Compassionate Vision: Eye Surgeon Dr. Sharang Wartikar (vegan) on Diet and Health, Part 1 of 2

Today, we are privileged to welcome Dr. Sharang Wartikar, a distinguished vitreo-retinal surgeon in Mumbai, India, whose compassionate approach and surgical expertise have transformed the lives of patients across all walks of life. With over a decade of experience, Dr. Wartikar specializes in advanced retinal procedures, including scleral buckling and micro-incision vitrectomy surgery. He has also published internationally and taught at leading conferences.

“There are many studies which have consistently shown that higher intake of fruits, vegetables, salads will prevent the onset of cataract, glaucoma, and even macular degeneration. Unfortunately, these studies are not very popularly told to us. The reason why these are beneficial is because fruits and vegetables contain a lot of antioxidants. So what the pharmaceutical industry does is it picks out a few of these molecules and puts them in tablets and then sells it. So what we are told is that you need to take these antioxidant tablets in order to maintain good health. But the fact is, where are these antioxidants coming from? They are coming from fruits and vegetables. So if you directly consume them, you are not only getting those antioxidants which the pharma industry has identified, but there are so many more that we still haven’t identified. All those will also come into our body automatically. And because a lot of the eye conditions depend on our systemic diseases, once we control our systemic diseases, the eye also benefits from it.”

“By whole foods, we mean the form in which nature has made it – not how humans tend to remove beneficial things from a food, add non-beneficial things, additives and preservatives and emulsifiers and things like that, to make it more tasty and palatable. So what I would suggest is that a whole food plant-based diet is what is required if you want to be healthy. And once you consume and start shifting towards more plant-based nutrition, you will get tremendous benefits, be it in diabetes, be it in cardiovascular disease, for your kidney disease, or even for obesity. Multiple factors will automatically start getting better.”

“As far as (vitamin) B12 is concerned, yes, you will need to take supplements because B12 is neither made by plants nor animals, it is made by bacteria in the soil and because of the contamination that we are doing, bacteria are not there, they are depleted and that is why we are not getting enough B12 and that’s not just for those who are on a plant-based even non-vegetarians are now not getting B12. So, deficiency is across the board; you have to check your blood B12 levels, and accordingly, you need to supplement.”

With these key nutrients clarified, Dr. Wartikar brings the focus back to daily eating habits – and to the simple question of what a truly balanced plate should look like.