"Tastiest Raw Vegan Pizza I Ever Made" photo by Judy Pokras
According to wikipedia, Kaiser Permanente is the largest managed care organization in the United States, with 8.9 million health plan members, 167,300 employees, 14,600 physicians, 37 medical centers, and 611 medical offices. Founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, it's comprised of three groups of entities: the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and its regional operating subsidiaries; Kaiser Foundation Hospitals; and the autonomous regional Permanente Medical Groups. Wikipedia also says: "In its most recently reported year, the non-profit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals entities reported a combined $1.6 billion in net income on $47.9 billion in operating revenues."
So when the medical journal of a large organization/business like Kaiser Permanente comes out with an article recommending that people switch to a plant-based diet, this is BIG news. Especially in a country and culture dominated by fast-food, processed food and meals made from animal parts and secretions. Although some people who avoid food made from animals do so for purely ethical reasons (admirably opposing cruelty to animals and not wanting to cannibalize their fellow creatures), the fact is, a plant-based diet is just plain better for health.
Here's a quote from the article, "Nutritional Update for Physicians: Plant-Based Diets,"
in the Spring 2013 issue of The Permanente Journal, a peer-reviewed journal of medical science, social science in medicine, and medical humanities:
Healthy eating may be best achieved with a plant-based diet, which we define as a regimen that encourages whole, plant-based foods and discourages meats, daily products, and eggs as well as all refined and processed foods.We applaud Permanente for publishing the article, written by Philip J Tuso, MD; Mohamed H Ismail, MD; Benjamin P Ha, MD; Carole Bartolotto, MA, RD.
And as always, we encourage entrepreneurs to open more restaurants and food businesses with only plant-based food on their menus. As we wrote here. Because, if you are a vegan (let alone a raw vegan), you know how nearly impossible it is to find anything remotely interesting to eat in the vast majority of restaurants. And unless you are lucky enough to live in a large city, if you want to go out to eat, you will be out of luck.
