Dr. Neal Barnard's Website: http://www.pcrm.org Kickstart program: http://www.pcrm.org/health/diets/kickstart/kickstart-programs Dr. Barnard's book: The Cheese Trap: https://amzn.to/2rr9bgJ Power Foods for the Brain: https://amzn.to/2woBVMO Documentaries Dr. Barnard has been in: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3147356   Cheese http://learntruehealth.com/cheese/ Almost everybody loves cheese.  It’s not surprising because a lot of delicious dishes contain this tasty ingredient.  But what may seem harmless is, unfortunately, the opposite. To shed light on this reality, my guest Dr. Neal Barnard explains why cheese is harmful to our health. Studying Dead Bodies Dr. Neal Barnard shares that what led him to medicine was initially different to what led him to food. It was only when he was already in college, that he decided to go to medical school. Dr. Neal Barnard admits he didn’t appreciate how important food is during those early years. But before he went to medical school, Dr. Neal Barnard had an eye-opening experience handling autopsies at a hospital in Minneapolis. From a dead body, the pathologist would show Dr. Neal Barnard what heart looks like after a heart attack or what a brain looked like after a stroke. The pathologist would take a section of the corpse’s ribs off and set it on a table to show Dr. Neal Barnard the coronary arteries. Dr. Neal Barnard remembered cleaning up a corpse one day and proceeded to have lunch at the hospital cafe. The cafeteria happened to serve ribs that day which immediately turned him off. “Time went on, and I started to connect to foods we eat as well as health issues. I  started to understand the bigger issues like how animals are abused and how the environment is affected,” said Dr. Neal Barnard. He adds, “I was selectively inattentive to what animals go through. So I have been making up for lost time. I changed my diet and now endeavoring people to change theirs.”  Clogged Arteries Dr. Neal Barnard explains that there are different kinds of fats. The grease extracted from bacon is called saturated fat. This kind of fat causes our body to make more cholesterol particles. And that’s what does damage to the arteries. “Fat works in a bad way, but it’s more indirect. It stimulates your body to make more cholesterol, then it starts clogging arteries,” said Dr. Neal Barnard. “And I have to say meat is not the number one source. The number one source is dairy. Cheese, butter, yogurt, ice cream top the list.” The Truth About Dairy According to Dr. Neal Barnard, dairy is high in fat and saturated fat. It’s surprisingly high in sodium, and a lot of salt is made in the cheese-making process. There’s more sodium in cheese than potato chips. That makes cheese very high in cholesterol content. The Cheese Trap Dr. Neal Barnard shares that he wrote The Cheese Trap after doing so many research studies. He cites the research conducted in Rochester, New York which revealed that the more cheese men ate, the lower their sperm counts were. Another research showed that people who had the most saturated fats had three times more risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease compared to people who avoided cheese. Most of Dr. Neal Barnard’s research proved that there is no oil at all in vegan diets. Because of that, people with diabetes got better. They lost weight dramatically, blood pressure, as well as cholesterol levels, went down. But then Dr. Neal Barnard also noticed that a fair number of people who were part of the study admitted they miss eating cheese. Through The Cheese Trap book, Dr. Neal Barnard enumerates the reasons why. Why We Love Cheese First of all, cheese which contains casein is fatty and salty. It also has casomorphins or the dairy protein.  Opiate molecules comprise the dairy protein. And when dairy protein is consumed, the fragments attach to the same brain receptors that narcotics and heroin attach to. “Milk has casein, too. But when you turn the milk into cheese, you get rid of the whey. You are conce