The Ultimate Plant-Based Resource Guide

Want To Know More About the Plant-based Vegan Diet?

Are you vegan, vegetarian, or interested in the plant-based diet? Perhaps you are:

New to this diet and lifestyle
You want to find out more for yourself
You want to refer newbies to the best information and resources
You have been following this lifestyle but want to know more

If any of this applies to you, then I have what I believe is the ultimate plant-based resource guide.

Here is a list of my recommended books, recipe books, websites, blogs and podcasts.

These includes a roll-call of world–renowned doctors and researchers who are the leading authorities on the benefits of a plant based diet:

Book List

Dr Neal Barnard – an American physician, author, clinical researcher.

Dr Barnard is founding president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM).

PCRM is an international network of physicians, scientists, and laypeople who promote preventive medicine, conduct clinical research, and promote higher standards in research.

As of 2013, Dr Barnard is an adjunct associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Books by Dr Neal Barnard, M D:

Dr Dean Ornish – is a physician and president and founder of the non-profit Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California.

Dr Ornish is also Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

Books by Dr Dean Ornish, M D:

Dr Joel Fuhrman – is a NY Times best-selling author and nutritional researcher.

Dr Fuhrman specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional and natural methods.

He is an internationally recognized expert on nutrition and natural healing, and has appeared on hundreds of radio and television shows including the Dr. Oz show, the Today Show, Good Morning America, and Live with Kelly.

Books by Dr Joel Fuhrman, M D:

Dr John McDougall — is an American-Irish physician and author.

Dr McDougall’s philosophy is that degenerative disease can be prevented and treated with a low–fat, whole foods, plant–based/vegan diet — especially one based on starches such as potatoes, rice, and corn — which excludes all animal foods and added vegetable oils.

Books by Dr John McDougall, M D:

Dr T Colin Campbell – for more than 40 years, Dr. T. Colin Campbell has been at the forefront of nutrition research.

His legacy, the China Project, is the most comprehensive study of health and nutrition ever conducted.

Dr Campbell is the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University.

Books by Dr T Colin Campbell:

Dr Thomas Campbell – In addition to being medical director of the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies, Dr. Campbell co-founder and clinical director of the University of Rochester Program for Nutrition in Medicine.

A board certified family physician, Dr T. Campbell also sees patients part time in an traditional primary care practice in Rochester, NY.

Books by Dr Thomas Campbell, MD:

The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health (co-authored with his father, Dr T Colin Campbell)
The Campbell Plan: The Simple Way to Lose Weight and Reverse Illness, Using The China Study’s Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet

Dr Caldwell Esselstyn – is an American surgeon and former Olympic rowing champion.

He is a leading proponent in the field of plant-based diets and starred in the 2011 American documentary, ‘Forks Over Knives’.

Books by Dr Caldwell Esselstyn, M D (and family):

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure
The Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease Cookbook: Over 125 Delicious, Life-Changing, Plant-Based Recipes – by Anne Esselstyn and Jane Esselstyn

Dr Joel Kahn – America’s Holistic Heart Doctor. Joel Kahn, MD, serves as Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.

Dr Kahn is also Director of Cardiac Wellness at Michigan Healthcare Professionals.

Dr Kahn is a devoted athlete, vegan and yoga practitioner.

Books by Dr Joel Kahn, M D:

Dr Michael Greger – internationally-renowned nutrition expert, physician, and founder of the wildly popular plant-based nutrition information resource NutritionFacts.org.

Books by Dr Michael Greger, M D:

Dr Garth Davis – is certified by the American Board of Surgery and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and a Fellow of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

Dr. Davis is a recognized expert in initial bariatric procedures as well as revisional bariatric surgery. He is frequently asked to give lectures to both patient and physician audiences alike.

Dr Davis is also a passionate advocate of the vegan plant-based diet and an accomplished athlete, with multiple marathons and an Ironman triathlon under his belt.

Books by Dr Garth Davis, M D:

Proteinaholic: How Our Obsession with Meat is Killing Us and What We Can Do About It

Dr Michael Klaper – is an acclaimed physician, author and radio personality. Dr Klaper has been a sought-out expert in natural health and nutrition for more than 35 years.

Dr. Klaper serves as Director of the Institute of Nutrition Education and Research.

He has also served as a member of the Nutrition Task Force of the American Medical Student Association, and as an advisor to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (N.A.S.A.)

Books by Dr Michael Klaper, M D:

Julieanna Hever – is a Plant-Based Registered Dietitian and ACE-Certified Personal Trainer.

Also known as The Plant-Based Dietitian, Julieanna is a passionate advocate of the miracles associated with following a whole food, plant–based diet — the established effects of which provide positive healthful benefits.

Books by Julieanna Hever:

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Gluten-Free Vegan Cooking (co–authored with Beverly Lynn Bennett)
The Vegiterranean Diet: The New and Improved Mediterranean Eating Plan–with Deliciously Satisfying Vegan Recipes for Optimal Health

Rip Esselstyn — a former firefighter and triathlete, is an American health activist and food writer.

Books by Rip Esselstyn:

Lani Muelrath — an award-winning teacher, transition strategist, fitness expert and dietary coach Lani Muelrath, M.A., CGFI, CPBN, FNS has been on her own plant-based journey for more than 40 years and has helped thousands of clients lose weight and live more healthy and plant-filled lives.

Books by Lani Muelrath:

Skinny Bitch – is a diet book and book series written by Rory Freedman, a former modeling agent and Kim Barnouin, a former model.

Books by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin:

Victoria Moran — is an American author and speaker. She has written a number of books specializing in both spirituality and veganism.

Recipe Book List

The Plant Power Way: Whole Food Plant-Based Recipes and Guidance for the Whole Family – by Rich Roll and Julie Piatt
Vegan Casseroles – by Julie Hasson
Chloe’s Vegan Italian Kitchen – by Chloe Coscarell
The Main Street Vegan Academy Cookbook: Over 100 Plant-Sourced Recipes Plus Practical Tips for the Healthiest, Most Compassionate You – by Victoria Moran
Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook – by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero
How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food – by Mark Bittman
Appetite for Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes – by Isa Chandra Moskowitz
The Conscious Cook: Delicious Meatless Recipes That Will Change the Way You Eat – by Tal Ronnen
The Oh She Glows Cookbook: Over 100 Vegan Recipes to Glow from the Inside Out – by Angela Liddon
Vegan Cooking for Carnivores: Over 125 Recipes So Tasty You Won’t Miss the Meat – by Ellen DeGeneres’ personal chef, Roberto Martin
Forks Over Knives – The Cookbook: Over 300 Recipes for Plant-Based Eating All Through the Year – by Chef Del Sroufe and his collaborators Julieanna Hever, Judy Micklewright, Isa Chandra Moskowitz, and Darshana Thacker
The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook: 125 Easy and Delicious Recipes to Jump-Start Weight Loss and Help You Feel Great – by Dr. Neal Barnard and nutritionist Robyn Webb
The China Study Cookbook: Over 120 Whole Food, Plant-Based Recipes – by LeAnne Campbell, daughter of The China Study author T. Colin Campbell, PhD
Laura Theodore’s Vegan-Ease: An Easy Guide to Enjoying a Plant-Based Diet – by Laura Theodore
Jazzy Vegetarian Classics: Vegan Twists on Family Favorites – by Laura Theodore
Vegan for Everyone: 160 Family Friendly Recipes with a Delicious, Modern Twist – by Laura Theodore
Easy Vegan Home Cooking – by Laura Theodore
Plant-Strong: Discover the World’s Healthiest Diet–with 150 Engine 2 Recipes – by Rip Esselstyn
The Homemade Vegan Pantry: The Art of Making Your Own Staples – by Miyoko Schinner

Recipe Websites

Websites and blogs for general information on the plant-based diet

Plant-based nutrition and educational videos

The Game Changers – directed by Oscar®-winning documentary filmmaker Louie Psihoyos and executive produced by James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, Lewis Hamilton, Novak Djokovic, and Chris Paul.

The Game Changers tells the story of James Wilks — elite Special Forces trainer and The Ultimate Fighter winner — as he travels the world on a quest to uncover the optimal diet for human performance.

Showcasing elite athletes, special ops soldiers, visionary scientists, cultural icons, and everyday heroes, what James discovers permanently changes his understanding of food and his definition of true strength.

Forks Over Knives – examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the so-called “diseases of affluence” that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods.

The major storyline in the film traces the personal journeys of a pair of pioneering yet under-appreciated researchers, Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn.

Maximum Nutrition- transitioning towards a plant based diet – Dr Michael Greger

To Your Health -is an in-depth study of whole food, plant-based nutrition, debunking the most common myths associated with modern nutrition.

Exploring your need for protein, calcium, supplements, metabolism, and other issues.

To Your Health provides answers to your biggest questions.

Follow Julieanna Hever (a.k.a The Plant-Based Dietitian) as she travels the country to interview the biggest names in the Plant-Based world including Dr. T. Colin Campbell (The China Study), Dr. Joel Fuhrman (Eat to Live), Dr. John McDougall (The McDougall Program), Dr. Neal Barnard (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) and many more.

Cowspiracy – Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret is a ground-breaking feature-length environmental documentary.

Follow intrepid filmmaker Kip Andersen as he uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today.

Kip investigates why the world’s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it. – Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn

What The Health – Filmmaker Kip Andersen uncovers the secret to preventing and even reversing chronic diseases.

Kip investigates why the nation’s leading health organizations doesn’t want people to know about it.

What the Health is the groundbreaking follow-up film from the creators of the award-winning documentary Cowspiracy. The film exposes the collusion and corruption in government and big business that is costing us trillions of healthcare dollars, and keeping us sick.

What The Health is a surprising, and at times hilarious, investigative documentary that will be an eye-opener for everyone concerned about our nation’s health and how big business influences it.

Saving Myself with a Plant-Based Diet – In “Saving Myself with a Plant-Based Diet” Antonio Ford of A+ Fitness takes the viewer on a tour of GIANT Foods grocery store and provides a comprehensive overview of foods that promote health a healthy body and help prevent heart disease, cancer, and obesity. Be Edutained!!

Eating – 3rd Edition –This award-winning DVD covers a lot of ground very comprehensively – and now has subtitles in Spanish, French, German and English (for the deaf).

Among the many highlights are interviews with Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. Neil Pinckney, Dr. Ruth Heidrich and Dr. Joseph Crowe.

Dr. Crowe and Dr. Esselstyn are from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and know something about heart disease. – Mike Anderson

Fat Sick & Nearly Dead –100 pounds overweight, loaded up on steroids and suffering from a debilitating autoimmune disease, Joe Cross was at the end of his rope.

Tipping the scales at 310 lbs, Joe saw a path laid out before him that wouldn’t end well.

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead is an inspiring film that chronicles Joe’s personal mission to regain his health.

With doctors and conventional medicines unable to help long-term, Joe turns to the only option left, the body’s ability to heal itself. He trades in the junk food and hits the road with juicer in tow, vowing only to drink fresh fruit and vegetable juice for 60 days.

Across 3,000 miles Joe has one goal in mind: to get off his pills and achieve a balanced lifestyle.

Forks Over Knives Presents The Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue with Rip Esselstyn – Rip Esselstyn

Food, Inc. – lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry. It exposes how our nation’s food supply is now controlled by a handful of corporations that often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihood of the American farmer, the safety of workers and our own environment.

Food, Inc. reveals surprising and often shocking truths about what we eat, how it’s produced and who we have become as a nation. – Eric Schlosser

Earthlings – Using hidden cameras and never-before-seen footage, EARTHLINGS chronicles the day-to-day practices of the largest industries in the world, all of which rely entirely on animals for profit.

Directed by Shaun Monson, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix

Planeat – Where have we gone wrong? Why has the death rate from heart disease and cancer exploded in recent times?

Why are the ice caps melting, the oceans dying and the forests being cut down as we produce the food necessary to support our burgeoning populations?

Against a backdrop of colorful and delicious food grown by organic farmers and prepared in the kitchens of world-famous chefs, PLANEAT for the first time brings together the ground-breaking studies of three prominent scientists who have made it their life s work to answer these questions. – Dr T Colin Campbell

Vegucated – is an award-winning documentary that follows three meat- and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks.

Lured by true tales of weight lost and health regained, they begin to uncover the hidden sides of animal agriculture that make them wonder whether solutions offered in films like Food, Inc. go far enough. – Marisa Miller Wolfson, Brian Flegel

Sense and Nonsense in Nutrition: A Look at Today’s Most Common Health Myths – In Sense and Nonsense in Nutrition, one of America’s foremost teachers of nutrition and health takes you on a journey of understanding that explores some of the most commonly held beliefs and myths about nutrition.

With clear explanations and a light, humorous delivery, this presentation will clear up confusion about many of today’s most talked-about ideas in nutrition and will change the way you think about your body, your food, and your health! Sense and Nonsense in Nutrition provides common-sense analysis and detailed advice for these frequently misunderstood topics, and more. – Dr Michael Klaper, M D.

Dominion – is a feature-length documentary presenting an uncompromising, damning exploration of the various ways animals are used and abused by humans, particularly in the meat, dairy, egg, clothing and entertainment industries.

Filmed in Australia, ‘Dominion’ combines footage from handheld, hidden, and aerial drone cameras, much of it never seen before, to convey both the terrifying scale of an empire built on secrecy – and the individual stories of its victims.

Focusing on the legal, industry-standard practices that occur all over the world, the film questions the morality and validity of humankind’s dominion over the animal kingdom, advocating not for minor improvements to their welfare but for a deeper conversation about our right to exploit those we deem inferior to ourselves.

Podcasts

Vegetarian Zen — Vickie Velasquez and Larissa Galenes – Vegetarian Zen is a peaceful place for vegetarians, vegans and the veg–curious to share tips for living a healthy lifestyle.

The Rich Roll Podcast — Rich Roll — ultra-athlete and #1 bestselling author of the inspirational memoir ‘Finding Ultra’ Rich Roll delves deep into all things wellness with some of the brightest and most forward thinking, paradigm busting minds in health, fitness, nutrition, creativity, entrepreneurship & spirituality – including world-class athletes, doctors, nutritionists, authors, entrepreneurs, spiritualists & artists.

Vegcast: The Vegetarian Podcast — Vance Lehmkuhl – The ‘VegCast’ tends to focus on news, news commentary and health issues, rather than advocacy, interviews and music, though these do get thrown in the mix once in a while. If you’re looking for an in-depth, serious exploration of issues affecting vegetarians and vegetarian health, this is the podcast to listen to.

No Meat Athlete Radio — Matt Frazier and Doug Hay — No Meat Athlete Radio aims to inform and inspire plant–based athletes of all kinds (including the veg-curious). Vegetarian and vegan nutrition, training tips, and well-known guests make for an entertaining, informative, no–preach listen.

The Jazzy Vegetarian – Laura Theodore is an award-winning public television personality, vegan chef, radio host, cookbook author and recording artist.

Ms. Theodore is author of Laura Theodore’s Vegan-Ease: An Easy Guide to Enjoying a Plant-Based Diet and two previous cookbooks: Jazzy Vegetarian Classics: Vegan Twists on American Family Favorites and Jazzy Vegetarian: Lively Vegan Cuisine Made Easy and Delicious.

Main Street Vegan Podcast – Victoria Moran – Main Street Vegan is a lively hour devoted to your health, well-being, and ways to live lightly and lovingly on planet Earth.

Host Victoria Moran will entertain you each week with the latest on the vegan life—it’s not just for celebrities and moguls, but for the guy and gal on Main Street who want to look and feel amazing, eat extraordinary food, help animals, and create a physical body perfectly attuned to spiritual growth.

Their guests will range from Unity ministers to vegan authors, activists, physicians, chefs—and even some of those glittery celebs.

There’ll be recipes, ideas, ways to go vegan (or “veganward”) at your own pace, and tips for making a difference for animals and the planet at every meal.

The Corinne Nijjer Podcast – This podcast is where Corinne Nijjer shares people’s incredible stories of recovery after adopting a low fat, whole food, plant-based diet along with interviews with plant-based doctors, professionals and other experts in health, healing and wellness.

NOTE: This list can’t be 100% complete, and will, sooner or later, need to be updated. Please let me know your favourite recipe or information book, site or resource at: tom@vegnetwork.com.au .

Final note: in case you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed with this information, and are not sure where to start, don’t worry.

Just begin making some small but consistent changes.

Start by trying out some new, healthy plant-based recipes. Have a healthy breakfast to start the day. This might be a fruit and vegetable smoothie, or a bowl of oatmeal porridge with banana and plant milk, or baked beans on whole–wheat toast (no butter!). Try swapping your regular animal-foods for plant-based foods.

Remember, consistent, sustained effort is much more important to change dietary and lifestyle habits. And if you occasionally eat foods you know aren’t vegan, or that aren’t good for you, well, enjoy them as a treat, then go back to your healthy vegan habits — don’t use a lapse to justify reverting back to filling your body with unhealthy, unethical junk.

In the meantime, you can check out more information and articles on my blog; give me a like at my Facebook Group; tweet me at Twitter; and check out my Instagram feed!

To your health and happiness,

Tom Perry

The Ultimate Plant-Based Resource Guide