Power Foods US Book Tour Launch
On the evening of March 26, I joined hundreds for a Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) Exam Room Live event at the National Press Club in Washington DC, launching Dr. Neal Barnard’s US tour for his new book The Power Foods Diet. Video recording of the full event here.
Dr. Barnard, PCRM’s president and founder, has authored more than 100 scientific publications and 20 books including several New York Times bestsellers. This latest book highlights the power of wholesome and delicious plant-based foods as a key to the weight loss so many in the US and worldwide strive to achieve — not just for vanity, but to live full and healthy lives.
The event also featured Chef Dustin Harder, who created many of the book’s hundreds of recipes; and Plantspiration founder Stefanie Ignoffo, whose entire family transformed their health by transitioning to whole food plant-based diets.
This book could not be more urgent and timely. CDC data shows that obesity prevalence in the US has risen from 30% to roughly 42% in the last 25 years, increasing risk for many serious diseases and health conditions. And obesity is not just a US or rich world problem. As reported in The Economist article The Obesity Capitals of the World, it was not long ago that more of the world’s people had too little to eat than too much — but today, the percentage of adults who are obese significantly exceeds the share who are underweight, while obese children outnumber underweight ones in two-thirds of 190 countries studied by the medical journal Lancet.
Weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic are being marketed as a solution to the obesity epidemic — and The Power Foods Diet describes how they artificially stimulate our body’s natural appetite off switch, producing a stronger effect than that from nature alone. These drugs, however, come with side effects and a prohibitive price tag — and the long-term risks are not yet known, which is particularly important because many patients who take the drugs may need them for life.
The Power Foods Diet, a low-fat plant-based plan that excludes animal products, is a better path forward for human health — one that is effective, inexpensive, and side-effect free.
More on the Greg Fund’s support for PCRM and The Exam Room Podcast at Vegan for Health.