Compelling Facts

The rising burden of chronic disease, skyrocketing healthcare costs, and declining life expectancy paint a sobering picture—yet these facts also highlight the urgent need for lifestyle-based solutions that can transform health at both the individual and societal level.

90% of all U.S. healthcare dollars are spent on treating people with chronic health conditions—many of which are preventable through lifestyle changes.
3 in 4 American adults are either overweight or obese.
1 in 3 American youth are overweight or obese.
The Western diet is a primary driver of the global obesity epidemic.
Approximately 20% of U.S. children have cardiovascular risk factors, including hypertension or lipid abnormalities
Nearly half of American adults have hypertension, a condition that significantly increases their risk of stroke and heart attack.
The American Cancer Society estimates that 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will develop cancer in their lifetime.
1 in 2 adults—have diabetes or prediabetes. This places them at markedly increased risk for serious health outcomes, including 160,000 amputations per year, heart disease, stroke, diabetic blindness, kidney disease, and other forms of limb loss.

Type 2 diabetes in U.S. youth is increasing, especially among Black, Hispanic, and Asian-American children and adolescents.
Many experts project type 2 diabetes as the future global epidemic, with diagnosis projections as high as one in three individuals from industrialized nations that have adopted the Standard American Diet.
For diabetes, individuals who follow a plant-based diet have up to a 60% lower risk of developing the condition.
The share of the U.S. economy devoted to health care has risen dramatically—from about 7.2% in 1970 to approximately 17.6% of GDP.
90% of the U.S. senior population consumes prescription drugs; with costs doubling in the last 30 years; complications associated with prescription drugs are the #4 cause of death.
The U.S. ranks 48th globally in life expectancy, according to Worldometer, with an average of 79.6 years.

Why is the Standard American Diet So Toxic?

60% of the diet consists of Ultra-Processed Food
25% of the diet consists of animal based products: meat, dairy and eggs; all of which are disease building blocks laden with fat and dietary cholesterol.
15% is comprised of plant-based foods, with 6% of this being from French fries, leaving about 6% of daily caloric intake coming from plant-based foods (this number also includes things like fruit juice and ketchup).
We’re consuming an average of 170 lb/year of added sugar and sweeteners each year.
We’re consuming an average of 3,400 milligrams of salt a day, more than double the recommended amount (triple the amount recommended by many experts), with the majority derived from processed food.

Eating Whole Plant Foods is the Key

Experts Agree

"It's going to take doctors becoming informed, rising up, banding together, and, in the spirit of the Hippocratic Oath, demanding change of the current system. Physicians are trained to treat symptoms and diseases, rather than addressing the underlying imbalances that perpetuate illness. As physicians begin to change, the system will begin to change, ushering in real healthcare reform and a sustainable system. This will require a grassroots effort on the part of physicians."

Scott Stoll, MD

Co-Founder and Board Chairman, The Plantrician Project

“What’s good for you is also good for our planet. Although heart disease and diabetes kill more people each year worldwide than all other diseases combined, these are completely preventable and even reversible for at least 95% of people today by changing our diet and lifestyle.”

Dean Ornish, MD

Author & Founder, Preventive Medicine Research Institute

When I began my experimental research program on the effects of nutrition on cancer and other diseases, I assumed it was healthy to eat plenty of meat, milk and eggs. But eventually, our evidence raised questions about some of my most-cherished beliefs and practices. Our findings, published in top peer-reviewed journals, pointed away from meat and milk as the building blocks of a healthy diet, and toward whole, plant-based foods with little or no added oil, sugar or salt."