Dr Bimal Chhajer (biography) was Senior Resident Doctor & Assistant Professor at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) from 1989-1995. He left this position to set up his own lifestyle medicine clinic called SAAOL (Science And Art Of Living). Inspired by Dr Dean Ornish's work on heart disease reversal via lifestyle interventions, Dr Bimal Chhajer started advocating Whole Food Plant-Based guidelines to Indian audiences for optimal heart health.

Dr Chhajer's main goal is heart health. From that perspective, he strongly encourages reducing (and if possible, complete elimination of) dietary intake of oils and cholesterol.

No oils are allowed — Dr Chhajer is strict about that. What about cholesterol? Turns out that cholesterol is found only in animal products: meat, fish, eggs, milk and dairy products like ghee and curd. He encourages removal of all these from diet as well!

Over the years, Dr Chhajer has realized that Indian audiences are comfortable with the idea of oil removal. They are also comfortable with meat, fish and egg removal. However, people have a tough time removing milk and dairy products from their diet.

For those who really want to consume milk and dairy products, Dr Chhajer allows for at most 200 grams of double toned milk or 500 grams of skimmed toned milk in a day. He explains that to prepare skimmed milk at home, we have to boil and remove the cream 6 times. If somebody wishes to consume yogurt or buttermilk or any diary derivative, that must be prepared from this daily quota of milk: 200 grams of double toned milk or 500 grams of skimmed milk. Ideally, we should not consume any milk or dairy products at all.

Oil-Free Recipes by SAAOL: here.