These are some of my favorite resources that can help you to transition to a vegan lifestyle or provide support for sharing information with loved ones. If you are dealing with chronic health issues and especially if you are taking medications, please consult your doctor before making changes to your diet and lifestyle.
Nutrition Support from Evidence-Based Experts
While it is always good to remain skeptical, it is also important to find trusted sources. I do not necessarily support or agree with every view and opinion of these sources, but these are some of my favorites to consult for evidence-based recommendations. If you are on board with veganism, but unsure of how to do it healthfully, these will help answer some of your questions:
- Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine – Nonprofit founded by Neal D. Barnard, M.D. Dr. Barnard and his research team have shown that a vegan diet can reverse the progression of diabetes in clinical trials.
- Nutritionfacts.org – Nonprofit founded by Michael Greger, M.D. that presents videos and other content on nutrition based on the best available scientific data.
- The Plant Fed Gut – Information on optimal gut health by practicing gastroenterologist, Will Bulsiewicz, M.D.
- Ornish Lifestyle Medicine – Dean Ornish, M.D. is the creator of the first scientifically-proven program for reversing heart disease, which includes both diet as well as other lifestyle changes including exercise and meditation.
- Dr. Esselstyn’s Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease Program – Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr., M.D. is another physician who was able to reverse heart disease in his patients. His method focuses more on a plant-based diet without other lifestyle changes.
- T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies – Nonprofit founded by T. Colin Campbell, PhD that provides whole food plant-based nutrition resources and education including a program through eCornell.
- Michael Klaper, MD – A long-time educator and speaker on the benefits of a plant-based diet.
Documentaries
If you are trying to convince loved ones to try a more plant-based diet or simply to help them understand your decision, perhaps a documentary could be useful. Finding something they can connect to is helpful and there are documentaries covering many different aspects from ethical, environmental, or health perspectives.
While a documentary can clearly be skewed to support a certain point of view, I believe the overarching messages of these documentaries are sound. Of course science is ever-changing, and we must update our actions and views based on new information, but these are a good place to start.
Many of these can be found freely online or available through various streaming services. Search each one individually online to find out how to watch it as availability is subject to change:
- Earthlings (be advised this contains very graphic and disturbing content)
- Eating Our Way to Extinction
- What the Health
- The Game Changers
- Forks Over Knives
- Cowspiracy
- Seaspiracy
