One of the things that had the biggest impact on me when I was studying for my holistic nutritionist certification was some random plant-based quotes that I ran across. These quotes were from medical professionals who had spent the majority of their careers in conventional medicine and not utilizing nutrition in their practices. Over time they realized that they were not helping their patients with chronic illnesses by handing out prescriptions.
These people sought answers to the questions they had, the questions that all doctors should be asking. What is causing chronic illness and how do we find the solution? These doctors and nutrition scientists forged their own path by being open to learning new things which led them to the science of the effects of animal products on human beings. They were brave enough to not only change their minds about what they believed but also to put it into practice.
Although I am a really big lover of animals, this isn’t about a vegan lifestyle for me. While I commend those who are vegan and choose not to do anything that brings harm to living creatures, for me it’s about the health aspect. The human body has an incredible ability to heal itself given the right nourishment. I’m convinced, by extensive research and plenty of proof to back it up, that plant foods are superior foods and that the fewer animal foods we have in our diets, the healthier we will be.
I share these quotes with the hope that you might read one or two and have an interest in an alternative, more natural approach to health.
Plant Based Quotes for Health
“I know of nothing else in medicine that can come close to what a plant-based diet can do. In theory, if everyone were to adopt this, I really believe we can cut health care costs by seventy to eighty percent. That’s amazing. And it all comes from understanding nutrition, applying nutrition, and just watching the results.” -T. Colin Campbell
“This was my wake-up call. I opened my eyes to the depressing fact that there are other forces at work in medicine besides science. The U.S. health care system runs on a fee-for-service model in which doctors get paid for the pills and procedures they prescribe, rewarding quantity over quality. We don’t get reimbursed for time spent counseling our patients about the benefits of healthy eating. If doctors were instead paid for performance, there would be a financial incentive to treat the lifestyle causes of disease. Until the model of reimbursement changes, I don’t expect great changes in medical care or medical education.5″ -Dr. Michael Greger, How Not to Die
“Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. ” -Albert Einstein
“If beef is your idea of ‘real food for real people,’ you’d better live real close to a real good hospital.” -Neal Barnard
“A plant-based diet is more likely to produce good health and to reduce sharply the risk of heart problems, cancer, diabetes, osteoporosis, gallstones, and kidney disease.” -T. Colin Campbell
“A plant-based diet has actually simplified my life in so many ways. For breakfast, I try to get my first serving of fruits and nuts for fuel. I’m completely addicted to coconut water for the electrolytes and hydration.” -Michelle Forbes
“The longest-lived people eat a plant-based diet. They eat meat but only as a condiment or a celebration. Nothing they eat has a plastic wrapper.” Dan Buettner
“Back in 1903, Thomas Edison predicted that the “doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the care of [the] human frame in diet and in the cause and prevention of diseases.” – Dr. Michael Greger, How Not to Die
“Some people think plant-based diet, whole foods diet is extreme. Half a million people a year will have their chests opened up and a vein taken from their leg and sewn onto their coronary artery. Some people would call that extreme.” -Caldwell Esselstyn
“Let’s start with the most prominent ecological crisis of our time: global warming. When you look seriously at the numbers, you find that switching from a meat-based to a plant-based diet would do more to curb and reverse global warming than any other initiative.” -T. Colin Campbell
“I don’t understand why asking people to eat a well-balanced vegetarian diet is considered drastic, while it is medically conservative to cut people open and put them on cholesterol lowering drugs for the rest of their lives.” -Dean Ornish
“Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food.” -Hippocrates
“If you have never tried a plant-based diet, start. If you’ve never juiced vegetables, start. If you’ve never taken vitamin C to saturation, start. If you have never done a half-hour fitness workout each day, start. But, there is no such thing as a free lunch, a quick fix or a magic wand to cure illness.” -Andrew Saul
“It’s a common myth that athletes and other highly active people need the protein from meat and dairy to fuel their activities and build and repair muscles and other bodily tissues. In fact, there is growing evidence that consumption of too much protein can lead to very serious health issues, including kidney disease, osteoporosis, and cancer. The active body can get all the protein it needs from a diverse, 100% plant-based diet.” -Sharon Gannon
“An abundance of peer-reviewed science is showing that a whole foods, plant-based diet prevents most heart attacks, strokes, and even many kinds of cancer. It gets you to your ideal weight easily and sustainably, reverses Type 2 diabetes, and even fixes erectile dysfunction (because it greatly improves circulation!).” –Kathy Freston
“The beef industry has contributed to more American deaths than all the wars of this century, all natural disasters, and all automobile accidents combined.” –Neal Barnard
“Whether the patient has a cardiac condition, hypertension, autoimmune disease, fibroids, or asthma, he or she must be informed that fasting and natural, plant-based diets are a viable alternative to conventional therapy, and an effective one.” -Joel Fuhrman
“The best anti-aging advice I’ve ever received? Drink a lot of water and have a plant-based diet. I also do mindful meditation with my daughter every day. It takes ten minutes. I think reducing stress plays a big part in anti-aging.” -Carolyn Murphy
“Flesh isn’t the only source of protein. You can get all the protein you need from a varied plant-based diet. Protein is found in greens, veggies, beans, grains, nuts & seeds, avocados and so on. And there is no need to consume these foods in any special combination.” -Sharon Gannon
“I’ve found that a person does not need protein from meat to be a successful athlete. In fact, my best year of track competition was the first year I ate a vegan diet. Moreover, by continuing to eat a vegan diet, my weight is under control, I like the way I look. (I know that sounds vain, but all of us want to like the way we look.) I enjoy eating more, and I feel great.” -Brendan Brazier, Former professional Ironman triathlete, author, and creator of the Vega line of food products and supplements
“Plant-based nutrition totally works for strength athletes, too, for building muscle. This is because plant-based food is alkaline-forming, and when you eat alkaline foods, it reduces inflammation, and if you reduce inflammation, you increase functionality. And more functional muscles have the ability to lift heavier weight. Lifting heavier weight is what builds bigger, stronger muscles. So, being vegan doesn’t make you a stronger, better athlete, but it allows you to make yourself a stronger, better athlete. It allows you to work harder, and that’s what ultimately makes you a better athlete. It’s just facilitating your body’s ability to work harder, more efficiently.” David Cartner, NFL player, Oakland Raiders
“I definitely have more energy, an easier digestion, increased metabolism, and much reduced recovery time after workouts. I have less inflammation, can train harder and faster, and my heart and joints are much healthier—there is really nothing negative I can think of as being a vegan athlete.” -Mac Danzig, Professional UFC Fighter
“If the truth be known coronary artery disease is a toothless paper tiger that need never, ever exist and if it does exist it need never, ever progress.” -Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
“It’s a really bad day when you find out that everything you were doing wasn’t making people healthy, it was actually just perpetuating them being sick.” -Kerry Graff, MD
“Your longevity depends on the nutrient density of your food, not the ketone density of your urine.” Koushik Reddy, MD
“In the world of medicine, if I put you on a pill, Ii could see you back every three months for the rest of your life. That’s how we make money in medicine. If I put you on a plant-based diet and you get better, I may never see you again.” -James Beenie, MD
“You shouldn’t be drinking cows’ milk for the same reason that if you needed a blood transfusion, I would’t give you cow’s blood. It’s not meant for humans.” Dr. Milton Mills, MD
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