Full Day, Full Log: The Leading Doctors Who State That Plant-Based Whole-Foods Are Ideal (if the planetary imperatives weren't enough for you)
What’s been most fascinating —yet not surprising— to me as I’ve rumbled down this vocal path, is that the people who need this information the most are the same souls who defensively tell me to silence this voice and/or change my tone.
I get it, because I was in the same place. I mentioned in the “Calcium, Iron, Omega Fatty Acids, Protein, & B12: How to get them all without animals and how to THRIVE via Plant-Based Whole-Foods” essay how rankled I got around vegans who were vocal about their path, and I mentioned in this refined-carb essay (among others) how volcanic I flamed when Ian suggested we cut that addictive cord.
This tone will remain the same (if not louder) because I didn’t move until pushed, Ian didn’t move until pushed, other souls didn’t respond until I started howling all this data/passion, and we are on the tipping point of environmental catastrophe that could doom us all, and we need to be making big changes right now.
Environmental imperatives aside, one of my favorite alley-oops is when folks snap something akin to “Who the heck is she to be talking about nutrition and health? She’s not a doctor!”
I’ve made it very clear that I am not, and that what I am amplifying is FROM doctors, and by putting that information to practice this whole family has grown healthier/stronger/happier.
And we’re not talking about some hole-in-the-wall unknown doctors, we’re talking about the best doctors in America.
What constitutes “best”?
Continue reading for: the leading doctors of our county who have proven how to reverse/prevent cardiovascular disease (<—-AGAIN #1 cause of death in America); the doctor who figured out how to reverse and prevent Type 2 diabetes; doctors who have shown how to reverse autoimmune disorders and even reverse lymphomas; data-driven doctors who are quite clear that plant-based whole-foods are the best diet for robust health and the ONLY DIET clinically proven to reverse/prevent cardiovascular disease; the“Plant-Based Diets: A Physician’s Guide” From the National Institutes of Health; a family thriving on plant-based whole-foods and a full day of PBWH family feasting.
Live Kindly, Feast Kindly, Grow Forward.
Morning Chalkboard: inspired by his love of “Red Right Hand” since it was Song Day.
Morning view and the beauty of “weeds”. I’m aware that the yellow bushy flowers are considered a weed, but the bees love them and the way they filter/gather sunlight is good for the heart to behold.
My beloved plant-based cub: a soul who is so often in his imagination that his costumes change by the hour.
This is the plant-based breakfast he fixed himself: apple, 1 tb peanut butter, and two peanuts “to make it look like a beak in the middle of some apple tentacles.”
My morning goal was to wrap up the Song Day post in enough time to watch my favorite old lady show (CBS Sunday Morning was a Lalande staple, is like visual NPR, and is the one TV show I watch each week. I love the heck out of it.)
I’m working on making my Switch4Good tank fit my tiny-hobbit frame, and Q is soaking up an interview with Josh Grobin, and reminded me of my mother when he said, “Wow! His voice is so beautiful!”
Once, my mother and I drove from Illinois back to Oswego, NY just the two of us. She listened to Josh Grobin’s cassette on endless repeat and said with the deepest/sweetest appreciation, “Jackie, he has the voice of an angel!”
Trimmed those sleeves back so they’ll stop tickling me while I garden.
I have never in my life had muscles. I’ve always had incredibly willowy arms and I was lucky if even a tendon popped up. What you see here is small in comparison to most, but it is a BIG leap for me. What propelled the change? I started eating the sorts of foods (PLANT-BASED WHOLE-FOODS) that build muscle and feed you with robust health. And this isn’t even a soul who does nonsense protein powders: this is pure plant-based whole-food feasting and gardening.
So who are these “best” doctors I follow and why would I dare consider them better than your bro-science, or whatever soul you’re seeing who likely hasn’t mentioned nutrition because it is a categorical fact that our doctors are not given enough (if any) information on how nutrition affects the body? (My doctors never once mentioned nutrition, Ian’s didn’t, Q’s didn’t. Has yours?)
Here are a few examples of some doctors I follow, and who you may want to start listening to:
Dr Dean Ornish - proved in 1990 (THIRTY YEARS AGO, FOLKS) that diet could reverse heart disease, and he’s proved it repeatedly since. He’s also proven how to modify the expression of prostate cancer, and shown how diet affects telomere length (telomeres are tied to longevity). His Book Undo It, is what I’ve been pulling from recently (and there will be more of that below)
Dr Caldwell Esselstyn - PBWF octogenarian cardiologist spear-heading the “Heart Disease Reversal Program” at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic.
“In 1995 he published his bench mark 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 the 89% adherent to the program, 99.4% avoided further major cardiac events.”
Dr Neal Barnard - “has led numerous research studies investigating the effects of diet on diabetes, body weight, and chronic pain, including a groundbreaking study of dietary interventions in type 2 diabetes, funded by the National Institutes of Health, that paved the way for viewing type 2 diabetes as a reversible condition for many patients. Dr. Barnard has authored more than 90 scientific publications and 20 books for medical and lay readers, and is the editor in chief of the Nutrition Guide for Clinicians, a textbook made available to all U.S. medical students.” [He’s also done brilliant research on autoimmune disorders, and I highly recommend his book “Your Body In Balance” or listening to this podcast where he discusses all the ways your diet is affecting your body.]
Dr. Will Bullsiewicz - “board-certified in internal medicine and gastroenterology and an expert in digestive diseases and the gut. Also won multiple awards and distinctions for his work as a clinician, and conducted research for/contributed to 20+ published scientific articles and 40+ presentations at national meetings.” He’s out there working hard as a practicing gastroenterologist and healing thousands of souls with his mind-blowing information about how our microbiome controls the health of our whole body.
Dr Michael Klaper -”For the past 40 years, Dr. Klaper has distinguished himself as a gifted general practitioner, internationally recognized teacher, and sought-after speaker on diet, health, applied plant-based nutrition and integrative medicine. After receiving his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago, Dr. Klaper has served in many capacities as a clinician with training in a wide variety of disciplines, including internal medicine, surgery, anesthesiology, orthopedics, obstetrics, and acute care.”
Dr Klapper also clinically proved that you can shrink/obliterate lymphomas through plant-based whole-food diets, and now he’s out teaching at medical schools and trying to wake up our fresh/new doctors to the importance of nutrition for the overall health of their patients…and he’s 72 and thriving without medications after decades of plant-based living.
Dr David Katz - “He is the founding director (1998-2019) of Yale University’s Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center, Past-President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, and Founder/President of the True Health Initiative, a non-profit organization established to defend and disseminate the science, sense, and global expert consensus about healthy, sustainable diet and lifestyle in the service of adding years to lives and life to years around the globe.” [This Nutrition Rounds podcast interview with him is one of my favorite informational wallops ever.]
Drs Neal and Ayesha Sherzai - brilliant neurologists who are proving how to prevent/reverse Alzheimer’s with plant-based whole-foods. [This podcast interview with them that discusses how our Standard american Diet leads to cardiovascular disease, which leads to strokes and Alzheimer’s, how they are working hard to stop us from that eventuality and even throwing community outreach into packed life-saving days.]
Dr Kim Williams - “Williams has served as president of the American College of Cardiology, president of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, chairman of the Coalition of Cardiovascular Organizations, and chairman of the board of the Association of Black Cardiologists, among other positions.[5]” He’s been promoting a plant-based diet for decades (after he had his own heart issues and looked into the research and learned he needed to change his diet). His podcast interview on Plant Proof is a MUST-LISTEN and titled “The Food We Eat Is Killing Us”. It explains in beautiful scientific detail all that I’m howling.
Dr Brook Goldner - “Dr. Brooke Goldner is a board certified physician. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with honors for genetic research in leukemia and neurobiology.” She healed her own autoimmune disorder (Lupus) and is now out healing other souls with the plant-based whole-food diet that healed her. [Her podcast interview on Switch4Good was mind-blowing and heart-opening.]
I could go on, but I’ve mentioned the brilliant gastroenterologist Dr. Angie Sadegi and the luminary Dr. Michael Greger enough times already. :-)
If that isn’t enough, here’s the physician’s guide to plant-based diets from the National Institutes of Health stating:
“Because of the ever-increasing body of evidence in support of the health advantages of plant-based nutrition, there is a need for guidance on implementing its practice. This article provides physicians and other health care practitioners an overview of the myriad benefits of a plant-based diet as well as details on how best to achieve a well-balanced, nutrient-dense meal plan. It also defines notable nutrient sources, describes how to get started, and offers suggestions on how health care practitioners can encourage their patients to achieve goals, adhere to the plan, and experience success.
Plant-based nutrition has exploded in popularity, and many advantages have been well documented over the past several decades.1 Not only is there a broad expansion of the research database supporting the myriad benefits of plant-based diets, but also health care practitioners are seeing awe-inspiring results with their patients across multiple unique subspecialties. Plant-based diets have been associated with lowering overall and ischemic heart disease mortality2; supporting sustainable weight management3; reducing medication needs4–6; lowering the risk for most chronic diseases7,8; decreasing the incidence and severity of high-risk conditions, including obesity,9 hypertension,10 hyperlipidemia,11 and hyperglycemia;11 and even possibly reversing advanced coronary artery disease12,13 and type 2 diabetes.6”
So, who the heck am I? I’m the soul who is actually listening to planetary imperatives and the evidence-based directives of our leading doctors.
Who are you to deny all that they are amplifying? Why is taste more important than the lives of all species? Why is flavor weighted more important than health or environmental stability? What more could you possibly need to convince yourself to move forward?
This spit-fire soul is one of the lives doomed by animal-product dense diets ruining the environment around him. Knowing how much he means to me, how could/would you expect me to stay silent?
Plant-Based Whole-Food Lunch: arugula, sauteed mushrooms, apple, avocado, peanut sauce, and cornbread.
Dessert (shared between the two of us): raspberry, strawberry, blueberry smoothie.
I spent hours in the garden, but it was such a busy day I forgot to photograph until the day was through. I mowed, moved logs, weeded, trained hops, cut back hops, and hauled compost.
Odd to see a 4th in our usual line up of three, but my sweet father stopped by to drop off some bananas (and keep to a vast distance), so I treated him back with one of our black bean brownies with cashew cream.
Perseverance: freshly budding blueberries. There were originally three blueberry bushes, two of them died horribly/swiftly due to beetles and poor soil, and the last barely made it. This Duke Blueberry Bush (chosen because that is my father’s nickname) fought back from the brink of death and has been with us for 3 years now. <3
Perseverance: these alliums were planted by the previous owners, and were nearly killed by our May snow storm (as seen by their brittle leaves), but they still put out all their flowers.
The healthful colors of plant-based dinner prepping
Plant-Based Family Feasting: black-bean-and-lentil chili, bell pepper, quick-pickled cabbage, fresh greens (arugula and kale), and Siete shells.
And here’s some more illuminating, mind-opening, health imperative information from my nightly reading of Undo It by Dr Dean Ornish and Anne Ornish
Another reason to move forward, eh? Remember this is going on inside the veins of children too.
What’s the most impactful thing you can do as an individual to help your kin, community, millions of species, and planet? Transition as plant-based as possible.🌎♥️
Why? Plant-Based foods are environmentally imperative 🌎. They also promote ideal health💪 (which takes stress off our overburdened health care system), are inexpensive🙌, delicious🤤, & compassionate. 💕
Why imperative, though? 🤔We’re approaching (& have crossed) climate tipping points that will doom our kin & millions of other species. 😱📣Reducing/eliminating animal products is the *most impactful thing an individual can do* to prevent worse. 🌎🔥
Why? Animal Agriculture creates more emissions than the entire transportation sector combined, it’s tied to water waste/loss/pollution (<-- freshwater is our most precious resource💧), land loss/deforestation (<-- exacerbates climate change by reducing our ability to sequester carbon🔥🌎), ocean acidification (<-- FYI 50-85% of earth’s oxygen originates from oceanic plankton🌊) & vast species loss/extinction/suffering💔📣🌎
Plus, consuming animal products is tied to increased risk of cardiovascular disease❤️🩹, diabetes👎, cancer👎, and chronic disease👎; whereas Plant-Based feasting is linked to preventing/reversing some of our most common diseases (<— like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer); plus it promotes ideal health & robust strength (ie Olympians, Weightlifters, Endurance Athletes are thriving via PBWFs too). 🎉🙌♥️
What organizations are promoting plant-based diets for best health and environmental stability? National Institutes of Health, Mayo Clinic, Yale, the United Nations, Harvard School of Health, American Heart Association, American College of Cardiology, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, The American Academy of Pediatrics, National Kidney Foundation, even the Parkinson’s Foundation.
We’re all overwhelmed in one way or another, but for the sake of our kin (and the millions of species we share this planet with) we need to start pivoting forward. As someone who once rarely ate green things & used to eat animal products at every meal, I can assure you that is possible, affordable, enjoyable, & purposeful to pivot Plant-Based. In fact, our whole family is now healthier/stronger than ever. 🙌♥️
Anecdotally, our son had failure-to-thrive, was also plagued with perpetual ear-infections/sinus-infections, and had an omnipresent runny nose. What was he eating? Grass-fed milk, organic/antibiotic-free/grass-fed/local meats, eggs from organic-fed/well-loved chickens from a neighbor, every meal came with vegetables, and we limited junkfood. He was healed via a plant-based diet: he’s launched out of that diagnosis and the last time he had a sinus-infection (or was sick at all) was in 2019 when he had some cheese at a school Christmas party. Before shifting to PBWF’s he was sick every month, and how he’s a robust, vital, thriving kiddo. 🙌🎉♥️
If you think any of the above sounds over-reached/absurd/impossible, please go read the links above. I understand the inclination to hackle-raise (<—because I was once totally there) but the science is clear: any step we make forward is imperative (<—and again “STEPS” is the focus. Don’t leap, just start making steps!). It’s as simple as starting with one meal a week and growing from there.💕
We have the ability (deliciously, healthfully, kindly, inexpensively) to *preserve/protect* the planet we share with millions of species & our kin. How are we going to use that power today?✌️🤟🖖
