Arizona Nurse - October 2021

Page 4 • Arizona Nurse October, November, December 2021
Will Your Next Prescription be for the
Pharmacy or the Farmacy?
Joanne Evans, RN
Adapted from the Indiana
Nurse Association Bulletin
Almost 2500 years ago, Hippocrates said, “Let
food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”
(Smith, 2004). These words are still relevant today.
The leading causes of death in the United States
are heart disease, followed by cancer, chronic lung
disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and chronic
kidney disease (National Center of Health Statistics,
2021). Diabetes is increasing at a rapid rate in the
U.S. (Diabetes Research Institute, 2020). According
to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), over
20,000 prescription drug products are approved
for marketing (U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
2018). The National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey in 2015–2016 shows 45.8% of
the U.S. population uses prescription drugs. Nearly
40% of older adults take five or more prescription
drugs (Martin et al., 2019). All medications, whether
over-the-counter or prescription medications, may
have side effects, including nausea, fever, chills,
headaches, itching, wheezing, tightness in the
chest, vomiting, red and irritated eyes, and the list
goes on. Pharmaceutical companies are the ones
that benefit the most from people being sick.
Is it possible that some chronic diseases could
be prevented or reversed through nutrition?
There has been extensive research for well over
40 years showing how food can be used to treat
and sometimes reverse many chronic diseases.
Campbell and Campbell (2006), Esselstyn (2008),
McDougall (2013), Greger (2015), and Barnard
(2020) have all discussed this in their publications.
Their research shows that plant-based nutrition
prevents and reverses heart disease, diabetes, and
some cancers, decreases cholesterol and reduces
blood sugar levels. Plant-based nutrition also
decreases obesity and complications from being
overweight and improves mood, sleep, energy,
depression, and anxiety; reverses many chronic
diseases and increases work productivity.
In a research study conducted at ten corporate
locations in the U.S., those participants practicing
plant-based nutrition (PBN) showed improvement
in body weight, blood sugar levels, and emotional
state, including depression and anxiety (Agarwal et
al., 2015). In another study, diets that were higher in
plant foods and lower in animal foods were associated
with a lower risk of cardiovascular morbidity and
mortality in a general population, and the longer
the participants adhered to a healthy plant-based
diet, the lower their risk of cardiovascular disease
(Esselstyn et al., 2014). Research shows that obese
patients who followed a plant-based diet had more
weight loss than those who followed a vegetarian
and non-vegetarian diet that included dairy, eggs,
fish, or meat at two-month and six-month intervals
(Turner-McGrievy et al., 2015).
What specifically is PBN? What does it include?
• Vegetables – dark greens, dark yellows and
orange, sweet potato, etc.
• Whole Grains – pasta, rice, corn, whole grain
bread, tortilla, etc.
• Fruit – whole fruit, which is better than juice
due to fiber
• Legumes – beans, peas, lentils, tofu, soymilk,
chickpeas, etc.
• Nuts and seeds
• Limited processed foods
• Avoiding oil, flour, and sugar
According to the American Association of
Colleges of Nursing (2021), there are over 3 million
nurses; therefore, it seems we could make a
dramatic change in health care for people in the
U.S. if we shared information about PBN.
I have conducted several 21-day plant-based
programs utilizing the free, online Kickstart
Program published by the Physicians Committee
for Responsible Medicine (2021). The results
were published in the American Journal of
Nursing (Evans et al., 2017) and the Holistic
Nursing Association Journal (2015). Laboratory
data was collected and analyzed, and results
showed that several participants lowered their
cholesterol by as much as 59 points within a
21-day period, while others lost weight and
reported an improvement in energy and sleep
(Evans, 2015).
In talking with nurses around the country, there
seem to be many reasons nurses do not share
information about PBN. Some of the primary
reasons reported include nurses thought they did
not know enough and were worried they could not
answer the patient’s questions; they thought it was
too difficult; did not know whom to refer patients
to; thought it may be too expensive to adhere
to a PBN diet; and thought patients may not be
interested (Evans, 2020).