Doctors agree, a vegetarian diet is more than just a lifestyle choice: It can actually heal what ails you. We are encouraging medical schools to teach students the latest science, and doctors to prescribe vegetarian diets as indicated. Our medical resource, Plant-Based Diets in Medicine, provides well-researched articles to support them.

The Prescribe Vegetarian Campaign

Teach doctors to use this powerful medicine

Doctors are joining Vegetarians of Washington in urging that young doctors be trained to recommend vegetarian diets for everything from diabetes, heart disease, obesity, to even some forms of cancer.

It may seem surprising to think that a vegetarian diet could be used in just the same way doctors use drugs and surgery, but those who promote the medical benefits of a vegetarian diet have a powerful ally on their side: Science! A large amount of high quality scientific research, published in America’s leading mainstream medical journals, has been building up for many years now. Vegetarians of Washington, and the many doctors who support them, say that this evidence demonstrates that when a patient changes their diet to a vegetarian diet, they can often lower their blood pressure, clean out their arteries, reduce their dependence on medications, and experience a dramatic reduction in the symptoms of disease.

People complain that their doctors can’t help them when it comes to nutrition, and have little advice to offer, because they weren’t taught it in medical school. Patients often have no choice but to go it alone if they want to use nutritional medicine to get well. In a national study, over 90% of doctors felt their training in nutrition was inadequate. Patients deserve better than that, and the public deserves doctors who don’t turn a blind eye to life-saving treatments.

We decided to do something about this!

Donate to the Prescribe Vegetarian Campaign – This campaign is entirely funded by your donations.  We particularly need support now for our Medical Seminar, and to cover Author Publishing Charges when submitting articles to peer reviewed medical journals.  If you support this campaign, please consider making a tax-deductible donation. Vegetarians of Washington is a 501(c)3 organization, registered in the state of Washington.

The Campaign’s Successes So Far

Medical Schools

We worked with the Dean of Curriculum at the University of Washington medical school, to look into incorporating valuable information on the prevention and treatment of various diseases with a vegetarian diet into the new UW medical school curriculum.

We have given a presentation to resident physicians at Tacoma General hospital, and several presentations to naturopathic medical students at Bastyr University, including a full day seminar.

Many medical doctors, and students from both UW School of Medicine and Bastyr University’s Naturopathic Medicine program, attend the annual Vegfest Medical Seminar.

Practicing Physicians

Medical Seminar – At Vegfest 2019, we held our 4th annual medical seminar for physicians and medical students, focused on the prevention and treatment of disease with a plant-based diet. This 2 hour seminar featured regional physicians talking about the latest research and their clinical experience in a selection of specialties.

Watch videos of 2018 presentations.

Online Resource – To explain the many health benefits of a vegetarian diet to doctors, we provide educational postings to familiarize doctors with the science and clinical application of vegetarian nutritional medicine on our website Plant-Based Diets in Medicine. Articles are all fully referenced, and most have been published in medical journals. They include a wide range of topics such as Type II Diabetes, Crohn’s Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis,  and even cataracts.

Medical Journals – We are also sending letters and articles to recognized peer-reviewed medical journals, and have had a letter and 30 journal articles published so far, including:

• Heart Disease – Prevention and Treatment with a plant-based diet
• The Prevention and Treatment of Type II Diabetes Mellitus with a plant-based diet
• The Prevention and Treatment of Crohn’s Disease with a plant-based diet
• Chronic Kidney Disease: A Plant-Based Diet prevents and treats CKD
• A Plant-Based Diet prevents and treats Prostate Cancer
• Rheumatoid Arthritis: Prevention and Treatment with a plant-based diet

We continue to publish new articles regularly. Typical Author Publishing Charges are $1250 per article, so we are seeking support to cover these costs with donations.

Published book – The Prevention and Treatment of Disease with a Plant-Based Diet

We published the first 25 of our journal articles in a textbook for physicians.  This unique, fully-referenced book will guide the practicing physician on how to treat their patients with a plant-based diet, in addition to medication and surgery.

Presentations – We can offer an introductory presentation, and some presentations focused on particular specialties, specifically designed for doctors and medical students, which we are happy to give to groups of doctors or medical students. Please register your interest using the form below.

Referrals – As doctors sign up to support this campaign, we are maintaining an online list of Supporting Physicians.  You may find this list useful for referrals to doctors who are supportive of using a plant-based diet to help treat or prevent disease. If you’re a physician who is supportive of this campaign, please contact us.

Host a Presentation on Plant-Based Nutritional Medicine

We are happy to provide a knowledgeable speaker to give a presentation to groups of doctors or other interested groups. Please register your interest in hosting a presentation below, and we will contact you.