Plant-Based Nutrition Leadership Symposium

Registration

07:30 AM 09:00 AM Foyer

Speakers

Sharon Palmer, MS, RD

Founder

The Plant-Powered Dietitian

Speakers

Maggie Moon, MS, RD

Director, Nutrition Communications

The Wonderful Company

Protein Quality: Time to Update the Debate

09:30 AM 10:30 AM Gramercy Ballroom

The amount of total protein most Americans eat is well beyond their daily requirement. Unlike dietary fat or carbohydrate, which both have storage depots in the human body, there is no mechanism for storing dietary protein consumed in excess of functional need, and therefore daily excesses of protein intake are converted to carbohydrate and fat. Reductions in the consumption of animal food protein and shifts toward increases in the consumption of plant food protein are consistent with improvements in human health, particularly in the areas of prevention and treatment of chronic, noncommunicable, diseases. The quality of plant-based protein is higher than many Americans realize. Reducing total protein consumption and shifting a substantial proportion of animal food protein to plant food protein would be consistent with growing public health recommendations to move to a more plant-based diet, while simultaneously contributing to substantial climate change mitigation and savings in agricultural water usage. Reductions in animal food protein intake would have the added benefit of freeing up farmland now dedicated to corn and soybean production for livestock feed to produce more vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Guidelines for optimal protein intake in the United States should consider human health, the availability of food sources of protein, and the effects of raising and growing those protein food sources on environmental sustainability. It should be less than the total protein currently consumed in the United States and should involve a shift toward consumption of a greater proportion of plant protein.

Speakers

Christopher Gardner, PhD

Rehnborg Farquhar Professor of Medicine

Stanford University

Raising Plant-Based Kids

11:00 AM 12:00 PM Gramercy Ballroom

In this session, participants will learn about the neurobiology of taste development, the importance of early exposure to positive food experiences, and how these experiences are shaped by context and family responses. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the societal challenges to eating more plant-based foods that promote good health. We will discuss common barriers to eating plant-based foods, and how to implement sustainable and realistic strategies for healthy eating that includes more plant foods.

Speakers

Julia Nordgren, MD

Pediatric Lipid Specialist, Palo Alto Medical Foundation

Culinary Medicine Instructor, Stanford Medical School

The New Family Table cookbook - Book Signing!

12:00 PM 01:00 PM

The New Family Table: Cooking More, Eating Together & Staying (Relatively) Sane

Dr. Julia Nordgren - physician, chef, writer, and mother - shares her knowledge and love of great food in this essential collection of recipes and techniques. This book is a treasure trove of beautiful, simple, flavorful meals and snacks. An essential for anyone who loves to eat!

Speakers

Julia Nordgren, MD

Pediatric Lipid Specialist, Palo Alto Medical Foundation

Culinary Medicine Instructor, Stanford Medical School

Go Green Get Lean - Book Signing!

12:00 PM 01:00 PM

Go Green Get Lean: Trim Your Waistline with the Ultimate Low-Carbon Footprint Diet

Over the past 20 years America has been steadily marching toward a diet that is more drenched in fossil fuel than any key nutrient. Experts estimate that it now takes roughly 7 to 10 calories of fossil fuel energy to bring one calorie of food energy to the American plate. Not only have our eating habits turned us into an increasingly overweight society, but the alarming truth is that our food choices are having as much of an impact on the planet as the cars we drive.

Go Green Get Lean is the perfect eating plan for our time. Revealing easy-to-follow steps anyone can take to eat for a healthy body and planet—and drop up to 9 pounds in the first 2 weeks—Kate Geagan helps readers see the questionable value of "convenience" foods, and explains why going green doesn't require a drastic vegan overhaul. Because there are many nutritional benefits to be drawn from some non-plant-based food choices, she points readers to the best selections, including occasional splurges they can enjoy in good conscience.

In learning to make truly LEAN choices, Kate offers the following straightforward formula: Before eating food, ask yourself: Local or global? What was the Energy used to bring it to my plate? (Include processing, packaging, transportation, and temperature of food.) Animal or plant? (Plant foods are greener.) Is this Necessary? (Is this food critical to my health and weight goals?) This trailblazing work—the first to offer a specific weight-loss plan along with the promise of a lowered carbon footprint—makes it possible for readers to help the environment and their waistlines at the same time.

Speakers

Kate Geagan, MS, RD

Founding Director

Kate Geagan Nutrition

Sustainable Nutrition: How the Latest Science and Consumer Trends are Reshaping our Business Opportunity

01:15 PM 02:15 PM Gramercy Ballroom

Sustainability has cracked the health and wellness conversation wide open across all touchpoints of the food system. No matter where you focus in your business, understanding these forces that are driving rapid change in our profession (and in the marketplace) is crucial to remaining relevant. This session will present a snapshot of the latest science and frameworks around sustainable diets (including the newly released EAT Lancet report), explore how consumer trends are driving significant changes in the marketplace, share insights as to how these shift are creating fresh business opportunities for health professionals, and offer specific suggestions as to how attendees can incorporate sustainability into their work.

Speakers

Kate Geagan, MS, RD

Founding Director

Kate Geagan Nutrition

Plant-Based Snacking Culinary Workshop

02:30 PM 04:30 PM Gramercy Ballroom

Professionally-trained chef and registered dietitian nutritionist, Jackie Newgent, will guide you in a hands-on culinary activity focused on plant-based snacks.

Speakers

Jackie Newgent, RDN, CDN

Author, Chef, Writer, Recipe Developer

The Natural Culinary Nutritionist

Speakers

Sharon Palmer, MS, RD

Founder

The Plant-Powered Dietitian

Speakers

Maggie Moon, MS, RD

Director, Nutrition Communications

The Wonderful Company

Plant-Based Athletic Performance

09:30 AM 10:30 AM Gramercy Ballroom

Athletes are turning to plant foods in increased numbers, but can they thrive without animal products? This talk will discuss nutrient needs and sources, with a focus on protein and iron, as well as the impact physical activity and plant-based diets have on bone health.

This session will cover the rationale some athletes use to choose plant foods over other options, and potentially problematic nutrients and their plant-based sources. Learn to successfully work with athletes by providing practical tips on how to prepare nutritionally adequate plant-based snacks and meals, and be able to identify the potential benefits plant foods have for athletes, including the correlation between bone health and physical activity.

Speakers

Matt Ruscigno, MPH, RD

Chief Nutrition Officer

Nutrinic Diabetes Prevention Program

Cynthia Sass, MPH, MA, RD, CSSD

President

Sass Consulting Services Inc.

Trust Your Gut to Plants: The intersection of plant-based diets, human and environmental health

11:00 AM 12:00 PM Gramercy Ballroom

Understanding the microbial ecosystem dynamics of our planet is central to our role as custodians of the planet. The Earth Microbiome Project aimed to characterize the microbial diversity of the diverse ecosystems across our world, which we have used to model the ecosystem dynamics of these environments. Integrating these models with agricultural policy provides a framework on which to determine how climate change and shifting policy will influence the microbial metabolic dynamics, which will affect our ability to modulate system scale outcomes. The human microbiome is quickly being recognized as a dynamic part of the human ecosystem, and research is starting to demonstrate that using ecology to understand this ecosystem has profound benefits for patient wellness. The immune system controls our interaction with the microbial world, and yet the microbial communities in our bodies are central to modulating the immune response. Changes in the human microbiome have substantial influence on atopy, neurological disorders, metabolic disorders, and a range of complex conditions and disease states. We will discuss evidence of these mechanisms of interaction and how we have started to disturb the delicate balance of the immune-microbe equilibrium, impacting the development and function of our immune systems. Central to this disturbance is the distance we have placed between our children and the microbial world, which has been demonstrated to have a substantial influence on their physiological, immunological, neurological and even endocrinological development. Applying new strategies to identify how the microbial ecosystem correlates with diseases states and treatment efficacy through Microbiome-Wide Association Studies (MWAS) is altering the trajectory of precision medicine, and providing a new framework for facilitating patient care.

Speakers

Jack A. Gilbert, BSc, PhD

Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

University of California, San Diego

Dirt Is Good - Book Signing!

12:00 PM 01:00 PM

Dirt Is Good: The Advantage of Germs for Your Child's Developing Immune System

From two of the world’s top scientists and one of the world’s top science writers (all parents), Dirt Is Good is a q&a-based guide to everything you need to know about kids & germs.

“Is it OK for my child to eat dirt?”

That’s just one of the many questions authors Jack Gilbert and Rob Knight are bombarded with every week from parents all over the world. They've heard everything from “My two-year-old gets constant ear infections. Should I give her antibiotics? Or probiotics?” to “I heard that my son’s asthma was caused by a lack of microbial exposure. Is this true, and if so what can I do about it now?”
Google these questions, and you’ll be overwhelmed with answers. The internet is rife with speculation and misinformation about the risks and benefits of what most parents think of as simply germs, but which scientists now call the microbiome: the combined activity of all the tiny organisms inside our bodies and the surrounding environment that have an enormous impact on our health and well-being. Who better to turn to for answers than Drs. Gilbert and Knight, two of the top scientists leading the investigation into the microbiome―an investigation that is producing fascinating discoveries and bringing answers to parents who want to do the best for their young children. Dirt Is Good is a comprehensive, authoritative, accessible guide you've been searching for.

Speakers

Jack A. Gilbert, BSc, PhD

Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography

University of California, San Diego

Slim Down Now (with Pulses) - Book Signing!

12:00 PM 01:00 PM

Slim Down Now: Shed Pounds and Inches with Pulses -- The New Superfood

Cynthia Sass, New York Times bestselling author of S.A.S.S. Yourself Slim and coauthor of Flat Belly Diet!, introduces a new superfood that holds the power to whittle your waistline in no time. Called “pulses,” this unique class of protein-rich carbs includes lentils, chickpeas, and many varieties of beans. By incorporating just one serving of these supershredders into your daily meals, you’ll burn more fat, feel more full, and have more energy. The weight will come off immediately, and you’ll reap the many rewards of Sass’s Pulse Plan:

lose up to 8 pounds in the first four days
no counting calories
eat carbs and still get great results (that’s right, they’re not the enemy!)
enjoy over 100 delicious, satisfying, and affordable recipes
adopt a less-is-more exercise philosophy focused on fun methods that don’t feel tedious or punishing
protect your heart, lower your risk for type 2 diabetes and cancer, and improve your overall nutrient intake

“My skin looks better and the dark circles under my eyes are gone. I feel great, and I’m happy with the amount of weight I was able to lose in thirty days.” —DIONNE, age 43
“I think the Rapid Pulse really did reset my system. Flavors became more prominent (I can actually taste the sweetness in tomatoes!), and I’m now eating less because I can pay attention and stop when I’m full.” —YADIRA, age 39
“Throughout the thirty days, I felt confident because I knew I was getting healthier and my body was changing. My husband also lost 10 pounds by loosely following the plan with me. He was surprised that he could lose weight while eating healthy meals that tasted great with bold flavors.” —AMY, age 28

Speakers

Cynthia Sass, MPH, MA, RD, CSSD

President

Sass Consulting Services Inc.

The With or Without Meat Cookbook - Book Signing!

12:00 PM 01:00 PM

The With or Without Meat Cookbook: The Flexible Approach to Flavorful Diabetes Cooking

With the growing evidence that vegetarian meals are great for your health, more people with diabetes are looking to build vegetarian dishes into their meal plans. However, not everyone is ready to give up meat completely, and most vegetarians live with someone who's not ready to take the plunge. Thus was born the "flexitarian," someone who eats mainly vegetarian food, but occasionally fits in a little meat, poultry, or fish. Catering to this growing crowd — nearly one in four Americans self-identifies as a flexitarian — The With or Without Meat Cookbook makes it simple for people to savor the tastes and health benefits of eating more like a vegetarian, while being able to stick to a balanced meal plan for diabetes. Each of the 125 diabetes-friendly recipes is vegetarian with a non-vegetarian recipe “add-on” provided as well. Each recipe can be made two ways: One way for veggie lovers and one way for meat lovers. For those with diabetes, pre-diabetes, heart health issues, or simply looking to improve their diet, the flexitarian approach provides the best of both worlds. Nutrition facts are provided and each perfectly-portioned recipe follows ADA's nutritional guidelines.

Speakers

Jackie Newgent, RDN, CDN

Author, Chef, Writer, Recipe Developer

The Natural Culinary Nutritionist

Plant-based Diets for Human and Planetary Health

01:15 PM 02:15 PM Gramercy Ballroom

Consumption of plant foods and plant-based dietary patterns have been associated with lower risk for obesity, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease and some cancers. These benefits translate to a healthier and longer life. We will present evidence on the benefits of plant-based diets with results from the Adventist Health Studies and other epidemiological investigations where thousands of individuals with a variety of food patters have been followed up for many years. In general, the production of plant foods requires the use of less natural resources and is less taxing on the natural environment in comparison to the production of animal derived foods. Thus, in addition to their health benefits, the consumption of plant-based diets is more environmentally sustainable than the consumption of animal-based diets. The global adoption of plant-based diets will simultaneously optimize the food supply, human health and environmental outcomes.

Speakers

Joan Sabate, MD, DrPH

Professor, Nutrition and Epidemiology

Loma Linda University

Adapting the Mediterranean Diet to the United States

02:30 PM 03:30 PM Gramercy Ballroom

The Mediterranean Diet is more than just a "diet". It is an eating pattern in the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, which evolved out of a fascinating history that dates back to the beginning of civilization, with multiple historical, cultural, religious, and agricultural influences that inspired this diverse eating style. Hundreds of studies have documented numerous health benefits, including reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer; brain protection, and improved arthritis symptoms. Even the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recognize the health benefits of eating the Mediterranean Diet. However, applying this diet to average Western eating patterns can be challenging. By focusing on strategies, including story-telling, food swaps, cooking tips, recipes, and local, seasonal, plant-based eating, dietitians can help inspire the public to embrace this eating style.

Speakers

Sharon Palmer, MS, RD

Founder

The Plant-Powered Dietitian

Trend Watch: Middle Eastern Cusine

03:45 PM 04:30 PM Gramercy Ballroom

Classically-trained chef and registered dietitian nutritionist, Jackie Newgent, will present a culinary demonstration discussing Lebanese cuisine and showcasing Lebanese-inspired, snack-focused, plant-based recipes.

Speakers

Jackie Newgent, RDN, CDN

Author, Chef, Writer, Recipe Developer

The Natural Culinary Nutritionist

Closing Panel on Leading Change & Call to Action

04:45 PM 05:30 PM Gramercy Ballroom

This panel of experts including two registered dietitian nutritionists (Whitney English, MS RDN, CPT, Kate Geagan MS RDN), a leading researcher in plant-based nutrition as well as a member of the 2020 US Dietary Guidelines Committee (Joan Sabate, MD, DrPH) and a professional chef and restaurant owner (Nyesha Arrington) will join moderator Carolyn O'Neil MS, RDN to identify ways that nutrition professionals can take the lead to promote plant-based nutrition. Barriers to promoting plant-based food production and consumption will be discussed with suggested solutions and a call to action for nutrition professionals working in diverse fields from healthcare and media to retail and restaurants.

Speakers

Nyesha Arrington

Culinary Visionary

Whitney English, MS, RDN, CPT

Co-founder

Plant-Based Juniors

Kate Geagan, MS, RD

Founding Director

Kate Geagan Nutrition

Carolyn O'Neil

President

O'Neil Food & Nutrition Communications

Joan Sabate, MD, DrPH

Professor, Nutrition and Epidemiology

Loma Linda University

Speakers

Maggie Moon, MS, RD

Director, Nutrition Communications

The Wonderful Company

Plant-Based Nutrition Leadership Symposium

Speakers

Schedule

Registration

Breakfast

Mindful Moment

Welcoming Remarks

Protein Quality: Time to Update the Debate

Second Breakfast

Raising Plant-Based Kids

It's a Wonderful Lunch

The New Family Table cookbook - Book Signing!

Go Green Get Lean - Book Signing!

Sustainable Nutrition: How the Latest Science and Consumer Trends are Reshaping our Business Opportunity

Plant-Based Snacking Culinary Workshop

Day 1 Closing Remarks

Plant-Based Celebration

Breakfast

Mindful Moment

Welcoming Remarks

Plant-Based Athletic Performance

Second Breakfast

Trust Your Gut to Plants: The intersection of plant-based diets, human and environmental health

It's a Wonderful Lunch

Dirt Is Good - Book Signing!

Slim Down Now (with Pulses) - Book Signing!

The With or Without Meat Cookbook - Book Signing!

Plant-based Diets for Human and Planetary Health

Adapting the Mediterranean Diet to the United States

Trend Watch: Middle Eastern Cusine

Closing Panel on Leading Change & Call to Action

Closing Remarks

Joan Sabate, MD, DrPH

16 April

Plant-based Diets for Human and Planetary Health

16 April

Closing Panel on Leading Change & Call to Action

Sharon Palmer, MS, RD

15 April

Mindful Moment

16 April

Mindful Moment

16 April

Adapting the Mediterranean Diet to the United States

Christopher Gardner, PhD

15 April

Protein Quality: Time to Update the Debate

Kate Geagan, MS, RD

15 April

Go Green Get Lean - Book Signing!

15 April

Sustainable Nutrition: How the Latest Science and Consumer Trends are Reshaping our Business Opportunity

16 April

Closing Panel on Leading Change & Call to Action

Cynthia Sass, MPH, MA, RD, CSSD

16 April

Plant-Based Athletic Performance

16 April

Slim Down Now (with Pulses) - Book Signing!

Jack A. Gilbert, BSc, PhD

16 April

Trust Your Gut to Plants: The intersection of plant-based diets, human and environmental health

16 April

Dirt Is Good - Book Signing!

Julia Nordgren, MD

15 April

Raising Plant-Based Kids

15 April

The New Family Table cookbook - Book Signing!

Jackie Newgent, RDN, CDN

15 April

Plant-Based Snacking Culinary Workshop

16 April

The With or Without Meat Cookbook - Book Signing!

16 April

Trend Watch: Middle Eastern Cusine

Carolyn O'Neil

16 April

Closing Panel on Leading Change & Call to Action

Matt Ruscigno, MPH, RD