Neal Barnard, a physician, clinic researcher and expert on dietary intervention, will give two public talks in January in Little Rock on the relationship between plant-based nutrition and its effects on health.
The first talk, “Plant-based Nutrition and the Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease,” is set for 4-5 p.m. Jan. 7 in the Jo Ellen Ford Auditorium in the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
On Jan. 9, Barnard will give a speech titled, “Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Disease with Plant-based Nutrition,” from noon-1 p.m. in Room G225 of UAMS’ Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health.
Barnard, an adjunct associate professor of medicine in the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, D.C., is president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and of the Washington Center for Clinical Research. He has written a dozen books on health and nutrition, including the most recent, Power Foods for the Brain. He has also been published in peer-reviewed journals about the benefits of vegetarian, vegan and low-fat diets on weight loss, the control of diabetes, cardiovascular health and the risk for Alzheimer’s disease.
Both talks are free and public.
Barnard’s visit coincides with the launch of Kickstart Your Health Little Rock, a public-health initiative aimed at helping residents achieve health goals through nutrition classes, working with restaurants to provide more healthful options, and more. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, UAMS, Baptist Health Medical Center and the state Department of Health are all participating.
As part of the launch, Barnard will host a panel discussion and free screening of Forks Over Knives, a documentary about food’s power to fight chronic diseases, on from 6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 8 at Riverdale 10 Cinema, 2600 Cantrell Road in Little Rock.