Brigid MOSS
Gemma Newman tells Brigid Moss she transformed her own health through plant-based eating, and sees results in her patients, too
Dr Gemma Newman is a senior partner in an NHS GP practice. For the past four years, she’s seen what appear to be a series of small miracles in her Heathrow surgery. There was the man who worked as a driver, whose licence had been revoked due to having sky-high blood pressure of 200/100mmhg. After a week, his blood pressure was normal, at 120/80. There was the perimenopausal woman, aged 48, whose mood swings and period cramps stopped and, over 10 months, she lost 9lb – without dieting. There was a woman in her 60s whose asthma, kidney condition and Crohn’s disease resolved. “She came to see me a different woman,” says Newman.
What is the secret? A whole foods, plant-based diet, WFPB for short. “Most doctors get into medicine because we hope to help people. Then we end up realising over the years that many of our patients are likely to get worse over time, not better. And that tinkering with medication for chronic diseases can be useful, but not life-changing.”
Newman is one of a new wave of GPS, who prescribe lifestyle changes as well as drugs. She’s known as the Plant Power Doctor on social media, also the name of her new book. But her advice is no Instagram wellness fad. “The evidence that food is a key factor in health is hiding in plain sight,” she says. Plant-based eating has been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and the majority of cancers. It can reduce blood pressure, help to reverse type 2 diabetes. It can eliminate diverticular disease and IBS and alleviate rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and multiple sclerosis. It can improve mental health, help with menopausal symptoms, improve erectile function and skin health. It’s been shown to give you a “real chance at lasting weight loss”, she says, “but with no calorie counting or restricting”.
What are the basics of eating WFPB? In Newman’s book, there are recipes for pancakes and chocolate mousse made with plant milk, a roast vegetable traybake with cannellini beans, vegetable tikka masala and sweet and sour tofu. As long as what’s on your plate comes from a plant, and is unprocessed, you can eat it. You can have toast and sandwiches made with wholegrain bread, nuts and seeds and nut butters, beans and legumes, herbs and spices as well as tofu and plant milks (such as soy, almond, oat, rice) and some extra virgin olive oil. What is out are dairy, eggs, meat or fish, or junk, sugary or processed foods. And that includes vegan junk foods too.
Newman’s own health issues played a part in her dietary conversion. In her 20s, she went up to a size 18. By eating a low carb diet and exercising daily, she reached a size 8. But her blood lipids stayed high – her cholesterol, for one, was high at 6.5mmol/l. She assumed this was hereditary, as both her grandfathers had died of heart related conditions, and her father died suddenly of a heart attack too, aged just 59. Then five years ago, Newman’s husband Richard, a keen runner who
was searching for a way to stop getting injured, found the book Ultra Marathon, by the American vegan author and athlete Rich Roll. Fast forward to his next marathon, and he knocked an hour and 10 minutes off his best time.
Newman began to read up on nutrition, at first about sports recovery, then studies on the conditions her patients suffered from and the mechanisms of how WFPB eating might work. For example, cutting out saturated fat lowers cholesterol – but phytosterols in plants block it from being absorbed and fibre slows its absorption.
She decided to try it herself. When she retested her cholesterol, it was down to 3.5mmol/l. Now, she can stay a healthy weight but without restriction. “It’s not magic. It’s easier to eat fibre rich foods and therefore take in less calories overall whilst filling up and not being hungry.”
If you are a committed meat eater or cheese lover, you may find going vegan is too big a shift. Newman used to be a fan of a steak and a burger and confesses she thought her social life would end. Her patients have concerns, too. “They think it will be socially awkward,” she says. You may
‘Plant based eating offers lasting weight loss with no calorie counting’
‘You don’t need to go 100 per cent vegan... a few small shifts are fine, too’
find it easier if you can pinpoint what it will do for you. For most people, it’s to improve health but it might also be related to the environment or animal welfare. “It’s about a shift in understanding to what you can gain more of in your life. I have a patient who suffered terribly from peripheral vascular disease, which gave him sharp agonising pain in his calves.” After switching to WFPB eating, “he was able to walk his daughter down the aisle”.
Patients have also raised concerns about nutrient deficiency. Last year, a study called EPIC Oxford showed that people who ate a vegan diet were more likely to suffer from fractures – 20 more per 1,000 people over 10 years. “But when they looked at people with a BMI of 22.5 or more [most of us], there was no increased risk. The same study showed a lower risk of heart disease, certain cancers and diverticulosis.” On a wellplanned WBPF, you should get enough calcium and protein, although she does advise vitamin B12 and vitamin D supplements.
And you don’t need to go 100 per cent vegan. Most of the evidence of health benefits is based on eating 85 to 90 per cent. As a GP, Newman is accepting that not everybody will be able to eat this way. “If you’re up for a massive dietary overhaul, that’s your choice. But if you are up for a making a few small shifts, that’s fine too.”