Do you remember the last time you or someone you know was prescribed antibiotics at the doctor? Perhaps it was for strep throat, pneumonia or another infection.
What if I told you the antibiotics we use to treat those diseases may not be effective in the near future – not just from hospital antibiotic overuse, but because of the kinds of food we keep mass-producing?
[Related: Opinion: Resisting antimicrobial resistance – We must act for antibiotics to remain helpful]
As a UCLA biochemistry student who does wet lab work through a course affiliated with the Jay Lab, which focuses on antibiotic resistance in air and water, I get an inside look at just how connected these issues are.
Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria are exposed to an antibiotic over long periods of time and mutate to become resistant to its effects. Currently, a huge source of antibiotic use is from concentrated animal feeding operations specifically designed to mass-produce meat.
These sites administer large-scale antibiotic treatments on animals, increasing levels of antibiotic-resistant bacteria throughout the facility. A CAFO’s bacteria can spread to nearby environments through discarding waste or runoff from storms, exposing communities to bacteria that can’t be treated as well by existing antibiotics.
So now you may be asking: What can I do about all this?
The answer: Diversify your diet.
Reducing meat consumption lowers the commercial demand for meat and the need for raising livestock at CAFO sites, thus decreasing antibiotic overuse. Cutting down on meat reliance also directly reduces the emissions that worsen global warming, since CAFOs are major greenhouse gas producers. According to the climate solutions book Project Drawdown, it is estimated that between 15% to 50% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide come from raising livestock alone.
Right now, antibiotic resistance disproportionately affects people in areas near industrial livestock and CAFO sites. The Jay Lab recently published a study finding that in Tulare County, which has close to 300 CAFO sites and is only about a three-hour drive from UCLA, there was up to 64% resistance to an antibiotic called erythromycin and high resistance rates for many others, posing a serious public health risk.
The San Joaquin Valley, where Tulare County is located, is one of the most polluted valleys in the nation, partially from hazardous gases produced by CAFOs and the agricultural industry. According to the American Lung Association, Tulare County currently reports 9,563 pediatric and 27,326 adult asthma cases – a reflection of community health burdens layered with environmental challenges in the county.
Although we may not see this here at UCLA, all of us are at risk of the antibiotic resistance and larger climate dangers CAFOs contribute to. According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an increase in food, water and vector-borne diseases as well as heat-related illnesses and death are climate-related risks we can expect in the near future.
As global temperatures continue to rise, bacteria can grow and spread more easily, contributing to a vicious cycle. More sick people means greater antibiotic use in medicine, leading to potential antibiotic resistance breakouts in hospitals and urban centers around the world.
A plant-based diet also lowers the personal risk of illnesses like heart disease, stroke and cancer. We should put a special focus on reducing our red meat intake, such as beef, as it is both unhealthy and produces more emissions compared to other meats. Overall, it is safe to say these changes have your best interests at heart – pun intended.
As someone raised in a South Asian family following a majority plant-based diet, I can attest to the volume of nutritional, protein-filled and delicious plant-based options out there. And looking into a plant-based diet does not have to mean cutting out meat entirely, either.
For students in Westwood apartments, this can look like rewriting your grocery list to include more fruits and vegetables, while substituting meat for plant-based alternatives a few times per week. For students on the Hill, try vegetarian sandwich or burrito options once in a while. Diet habits can be built quickly but benefit you for a lifetime.
The time to start is now. If you are a prehealth student like me, you likely know how necessary antibiotics are in medicine. Antibiotic resistance is happening today – I see evidence of it on agar plates in lab every class – and we will certainly feel its effects within our lifetime.
Premed or not, we all have a role to play to protect the future of our loved ones. Talk to your friends, parents and neighbors about reducing meat reliance in their diets today. The battle for a less polluted environment is also a battle for the future of the entire human population’s health. And it can be fought by starting with something as simple as what we choose to eat for lunch.
Kira Sidhu is a second-year biochemistry student.
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