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Renowned Stanford professor Christopher Gardner recently discussed the lack of nutrition education given to medical students.
Read more: Leading UK Nutritionist Busts Myths Around Vegan Pregnancies
Gardner, who has taught nutrition at Stanford since 1993, was speaking to plant-based specialist Dr Alan Desmond. In a clip posted to Instagram, Dr Desmond asked Gardner: “What is your doctor not telling you about food?”
To this, Gardner replied that doctors were “pretty much not telling you everything because doctors don’t get any nutrition education.”
“There’s such a small amount,” he added. “I teach nutrition to Stanford med students. I get four sessions their entire career. And each session is 20 minutes of lecture and a whole bunch of time doing case studies.” He added that he only gets 80 minutes with Stanford Medical School classes “in all the years they’ve been.”
Dr Desmond then stated: “So I asked you what are people’s doctors not telling them about food, and the answer is ‘everything’.” To this, Gardner replied: “Yes.”
Read more: Austria’s New Dietary Guidelines Recommend Less Meat, More Plant Proteins
The importance of nutrition education
A number of experts believe that a lack of nutrition education for doctors is a significant issue. This is because plant-based diets have been shown to greatly reduce the risk of developing several major diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers.
Gardner recently made headlines after leading the Stanford “Twin Nutrition Study” that featured in Netflix documentary You Are What You Eat (released in January of this year). The study followed several groups of identical twins. One twin followed an omnivorous diet, while the other ate a whole food, plant-based diet. The twins who followed the animal-free diet had reduced LDL cholesterol, body weight, and insulin compared to the meat-eating twin. In a statement at the time, Gardner said that that study provided “a groundbreaking way to assert that a vegan diet is healthier than the conventional omnivore diet.”
By advocating for plant-based nutrition, therefore, doctors can help their patients minimize their chances of developing the biggest killer diseases
In the caption of the video with Gardner, Dr Desmond said that “things are changing” within the medical community when it comes to lifestyle medicine. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a US nonprofit that advocates for preventative medicine, is being increasingly utilized by doctors and other medical workers. The group recently held a conference named the International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine (ICNM) in Washington DC, with Dr Desmond and many other health professionals in attendance.
“It’s been so encouraging to meet many young doctors ,medical students, dietitian, nurses and other health professionals at ICNM 2024 with @physicianscommittee in Washington DC this week,” Dr Desmond wrote. “Learning the true power of a healthy diet at the beginning of their careers.”
Read more: Dr Peter Attia: ‘You Don’t Have To Eat Animal Protein’
