Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) and author of “The 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart,” believes that many of our modern-day problems such as obesity and diabetes can be traced to the high concentration of animal products and dietary fat to which we are exposed. A known author on vegan nutrition and vocal opponent of the high-fat Atkins diet, Dr. Barnard has been encouraging individuals to reduce their dependence on animal products and fat. With over two million books sold, Dr. Barnard is an often-quoted figurehead in the vegan community.
Dr. Barnard’s newest book is called “The 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart,” and it’s based on the principles that the doctor has been promoting for years: switching to a plant-based diet and cutting out cooking oil, which Dr. Barnard claims will boost metabolism, reduce cholesterol, fight diabetes, and offer a slew of overall health benefits. The book is a 21-day guide to switching to a plant-based diet, offering recipes and tips for making the transition.
“The 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart” is focused on making long-term, healthy changes to one’s dietary lifestyle. The diet isn’t concerned so much with counting calories or cardio as it is with simply eating healthy foods all the time. “If you look at other diets, they’re very short-term and artificial. If you go on the Atkins diet, which says don’t eat any fruit, no pasta, no cookies, no bread, it’s not realistic and it’s not healthy,” says Dr. Barnard. “Or if you go on a starvation regimen of eating just 800 calories a day, you just can’t [sustain that], and the weight inevitably comes back. But if you’re eating truly healthful foods, you don’t need to limit calories, carbohydrates or portions, and it becomes a one-way street towards weight loss.”
The vegan diet isn’t just good for reducing obesity, according to Dr. Barnard. He believes that it’s also an effective tool in fighting obesity and metabolic disorders such as diabetes, and that diabetes is caused by small amounts of dietary fat that build up in muscles and reduce the effect of insulin. “…the people who are the slimmest and live the longest and have the least occurrence of diabetes are people who are basing their diets on plant foods,” says Dr. Barnard. “In our research studies, it really does improve people’s diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol. When it comes to diabetes, it’s fairly simple. The cause of type 2 diabetes is microscopic amounts of fat that build up in the muscle cells and stops insulin from working.” Since the plant-based diet advocated by The 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart contains very little fat, any fat remaining in the muscle cells will “drain out” and allow glucose to enter the muscle cells where it can be used for energy, causing blood sugar levels to fall.
Dr. Barnard’s carbohydrate-heavy recommendation for a healthy diet might seem strange to most diabetics. In his description of a typical day’s diet, he describes eating several pancakes with syrup for breakfast then salad and pasta for dinner.
The 21-day diet plan is effective because it’s a long enough period of time for dieters to begin seeing the benefits of the plan. Beyond weight loss, Dr. Barnard says dieters could expect to see lowered cholesterol and blood pressure, increased energy, and increasing interest in the vegan diet as the days pass.