Do animals hold the key to your health? | Aysha Akhtar | TEDxFoggyBottom
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- Опубліковано 17 жов 2024
- Aysha Akhtar, author of the book, Animals and Public Health, demonstrates the mutual benefit to both humans and animals when animals are protected.
Aysha Akhtar, M.D., M.P.H., is a neurologist and public health specialist and is on a mission! She is demonstrating how there is a mutual benefit to both humans and animals when animals are protected. She is the author of the book, Animals and Public Health. Why treating animals better is critical to human welfare, which examines how the treatment of animals impacts human health. The book reveals how many of our most urgent and pressing public health threats are connected with the poor treatment of animals. In other words, as her book shows, treating animals better is not only good for animals, but also good for us. Dr. Akhtar is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, works for the Office of Counterterrorism and Emerging Threats of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and serves as LCDR in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. She is a regular blogger for the Huffington Post. You can read her blogs on how animal protection benefits humans here. Disclaimer: Dr. Akhtar is speaking at TEDxFoggyBottom on her individual capacity.
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"when we save animals, we save ourselves too." Amen. I've been happy to be vegan for several decades.
I am proud to know this Pakistani family from Lahore, Pakistan. I met Haneef and Zahida Akhtar and their daughters Aysha and Jabeen Akhtar at an Animal Rights conference on the east coast and have often run into them at at other conferences including PETA Gala at Hollywood, CA.The whole family is vegan now and interestingly enough these two daughters were instrumental in convincing their parents to go Vegan. These girl were going to school when I had first met then Aysaha is an MD now. Please joined and share this inspiring talk by Aysha
This is the best TedTalk about animal treatment. I've been searching for a public health animal video for hours
She does a great job pointing out the plain simple truth!
This is really well said. Totally agree
I am a wild animal rescuer and rehabilitator at Curacao Animal Rescue (TeamCARE) and I see what impacts man-made contaminants and pollution have on wild animals and their natural habitats.on a very small scale in Curacao. If mankind does not figure out a way to prevent unhealthy living, foraging, and breeding areas for wild animals, they will get sick. Eventually their illnesses will impact lives of humans in a detrimental manner. The vector of a zoonotic disease transmission from sick wild animals to humans may be any of the following: mosquitoes, fecal material, airborne virus, consumption of sick animals and animal bites. Occasionally the disease may pass from the wild animal to domesticated or factory animals and then to humans. Another vector of transmission often overlooked is the illegal trade in captured weak and/or sick wild animals. TeamCARE and myself agree with Dr Aysha Akhtar: "If we save (wild) animals, we save ourselves."
Brilliant talk Aysha, your talk is filled with wisdom, intelligence, empathy, and truth. 👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you so much, Dr. Akhtar.
love this so much! it's time to stop ignoring the truth of the animal farming industry and start making that connection.
she's so inspirational. thank you for your work dr. akhtar!
I hope this talk gets millions of views , shares, likes. It is a talk of all talks, handed down from the Divine One who desires we cease the assault on Creation because of the view that humans are top of the food chain...A view of prowess and predation that was born of our domestication of animals.
Wonderful and immensely important video, relevant now more than ever.
I love this brilliant woman! Forever vegan.
Very good speech by Dr. Aysha Akhtar CCC and vegan
I'm not 50 yet and several people younger than I that I know have suffered strokes that could have been prevented by changing their diet and lifestyle. Medical advances will help prolong your life, but I prefer the 0 side effects method 😊
very nice talk
Excellent discussion, despite the wrongheaded commentary below.
Touching ending
People who eat meat solely on the basis that it 'enhances their taste experience', seriously need to give their choice to eat factory farmed meat 'a little more consideration'..................in a nutshell, it's pretty safe to state that any animal would rather have the opportunity of a full life than have it cut cruelly short to ultimately end up as food on a plate.
She did a nice job talking about saving animals yet when she described what people can do to help she said....Go Vegetarian.... really is she not aware that vegetarians promote animal exploitation as they consume not only dairy but in many cases fish, chicken, and eggs. What a missed opportunity to have a CLEAN CONSISTENT MESSAGE! The message being.... Go Vegan NOT Vegetarian!
I appreciate your enthusiasm but vegetarians (real vegetarians) don't eat fish, chicken). I understand and support people being vegans but most start out as vegetarians and I support their move. It is a good start.
Janice Martinez If having people "ease" into becoming vegan, I guess that would be OK...but that is not my point or issue. My issue is a matter of definitions and mis-information. Listen to her at this time stamp 12:30 [just click on the 12:30 it will take you exactly to that time in the video] She just said NOT to eat dairy then at the end of that sentence she says.... eat vegetarian food...Vegetarians eat dairy! That is confusing and destroys her whole argument of not abusing animals. Vegan food is cruelty free NOT vegetarians food. That was my point..... Take care Janice.
So, the whole world goes vegan tomorrow. Billions of farm animals are culled to make way for soya, wheat and corn cultivation. Cows, pigs, chickens and sheep survive only where a few kindly people keep them as pets. Like donkeys, they hover at the edge of the endangered species list. Is this what vegans want? Because it will be the logical conclusion of global conversion to veganism. Perhaps the better answer is consumer pressure for compassion in farming. My two cents...
GWEBITYALA Well at least you put the right value on your comment. two cents. It made no sense.
***** Ok genius, what do you think will happen to farm animals if farmers no longer have any economic incentive to keep them. There's no longer any habitat for them. It's all good and well to be a militant vegan for "humanitarian" reasons, but I challenge you to persuade me that veganism won't lead to the mass culling of farm animals. I'm the first to say that factory farming of animals is an abomination, but that doesn't mean that humane and compassionate farming methods aren't achievable. In fact, farms like that do exist and I go out of my way to support them.
People don't and won't go vegan until those who are not vegan appreciate those who are. Until being vegan is seen as doing good, making an effort, by those who are not making that effort and not doing good.
that is the million dollar conundrum.
The best reasons to go vegetarian ....
Don't your mean The best reasons to go vegan?
I have a couple of issues with this talk that prevented me from sharing.
Firstly, family farms do exist.
My fiancé and I are about to move to a small sheep and dairy farm in Cumbria, UK that his family have run for three generations. The welfare of the sheep and cows who are raised on that farm is better than the welfare of many of the pet dogs I see in my work (as a dog training and behaviour consultant).
Tarring all farmers with the same brush has resulted in people falsely accusing small farmers who care about their animals and put welfare ahead of profit as being uncaring and abusive human beings (which is not only untrue in our case but very hurtful) and, thanks to speakers and rhetoric like this, they believe there is only a choice between vegetarian/vegan and carnivore, no middle ground.
So if they want to eat meat they still buy meat without considering the source. They go for the cheapest factory farmer meat instead of their local butcher for a cut from a small, responsible farm.
There is absolutely an option of sourcing meat from small farms with good welfare standards, please educate people about this fact in your next sermon.
Also, regarding the disney-fied pictures at the end. The dog licking the fireman is actually suffering. S/he is offering several appeasement gestures; canine body language signals that communicate that the dog is experiencing stress, fear or anxiety or feeling that it's life is under threat.
A picture of a happy, relaxed dog might have made a better point but.
It betrayed the amount of animal behaviour knowledge and research that went into this talk.
"Firstly, family farms do exist"
There is no dietary need or any other need for you to consume any animal substances or exploit animals at all. Animals are tortured in ALL slaughterhouses, they are forced into being on all farms, and have their babies taken from them to be the next beings tortured. They do not want to be merely your dinner or your leather jacket or shoes.
Exploiting a single animal is not morally justifiable, and because of you, many thousands are exploited. You have no right to claim that you are a moral person when you are paying for beings who can feel pain to be enslaved and tortured to death for your mere pleasure.
"Family farms" are not a rational excuse to deny Animal Rights.
Besides that, you can't feed a diet including flesh, dairy and eggs to over 7 billion people with "family farms" in the first place.
Stop with the excuses and stop exploiting innocent animals.
Raising animals for the sole purpose of killing them is not caring for them, it is just protecting what you see as an investment it is NOT caring for a living creature that deserves to live just as much as you do! You are just kidding yourself to think that you care for these animals, if you really are just caring for them then treat them like you would your dog lets say.... you care for your dog with no expectation of killing it in the future to eat it! That is caring! So care for your farm animals and do not kill them.... that would be caring!
ThePeopleAreFucked I am not sure I agree with you on that one, because to her farm animals in the end are murder. My point is this, people are asking themselves the wrong question.... Instead of asking "how can we treat these animal in a way that we feel better about killing them" to asking a more basic question like.... "Is all the killing necessary, and are there nutrition alternatives that would make the killing of these innocent animals not necessary and obsolete?" And to the later question the answer is yes...... and that answer is veganism. :) Take care.
***** Fair point. But what about the animals we keep that are obligate carnivores (dogs and cats). Are you saying you would like all domesticated animals to become extinct because you have a problem with eating meat that you cannot (safely and in good conscience) impose on them?
Sadie Brunskill Are you Vegan?
Please World go Vegan now.
People should just cut down on the large quantities of meat they eat (not omit it per se) and refuse to buy from factory farms. Then the horrible factory farms eventually wouldn't even be needed because there wouldn't be as much of a demand for the meat.
I've been a vegetarian for over 10 years and fully agree with ethically done hunting and farming. People are omnivores so who cares if they live like one, as long as the animals are not forced to live in horrid conditions and slaughtered in inhumane ways? :)
"People are omnivores so who cares if they live like one"
Some people are rapists, who cares if they rape?
Just because you CAN inflict unnecessary suffering and/or death on innocent beings for your mere pleasure, amusement or convenience, doesn't mean it's morally justifiable.
Basically telling people what to do because of your reasons won't do anything, so try to find a slightly not as miserable happy medium. You telling people to stop eating meat won't change a thing. Proposing something more realistic to them? Yes that can and does work.
And rape has absolutely nothing to do with this topic and I am baffled at how you came to that conclusion.
*edited because my response was pretty dumb
+Ninja Cat The argument you just used is a fallacy called "An Appeal To Nature" which is not considered a rationally valid argument. Wolves are forced by their circumstances to kill, they have no choice. Humans do have a choice. To choose to harm innocent animals who can feel pain and other sensations when you have an alternative is not morally justifiable.
The problem isn't how many animals we enslave, rape, torture and kill merely for our own interests, it's that we have no need to do it at all, and either the animals have the right not to be enslaved, raped, tortured, or killed by us, or humans don't have that right either.
+Ninja Cat You claim you are a vegetarian yet state " people are omnovores', 'ethical hunting", ? perhaps 'ethical factory farms" too? That doesn't make sense.....smells of industry propaganda
I choose not to eat meat simply because at the time of making the choice I only watched videos about the farms that do abuse their animals. I stopped eating meat at 10 years old, so after 11 years of no meat I'm just too stubborn to go back. ;)
Also, after having to work and experience the farming industry through school (it's a small portion I didn't want to take part in at first) it really opened my eyes that not many places actually treat their animals badly. Even on the few larger scale farms I've been on, the cattle were treated amazingly. The way I see a "factory farm" is a farm that is large scale /and/ does not treat the animals well.
I still do believe we as a population (aka 1st world countries) definitely need to cut down on how much meat is consumed and wasted, mostly for environmental factors. Also more reinforcement of rules and regulations to ensure food animals are treated with respect. As of right now it's slowly getting better so that certain practices (such as anesthetics and analgesics for dehorning) are mandatory and much more strictly enforced.
Really doing my best to be open to the speaker's suggestions, but it does seem to have a tone of paranoia and false premises... There was an implication somewhere in there that we are dying at younger ages (and/or acquiring chronic diseases at younger ages) than ever before! Wait a minute... sure, there is no doubt an issue of chronic disease among humans - but with the breakthroughs in medicine, our lifespan as a species has increased. Of course, our lifestyle choices play a part. There are many factors and lots of variation from one individual to another...
JUST prior to watching this video, I saw a different (more recent) TedTalk about the Human-Animal bond, presented by Dr. Susan Little. The focus was different; this was a veterinary parasitologist exploring how our bonds with our pets has become much STRONGER over the last few decades, attributing it mostly to parasite control. She links this to the notion of One Health/One Medicine; I love it. And this is where the two reach a sort of common ground; Dr. Little explains that the health of humans, other animals (pets and non-pets alike), and our environment is intertwined. Both speakers share the general idea that by taking care of animals, we are taking care of ourselves and the environment as well. Awesome. That is something we can all agree on.
Here's something that was not addressed... Part of maintaining our nutritional health as omnivorous animals, includes consuming protein. Sure, there are various protein sources other than animal products, but what about those of us who experience anemia? If we aren't getting enough HEME iron (iron in spinach for example is NON-heme), we are not able to optimally deliver oxygen to tissues and that's obviously not healthy. Some may say, "well then use supplements!" And for some, that works. For others, supplemental iron does not equal nutritional iron and it can produce other bodily ailments or plainly not be effective at all. I would have appreciated her addressing the negative impact on our health of being vegetarian and cutting animal products out of our diets entirely, rather than focusing solely on the negatives of overconsumption of meat, in the most EXTREME cases.
Also, what about sweet Silas (her cat)? ...Cats are carnivores, as are other animals. Non-human animals consume other animals. There is a biological basis for their nutritional needs. Another point: She really emphasizes the amount of bacteria in meat as such a horrible thing. A lot of things are contaminated... bacteria is everywhere. In terms of "exercising" our immune system, exposure to (SOME) bacteria strengthens our immunity! No doubt, hearing of conditions like she mentioned of animal factory farms having poor husbandry and the use/abuse of lab animals is enough to make anyone with a beating heart feel disturbed! But I do not think it's fair or right to make such suggestions. Everyone has their own opinion, and that's why there is no ONE definitive solution. By eating out and ordering vegetarian dishes, we are preventing the aforementioned horror? Really? That's it? Go vegetarian and save the world? Many other things need to be implemented.
How about addressing other cultural significance, like appreciation and moderation? Throughout history, ancient civilizations have hunted animals for food, and some cultures practice/d appreciation to the animals for its life in nourishing another being. That really changes the intention and manner of the act. Also, consider how many people consume unnecessarily HIGH amounts of animal products? Why not propose cutting back as opposed to eliminating? Trying to resolve this issue is not going to be a one-stop, low-effort ordeal. It is going to take time, consideration, understanding, and cohesion in our society. Clearly, this is a topic that tugs at all of our heart strings, but there is no simple solution. Leading/presenting this argument with such extreme bias and absolute conviction in what we should all do is only something that will divide us and fuel conflict between the two radical ends of the matter, as it does with most other things (politics, 2-party system). I am compelled to believe that Dr. Akhtar has the best intentions in sharing her ideas. And as a life-time animal lover and future veterinarian, I deeply appreciate her passion for the well-being of animals. There are just many other aspects we need to consider before making such rash statements and suggesting such extreme action that many individuals weigh heavily and differently.
one correction: don’t eat vegetarian but vegan. otherwise, you’re still contributing to the same destruction
is she a vegan
This would be great if saturated fat and cholesterol actually contributed to heart disease, which they don't.
That thing that just blew by your head? That was "the point". I suspect that's deliberate motivated blindness though.
Ok Fran... best of luck with this line of thought... consumption of flesh is unhealthy, expensive, damaging, dangerous and highly risky
Jahspecs1 congratulations, you're a parrot!
Jahspecs1 Could you name me some actual scientific data that would prove this? Because from all the research I've sifted through has proved that several experiments have been conducted to try and prove what you're saying, but to no avail. What exactly is unhealthy about meat? Our digestive system is literally designed to consume meat, if we were meant to be vegetarians we would have several stomachs, like all herbivores.
Your food is medicine... you medicine is your food... eating flesh is NOT healthy, period
I agree with her argument about the environment , but none of her other claims hold up. Meat factories' cruel punishment and contribution to greenhouse gases are enough reason to avoid eating meat. I wish she had just kept her argument there, because her claims about chronic disease are not backed up by evidence. There might be some correlation, but there isn't sufficient evidence for causation.
There actually is quite a lot of evidence that some bio-chemical substances in animal substances cause some sort of chronic disease. That's not the point.
Everything that's wrong with this planet would be severely decreased by going Vegan. That is scientifically unassailable. It's common sense.
"Meat" is not the problem. Any intentional exploitation of nonhuman animals by human animals is the problem. If you think animals matter morally, even the least amount, the only logical reaction is to go Vegan.
If you don't go Vegan, you're basically saying "I believe in irrational subjective personal opinion and not objective fact."
Go vegan
I'm actually amazed that so many people think this is a "good" speech. This is nothing but propaganda with poorly supported points. The intent is to "shame" the audience into becoming vegetarian. Anyone who knows anything about human psychology should know that shaming never works. People like this woman make me think veganism was invented by bored, upper-middle class whites to make them feel better about themselves and their internalized guilt. I agree that industrialized meat production is a bad thing due to its impact on the environment, but pretty much all of her other points are completely biased and loaded with assumptions. She is taking advantage of the fact that her audience is completely ignorant to the subject and coaxing them along with a solution for them to relieve their guilt: "go vegetarian, it's that easy." How about you create a real solution for people who cannot afford fresh, organic, locally-grown, grass-fed, vegan, etc. How about you create an alternative to testing product ingredients on animals, without which we would never have achieved treatments for things like cancer. Becoming a vegetarian does LITERALLY NOTHING for the animals you claim to care so much about. Narcissistic vegetarians/vegans need to get off their high horses and be realistic about doing something that actually helps the environment. End of rant.
You are right about one thing.... your post was a rant.... a rant that said nothing of substance. You obviously have not done any research on veganism, and are just embarrassing yourself.
I'm embarrassed for you that you think this is person spoke well or intelligently. I have done research on veganism. That has nothing to do with what I posted. Get off your high horse.
Anissa Mahmood what research? What are your sources, you have said nothing of substance only unsubstantiated BS. Informed people are embarrassed for your lack of knowledge.
***** I AM NOT MAKING ANY CLAIMS WHICH WOULD REQUIRE SOURCES. (And if you took the time to read what I said instead of just becoming defensive, you would know that.) I am offering an informed opinion with suggestions on what would be more helpful than going vegan/vegetarian. Animals are being slaughtered for consumption at the same rate WHETHER OR NOT YOU (SPECIFICALLY) ARE EATING THEM because, believe it or not, most people aren't wealthy elitists who can afford to make such decisions about their diets. If you actually did any of your own research instead of just looking at biased reflections of your own opinion, you would know that it is not so one-sided. Good luck with your closed-minded, pretentious, narcissistic personality.
Anissa Mahmood You are one arrogantly ignorant little girl. You said "She is taking advantage of the fact that her audience is completely ignorant to the subject " how the hell would you know, did you interview and take a survey of the audience? You keep spouting off the exact opposite of what is true, these are just a couple of the facts on veganism.
Veganism is not a solution for rich people, eating meat and dairy is.
Veganism is much much more efficient use of land and any and all resources like water and grain when compared to the meat industry!
There is more than enough food in the world to feed the entire human population. So why are more than 840 million people still going hungry? Growth in meat output is dependent on feeding grain to animals, creating competition for grain between affluent meat-eaters and the world’s poor, who do you think wins?
It takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce just 1 pound of edible animal flesh. According to the USDA and the United Nations, using an acre of land to raise cattle for slaughter yields 20 pounds of usable animal protein. That same acre would yield 356 pounds of protein if soybeans were grown instead more than 17 times as much!
Producing the grain that is used to feed farmed animals requires vast amounts of water. It takes about 300 gallons of water per day to produce food for a vegan, and more than 4,000 gallons of water per day to produce food for a meat-eater. You save more water by not eating a pound of beef than you do by not showering for an entire year.
It should be no surprise, then, that food for a vegan can be produced on only 1/6 of an acre of land, while it takes 3 1/4 acres of land to produce food for a meat-eater. If we added up all the arable land on the planet and divided it equally, every human would get 2/3 of an acre more than enough to sustain a vegan diet, but not nearly enough to sustain a meat-eater.
On top of this the industrial world is exporting grain to developing countries and importing the meat that is produced with it, and thus farmers who are trying to feed themselves are being driven off their land. Their efficient, plant-based agricultural model is being replaced with intensive livestock rearing, which also pollutes the air and water and renders the once-fertile land dead and barren.
If this trend continues, the developing world will never be able to produce enough food to feed itself, and global hunger will continue to plague hundreds of millions of people around the globe. There is only one solution to world hunger - A vegan diet is the only ethical response to what is arguably the world’s most urgent social justice issue. You really should do research before making unfounded accusation towards people that are making informed and compassionate choices and suggesting solutions.
No comments about how she looks? ok then guess it's just me.
+Nico Odeku meatarian trolls always use that strawman first......real classy.....and speak for yourself.....btw is that YOU again David Munoz aka Stephano DrSam, Anissa Mahmood, , etc ? ....lol....maybe i should try multiple accounts
This shouldn't be on Ted. I would finish it but got sick of the irrelevant points, propaganda and guilt trips used to support her argument.
Sry...still gonna eat some meat