego, California USA.

Dr. Azar specializes in gastroenterology, the study and treatment of the digestive tract and hepatology, the study and treatment of the liver. Besides her training in these nutrition-related specialties, Dr. Azar has 25-years of self study in the area and is a Life Member of the National Health Association and a Life Partner of the Physicians Committee on Responsible Medicine (PCRM), both of which advocate the vegan lifestyle.

She is certified by the PCRM in the use of the plant-based diet in clinical practice and by Our Place International in natural care of the body and fasting. As part of the standard treatment regiment she prescribes, Dr. Azar asks patients to steer clear of animal products in their diet for a number of important reasons.

With the single exception of mother's milk, the only suitable source of nutrition for infants, dairy products should be avoided at every stage of life, as the consumption of milk from animals can lead to detrimental health effects.

In nature, every creature drinks milk for a limited period of time that is during its infancy. A human being is also weaned off his/her mother’s milk at the age of two. The intelligent nature in our bodies immediately stops producing the enzyme responsible for the breakup of the milk sugar molecule after the age of two.

And that is why many people are allergic and sensitive to the milk sugar: because they cannot digest it. The enzyme does not exist any longer. So they suffer from flatulence and gas. Then they are advised to take enzymes in order to be able to digest milk, but why? Milk is not our food.

Scientifically speaking, there are reasons why nature does not want us to drink milk after we are two years old: because of special formulas and growth factors in milk which are essential for the baby’s growth, but after we are two years old, they are not only unnecessary but also detrimental for me and you. Why? Because they help create cancer cells.

Now according to numerous research studies as well, milk, cow’s milk is partially responsible for type 1 diabetes. The other problem with milk is about its getting pasteurized and homogenized and going through a general procedure where so many chemical and food changes are involved.

Dr. Azar next discusses the common misconception that milk is a good source of calcium.

Regarding calcium, it is very interesting to know that on the contrary a high quantity of proteins especially animal proteins- acidifies the body. The human body has to be a bit alkaline. When it turns acidic, our intelligent bodies extract calcium from the bones for the reactions, metabolism and functions in different organs in order to pour it into the blood and make the body alkaline again. Why?

Because calcium is a very good alkaline agent and at the same time it is the simplest way at the disposal of the body to extract calcium from the bones, pour it into the blood and dispose of it through the kidneys. So it is nothing but a myth to say that milk is beneficial to calcium deficiency and osteoporosis.

Quite on the contrary, the more one drinks milk or consumes animal products, the higher are one’s risks of developing osteoporosis. Statistics clearly show that nowadays, the nations such as the Scandinavian countries with the highest consumption levels of dairy products have the highest rates of osteoporosis.

Eggs are very harmful to our bodies. What are some of the consequences of egg consumption?

Regarding eggs, to me they are the same as meat and milk. We do not need them at all. Their cholesterol levels are high and in fact include high amounts of antibiotics and steroids just the way chickens’ flesh do. Besides, they are animal substances which acidify the body and are hard to digest: They are not as easily digested as plant-based substances are. So why do we need to eat them at all? We have been provided with so many natural choices in our earthly paradise in the first place.

The World Health Organization estimates there are one billion overweight adults globally, with 300 million of them obese. Being above the ideal weight significantly increases one’s risk of developing serious chronic health conditions and our dietary choices profoundly affect how heavy we are.

Of course I think overeating is the biggest disease of our century. I can say that the biggest reason for overeating in addition to stress, mental illness and anxiety in this century is different chemical changes taking place in food. Most of the main ingredients are lost in the cooking process and our bodies are deprived from them.

Our bodies need to get these from somewhere and there are people who eat readymade meals, canned food, preserved food, or the least nutritious food, chicken raised with hormones, if vegetables are eaten, then it is potatoes which are grown with chemical substances. Such people have various illnesses which humanity these days is facing such as excess weight, diabetes, and high cholesterol.

We will pause now for a brief message. When Healthy Living returns, we will have more from our interview with Dr Zarin Azar. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

I congratulate you very much for (thank you) the four years, for your 4th Anniversary. It is a very good TV station in terms of advocating and promoting vegetarianism, in terms of concern that it has for the environment, and in terms of information that it tries to give to people of the world.

Welcome back to Healthy Living as we learn more about the nutritional benefits of a raw food diet with Iranian-American raw vegan physician Dr. Zarin Azar of San Diego, California USA.

Followers of this diet do not heat food above 46 degrees Celsius as they believe this destroys its enzymes. They also believe that cooking decreases the nutritional value and “life force” of food. Through her years of professional practice, Dr. Azar has observed that with a wholesome plant-based diet, there is no need for dietary supplements.

Vegetarian and raw vegan diets are the primary diet for humans. Our bodies have evolved over many millions of years, over that time our bodies have adapted to natural foods, and have the capability to make use of these natural ingredients, and extract the best nutrients necessary for our bodies. Therefore, there is no need for dietary supplements.

I have seen many people who would like to become raw vegan, or to become a vegetarian, but they are constantly worried that since they do not eat meat, do not eat eggs, and do not consume dairy products, where will their bodies get their calcium, protein, vitamin B12, and many other amino-acids? Do you have an answer for these people, or a solution to end their worries?

Today we know that by eating plant-based foods, all the necessary amino-acids of our bodies are completely provided. If we consume a variety of plant-based foods, vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, in particular in sprouted form, and also seeds and nuts, we will get not only the essential amino-acids, but also all the necessary oily acids that we need. And this way, without the cholesterol or other additives in meat and animal products, which we have witnessed, have not been good for humanity.

Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin that is necessary for the normal functioning of the brain, the maintenance of the nervous system, and the formation of red blood cells. We asked Dr. Azar for more background on this essential nutrient.

This vitamin is produced by bacteria in the soil, and then these bacteria can produce this vitamin in the stomach of cows and sheep and also in the human’s large intestine, which is later absorbed by the cows, sheep and humans. I have seen many clinical cases, where people suffer from lack of vitamin B12, and as a matter of fact, to date I have not seen one vegetarian case who suffered from lack of vitamin B12.

But why do humans nowadays possibly suffer from a lack of vitamin B12? The reason is because of sterilization, because we produce our plants in a soil which is full of chemicals. And as a result, many of the good bacteria die, not only in plants and soil, but also in the human intestine . There is another point about meat-eating people. Nowadays we know that many antibiotics are added to meat, which are put in livestock feed.

These antibiotics enter the meat, milk, eggs, and that’s the way they enter the human body. These antibiotics will then kill all the good and useful bacteria that humans need in our large intestine.

And these bacteria always live in our large intestine so that they can create a good natural environment for the health of the large intestine and for the good bacteria to actively produce vitamin. Nowadays, we can see the effects of this imbalance as a vitamin B12 deficiency as well as large and even small intestinal diseases.

How do we ensure we have an adequate amount of vitamin B12 in our diet?

Concerning vitamin B12, I recommend vegetarians to try 80- 85% raw vegetarianism and make sure to consume non-chemical foods as much as possible that is foods produced without chemical substances. Here, we call them organic or bio. Now, I have to add that the body needs a very little amount of vitamin B12.

There are approximately seven to eight years of vitamin B12 reserves in a man’s liver. (Yes.) So, if one is a vegetarian and eats appropriately- that is if one consumes raw foods, vegetables and fruits, one will never encounter any deficiencies.

What is a typical meal plan for one following a raw food diet? Here is one example that Dr. Azar provided.

I believe we must eat twice per day and one of them is breakfast which should consist of fruits or fruit juice or vegetable juice. People should eat as much fruit as possible until they feel satisfied. And then the main meal is consisting of a salad of different vegetables of various colors green vegetables, leafy green vegetables like lettuce, salad vegetables, broccoli, spinach and parsley and these types of things. Eat these between 2 and 5 PM at the latest.

The salad is the main course. Afterwards eat some nuts and seeds and if you like, use a homemade sauce with reduced amount of oil. It is better to obtain the oil required by the body directly from seeds and nuts rather than using olive oil or the other type of salad oils. Be Veg, Go Green 2 Save the Planet!

With heartfelt sincerity, we thank you Dr. Zarin Azar for your time and generosity in sharing with us your extensive knowledge of raw vegan nutrition. May many more people soon adopt this excellent and delicious dietary lifestyle.

To contact Dr. Zarin Azar, please email: drzarinazar@yahoo.com

Thank you loyal viewers for your company on today’s episode of Healthy Living. Coming up next is Enlightening Entertainment, after Noteworthy News, here on Supreme Master Television. May you always be in the pink of health.