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How to Find a Plant-Based Doctor

People often despair that they lack a local physician with a plant based focus. It is a common concern we hear all the time. While ideally it would be best if there were a plant based doctor for everyone who wants one, this is rarely the case.

However, do not despair. Working together we can bring you and your current doctor fully up to speed with knowledge about plant based nutrition. Therefore the first thing that will be important for you to do is to get yourself up to speed on the basic of plant based nutrition.

One way to do this is through our single day 5 hour long intensive counseling seminar at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute which includes information on how the disease is caused and what can be done nutritionally to halt and reverse disease, as well as information on preparing plant based foods, eating out, label reading, a DVD of the entire seminar filmed at an earlier session, a testimonial from a local participant, who has had a successful experience so that those in attendance may say, “If she or he can do this, I can do it.” We finish up answering questions, providing a plant based lunch, and stay in touch with email or phone calls as necessary

Other ways that can also be of value include attending one of the immersions put on by Engine 2, reading the recommended books,* watching the recommended DVD’s * or taking the ecornell plant based nutrition course. Of course, nothing can take the place of a live interaction with a knowledgeable plant based doctor.

It is important to continue to work with your doctor and let them realize we are not taking away his/her patient; we are merely focusing on a very important dimension of care -the causation of their illness, which local physicians 1. don’t have the time for 2. don’t have the passion for or 3. lack the training or skill set for.

Also, in the beginning, you do not have to tell your doctors anything about the specific details of your diet. Just let them know you have decided to start eating better and are going to make some changes by eating more fruits and vegetable, less junk food and fried food and see how things go when you do that, BUT you want them to keep an eye on your numbers. Even ask them if they have any recommendations.

Then, just keeping following this program. This way, working together with your local physician, he/she will be able to reduce 1. blood pressure meds as hypertension resolves 2. reduce cholesterol meds as cholesterol lowers 3,. reduce diabetic meds as glucose is reduced.

In addition, once you have the success and your doctor sees these positive changes, he/she may initiate the conversation with you about what you have done and be far more willing to have a more open perspective having witnessed the improvements. And, by doing it this way, you will have helped to educate your doctor about the power of plant based, no oil way of living without having any confrontational interactions.

When we approach it this way, the local MD’s will recognize that those of us in lifestyle medicine are working synergistically in the spirit of cooperative endeavor to have their patients have the full benefit of plant based nutrition to halt and reverse their disease.

Books

Caldwell Esselstyn
Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease

Rip Esselstyn
The Engine 2 Diet
Plant Strong

Colin Campbell
The China Study

Doug Lisle
The Pleasure Trap

Neal Barnard MD
Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes
Breaking the Food Seduction
21 Day Weight-loss Kick start

John McDougall MD
The Starch Solution
Dr. McDougall’s Digestive Tune-Up
The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook
Dr. McDougall’s Total Health Solution for the 21st Century
The McDougall Program: Twelve Days to Dynamic Health
The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss
The New McDougall Cookbook

Michael Greger MD
How Not to Die

DVDs

Caldwell Esselstyn
Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease

Rip Esselstyn
Forks Over Knives Presents The Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue with Rip Esselstyn

John McDougall MD
Dr. McDougall’s Total Health Solution for the 21st Century DVD

The Jeff Novick Series
Lighten Up
Calorie Density
Should I Eat That
From Oil To Nuts
Nuts & Health
Fast Food Vol 1 The Basics
Fast Food Vol 2 Burgers & Fries
Fast Food Vol 3 Shopping School

Neal Barnard MD
Tackling Diabetes DVD
Kick Start Your Health DVD

Douglas Lisle
The Continuum of Evil
Losing weight without losing your mind
The Pleasure Trap

Michael Klaper
Digestion Made Easy

Movies/Documentaries

Forks Over Knives
Processed People

Immersions and Programs

Dr Esselstyn – 5-hour intensive counseling seminar at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute
Farms To Forks Immersions
The McDougall Program

Additional Material
BOOKS

John Abramson MD Overdosed America

Gilbert H. Welch MD
Should I be tested for Cancer?
Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health
Know Your Chances: Understanding Health Statistics

Nortin Hadler MD

Worried Sick: A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America

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