I have been a practicing physician for almost 40 years, with post-graduate training in internal
medicine, surgery, anesthesiology, and obstetrics, and a strong, career-long interest in applied
nutrition. Over the years, I have seen the beneficial effects of a plant-based diet—specifically, a
100% whole-foods (vegan) diet as a specific therapy for so many of the chronic, degenerative
diseases that plague modern Western society: high blood pressure 148 , obesity 149 , Type II
(“adult-onset”) diabetes 150 , prostate cancer,^151 and many inflammatory and auto-immune
diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis 152 and asthma 153.With its abundant phytonutrients (phytochemicals) and fiber, and minimal amounts of
saturated fats and inflammation-inciting proteins such as casein and lactabumin, a vegan diet is
a powerful therapeutic tool for arresting and even reversing many of these feared disease states.With its smaller ecological footprint and lack of cruelty to animals, it is no wonder that many
people around the world are adopting a purely plant-based dietary style. Indeed, many
ecologists are now advocating a plant-based dietary style as a key component in arresting global
warming and feeding Earth’s burgeoning human population, sustainably, in the decades to
come.I have had the opportunity to observe many people who have adopted and maintained a vegan
diet for 20 years, or more. Many of these people are thriving on diets comprised of 100%
unrefined plant foods: a wide variety of whole green and colored vegetables, legumes, fruits,(^148) J Am Diet Assoc. 2009 Jul;109(7):1266-82.
(^149) Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 May;91(5):1525S-1529S. Epub 2010 Mar 17. Vegetarian diets and childhood obesity prevention.
(^150) Curr Diab Rep. 2010 Apr;10(2):152-8. Usefulness of Vegetarian and Vegan diets for treating type 2 diabetes. Trapp CB,
Barnard ND.
(^151) J Am Diet Assoc. 2008 Feb;108(2):347-56. A very-low-fat Vegan diet increases intake of protective dietary factors and
decreases intake of pathogenic dietary factors. Dewell A, Weidner G, Sumner MD, Chi CS, Ornish D.Stanford Prevention
Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
(^152) Arthritis Res Ther. 2008;10(2):R34. Epub 2008 Mar 18. Gluten-free Vegan diet induces decreased LDL and
oxidized LDL levels and raised atheroprotective natural antibodies against phosphorylcholine in patients with
rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized study.
Elkan AC, Sjöberg B, Kolsrud B, Ringertz B, Hafström I, Frostegård J. Rheumatology Unit, Karolinska Institutet at
Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden. [email protected]
Br J Rheumatol. 1994 Jul;33(7):638-43. Changes of faecal flora in rheumatoid arthritis during fasting and one-year
Vegetarian diet. Peltonen R, Kjeldsen-Kragh J, Haugen M, Tuominen J, Toivanen P, Førre O, Eerola E. Department of
Medical Microbiology, University of Turku, Finland.
(^153) J Asthma. 1985;22(1):45-55.Vegan regimen with reduced medication in the treatment of bronchial asthma. Lindahl O,
Lindwall L, Spångberg A, Stenram A, Ockerman PA.