Who is Dr. Neal Barnard and What is His Legacy?
Yesterday I found this outstanding interview which was published a few weeks ago by Plant Based News. The interview includes a series of questions and answers with Dr. Neal Barnard, the founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
Dr. Neal Barnard has been propelling the vegan movement for decades. When he started there were very few people following the vegan diet. In the last decades the interest on the diet has grown, showing an increment in books and scientific research available to the public.
On this interview, Dr. Neal Barnard explains that we have known for many decades that a plant based diet is very good for our health. What is new is the findings that scientist are gathering from researching the effects of the vegan diet on people with illnesses such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease. The studies are remarkably consistent in their findings, proving that everyone can benefit from a vegan, plant based diet.
Dr. Neal Barnard Sued the Government and Won
Dr. Barnard explains that this has not been an easy process. A few years ago his team had to sue the United States government because the dietary guidelines given to the American public where being manipulated and paid for by the animal products industry. The findings from the lawsuit proved that out of 11 people in the U.S. dietary guidelines committee 6 where funded by the dairy, eggs and meat industry. Luckily they won the lawsuit quickly.
Things are getting better, even thought the meat, eggs and dairy industries are fighting hard to keep their profits intact. The government seems to be walking up to these injustices and, although slowly, it is putting things in their right place.
The biggest issues have been in the cases of the dairy and egg industry and how they make their advertisement. For example, the dairy industry has been imposing information with deceiving information on the benefits of drinking cow milk. On the other hand, the egg industry has been spending lots of money to persuade and convince people that cholesterol is not bad for humans. As always, it is very sad and upsetting to see how monetary ties and policy are so closely related.
The interview continues with Dr. Barnard answering questions such as “why is it taking so long for people to transition to a vegan diet?”, “what will have a bigger effect on continuing to drive the vegan movement forward?”, “do Doctors recommend a high protein diet because they are misinformed or are they doing it out of integrity?” and “where do you see this movement going and how long will it take people to complete give up animal products?”.
Recommended Reading
If you haven’t seen the interview I strongly recommend you take a look at it. I have included the video bellow as well as some links to some vegan diet books written by doctors including “Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes” , “How Not to Die” by Dr. Michael Greger, “The Starch Solution” by John A. McDougall and “The 80/10/10 Diet” by Douglas Graham.
