Neal Barnard
Neal Barnard
Neal D. Barnardis an American doctor, author, clinical researcher, and founding president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, an international network of doctors, scientists, and laypeople. An advocate of a low-fat, whole foods, plant-based diet, he has also conducted research into alternatives to animal experimentation and has been active in the animal protection movement. As of 2015, he is an adjunct associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. He founded the...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
CountryUnited States of America
I think herd mentality is a good thing overall. Because if every sheep had to figure out the velocity of the wolf and their personal risk, that would take forever.
I'm thinking of people in rural Japan and China, where McDonald's hasn't yet arrived. These are the thinnest, healthiest, longest-lived people with the least risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
While it's certainly true that many people think that dairy doesn't have a cost to the animal, it's because they never went to a dairy farm.
If some people think, "Why am I eating a dead bird soaked in poop?" I think if some people get disgusted by that, it's all to the good. Their coronary arteries will be healthier.
I think we have to do everything that's useful. We're doctors. Our job is to tell the truth. And it doesn't have to be embellished in any way.
If beef is your idea of ""real food for real people"" you'd better live real close to a real good hospital.
We help people to begin truly healthful diets, and it is absolutely wonderful to see, not only their success, but also their delight at their ability to break old habits and feel really healthy for a change.
People have to know that if they've wanted to lose weight, if they've wanted to get their diabetes better and get their cholesterol down, here is how it works. Beyond that point, you can't force people into changes, you have to guide them.
Since I first went to India twenty some years ago, there's been a palpable change. There's now pizza everywhere, meat is much more popular than it's ever been. Vegetarianism is "that quaint thing our parents did."
In China, because China is gaining wealth, rice consumption is way down. Rice is a poor person's food, and they're eating less of it. To wait in line at a fast food chain is cool. And they haven't historically had weight problems. So they don't have this culture of, "I need to lose weight."
People do lose weight on an Atkins diet. The reason they lose weight is because of calorie reduction. If a person's caloric intake has not fallen, if they are really shoveling in the steak, they don't lose weight.
You will find that your taste buds have a memory of about 3 weeks.
The Stone Age gave us arrow heads and eventually knives, and that allowed us to kill animals in ways you couldn't before, and once you had them you were able to remove the skin and bones.
A vegan diet takes care of most of what we need to do. But you'll also want to minimize the use of oils generally, because while olive oil and other vegetable oils are better for your heart than chicken fat, they are as fattening as animal fats.