A whole foods plant based approach - the researchers

Transcript

As a vegan health coach, I get concerned when I see vegans existing on a poor diet lacking in
nutrient density. It’s great to see there are a variety of foods that carry the vegan label in stores
today, and many more are being created to answer the demand for ethical foods that are less
damaging to our planet. But many are unlikely to promote health, and that’s where you come in
as a Vegan Health Coach. For example, some vegans live solely on a veganized version of their
previous omnivorous diet including hot dogs, pizza, chips, cookies and soda, and don’t
consume enough of a rainbow of whole foods. Both Taco Bell and White Castle are promoting
plant-based options. And McDonalds launched the McVegan in Finland, which is likely to be
arriving in worldwide locations very soon.

While this is answering the demand for ethical convenient comfort foods, the mainstay of a
health-promoting eating pattern needs to be whole foods, focusing on unprocessed staples like
fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds.

Throughout this course, we focus on mostly whole and minimally processed foods.
In this lecture, I’m going to share with you just a few of the pioneers in whole food vegan
nutrition who, through their own clinical and scientific research, have paved the way for other
doctors, nutritionists, and dietitians to help their patients and clients reverse chronic disease by
eliminating meat, dairy, and eggs and replacing them with nutritious plant foods. I highly
encourage you to spend some time at the end of this lecture to research these doctors works
further to gain more clues about how, as a Vegan Health Coach, YOU can better support your
clients who may be looking to overcome an illness. Links are provided in the attached handout
for your convenience.

1. T. Colin Campbell, PhD -

Dr. Campbell is a nutritional biochemist of Cornell University, and in partnership with
researchers at Oxford University and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, he
embarked upon one of the most comprehensive nutritional studies ever undertaken
known as the China Project. In recent years it is Doctor Campbell’s work and the
resulting book, The China Study, that has really launched the whole foods plant-based
movement. After researching diet in 65 Chinese counties over a period of 20 years, the
results showed that those on a predominantly plant based diet avoid many of the
diseases of a Western Diet. He has propelled the health benefits of the plant-based diet
into the limelight, and has helped provide inspiration to many other plant based doctors
and researchers. Dr. Campbell’s research experience includes both laboratory
experiments and large-scale human studies. He has received over 70 grant-years of
 peer-reviewed research funding, served on grant review panels of multiple funding
agencies, actively participated in the development of national and international nutrition
policy, and authored over 300 research papers. Throughout his career, he has
confronted a great deal of confusion surrounding nutrition and its effects. It is precisely
this confusion that he has focused so much on, in recent years.

In order to synthesize the findings of his long and rewarding career, and to give back to
the public whose lives are threatened by rampant misinformation and special interests,
Dr. Campbell co-wrote The China Study: Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and
Long-term Health, which has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. He is also the
author of the The New York Times bestseller Whole, and The Low-Carb Fraud. Several
documentary films feature Dr. Campbell and his research, including Forks Over Knives,
Eating You Alive, Food Matters, and PlantPure Nation. Dr. Campbell grew up on a dairy
farm and early in his career thought animal protein was necessary for human health.
Now, he continues to share evidence-based information on health and nutrition
whenever given the opportunity. He has delivered hundreds of lectures around the world
and he is the founder of the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies in partnership
with eCornell.

2. Neal Barnard, MD
Doctor Barnard is a physician, clinical researcher, and an associate professor of
medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Dr. Barnard’s articles have appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association,
the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the American Journal of Medicine, the Journal
of the American Dietetic Association, and in many other scientific and medical journals.
He established the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, is the editor-in-chief
of the Nutrition Guide for Clinicians, and the author of 18 books for lay audiences.
Growing up in Fargo, N.D., his extended family includes both doctors and cattle
ranchers, two groups that are increasingly butting heads over America’s health policies.
Dr. Barnard’s scientific approach aims to shed new light on these important issues.
Topics often addressed:
● The relationship between diet and Alzheimer's disease
● The reversal of diabetes using a plant based diet
● The addictive and carcinogenic qualities of dairy cheese
● The unsuitability of cows milk as a component of the human diet
● Links between processed meat consumption and cancer
3. Michael Greger, MD
Dr. Greger is a physician, researcher, New York Times bestselling author, and
internationally recognized speaker on nutrition, food safety, and public health issues. A
founding member and Fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, Dr. Greger
is licensed as a general practitioner specializing in clinical nutrition. He is a graduate of
the Cornell University School of Agriculture and Tufts University School of Medicine. In
2017, Dr. Greger was honored with the ACLM Lifestyle Medicine Trailblazer Award and
became a diplomat of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine. Dr. Greger's most
recent scientific ​publications​ in the ​American Journal of Preventive Medicine​, ​Critical
Reviews in Microbiology​, F ​ amily and Community Health​, and the ​International Journal of
Food Safety, Nutrition, and Public Health​ explore the public health implications of
industrialized animal agriculture. He is the author of ​Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own
Hatching​ and ​Carbophobia: The Scary Truth Behind America's Low Carb Craze​. Both of
his latest books, ​How Not to Die​ and the ​How Not to Die Cookbook​, became instant New
York Times Best Sellers.

Dr. Greger is a Council of Directors member of the global voice for lifestyle as medicine,
the ​True Health Initiative​ (THI). This is a growing coalition of more than 360 world
experts representing 35 countries. It is an unprecedented assembly that includes
physicians, university Deans, former Surgeon Generals, Olympic athletes, chefs,
environmental professionals and a diverse group of nutritionists. Together they offer
clarity over confusion and support the foundational principles of healthy eating and
healthy living.

Dr. Greger's nutrition work can be found at ​NutritionFacts.org​, which is a registered

501(c)3 nonprofit charity where people can find out what the latest science is saying
about their favorite foods to help them make the healthiest choices. This is where he
creates and catalogs the latest in nutrition research via bite-sized videos. There are
more than a thousand videos on nearly every aspect of healthy eating, with new videos
and articles uploaded every day.

4. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., MD

Doctor Esselstyn was trained as a surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic and at St. George’s
Hospital in London. In 1968, as an Army surgeon in Vietnam, he was awarded the
Bronze Star.
Dr. Esselstyn has been associated with the Cleveland Clinic since 1968. During that
time, he has served as President of the Staff and as a member of the Board of
Governors. In 1991, Dr. Esselstyn served as President of the American Association of
Endocrine Surgeons, That same year he organized the first National Conference on the
Elimination of Coronary Artery Disease through a low fat vegan diet. Over his career he
has received numerous prestigious rewards, and he has authored over 150 scientific
publications. In 1995 he published his benchmark long-term nutritional research
arresting and reversing coronary artery disease in severely ill patients. That same study
was updated at 12 years and reviewed beyond twenty years in his book, Prevent and
Reverse Heart Disease, making it one of the longest longitudinal studies of its type. In
July of 2014 he reported the experience of 198 participants seriously ill with
cardiovascular disease. During 3.7 years of follow up of those adherent to the program,
99% avoided further major cardiac events. Dr. Esselstyn presently directs the
cardiovascular prevention and reversal program through a plant-based diet at The
Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute.