The Plantrician Project

This week Deb and I attended the 6th annual Plant-Based Nutrition Conference in San Diego. We had also attended this conference a few years ago in San Diego but they rotate locations (next June NYC; next September San Francisco.) Attendees are mostly health care professionals learning about effects of diet on health with an emphasis on the evidence that whole food plant based eating is the key to preventing and treating most chronic diseases. This conference was a sell out with over 1000 attendees from all over the world. Our only complaint was the huge size with the personal touches being lost. Business is booming for healthy eating!

We've now been to dozens of conferences which look at nutrition effects on medical issues and are always delighted to meet the other attendees: some patients, some devotees of a vegan lifestyle for a variety of reasons, and medical professionals seeking to improve what they can offer patients. Deb and I agree the best part of these conferences is talking to those searching for the truth about food's impact on health (and the planet.) This week was no exception. Our first meal was shared with a woman from Hungary who was attending a plantrician conference for the second time. She works for a health care company and is exploring what information is available to clinicians using diet in their practice. Other attendees we met included a family of dentists from Beverly Hills who encourage patients to use diet for health; a senior psychiatrist from Johns Hopkins who eats plant based himself and considers it an important part of medical care; a dermatologist from San Diego who uses plant based dietary therapy to treat some patients with great success in acne and psoriasis; a primary care physician from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands whose practice emphasizes whole food plant based diet; several nurse practitioners and physician assistants who incorporate information and advice about healthy diet in their daily work.

Subsequent posts will review specific meeting content.