Moving Medicine Forward : What More Doctors Should Know About Nutrition and How It Can Save Your Life

A healthy, plant-based diet is proven to help reverse chronic illnesses like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension—but why is it so hard to get your doctor on board?

As a young family physician, Dr. Michael Klaper dreaded seeing patients with cardiovascular disease and other chronic ailments, knowing that all he could offer was medication to slow down the inevitable worsening of their symptoms. Like many modern doctors, he had an unintended blindspot over the nutrition factor: Food is woven through every part of health, and common problems like high blood pressure, clogged arteries, and obesity can be reversed through an optimal plant-based diet.

After adopting a comprehensive approach to his practice, he’s calling on other medical professionals to do the same—and empowering individuals to make the best choices for their own health. Combining Dr. Klaper’s in-depth research and firsthand experience, Moving Medicine Forward explains:

• How nutritional guidance has helped his own patients cease taking medications for common “lifetime” conditions
• What the latest science tells us about the devastating impact that eating animal products has on the human body
• Why well-meaning physicians are pushed to prioritize pharmaceutical treatments over more effective, long-term solutions for healing
• Strategies for preventing (and in some cases, reversing) common conditions including cardiovascular disease, liver disease, Alzheimer’s, ALS, and more
• How to create a doctor-patient relationship that prioritizes clear communication, evidence-based medicine, and patient autonomy

For both patients seeking a straightforward, nutrition-based path to health and doctors who want to do their best by their patients, this book remedies the gap in knowledge between diet and metabolic disease, while empowering readers with the tools they need to heal and live well. The health care “status quo” is failing all of us. It’s time to move medicine forward.

Michael Klaper, MD, is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. He has practiced acute care medicine in Hawaii, Canada, California, Florida, and New Zealand and for the past 35 years, has been focusing upon health-promoting food and lifestyle choices to help reverse disease and prevent the need for hospitalization and surgery. 

Dr. Klaper is board-certified by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and has served as nutrition advisor to NASA’s programs for space colonists on the Moon and Mars. He recently joined the staff of Aroga Lifestyle Medicine Clinic in Victoria, BC, and continues his work with the nonprofit Moving Medicine Forward initiative (MovingMedForward.org), which teaches medical students about reversing chronic disease utilizing plant-predominant nutrition.

Glen Merzer is a playwright, screenwriter, film director, podcast host, and author. He has authored or co-authored more than a dozen books advocating a diet of whole plant foods. Glen’s latest books are Food Is Climate: A Response to Al Gore, Bill Gates, Paul Hawken, and the Conventional Narrative on Climate Change; Own Your Health; and America Goes Vegan! Glen has started a podcast cleverly named The Glen Merzer Show, which can be found on YouTube and other podcast platforms. He recently directed his first feature film, Buddhist Blues. You can find Glen at GlenMerzer.com.