After more than 3 years of writing a weekly review I am moving to a monthly offering. This month I focus on the power of healthy lifestyle habits. I am excited to be leading two sessions on plant-based lifestyle medicine at the British Society of Haematology annual conference in April 2023. — Last month the Times Health Commission report recognised the huge contribution that unhealthy diets and lifestyles are making to the national health crisis. …

This week I focus on diet patterns and foods that promote longevity. No surprises, it’s all the healthy plant foods. — This week the Time Health Commission reports on the rising level of chronic ill health in the UK. Not only is this negatively impacting quality of life, but is rapidly becoming unaffordable for a health service and economy that are both near or at breaking point. A third of middle…

This week I focus on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), a condition that is at pandemic proportion, the commonest cause of liver disease globally and the fastest growing indication for liver transplantation. So what can we do about it? —

Happy new year to you all. Welcome to the 10th anniversary of the Veganuary campaign and the international year of millets. I start the year with a reminder that plant-based diets are front and centre of clinical guidelines for prevention and management of chronic conditions. — It may seem that a vegan or plant-based diet is not the ‘go to’ dietary recommendation for the medical community. Yet, all health-promoting diets share in common a handful of key features that are entirely compatible and consistent with a 100% plant-based diet. These common features include an emphasis on…

Extract from the book Eating Plant-Based, Scientific Answers to Your Nutrition Questions (updated version Jan 2023) By Dr Shireen Kassam and Dr Zahra Kassam — Yes, this is correct. The Mediterranean diet is a healthy diet pattern, which is why for 6 years in a row it has been voted the ‘best diet overall’ by a panel of experts for the US World and News Report on best diets (2023). There are a few things…

It has been a challenging year for a number of reasons. Despite this, we have had a busy and productive year furthering our mission to promote whole food plant-based nutrition for individual and planetary health. OUR MEMBERS: We had the opportunity to conduct a research survey of our members. This…

This past year the world has been in turmoil. This has affected food security globally. Diet quality has significantly deteriorated, yet the evidence supporting plant-based diets for cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and obesity management has only strengthened. Here are my highlights. —

This week I cover the topic of diet and multiple sclerosis to coincide with the latest publication from our team. We have reported the case histories of two of our members who have successfully used a whole food plant-based diet to manage symptoms and improve quality of life. — Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory and autoimmune condition affecting the brain and the spinal cord. Conventional pharmaceutical treatments slow the progression but rarely reverse or cure it. Observational studies have suggested an increased risk of MS associated with the consumption of a Western diet pattern, high in saturated fat…

This week I bust some myths about nut consumption. Despite the well documented health benefits, there remains a lot of confusion amongst health professionals and in general, most people in the UK and globally are not consuming enough. — We have decades worth of data supporting the consumption of nuts as part of a healthy diet pattern. Nuts are full of healthy nutrients, being an excellent source of protein, unsaturated fats, fibre, tocopherols (vitamin E family of compounds), folic acid, vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc, selenium, phosphorus, arginine…