Books and Sources

I considered a few ways of presenting the evidence for what I'm saying. I could pick out a few studies and explain what they did and what conclusions they reached, I could try to condense what I know into 1000 words or so - but I'm concerned that this would not do justice to the breadth and depth of the research that has been done. What I have decided to do instead is to tell you where I found the information in the first place. I'm going to link to some of the books I have read, give a quick summary of each and encourage you as strongly as I can to check them out! They're not expensive and if you end up switching to a WFPB diet you will save the money back in no time,  as I haven't even mentioned yet that eating a WFPB diet is also significantly cheaper than the SAD. Finally I'll point you towards some internet resources, mostly on YouTube &c.

How Not To Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease by Michael Greger. Kindle edition £6.64 from Amazon

Dr. Greger looks at the 15 leading killer diseases and explains how a plant-based diet may help prevent, treat or reverse every one of them! As he says in the introduction "Adhering to four simple healthy lifestyle factors can have a strong impact on the prevention of chronic diseases : not smoking, not being obese, half an hour of exercise a day and eating healthier... If you can tick off all four, you may be able to wipe out more than 90% of your risk of developing diabetes, more than 80% of your risk of having a heart attack, cut by half your risk of having a stroke and reduce your overall cancer risk by more than one-third". Dr. Greger also goes into detail about what particular foods are healthy for which reasons and gives plenty of case studies of patients he has helped to turn their health around.

Proteinaholic: How Our Obsession With Meat Is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It by Garth Davis, Kindle Edition £6.99 on Amazon

Dr. Davis was a bariatric surgeon - that's the procedure where the patient's stomach is effectively reduced in size to aid weight loss. He became increasingly frustrated with the lack of long-term results from his procedures, combined with the Atkins style high-protein low-carb diets he was recommending for his patients. He was also having his own health issues due to eating the same diet. After considerable research, detailed in this book, he changed his position entirely and now is a strong advocate for the WFPB diet. This book is an in depth answer to the question anyone on this kind of diet will be familiar with - but what about protein?

Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition by T. Colin Campbell, Kindle Edition £6.79 on Amazon

Dr. Campbell conducted the China Study, a huge observational study of diet and disease in rural China. While his book on the study is also worth reading (you'll see it in the recommendations on the same Amazon page), Whole details the science behind the WFPB diet and also looks at Dr Campbell's struggle to gain acceptance for his ideas in the face of strong opposition from the medical, pharmaceutical and supplement industries among others. If this diet is so great, why aren't governments and doctors recommending we follow it? This book answers that question (spoiler : because there's no profit to be made).

The Starch Solution: Eat the Foods You Love, Regain Your Health, and Lose the Weight for Good! By John and Mary McDougall. Kindle Edition £7.12 on Amazon

Dr. McDougall explains why carbs are not the enemy  and shows how a starch rich diet can help you lose weight, prevent a variety of ills and even cure common diseases. This is more of a practical manual with plenty of meal plans and recipes. Looking back at this book it occurs to me that I've been emphasising how the WFPB diet prevents and in some cases reverses chronic diseases, but should also point out that it can help a great deal with non-fatal but nonetheless painful and embarrassing conditions like constipation, indigestion, heartburn, arthritis, IBS, erectile dysfunction and many more!

Merchants of Doubt : How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming by Naomi Oreskes  and Erik M. Conway. Kindle Edition £5.89 on Amazon.

This book isn't about nutrition at all. It is, however, about the tricks used by industry to obscure the truth and corrupt our political system in the name of profit. There are many parallels between what the food and pharmaceutical industries are doing now and what tobacco industries did in the 50s and 60s, but with time the techniques have become more subtle and insidious. This book will help you to spot the misdirection.

Internet Resources

There are a lot of great videos on YouTube related to the WFPB diet. For a start I recommend all the authors above, anything by Drs. Greger, McDougall, Davis and Campbell is well worth a look, from bite-size clips about a particular topic to presentations made at conferences and nutritional seminars. I also strongly recommend anything by Neal Barnard, who has a long career of research into treatment of diabetes and other chronic diseases ; Caldwell Esselstyn, one of the leading US heart surgeons, particularly his remarkable interventionist trial on patients with serious heart disease [1] ; Milton Mills who does some excellent talks on evolutionary biology ; and you'll see a few more pop up in the sidebar recommendations, check them out for yourself.

While not presented by medical or scientific professionals, I have found the channels Mic the Vegan, Happy Healthy Vegan and Plant Based News to be excellent resources for current news on the topic.

Finally there are three documentaries you may have heard of, all worthwhile in different ways. Forks Over Knives is my number one recommendation, this focusses strongly on the health aspect. What the Health is a touch sensationalist but still very good, devoting about equal coverage to the health, environmental and animal welfare aspects. Cowspiracy doesn't have too much about health as it's more about the latter two topics, but is still well worth watching.

Next time I'll look at the less reliable sources that are, unfortunately, all too available.

[1] Dr. Esselstyn took 198 patients who had had a very serious cardiac incident (heart attack, stroke etc) and put them on a strict WFPB diet. 13 patients couldn't stick to the diet, and 8 of them suffered another serious incident in the next 12 years . Of the 185 patients who did stick to the diet, only one suffered another incident in the same period.