Last weekend, I rallied at the White House with 100 fellow doctors to share an urgent message with America: Break the meat habit to improve your health.
Why now? Poor diet is the No. 1 cause for disease and death in the country, recently even surpassing smoking. Meat has been strongly linked to America's top killers, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and even certain types of cancer.
Unfortunately, Americans are among the biggest meat-eaters on the planet, consuming a whopping 270.7 pounds of meat per person each year.
Two new studies released this week add further proof that Americans need to break the meat habit. The first, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, found that eating more animal protein increased the risk of early death, while eating more plant protein reduced the risk. The second study, an analysis of obesity in 170 countries, found that meat is as much to blame for obesity as sugar.
We hope that Americans take this message to heart and break the meat habit for themselves and their families.
The doctors who rallied at the White House were among the more than 700 doctors and other health professionals who participated in the Physicians Committee's International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine on July 29 and 30, where they learned how to educate their patients about the dangers of meat and the benefits of a plant-based diet.
Among the conference presenters were Mariana C. Stern, Ph.D., who co-authored the World Health Organization report that declared processed meats carcinogenic to humans, and Christina Warinner, Ph.D., who discussed the misconceptions of the meat-heavy Paleo diet.
Are you a doctor who wants to make a difference? Save the date! Join us at next year's International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine in Washington, D.C., July 28 and 29.