[100% veg*n ] How much doesn't your doctor know about nutrition?

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"swpgh01.t21" <swpgh01.t21vegan-network Sent: Monday, July 6, 2009 11:35:58 AM[100% veg*n ] How much doesn't your doctor know about nutrition?

 

Doctors are a class of individuals in our society whom are some of the most revered. In order to become a doctor you have to have a nearly flawless undergraduate career, score very well on what may be the most difficult of standardized tests, survive three or more grueling years of medical school, take another very difficult exam, and from that point there is even more schooling depending on the specialty. As a reward for all of this hard work, doctors are some of the highest paid professionals in the country and are elevated to level of nearly ubiquitous trust. And why not? Should we not trust our doctors to always know what's best for us and our health? Yes, of course we should, with the exception of the few individuals out there who don't have their patient's best interests at heart, one should always take a doctor's recommendation very seriously.But.Any given doctor knows only what he or she has learned (this rule applies to

anyone, not just doctors.) So, what, exactly does the average physician know about nutrition? Of course, would-be doctors take nutrition classes as a basic part of their med-school curriculum, right? Actually, no. According to various surveys, only somewhere between 30-40% of medical schools have a required nutrition course. So, at most, 40% percent of physicians have taken one... one single course in nutrition, most often in their first year. Furthermore, according to Dr. Colin Campbell, author of The China Study (a book everyone should read), from a report published in 1999, the educational material provided to medical schools for their nutrition courses are produced by a consortium consisting of: The Dannon Institute, Egg Nutrition Board, Cattleman's Beef Association, National Dairy Council, Nestle Clinical Nutrition, Wyeth-Ayerst Laboratories, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, and Baxter Healthcare Corporation. If you're unfamiliar with these companies

then just know that they are meat, dairy, egg, and drug companies. I'm not necessarily crying conspiracy, but ask yourself if the aforementioned companies would have any sort of vested interest in controlling what doctors know about nutrition.If you've been a vegan/vegetarian for a while then you've likely run into someone who says something along these lines, "I was a vegan/vegetarian but my doctor said I was low on X (where X could be any sort of nutritional requirement: calcium, iron, protein etc.) so now I eat meat and dairy." Remember, it's very likely that your doctor has had no nutritional training, whatsoever, so he or she essentially knows as much as you do with regards your nutritional needs. If you had one of those doctors who did take that one nutrition course in their first year of med-school, that course was likely nothing more than a veiled advertisement for meat and dairy being essential parts of the human diet. We've all seen

the got milk ads and have been inundated by the idea that meat is the only source of protein iron and that diary is the only source of vitamin-D and calcium. So when you walk into the doctor's office and tell him or her that you are a vegan/vegetarian he or she, as a knee jerk reaction, will tell you that you have some sort of nutrition deficiency. It's not their fault, they just don't know any better. In my experience, pediatric visits can be the worst. Nothing is more terrifying than a person in a position of authority telling you that you are harming your child. But, again, your kid's pediatrician likely knows little to nothing about nutrition and if he or she does, then the one thing they do know is that a kid who doesn't eat meat or dairy is an unhealthy kid. So, what do you do if you're worried about yours or your kid's nutrition? Go see a dietitian. Think of it this way, if rain is leaking through my roof, I don't call a plumber, even

though plumbers know a little bit about leaky things, they don't know how to fix a leaky roof, close but no cigar. Dietitians spend their entire careers dedicated to the study of human nutrition, though, they are still not immune to the intense propaganda of the meat and dairy industry. So, if you live in Omaha, and your a vegan/vegetarian wanting to check on the nutrition status of your family, go see Martha Nepper, a registered dietitian at Hy-Vee on 50th and Center. She is an excellent dietitian with a very well rounded understanding of vegan and non-vegan nutrition. She has done a very good job of taking care of myself and my vegan kids. Also the Vegetarian Resource Group has vegan dietitians onhand that can field your questions via phone or e-mail or refer you to a vegan dietitian in your area as well as a wealth of documentation available for delivery about vegan health. They are an excellent resource for vegan nutrition. Lastly, I

thought you might be interested to know that neither Creighton University nor UNMC have a nutrition course as part of their medical school curriculum.(Again, always take your doctor's recommendations very seriously, however, a second opinion is never a waste of time.)Author: Andrew Hickman