Resources
Our recommended resources for following a plant-based diet and lifestyle medicineThe Science
The evidence behind the benefits of plant-based nutrition and lifestyle medicine
Other Recommended Media
Documentaries, books, websites and testimonials.
Recipes
Cookbooks and websites, not our own recipes.
The Science
There is a lot of noise out there about about what is right for nutrition and health. We want to cut through that noise and bring you the science straight from the sources.
It’s important to be informed when it comes to your health; and if you’re a health professional, it’s even more important for those who rely on you.
We don’t think you’ll need much convincing that a whole-foods plant-based diet is the best for humans after reading some of these studies.
Peruse through this page and even our Other Recommended Media page for more information.
The Lifestyle Medicine site does a great job of cataloguing the evidence that supports the efficacy of Lifestyle Medicine. So go there for a more comprehensive list of studies and articles.
The Esselstyn Plant-Based Diet for Coronary Heart Disease
- A strategy to arrest and reverse coronary artery disease: a 5-year longitudinal study of a single physician’s practice. (1995).
- A way to reverse CAD? (2014)
- Website with additional articles and studies written by Dr Esselstyn
- Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Book and Cookbook
EPIC Study
EPIC stands for: European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition. It is a large cohort study in Europe, involving over half a million participants, that looks at the relationship between cancer and nutrition, in addition to other chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease.
There are many papers that have come from this work, below are a couple. If you type “EPIC” into a PubMed or Google Scholar search you’ll find more.
Dr T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and The China Study
The Ornish Diet
The Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease was approved by Medicare in 2011 and many private insurers have followed suit. They use all the tenets of Lifestyle Medicine in the program. References below.
- Ornish Lifestyle Medicine site
- Heart Disease: Dr Ornish has published a number of papers on this topic. Go back to his site to see all of his research listed.
- Telomerase: Increased telomerase activity and comprehensive lifestyle changes: a pilot study. (2008)
- Depression: Lifestyle changes are related to reductions in depression in persons with elevated coronary risk factors. (2010)
- Prostate: Intensive Lifestyle Changes and Prostate Cancer. (2005)
Vegetarian and Vegan Diets vs ADA Diet for Type 2 Diabetes by PCRM
- A low-fat vegan diet improves glycemic control and cardiovascular risk factors in a randomized clinical trial in individuals with type 2 diabetes. (2006)
- A low-fat vegan diet and a conventional diabetes diet in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: a randomized, controlled, 74-wk clinical trial. (2009)
- Vegetarian and vegan diets in type 2 diabetes management. (2009)
Other Recommended Media
Isn’t technology handy? We have the answer to any question we could possibly have right at our fingertips and in our pockets.
Think of the hundreds of thousands of articles and resources that are out there just about health and nutrition alone!
Trudging through all this noise and knowing what is right leads to overwhelm pretty fast; either that or hours of web-surfing and going down rabbit holes with no real answers.
When we work with our patients, clients, and even family and friends, we have our go-to recommended reading, viewing and listening.
As you know, we are advocates of Lifestyle Medicine and a whole-foods plant-based diet. But more importantly we’re advocates of evidence-based information.
So here is a list of our most trusted resources about whole foods plant-based eating and Lifestyle Medicine. Whether you want to watch, read, listen to, or peruse…we’ve got you covered.
P.S. This list doesn’t include everything out there, just things we’ve seen, heard or read and want to share.
Documentaries
If you only watch one of these documentaries, make it Forks Over Knives! The others are all great as well, but we generally require all patients we work with to watch Forks over Knives first. It does a great job explaining the science and sharing some compelling stories.
- Forks Over Knives
- Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones
- The Game Changers
- Code Blue
- What the Health
Books
Most of these books include recipes or they also have a cookbook associated with it. See our Recipe Section for cookbooks. The physicians who authored these books are also part of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
- Caldwell B. Esseltyn, MD – Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease
- Dean Ornish, MD – Undo it; Dr Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease; Eat More, Weigh Less
- Michael Greger, MD – How Not to Die, How Not to Diet, How Not to Age
- Neal Barnard, MD – Your Body in Balance; Dr Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes; Power Foods for the Brain; 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart; The Vegan Starter Kit; The Cheese Trap
- Dean & Aeyesha Sherzai, MD – The Alzheimer’s Solution
- Will Bulsiewicz, MD – Fiber Fueled; The Fiber Fueled Cookbook
- Saray Stancic, MD – What’s Missing from Medicine
- Monica Aggarwal, MD – Body on Fire
Podcasts
Websites
- Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM)
- Resources, answers, articles and recipes.
- Nutrition Guide for Clinicians is very helpful
- NutritionFacts.org – What is the healthiest diet?
- Hundreds of short videos about the latest science in nutrition and food.
- PlantStrong– by Rip Esselstyn on being Plant Strong, the old Engine 2 site
- Information on immersion events, recipes and the meal planner
- Forks Over Knives – testimonials, recipes, information
- Dr John McDougall – Health and Medical Center
- Site includes free resources, videos, and information about his immersions and books.
- They have archived his newsletters for the past few decades and if you type any health-related topic into the search bar on his site you’ll find articles he’s written about the topic.
- The Happy Pear – YouTube channel. Resource for recipes.
Testimonials
Recipes
You want to make meals that people will be coming back for seconds?
Cooking plant-based is your answer.
These recipes we referenced below use whole food plant-based ingredients such as: colorful fruits and vegetables; comforting whole grains, beans and lentils; as well as potatoes, herbs, vinegars, and other flavors.
Sometimes we use the same cookbook for weeks on end, other times we just “Google” the ingredients we have on hand and “plant based”.
Either way, not everything is a hit, as with anything you make in the kitchen.
So pick something and try it out. Adjust the flavor to your liking. And enjoy the process!
Cookbooks
- The Engine 2 Diet Cookbook – hands down, the cookbook Catherine uses the most!
- The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook
- The How Not to Die Cookbook
- Forks over Knives: The Cookbook
- Plant-based on a Budget
- Thug Kitchen
- The Happy Pear – they have several
- The Help Yourself Cookbook for Kids – super cute! Sara, Catherine’s 10 year old got it for Christmas a couple years ago and loves making her lunches from it.
- Oh She Glows Cookbook
- Afro-Vegan
- The Plantpower Way
Websites & Blogs
- Engine 2 – some recipes on the site as well as a meal planner
- Monkey and Me Kitchen Adventures – beautiful pictures and creative recipes
- Minimalist Baker – lots of great recipes, although you’ll have to substitute oil for most of them
- Oh She Glows!
- Forks over Knives – we mention this site quite a bit because they have so much to offer. They also have a cooking class, a meal planner and food items to purchase.
- The Simple Veganista
- FatFree Vegan Kitchen – she also has recipes that use the air fryer and instantpot
- Lighter – a recipe platform that also provides shopping lists from the recipes and links to grocery delivery
- The Happy Pear – the YouTube channel has great recipes and they’re entertaining 😄