Dr Bimal Chhajer was Senior Resident Doctor and Assistant Professor at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for six years (1989-1995). During those days, he was inspired by Dr Dean Ornish to tackle heart disease via lifestyle changes. He resigned from AIIMS and set up SAAOL to promote lifestyle-based medicine to Indian audiences.

Milk & Dairy Products? Dr Chhajer explains that all three are bad for heart health:

• Milk: Are Milk & Milk Products Heart Healthy? (6 mins, 2020): No. Dr Chhajer explains that all animal products including milk have cholesterol and fats.

  Buffalo milk has 6.5 grams fats (per 100 grams milk), cow's milk has 4.1 grams, toned milk has 3 grams, double toned has 2 grams, skimmed milk has 0.5 grams to 1.0 grams.

  Buffalo milk has 20 mg cholesterol (per 100 grams of milk); cow's milk has 10 mg, double toned milk has 2 mg.

  Paneer has 23% fat by weight. Extremely fat rich. Ghee is 99.9% fat. He calls it "milk oil". Just like oil is bad for heart, ghee is also bad for heart.

• Ghee: Is Ghee Good For Heart? (7 mins, 2020): No.
• Curd: Is Curd (Yogurt) Okay For Heart? (5 mins, 2020): No. Dr Chhajer says that those who insist on consuming curd may consume curd prepared from at most 200 grams of double toned milk or 500 grams of skimmed toned milk in a day. To prepare skimmed milk at home, we have to boil and remove the cream 6 times.

Whole Food Plant-Based? In the videos above, Dr Chhajer clearly explains that all animal products are unhealthy for heart health. Yet his food system allows for some milk. Why? Because Indian audiences keep insisting on having milk! Moreover, some of his recipes have sugar; some have 'rawa' (not a whole grain). One guideline that Dr Chhajer insists on strict compliance is the 'Zero Oil' guideline. So on the whole, I wouldn't call Dr Chhajer's food system 100% Whole Food Plant-Based but it comes close to it.

Recipes playlist: Dr Chhajer has a YouTube playlist with oil-free recipes, most of which are dairy-free. Some of these have sugar or curd or 'rawa' (not a whole grain). I have not listed such recipes below. All recipes below are Whole Food Plant-Based.