‘If clinicians aim to protect their patients, they need to consider protecting our planet’
Doctors should take advantage of appointments with patients to encourage them to eat less meat and more lentils, according to two medical students who are also vegans.
University of Rochester students Akhil Mahant and Jacob Zevitz at the University of Kansas medical schools made their argument recently at MedPage Today.
The “climate crisis” “rears its ugly head in clinical settings” and not just through “melting ice caps, rising sea levels, or massive forest fires,” the pair wrote on Sunday.
The students wrote “a major shift in global market demand toward plant-based rather than animal agriculture is necessary.” And this is where doctors come into the equation. “By integrating plant-based diets into patient counseling, doctors can play a central role in propelling this shift,” they argue.
Doctors have to start slow, according to Mahant (pictured, left) and Zevitz (pictured, right).
They write:
Physicians should acknowledge that some animal-based products, while less sustainable, can still be part of a healthy lifestyle. They should also be mindful of cultural differences in diet, which may impact preferences, and can be acknowledged in an appropriate manner. Even if patients aren’t ready to go completely plant-based, encouraging incremental shifts — such as participating in “meatless Mondays or opting for oat milk over dairy milk — can carry significant environmental benefits.
Citing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the students say, “a global shift to vegetarian diets would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 6 billion metric tons annually, while a shift to vegan diets could reduce emissions by about 8 billion metric tons; that’s nearly 2 billion metric tons — or 33% — more.”
Doctors can begin to probe their patients about their diet, the students write.
“Eating more fruits and vegetables is also a great way to reduce your carbon footprint,” the doctor could say.
“Reducing animal product consumption also helps protect the environment,” the doctors might also say.
Then, the students suggest, the doctor might ask: “Have you considered going plant-based or vegan?”
Patients might be wary. It’s important, the students argue, to be careful in framing the issue.
“Doctors should frame this change not as a restriction, but an addition,” they wrote. “You’re not cutting out meat, you’re adding beans and lentils. You’re not giving up flavor, you’re discovering new spices and herbs.”
The situation, after all, is dire, according to the essay.
“By prescribing what patients put on their plates, we’re also prescribing a means to save our planet.”
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IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: Medical students Akhil Mahant and Jacob Zevitz; Personal LinkedIn profiles