# Neal D. Barnard

Neal D. Barnard (born 10 July 1953) is an American animal rights activist, physician and founding president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). Barnard has authored books advocating a whole food plant-based dietary eating pattern.

## Early life and education

Barnard was born and grew up in Fargo, North Dakota. He received medical training at George Washington University School of Medicine, where he began exploring vegan diets. He is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a lifetime member of the American Medical Association.
Barnard is an activist for animal rights. He is associated with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and has written for their magazine Animal Times.

## Career

Barnard founded Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) in 1985 to promote preventive medicine. By 2016, the Washington D.C.–based PCRM had 150,000 members, including 12,000 physicians, and reported revenues of more than $20 million. He appeared in the documentaries Super Size Me (2004), Forks Over Knives (2011), PlantPure Nation (2015), and What the Health (2017). Since 2003, Barnard has served as an adjunct professor of medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine. In January 2016, Barnard founded the Barnard Medical Center in Washington, D.C., which provides primary care with a focus on nutrition guidance.
In his active practice, Barnard works with patients with diabetes, obesity, and other conditions in clinical research protocols. He plays cello, guitar, and keyboards. He has been a member of the bands Pop Maru, Verdun, and Carbonworks. Alec Baldwin once called Barnard "Eddie Van Halen with a medical degree".
In 2011, Barnard was inducted into the Vegetarian Hall of Fame of the North American Vegetarian Society during its summer conference, where he has occasionally spoken.
In February 2013, Barnard published the book Power Foods for the Brain: An Effective 3-Step Plan to Protect Your Mind and Strengthen Your Memory. In the book, Barnard discusses research on the effects of food choices on the brain, such as Alzheimer's disease risk, as well as plant-based diets in "Blue Zones" and the connection between food choices and longevity.
By 2019, Barnard had authored 20 books, including The Vegan Starter Kit: Everything You Need to Know about Plant-based Eating.
He has hosted four PBS television programs on nutrition and health.

## Diabetes

Barnard authored the 2009 book Dr Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes. It argues that a low-fat vegan diet can stabilize blood sugar and insulin function and minimize medication within weeks. Jim Mann has commented that although a low-fat vegan diet can help to promote weight loss to manage diabetes "some of the claims made by the author are overrated; in particular, to imply that Type 1 diabetes can be reversed is mischievous".
Elaine Rush stated that although the book does include some sound advice, "not all diabetes can be reversed and therefore the title of this book is misleading." She also suggested that Barnard's low-fat vegan diet would not be suitable for children or pregnant women without expert support. Peter Lipson of Science-Based Medicine has criticized Barnard's views on low-fat vegan diets reversing type 2 diabetes as based on only one study, commenting "This is not a study on which to hang an entire medical philosophy". According to Lipton, weight loss is more important than a specific type of diet in determining diabetes improvement and the idea that a particular diet is a panacea is untrue.

## Awards

* Lifestyle Medicine Trailblazer Award, 2016 from The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM)
* 6th Plantrician Project Luminary Award, 2019 – from The Plantrician Project

## Personal life

Barnard plays cello, guitar, and keyboards and has been a member of the bands Pop Maru, Verdun, and Carbonworks.

## Selected publications

* Dr Neal Barnard's Program for Reversing Diabetes (Rodale Press, 2009)
* Power Foods for the Brain: An Effective 3-Step Plan to Protect Your Mind and Strengthen Your Memory (Grand Central Publishing, 2013)
* The Cheese Trap: How Breaking a Surprising Addiction Will Help You Lose Weight, Gain Energy, and Get Healthy (Grand Central Publishing, 2017)