J. Morris Hicks, building on the “common ground” truths from the medical experts

Our upcoming book features five trail-blazing MD’s who tired of a medical paradigm that treated only symptoms. They each first learned about the power of whole plants in different ways, but they all have been reversing chronic disease in thousands of patients for decades — by simply changing their diets. And, during that time, they have all been researching and studying this exciting field for the last 30 or 40 years.

For some of them, they have had trouble making a living because they conduct no expensive procedures and all of their patients get well. A great treatment paradigm for the patient but not a good way to make a living for the doctors. Hence, they have turned to writing books, giving lectures, conducting seminars and retreats in order to made a living. Finally, the world is beginning to listen as prominent people like Bill Clinton have read their works and are heeding their powerful advice.

During the next month, I will dedicate one of my daily blogs to each of these great medical doctors: Neal Barnard of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr. of the Cleveland Clinic, Joel Fuhrman, John McDougall, and Dean Ornish.

While some of these outstanding physicians may disagree on one or two minor aspects of plant-based nutrition for reversing chronic disease, there is a vast amount of “common ground” on which they are all in total agreement. We have built our “4Leaf for Life” on that common ground:

After studying all of their published works of these great doctors, I have concluded that they all agree on this statement by Dr. T. Colin Campbell, “The closer we get to a diet of whole, plant-based foods the better off we will be.” Hence our program encourages our clients to maximize the percent of their calories from these nutritious foods — Simple, effective, reasonable & practical. (Click here for more info on 4Leaf)

I mentioned above that these five doctors didn’t learn about the power of plant-based nutrition in medical school; they learned it on their own — just like I did. You see, as of today, there is no for-credit course in plant-based nutrition offered by any reputable school of nutritional science in the United States. If there is, Dr. T. Colin Campbell of Cornell, would like to know about it.

But there was such a course at Cornell and it was taught by Dr. Campbell for about seven years. Abruptly canceled by the administration (dairy industry pressure), the course is now being taught online by eCornell and Dr. Campbell’s foundation at tcolincampbell.org. That course, which I took in 2009, is approved for continuing education credits for MD’s and RD’s — but is no longer approved for credit toward earning a degree from Cornell University. See my earlier blog on “academic freedom” in nutritional science.

Handy 5-piece take-charge-of-your-health kit—from Amazon.com

• The movie that’s changing the lives of millions: Forks Over Knives DVD 
• Healthy Eating, Healthy World, The “big picture” about food (our book)
• An essential scientific resource: The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell
• Dr. McDougall’s new book, The Starch Solution, with lots of great recipes.
• Dr. Campbell’s new book: WHOLE, Rethinking the Science of Nutrition

Why should we be eating mostly plants? The “big picture” in 4 minutes.

Want to find out how healthy your family is eating? Take our free 4Leaf Survey. It takes less than five minutes and you can score it yourself. After taking the survey, please give me your feedback as it will be helpful in the development of our future 4Leaf app for smartphones. Send feedback to jmorrishicks@me.com

International. We’re now reaching people in over 100 countries. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter or get daily blog notices by “following” us in the top of the right-hand column. For occasional updates, join our periodic mailing list.

J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

To order more of my favorite books—visit our online BookStore now

For help in your own quest to take charge of your health, visit our 4Leaf page and also enjoy some great recipes from Lisa’s 4Leaf Kitchen.

Got a question? Let me hear from you at jmorrishicks@me.com. Or give me a call on my cell at 917-399-9700.

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—J. Morris Hicks, board member, T. Colin Campbell Foundation