How to Be Happy AND Fight Climate Change
I read several articles this weekend and two were about the same solution for two seemingly very different challenges facing society: being happy, and improving climate stability.
The first article is about a monk who is called, by scientists at the University of Wisconsin, the happiest man in the world. His gamma wave levels, as measured by these scientists, is the highest of anyone studied scientifically. Gamma waves form a metric for cognition and emotion, and seasoned meditators tend to exhibit high gamma waves and more “consciousness” and attention.
So, the happiest man in the world, Matthieu Ricard, states that his joy comes from aligning his values with his actions. Specifically, he cares about all living beings (value), so he doesn’t harm animals through a vegan diet (action).
Now, we know from scientists that a vegan diet can reduce climate change. What’s interesting about the second article I want to talk about is that it’s from CNN, a mainstream news source. George C. Wang, Ph.D., M.D., an integrative physician with very impressive credentials (can you say Columbia University Medical Center, and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine?), wrote an opinion piece on the fact that being vegan can save the planet from climate change.
Of course, the perspective is Dr. Wang’s, but CNN still invited him to write it.
My point is that a plant-based diet allows everyone to win: planet, climate, animals, us pesky humans and our children, from the smorgasbord of lifestyle diseases that ail us: diabetes, obesity, heart disease, cancer (you get the idea). A healthy diet helps us be healthier and happier, AND save the planet from climate change. Now, that’s a smart solution.
I’ll leave you with Dr. Wang’s crucial closing words:
It is rare that a single choice of ours can have a broad and decisive impact on the climate crisis. We have a moral imperative to choose and advocate for plant-based diets for the health of our planet and the well being and survival of generations to come.
A vegan diet can make you more aligned with your values, happier, and a better force against climate change. This is a simple meal I whipped up the other day: brown rice, pinto beans, baked tofu, avocado, and cilantro with a drizzle of lemon juice and chili oil.