Each of these are a treasure trove of information, and a personal favorite. Prowl them for articles and videos on specific health issues, success stories, and recipes.
Dr. Michael Greger, MD – Nutritionfacts.org – Greger, born in 1972, is a physician specializing in clinical nutrition, with particular expertise in the likes of mad cow disease and bird flu. In 2011 he founded Nutritionfacts.org, which publishes daily video updates (written transcripts can be selected, by you’d miss out on Greger’s distinctive voice) on medical nutrition issues and research. His video introduction is well worth watching, click here. Want to know how something affects something else? Go to nutrionfacts.org and search, see what Greger has to say.
Dr. John McDougall, MD, and Mary McDougall
Dr. McDougall’s Health & Medical Center – This info-packed site (studies, articles, print and video clips, webinars, recipes, forum) is a treasure trove. Dr. and Mary have written numerous books, HOWEVER, they have committed to sharing all of their resources via internet as well. Buy their books, sure, for your convenience, but it’s all on their website as well. Much appreciated. The McDougalls also host plant-based adventure travel, 10-day intensive learning seminar, 3-day versions, and Advanced Study Weekends.
Worth noting: Dr. McDougall, born in 1947, grew up in Michigan chomping down a rich Standard American Diet. At age 18, he suffered a stroke which left his left side completely paralyzed for two weeks, and noticeably weakened yet still. Frustrated by his physicians’ inability to explain what had happened and how to prevent another stroke, he entered medical school. During residency in Hawaii, he witnessed the robust health of older generations (who consumed more plant foods, little meat and dairy) and the decline, generation by generation, as Hawaiians diet became Westernized. McDougall encourages eating plenty of oil-free starch (potatoes, rice, corn, pasta, bread) – along with greens, beans, legumes, seeds, nuts – for satiety, or fullness.
T. Colin Campbell, T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies – Campbell, a pre-eminent nutritional biologist and toxicologist, could have retired years ago, but is committed to sharing what he discovered. The site offers articles, recipes, and learning opportunities.
Worth noting: T. Colin Campbell, born in 1934, raised on a dairy farm. From Amazon: “For more than 40 years, Dr. T. Colin Campbell has been at the forefront of nutrition research. His legacy, the China Project, is the most comprehensive study of health and nutrition ever conducted. Dr. Campbell is the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University. He has more than 70 grant-years of peer-reviewed research funding and authored more than 300 research papers and coauthor of the bestselling the book, “The China Study: Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health.” … (his subsequent book) … “Whole,” Dr. Campbell picks up where “The China Study” left off. “The China Study” revealed what we should eat and provided the powerful empirical support for this answer. “Whole” answers the question of why. Why does a whole-food, plant-based diet provide optimal nutrition? “Whole” demonstrates how far the scientific reductionism of the nutrition orthodoxy has gotten offtrack and reveals the elegant wonders of the true holistic workings of nutrition, from the cellular level to the operation of the entire organism. “Whole” is a marvelous journey through cutting-edge thinking on nutrition, led by one of the masters of the science.an American biochemist who specializes in the effect of nutrition on long-term health. He is the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University.”
Neal Barnard, MD – Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine – This site is overwhelming at first, but dive in and find your way around. Get hooked up for recipes and PCRM’s 21-Day Vegan Kickstart delivered to you in English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Indian. Stay abreast of (and join in) efforts to promote consumer knowledge, false advertising, and compassionate research. Barnard has authored at least 21 books, most recently The Cheese Trap.
Worth noting: Neal Barnard, born 1953, was raised in North Dakota among a family of physicians and cattle ranchers. He is a practicing physician, researcher, who has founded both Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (12,000 physicians and 150,000 non-physician members) to promote health (and false claims regarding health, nutrition, and advertising) and compassion through research, education, and legislation. Doubly worth noting: Dr. Barnard is a true Midwesterner. He’s very calm, very polite, not incendiary. Even when saying the likes of “that’s just not true,” and “I understand that you won’t pay attention until I sue you, so, let’s go to court.” And he and PCRM have been winning. Barnard also has founded the nonprofit Barnard Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where ordinary folks can go for medical care (and nutritional counseling).
Caldwell Esselstyn, MD & Ann Esselstyn – Dr. Esselstyn’s Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease – Surgeon Caldwell Esselstyn, MD, was frustrated by surgery’s lack of ability to cure disease. He wanted to see if diet would do better and gathered a group of very ill cardiac patients who’d been told there was no hope for them. Esselstyn’s work with these folks – which dealt only with diet, not exercise – seconded Ornish’s work, showing that diet could halt and in fact reverse heart disease providing those who embraced it with decades more vibrant healthy living … no more cardiac cripple lifestyle for them! He has a book by the same name. Dr. Esselstyn and his wife (and food wizard) Ann and his family continue to work in sharing the power of diet on health.
Worth noting: Caldwell Esselstyn, born in 1933, was raised on a cattle and dairy farm.
Rip Esselstyn, Jane Esselstyn – Engine 2 Diet – Rip & Jane are two of Caldwell and Ann’s children. At this site (there’s a book by same name), Rip interprets a plant-strong diet in plainer speak and for folks who aren’t facing the dire consequences that does a cardiac patient. Jane is the recipe creator. Both are athletes. Rip is a swimmer turned triathlete turned firefighter and emergency medical technician. Jane is a swimmer and rower turned Outward Bound instructor and nurse turned sex ed teacher and … recipe creator, known for her fabulous sense of humor. Rip and Jane are only two of the many plant-based athletes (there are scads, that’s another page or post) proving that animal products aren’t needed for athletic prowess. (In fact, vegan athletes of all varieties are longer- and healthier-lived than athletes consuming animal-based diets … again, that’s another topic.)
Ruth Heidrich, PhD – Ruth Heidrich, PhD: Living Healthier Longer – If you’ve watched any of the diet-based movies, you’ve met Ruth. The gal who, at age 47, found out not only did she have breast cancer, but that her cancer had spread to her bones and lungs as well. After having tumors removed from her breast, she was not keen on chemo or radiation, and happened onto a Dr. McDougall study opportunity. Ruth jumped into the study (which explored the power of a plant-based diet … no chemo or radiation allowed) and is cancer-free. At the same time she jumped into ultra-running, marathoning, triathloning, and continues to run, ride, and swim daily … at age 82. She’s written several books on senior fitness, running, health and is committed to helping others find vibrant health as well.
Dean Ornish, MD – www.deanornish.com – Born in 1953, Ornish’s work with reversing heart disease in cardiac patients involved diet, exercise, and meditation … and was once considered “wacky”. Despite that initial reception, his program is now embraced and is promote by health insurer Kaiser Permanente. Ornish’s work was and is critical. I’m giving it short shrift here, only because I know the others’ work better.
Ellsworth Wareham, MD – You really need to know about cardiac surgeon Dr. Wareham. Look him up on Wiki and check out the YouTubes and documentaries. He was born in 1914 and lives in Loma Linda, California. Dr. Wareham was a practicing cardiac surgeon until the age of 75, after which he continued to training residents at Loma Linda University until he was 95. The university wanted him to keep on, he thought by then he should do other things. He is alive and well yet today. Dr. Wareham adopted a plant-based diet 50-some years ago, after noting what the interior of his patients’ arteries looked like.
Ultimately worth noting. The physicians and leaders mentioned on these pages are not the first to understand the value of a plant-based eating style. Listen to any of them and you’ll hear them note those that came before them including Nathan Pritikin, MD, Walter Kempner, MD … surely I am missing some others … and Hippocrates. The folks mentioned here are an important handful among many of those who, through their own research and/or picking up where others left off, have carried on with better understanding diet’s relationship to health. There are an increasing number of physicians and nutritionists – most of them frustrated by pharmaceutical and surgical limitations to SOLVING health issues – who acknowledge and promote diet’s role in personal health.
