By the time you read this post, I’ll be leaving the first conference of my US trip, and heading for TrueNorth Health Center. My 10-day ‘conference bender’ is taking in Dr John McDougall’s Advanced Study Weekend (see the amazing speaker line-up and purchase online access); a study visit to TrueNorth, an amazing facility founded by Drs Alan Goldhamer and Jennifer Marano, specialising in medically-supervised water-only fasting for health recovery; and finally, the 4th International Plant-Based Nutrition Healthcare Conference in Anaheim.

I’ll be posting updates on the conferences (and the odd holiday snap ;-)) on my Facebook page and Twitter account.

This is my third visit to the US to attend the International Plant-Based Nutrition Healthcare Conference, which has become the premier event of its kind in the world. It’s so exciting to learn from the leading doctors, dietitians, researchers and athletes in the plant-based world. (You can read about the previous conferences by visiting my Article Library and scrolling down to the Conference and Seminar Reports section.)

And it’s inspiring and heartening to hear first-hand, as I speak to other attendees, of the incredible changes sweeping the US healthcare system, as beleaguered managed care organisations and hospital systems have begun to recognise the power of a healthy plant-based diet to prevent and even reverse chronic disease, reduce or eliminate the need for medications and surgery… and in the process, save allotta cashola and dramatically improve patients’ and employees’ quality of life.

Here’s just one story: I met Dr Staton Awtrey, a cardiothoracic surgeon, and his wife Blythe, a registered nurse, at the 2nd International Plant-Based Nutrition Healthcare Conference in San Diego in 2014. They told me how they had begun introducing dietary counselling into Staton’s practice, and that as a result, many of the patients sent to him for coronary bypass surgery had opted for dietary treatment instead.

As luck would have it, in the process of doing research for my Honours degree last week I discovered that the hospital Staton is affiliated with – Midland Memorial, in West Texas – has, at his urging, begun to incorporate plant-based nutrition into every arm of its operations, including placing plant-based options on the patient and staff cafeteria menus; reorienting their diabetes education to a plant-based approach; offering patient and staff education programs on Food as Medicine; and incorporating plant-based nutrition into employee wellness programs.

Momentum for the plant-based healthcare revolution is building in the US. You can count on me to do my part to bring the revolution back home!

What changes would you like to see in the Australian healthcare system? Post your comment below.

P.S. Wondering whether I manage to stick with a healthy plant-based diet while I’m travelling? I sure do! Read about my family’s on-the-road experiences during our last trip to California.