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Medical professionals get little training on nutrition, despite prolific killers that can be prevented or managed with diet. Joseph Stratton finds out more…
The power of a plant-based diet
Healthy nutrition can be considered as not only an effective method to prevent some killer diseases, but also as a way of treating them, and a wholefood plant-based diet is king of them all. Studies on heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes show that a plant-based diet has emerged as the only diet proven to reverse symptoms. When integrated with a healthy lifestyle, results such as reduced medication intake are common, as well as improved digestion, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, weight loss and more. Other, more holistic benefits, are also common, such as improved moods, reduced fatigue and improved wellbeing.
This has led to some high-profile medical professionals, such as Michael Greger, Brenda Davis, Michael Klaper and Gemma Newman, amongst others, utilising plant-based diets in their treatment plans, with some incredible results.
Nutrition in medical practice
It is commonly understood that nutrition is at the heart of a healthy existence, alongside exercise and, of course, good medical care. Yet with only a handful of training hours committed to nutrition as part of a standard medical degree, more needs to be done to address this imbalance. Specially trained nutritionists are not often integrated into the public health system, meaning people cannot access basic nutritional advice as part of their regular medical care!
Philip Mansbridge, ProVeg Executive Director, stated:
“ProVeg UK is working to increase the ease of access to the best up-to-date scientific information on nutrition on both an industry and consumer level. This is important as diet and lifestyle can play a major, and still largely underestimated, role in preventing and reversing disease, improving overall health and reducing the strain on our increasingly under-pressure NHS.”
Spreading the word
At ProVeg, we are dedicated to improving the depth and quality of knowledge available on the power of a plant-based diet. This is why we co-founded VegMed – an international scientific conference for medical professions to hear from industry leaders. VegMed, proudly Europe’s largest conference on plant-based nutrition, is now in its sixth edition and is coming to the UK for the first time this October.
So what exactly is VegMed?
VegMed London brings together a line-up of world-renowned plant-based physicians. The event will feature talks on a wide range of topics from preventing killer diseases, to maintaining a happy, healthy gut.
Packed with amazing content, the event is separated into two different events, one for medical professionals and one for the general public. With some variations to the schedule on each day, plant-based big hitters such as Michael Greger, Michael Klaper and Neal Barnard can be heard talking about preventing killer diseases, as well as the dynamic Happy Pear duo speaking about their Happy Gut program.
The future for plant-based diets in medicine
As more and more medical professionals realise the potential of plant-based diets in treatment, its practice is becoming more widespread. Events like VegMed capture the astounding growth and mainstreaming of plant-based diets in recent years. The event also serves to show to the wider medical community the fantastic results that plant-based interventions are having for patients across the world. After hearing the evidence, medical professionals will hopefully begin to implement these practices in their own work and feed the growing community of patients and doctors who have benefited from plant-based nutrition.
Why is VegMed important?
As Europe’s largest plant-based nutrition conference, VegMed aims to bring plant-based diets into the mainstream. Firstly, bringing this kind of information to the public is important, as it encourages people to be critical about the type of treatment they would like to pursue. Secondly, it provides an accredited opportunity for medical professionals to hear case studies and evidence supporting a plant-based diet as both treatment and prevention. This ideally will encourage more professionals to begin integrating this into their own practice and be able to share their experiences in the future.
VegMed facilitates an ongoing conversation about diet, making sure the momentum is maintained and plant-based diets continue to grow as an effective form of disease prevention!
ProVeg director Phillip Mansbridge said: “The conference will give us the opportunity to share UK expertise alongside some of the international pioneers in the field of plant-based nutrition. I hope the conference will inspire a new generation of healthcare professionals to use plant-based nutrition for disease prevention and reversal in their own clinical practice.”
Case study
Shireen Kassam, the founder of Plant-based Health Professionals UK, highlights the amazing story of Jackie, who overcame inflammatory arthritis through plant-based interventions. Jackie notes that although the initial steroid-based treatment she received helped with pain relief and did reduce her inflammation, she was fraught with unpleasant side effects such as nausea and emotional instability.
She cites these treatments as a good starting point to enable her to intervene with a plant-based diet, with incredible results. Over only 8 weeks, her bloodwork was heading for remission and she completed a 700m sea swim, that she had been forced to miss the previous year. She has now reduced her medication intake to the absolute minimum and her outlook is positive.
Her story shows how integrating a plant-based whole food diet into her treatment enabled her to recover far more quickly than she perhaps may have without it.
Tickets are selling fast!
Tickets for the scientific conference are available at vegmed.org. Tickets for the public day have sold out – to join the waiting list for any potential returns, contact: [email protected]
Joseph Stratton
Joe is a 23 year-old campaigner at ProVeg UK (proveg.com), finding his way in the exciting world of plant-based food. When he can he travels, plays sport and enjoys a craft beer.
