Plant-Based Doctors Ireland’s upcoming conference to address how plant-based diets can benefit our health and the world around us

Busting the myths around plant-based diets, and how our food choices can impact on our health and the environment, these are just some of the interesting topics to be addressed at an upcoming medical conference in Dublin.

Plant-Based Doctors Ireland; a team of Irish-based healthcare professionals including GPs, hospital consultants and dietitians who promote the benefits of a plant-based diet for our health and the world around us, will host its second conference on Saturday the 29th of February in the Catherine McCauley Centre at the Mater Hospital in Dublin.

A plant-based diet is one that is based on foods derived from plants, including vegetables, wholegrains, legumes, nuts, seeds and fruits, with few or no animal products.

The Mediterranean diet is one such diet that is largely plant-based and has long been hailed as the heart healthy diet.

At its core, the Mediterranean diet is an entire dietary pattern rich in fruits and vegetables, wholegrains, olive oils, beans, nuts, seeds, and legumes in addition to oily fish. It also contains moderate amounts of dairy while consumption of red and processed meats along with sweets, is low. The Mediterranean diet is high in good fats (mostly monounsaturated fats that have been shown to lower cholesterol levels) which come from nuts, seeds and olive oils.

According to Plant-Based Doctors Ireland, “the interest of sustainable and healthy diets within healthcare continues to grow…there have been a series of publications highlighting serious environmental issues (IPBES), potential solutions (EAT- Lancet) and a call for healthcare professionals to become involved in climate action (The Lancet, WONCA). This has led to much media discussion, discourse and often confusion.

“The second Plant-Based Doctors Ireland conference will address these uncertainties and provide an opportunity to examine why the everyday work of Irish healthcare professionals is an exciting opportunity to lead change. We will again explore the possibilities of a whole food plant-based diet to not only prevent but to treat and potentially reverse common chronic diseases. We will take a closer look at the impact our diet has on our environment, ask why our behaviour is so often at odds to the natural world upon which we depend and offer evidence-based solutions for consideration.”

Topics due to be discussed at the conference include, ageing and its relationship to a plant based diet, a preventive cardiology approach to diabesity, women’s health and how what we eat and how it is produced will change our bodies and our world.

Welcoming the conference Tim Collins, CEO of the Irish Heart Foundation said, “We need to accelerate the transition to a largely plant based diet if we are to have any chance of effectively combating the climate crisis. This important conference linking health and sustainability in the context of a plant-based diet has an important part to play in arming all of us with the facts.”

For more information on the Plant-Based Doctors Ireland conference please see here

For suggestions of ways to eat well for your heart please see here