The world of Tzu Chi Augusts 2021 (Vol.136)

2021 • 08 10 eature participants to manage their health through a purposeful diet so as to bring down their high levels of blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, as well as their body weight. Kicking off the event in Serdang, Dr. Chan engaged the services of local restaurants and clinics. The project adopted the diet concept designed and promoted for healthy meals championed by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Restaurants engaged with this project would prepare the meals to deliver to the participants either at their workplaces or homes, while some would collect their meals personally from designated locations. Such arrangements made it easy for participants as they only had to prepare their own plant-based breakfast. They were also encouraged to go to the clinics for blood tests, before and after participation, so they could track significant changes in their health. The project involved a community of volunteers and one of them was Keong Chee Hoe, who has been a vegetarian for 17 years and has worked in a vegetarian restaurant. Chee Hoe shared, “Such a concept like the WFPB diet is something which local F&B businesses are less familiar with. Many of them actually did not know how to do it. However, along the way, we managed to learn the know-how together.” Communities from various areas responded well to the drive. Support from the central committee (advisory, coordination, medical, consultation, administration, quality control, promotion and programme) was overwhelming. Specifically, the quality- control team was made up of experienced cooks and healthcare professionals like dieticians, nutritionists and doctors. “Prior to the official launch, the quality- control team had to carry out sampling trials of the food prepared by the restaurants, where we checked for portion size, presentation, taste, and so on. In some cases, we needed to do it over and over again, often four to five times, and it was still unsatisfactory. This shows there is still a gap in understanding the concept of the WFPB diet,” said Chee Hoe. During the 21-day period, participants had online meetings to share how the WFPB breakfast was prepared. Conducted over weekends, each sharing session covered areas like what makes the right diet, how to prepare WFPB diet, and how to select relevant condiments. Participants took the opportunity to clear their doubts with the medical team on various health concerns. On the final day of the project, a closing sharing sessionwas held, where amedical doctor appraised the overall medical performance of all participants. As an encouragement for their effort, certificates were given to participants who showed significant improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides, blood sugar, and body weight. Chee Hoe added, “We used to think that becoming a vegetarian was good because by so doing, we were protecting the Earth and lives of sentient beings, but we were not quite sure about eating healthily and preparing healthy meals. Through this project, we have witnessed the real benefits of health improvement. It gave us greater confidence in promoting the vegetarian diet.”