Moving Medicine Forward - by Michael Klaper (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A healthy, plant-based diet is proven to help reverse chronic illnesses like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension--but why is it so hard to get your doctor on board?

As a young family physician, Dr. Michael Klaper dreaded seeing patients with cardiovascular disease and other chronic ailments, knowing that all he could offer was medication to slow down the inevitable worsening of their symptoms. Like many modern doctors, he had an unintended blindspot over the nutrition factor: Food is woven through every part of health, and common problems like high blood pressure, clogged arteries, and obesity can be reversed through an optimal plant-based diet.

After adopting a comprehensive approach to his practice, he's calling on other medical professionals to do the same--and empowering individuals to make the best choices for their own health. Combining Dr. Klaper's in-depth research and firsthand experience, Moving Medicine Forward explains:

How nutritional guidance has helped his own patients cease taking medications for common "lifetime" conditions What the latest science tells us about the devastating impact that eating animal products has on the human body Why well-meaning physicians are pushed to prioritize pharmaceutical treatments over more effective, long-term solutions for healing Strategies for preventing (and in some cases, reversing) common conditions including cardiovascular disease, liver disease, Alzheimer's, ALS, and more How to create a doctor-patient relationship that prioritizes clear communication, evidence-based medicine, and patient autonomy

For both patients seeking a straightforward, nutrition-based path to health and doctors who want to do their best by their patients, this book remedies the gap in knowledge between diet and metabolic disease, while empowering readers with the tools they need to heal and live well. The health care "status quo" is failing all of us. It's time to move medicine forward.

Review Quotes

"In my work on the Blue Zones, I have identified many factors that have led to the longevity achieved by certain remarkable populations around the world. They include: a plant-based diet, physical activity such as gardening, social connections, a sense of purpose in life, and plenty of sleep. Let me now add one more suggestion that could add years to anyone's life: read Dr. Michael Klaper's wonderful explanation of nutrition and how medicine should be practiced: Moving Medicine Forward!"
--Dan Buettner, New York Times bestselling author and Emmy Award-winning producer of Netflix's Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones

"In Moving Medicine Forward, Dr. Klaper delivers a strong prescription to doctors and patients alike: eating the right foods is a universal and science-informed approach for optimizing your health."
--William W. Li, MD, New York Times bestselling author of Eat to Beat Disease and Eat to Beat Your Diet

"Healthy cooking starts with an understanding of nutrition, and no book could help us understand nutrition more clearly and completely than Moving Medicine Forward."
--Carleigh Bodrug, New York Times bestselling author of PlantYou and PlantYou Scrappy Cooking

"Dr. Michael Klaper is a warm, caring human being who brings that empathy to his work as a physician and a half century of experience of using evidence-based nutrition to prevent, arrest, and even reverse disease--highly recommended!"
--Michael Greger, MD, FACLM, New York Times bestselling author of How Not to Die and How Not to Diet

"I have seen firsthand Dr. Klaper's integrity, brilliance, and unwavering dedication to his patients and to humanity. His message is clear: it's not only possible to move medicine forward--it's urgently necessary. This book points the way."
--Rip Esselstyn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Plant-Strong

"Dr. Michael Klaper teaches an absolute master class in his brilliant book, Moving Medicine Forward. With more than five decades of experience as a practicing physician, Dr. Klaper has seen it all. He lays the foundation for the undeniable role that nutrition plays in our health. In analyzing how food matters, Moving Medicine Forward gets to the root of our society's health problems, providing framework and solutions enabling all of us to thrive."
--Robert Cheeke, New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Plant-Based Athlete

"Dr. Michael Klaper is one of the most trustworthy voices in nutrition, and writes with a level of honesty that's often missing from books published to attract sensation and promote diet wars. Moving Medicine Forward is a lesson in human nutrition and a guide for a healthier future grounded in evidence-based science. Thank you for this timely addition to my home library."
--Cyrus Khambatta, PhD, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Mastering Diabetes

"Almost everyone who has ever gone to a doctor knows that most doctors are not trained in nutrition. Moving Medicine Forward not only makes the case for nutritional education--it is nutritional education for doctors and the rest of us! Read this book to understand what foods to prepare for your meals, and what 'foods' to leave behind!"
--Kiki Nelson, national bestselling author of Plantifully Lean and Plantifully Simple

"Here is the headline for Dr. Michael Klaper's Moving Medicine Forward: Highly Experienced Medical Practitioner Tells What Must Be Told!"
--T. Colin Campbell, PhD, Jacob Gould Schurman professor emeritus of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell University and international bestselling author of The China Study

"Moving Medicine Forward is a vitally important book whose time has come. For heart health, cancer prevention, reversing diabetes, and achieving the very best of health, the power of nutrition has been proven in research studies. Now, as doctors share this life-changing information with their patients, they will be giving them what may be the most powerful prescription of all."
--Neal D. Barnard, MD, FACC, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and adjunct professor of medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine

"Dr. Michael Klaper is a legend. For decades, he has empowered his patients and the public to optimize their health through nutrition. He continues to travel the globe, teaching future doctors in medical schools how to empower their patients to achieve real health. He educates with facts delivered with earnestness, empathy, and compassion. And now his life's work can be in every person's home in this wonderful book."
--Brooke Goldner, MD, author of Goodbye Lupus and Goodbye Autoimmune Disease

"Moving Medicine Forward defines what can be the seismic revolution in health. Dr. Klaper clarifies how nutritional literacy for doctors, nurses, medical students, and the public will empower elimination of chronic illness and autoimmune diseases."
--Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD, author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

"A compelling, sharply reasoned, and often witty wake-up call, Moving Medicine Forward challenges the medical establishment to accept the mounting evidence in favor of a plant-based diet--and to rethink how medicine is taught to the next generation of doctors. With clarity and conviction, it reveals how our food choices affect everything from personal health to planetary survival--and dares physicians to lead the way toward a more sustainable, evidence-based future."
--Ted Barnett, MD, FACLM, president of the Rochester Lifestyle Medicine Institute

"Dr. Michael Klaper is the kind of doctor children want to grow up to be: caring, curious, and creative. These attributes shine through Moving Medicine Forward, as Dr. Klaper shares with his colleagues and the rest of us a new way of seeing health--and the habits, attitudes, and food choices that promote it."
--Victoria Moran, author of Main Street Vegan and founder and director of Main Street Vegan Academy

"If there is one book you read on nutrition, this should be it. Moving Medicine Forward is the wake-up call that our society needs to right the ship and transform our collective health for the better."
--Dotsie Bausch, Olympic silver medal-winning cyclist and founder of Switch4Good

"Dr. Michael Klaper is a brilliant and steadfast pioneer in the fields of nutrition, health, and medicine. For decades, he has been a beacon of wisdom, compassion, and scientific clarity to all of us who have learned from and been inspired by his teachings in the plant-based community . . . With his compelling new book Moving Medicine Forward, Dr. Klaper's transformative message will reach even more people, empowering a global shift toward healing and conscious living."
--Julieanna (Hever) Risse, MS, RD, CPT, the Plant-Based Dietitian and author of The Choose You Now Diet and Idiot's Guides' Plant-Based Nutrition

"Moving Medicine Forward is a wake-up call, a road map, and a manifesto for the future of medicine. Dr. Michael Klaper's voice is bold, brilliant, and compassionate--as he shows how food is not just part of the problem, but the most powerful part of the solution. Michael Klaper is moving medicine--and humanity--forward. Moving Medicine Forward is pure gold. Every doctor, medical student, and human being who cares about health should read this book."
--Ocean Robbins, cofounder and CEO of Food Revolution Network and author of 31-Day Food Revolution

"Dr. Klaper's voice is a clarion call for medicine to return to its highest purpose: to heal, to prevent, and to empower. With clarity, compassion, and nutritional integrity, he urges us to move medicine forward--beyond symptom suppression and into a new paradigm of restoration, renewal, and enduring health."
--Brenda Davis, RD, plant-based author and trailblazer

"In Moving Medicine Forward, Dr. Michael Klaper pulls back the curtain on one of the greatest shortcomings in modern medicine--our neglect of nutrition--and lays out a compelling path toward a more informed, prevention-focused, plant-predominant future. This is essential reading for physicians, trainees, and anyone who believes that food should once again be part of the prescription."
--Kim Allan Williams, Sr., MD, MACC, FAHA, MASNC, FESC

"While acknowledging the very real forces that often stand in the way of nutritional and lifestyle medicine becoming more widespread, Dr. Klaper offers a powerful road map to truly move medicine forward. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to experience and empower others toward a path of greater health and wellness."
--Angela Crawford, PhD, psychologist, plant-based educator, and author of The Vegan Transformation

"Few people combine medical expertise with genuine kindness like Dr. Michael Klaper. His dedication to helping others live healthier, more compassionate lives is truly inspiring, and comes across in the pages of Moving Medicine Forward."
--Chef AJ, author, YouTube host, and vegan since 1977

"Dr. Michael Klaper's Moving Medicine Forward is a groundbreaking guide that reimagines the future of healthcare through the power of nutrition . . . This inspiring book belongs in the hands of every physician, patient, and anyone who believes medicine should truly heal."
--Chuck Carroll, host of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine's The Exam Room Podcast

"In this compelling book, Dr. Michael Klaper sets the stage for a healthier society by prioritizing the role that nutrition plays in wellness. Health starts with the foods we eat. Dr. Klaper argues forcefully that physicians need to understand this. Moving Medicine Forward is not just a book title or a novel concept; it's a paradigm shift and the start of a health revolution. Read this book and join the effort to move medicine forward."
--Dr. James F. Loomis, medical director at Barnard Medical Center, cohost of The Doc and Chef, and featured in the documentary The Game Changers

"As a longtime mentor, friend, and now colleague, Dr. Klaper helped shape my approach to clinical practice early in my career, offering invaluable advice and guidance on tough patient cases. I witnessed his passion for incorporating nutrition into medicine firsthand, and that same passion shines through in this book, which will no doubt inspire readers to recognize the powerful role of diet in health."
--Dr. Matthew Nagra, doctor of naturopathic medicine

"Moving Medicine Forward is more than a book--it's a mirror held up to modern medicine and a compass pointing us home. Dr. Klaper reminds us that healing isn't found solely in high-tech tools or prescriptions, but in the simplest, most profound of places: our choices, our compassion, and our connection to food. He calls on us--as clinicians and as people--to return to the roots of medicine and to reimagine healthcare with heart, purpose, and integrity. This book will lead the way."
--Columbus Batiste, MD, FACC, FSCAI, author of Selfish: A Cardiologist's Guide to Healing a Broken Heart

"Moving Medicine Forward distills timeless wisdom, rigorous science, and decades of clinical experience into an antidote for chronic disease and burnout--reigniting passion and vision for healthcare professionals everywhere. A must-read for clinicians and a hope-filled guide for patients, Dr. Michael Klaper's long-awaited book is a rare gift that empowers us to heal, lead, and truly move medicine forward."
--Scott Stoll, MD, FABPMR, cofounder of The Plantrician Project and Olympian

"Dr. Michael Klaper is one of the kindest people I've ever met. He brings to Moving Medicine Forward the same decency, warmth, humor, and compassion that have made him a hero to so many of us who want humanity to view animals as friends, not food."
--Gene Baur, cofounder and president of Farm Sanctuary and author of Living the Farm Sanctuary Life

"What I love about Moving Medicine Forward is the hope in it. Dr. Klaper shows how a whole food, plant-based lifestyle isn't some fringe idea--it's real science that can stop heart disease, diabetes, and so many of the things we've been told are 'just part of aging.' It's proof that it's never too late to turn things around."
--Jeremy LaLonde, host of the PB with J podcast

About the Author

Michael Klaper, MD, is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago. He has practiced acute care medicine in Hawaii, Canada, California, Florida, and New Zealand and for the past 35 years, has been focusing upon health-promoting food and lifestyle choices to help reverse disease and prevent the need for hospitalization and surgery.

Dr. Klaper is board-certified by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and has served as nutrition advisor to NASA's programs for space colonists on the Moon and Mars. He recently joined the staff of Aroga Lifestyle Medicine Clinic in Victoria, BC, and continues his work with the nonprofit Moving Medicine Forward initiative (MovingMedForward.org), which teaches medical students about reversing chronic disease utilizing plant-predominant nutrition.

Glen Merzer is the author of Food Is Climate, Own Your Health, and America Goes Vegan!. He is coauthor with Del Sroufe of Better Than Vegan; with Pamela A. Popper, PhD, ND, of Food Over Medicine; with Chef AJ of Unprocessed; with Howard Lyman of Mad Cowboy; and with Howard Lyman and Joanna Samorow-Merzer of No More Bull!. Glen hosts the podcast The Glen Merzer Show. He has been a vegetarian for more than 50 years and a vegan for more than 30 years. He is also a playwright and screenwriter.