The Health Benefits of A Plant-Based Diet

Vegetarian Foods
Powerful For Health
(article available thanks to the
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine)

"Most nutrition professionals agree that moving away from
an animal product-based diet to a plant-based diet
is the single most important improvement Americans
(and others who eat similarly) can do to improve their well-being.
I personally have eaten vegan (totally vegetarian) for over 15 years
and have raised my two children that way since birth."

GEORGE EISMAN
registered dietitian, author

A vegetarian diet has been advocated by everyone from philosophers such as Plato and Nietzsche, to political leaders such as Benjamin Franklin and Gandhi, to modern pop icons such as Paul McCartney and Bob Marley. Science is also on the side of vegetarianism. A multitude of studies have proven the health benefits of a vegetarian diet to be remarkable.

"An unrefined plant-based diet, together with
appropriate exercise consistently followed,
would eliminate most of the degenerative
diseases that curse our western world."

RAY FOSTER, M.D., FACS

“Vegetarian” is defined as avoiding all animal flesh, including fish and poultry. Vegetarians who avoid flesh, but do eat animal products such as cheese, milk, and eggs, are ovo-lacto-vegetarians (ovo = egg; lacto = milk, cheese, etc.). The ranks of those who eschew all animal products are rapidly growing; these people are referred to as pure vegetarians or vegans. Scientific research shows that lacto-ovo-vegetarians are healthier than meat-eaters, and vegans are the healthiest overall.

"When I was 88 years old, I gave up meat entirely
and switched to a plant-foods diet following a slight stroke.
During the following months, I not only lost 50 pounds
but gained strength in my legs and picked up stamina.
Now, at age 93, I’m on the same plant-based diet,
and I still don’t eat any meat or dairy products.
I either swim, walk, or paddle a canoe daily and I feel
the best I’ve felt since my heart problems began."

BENJAMIN SPOCK, M.D. (1903-1998)
pediatrician and author

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Lowering Blood Pressure & Beating Heart Disease

"1.5 million deaths per year in the U.S. are from diseases
associated with diets high in saturated fats and cholesterol.
The major dietary sources of fat in the American diet are
meat, poultry, fish, dairy products and fats and oils...
Dietary cholesterol is found only in foods of animal origin...
Reduce consumption of saturated fat and cholesterol...
Increase consumption of whole grain foods and cereal products,
vegetables and fruits."

THE SURGEON GENERAL’S REPORT on nutrition and health, 1988

Preventing Cancer

"The vast majority of all cancers, cardiovascular diseases,
and other forms of degenerative illness can be prevented
simply by adopting a plant-based diet."

T. COLIN CAMPBELL, Ph.D.
former Senior Science Advisor to the American Institute for Cancer Research
Director, Cornell-China-Oxford Project on Nutrition, Health and Environment 1983-1990

Preventing and Reversing Diabetes

"Diabetes is not necessarily a one-way street.
Early studies suggest that persons with diabetes
can improve and, in some cases,
even cure themselves of the disease
by switching to an unrefined, vegan diet."

ANDREW NICHOLSON, M.D.
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Gallstones, Kidney Stones, and Osteoporosis

"The protein of animal muscle (steak, chicken, meat, fish fillets, etc.)
is far more concentrated and acidic than the plant protein found
in whole grains, legumes, and green vegetables.
This concentrated acidic protein load can promote
the leaching of calcium from the bones,
contributing to the process of osteoporosis."

MICHAEL A. KLAPER, M.D.
American author and international lecturer

Protein

"In the next ten years, one of the things you’re bound to hear
is that animal protein is one of the most toxic nutrients
of all that can be considered."

T. COLIN CAMPBELL, Ph.D.
former Senior Science Advisor to the American Institute for Cancer Research
Director, Cornell-China-Oxford Project on Nutrition, Health and Environment 1983-1990

Calcium

"There are many other sources of calcium besides the milk of cows.
Green vegetables contain significant amounts of calcium
as do grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds.
Calcium-fortified orange juice, soy milk,
and other beverages are widely available.
My medical experience affirms that many health problems -
from asthma to colitis - respond favorably
to the removal of dairy products from the diet."

MICHAEL A. KLAPER M.D.
American author and international lecturer

Dairy Products

"People are the only animals
that drink the milk of the mother of another species.
All other animals stop drinking milk altogether after weaning.
It is unnatural for a dog to nurse from a mother giraffe;
it is just as unnatural for a human being
to drink the milk of a cow."

MICHAEL A. KLAPER, M.D.
American author and international lecturer

Asthma

My medical experience affirms that many health problems -
from asthma to colitis - respond favorably
to the removal of dairy products from the diet."

MICHAEL A. KLAPER, M.D.
American author and international lecturer

Common Concerns

"Quite simply, the more you substitute plant foods for animal foods,
the healthier you are likely to be.
I now consider veganism to be the ideal diet.
A vegan diet — particularly one that is low in fat —
will substantially reduce disease risks.
Plus, we’ve seen no disadvantages from veganism."

T. COLIN CAMPBELL, Ph.D.
former Senior Science Advisor to the American Institute for Cancer Research
Director, Cornell-China-Oxford Project on Nutrition, Health and Environment 1983-1990

Fish

"Fish is by far the most polluted of all the flesh foods,
regularly containing toxic chemical pollutants known to cause cancer,
kidney failure, nerve damage and birth defects.
Besides, we are running out of fish. Day and night, fleets of huge factory fishing ships let out thousands of miles of nets, scooping up all free-swimming marine life, while bottom-scraping trawlers devastate the fragile sea beds in their relentless vacuuming of sea animals. The current rate of fish consumption is simply not sustainable... The number of fish and most other species of large sea life are dwindling throughout the world's oceans.
Humans must learn to nourish themselves
optimally on plant-based foods."

MICHAEL A. KLAPER M.D.
American author and international lecturer