Dr. Neal Barnard discusses his work with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, where he is working to change federal food guidelines and where through the Barnard Medical Center, he is showing the power of foods and integrating nutrition into clinical practice. Dr. Barnard will also describe a novel meal program, called Universal Meals, a simple set of meal guidelines that ensure that everyone has a seat at the table. By meeting a wide range of food requirements, Universal Meals can be implemented anywhere food is served.
Not long ago, nutrition was thought of as having only a modest influence on health. Food gave us taste and calories, and not much else. Dr. Neal Barnard’s research, funded by the National Institutes of Health, broke that mold. It showed that, with appropriate food choices, type 2 diabetes was a potentially reversible condition for many people. His continuing research yielded surprising findings for many everyday health conditions from cholesterol and weight issues to menstrual cramps, migraines, and menopausal symptoms.
Dr. Neal Barnard is president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and the author of a great many books on nutrition, including his latest, Your Body in Balance: The New Science of Food, Hormones, and Health. He is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, DC. He leads programs advocating for preventive medicine, good nutrition, and higher ethical standards in research. His research contributed to the acceptance of plant-based diets in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. In 2015, he was named a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. In 2016, he founded the Barnard Medical Center in Washington, DC, as a model for making nutrition a routine part of all medical care.
For more information on the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, please visit www.pcrm.org/.
Moderated by Pat Doyle.