#Diet Detective #Interview with Dr. Neal Barnard, Founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible #Medicine
Diet Detective: What was the “aha moment” that triggered the formation of the PCRM and why?
Neal Barnard: The years before I went to medical school I had a job assisting at autopsies. In that rather desolate “museum” of medical problems, I saw severe atherosclerosis, strokes, colon cancer and other diet-related conditions in graphic detail. After finishing my training, I resolved to do what I could to prevent these problems.
Diet Detective: What does the PCRM do?
Neal Barnard: We promote preventive medicine, conduct clinical research and encourage higher standards in research. Our diabetes research has fundamentally changed the treatment of this deadly disease, and our 21-Day Kickstart programs have helped more than 200,000 people test-drive a healthy plant-based diet. We continue to hear from participants who have lost weight, reversed diabetes, lowered cholesterol, cured arthritis and eliminated chronic pain. We’ve virtually ended the use of animals in medical education, which is a huge step forward.
Diet Detective: Can you explain your specific “dieting” or “eating” philosophy and why?
Neal Barnard: Science supports our belief that low-fat, plant-based diets are the healthiest way to eat. We focus on four groups: fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. The good news is that there is no need to count calories or limit portion sizes.
Diet Detective: You’ve stated that you can change a behavior in 21 days. Doesn’t it take much longer to actually change a behavior?
Neal Barnard: It really takes three weeks to kick a habit, such as eliminating unhealthful foods from your diet. Many people report that their taste buds have changed after 21 days. They no longer crave certain foods like meat, sugar and cheese. Many people feel healthier, thinner and more energetic. But yes, the longer you maintain a healthful habit, the more solid it becomes.
Diet Detective: You have focused on diabetes in research and in your career – is there any specific personal reason for this?
Neal Barnard: Diabetes is sweeping into the U.S. and across the globe, and it is strongly related to diet habits.
Diet Detective: What’s the scariest thing about the foods we eat – something we should be considering an emergency?
Neal Barnard: The fact that two-thirds of Americans are overweight, one in three is headed for diabetes and a similar number are headed for cancer those are all emergencies, even if people have become complacent about them. As far as frightening foods are concerned, among the worst, surprisingly, is cheese. It should carry a warning label. Americans now consume 33 or 34 pounds of it per person each year. Most people don’t know that cheese derives 70 percent of its calories from fat, most of which is saturated. This is what drives heart disease and diabetes. As our infatuation with cheese has grown, so have our waistlines.
Diet Detective: What’s the biggest food atrocity?
Neal Barnard: Aside from cheese which approximately equates to Vaseline in its nutritional value I’d point a finger of blame at processed meats. That means bacon, sausage, ham, deli slices and hot dogs. They are quite convincingly associated with colorectal cancer. And yet people keep feeding them to their children.
But probably the greatest atrocity is chicken. Americans now eat more than 1 million chickens per hour. The problem is that people think this is healthful. Chicken is loaded with fat and high in calories. Not to mention, one serving of skinless chicken contains about the same amount of cholesterol as a typical serving of beef.
Diet Detective: If you were in charge of our food system, how would you fix it (assuming you consider it broken now)?
Neal Barnard: We need to promote healthful options simple, nourishing foods to fight our nation’s rising obesity and diabetes epidemics. What if you walked into every corner store and found fresh fruits and vegetables instead of Red Bull, beef jerky and potato chips? Nutrition experts, lawmakers and public #health officials need to work together to make this a reality.
Diet Detective: Why a “vegan” diet?
Neal Barnard: The reasons for a vegan diet are these:
Observational studies show that a vegan diet is better than other diet patterns for weight control and for diabetes. In a study of 60,903 participants published by the American Diabetes Association in 2009, the more people excluded animal products from their diets, the healthier their body weights and the lower their risk of diabetes. A vegan diet was clearly superior to other diet patterns.
Clinical trials ours and others show that a plant-based diet (vegan or near-vegan) is very effective for lowering cholesterol, promoting weight control, improving diabetes and other positive outcomes.
Animal agriculture is grotesquely cruel. If you care about animals, deciding to not eat them is a logical step.
Animal agriculture is damaging to the environment, polluting waterways and contributing to climate change. If you are a meat-eater, you’re not an environmentalist.
A vegan diet is very “doable” it requires no calorie counting, no need to limit carbohydrates or portion sizes, etc.
Breaking a meat or cheese habit is much easier than quitting smoking or breaking other addictions, and the rewards are enormous.
Can you please provide three to five words on the following topics?
Diet Detective: Organic foods?
Neal Barnard: The more the better.
Diet Detective: USDA?
Neal Barnard: Largely corrupt.
Diet Detective: Artificial sweeteners?
Neal Barnard: Useless.
Diet Detective: Genetically modified foods?
Neal Barnard: A potentially deadly experiment.
Diet Detective: Food additives and preservatives?
Neal Barnard: The fewer the better.
Diet Detective: Nutritional supplements?
Neal Barnard: B-12 essential, everything else unnecessary.
Diet Detective: Veganism?
Neal Barnard: Not the extreme end. Rather, the beginning of health.
Diet Detective: Locally grown foods?
Neal Barnard: Fine, but overly hyped.
Diet Detective: Dairy?
Neal Barnard: Great for a calf. Period.
Now a few personal questions.
Diet Detective: What’s always in your fridge and pantry?
Neal Barnard: Oatmeal, tempeh and tofu, green veggies, apples, oranges, pears and the occasional frozen vegan pizza.
Diet Detective: What food would you never eat under any circumstances?
Neal Barnard: Animal-derived products, Twizzlers and Red Bull.
Diet Detective: What do you generally eat for breakfast?
Neal Barnard: Blueberry pancakes, oatmeal or rice cereal, along with grilled tempeh.
Diet Detective: What’s your favorite healthy restaurant?
Neal Barnard: Sublime, in Fort Lauderdale, is the best restaurant in the galaxy.
Location: Washington, D.C.
Position: Founder and president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Résumé (brief): www.pcrm.org/Media/Experts/
Hometown: Fargo, N. D.
Education: I completed my residency and earned my M.D. degree from the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C.
Favorite Food Web Links: PCRM.org
Favorite Food: Mexican, Japanese, Hunan, Szechuan and Ethiopian
Your Website: www.PCRM.org and www.NealBarnard.org
