ordered by date of birth
On medical nutrition
Russel Henry Chittenden (b. 1856 – d. 1943)
Walter Kempner (b. 1904 – d. 1997)
Roy Swank (b. 1909 – d. 2008)
Denis Burkitt (b. 1911 – d. 1993)
Nathan Pritikin (b. 1915 – d. 1985)
Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr. (b. 1933)
T. Colin Campbell (b. 1934)
John McDougall (b. 1947)
Dean Ornish (b. 1953)
Neal Barnard (b. 1953)
Douglas Lisle
Michael Greger (b. 1972)
In Medicine and Statistics
Barbara Starfield (b. 1932 – d. 2011)
Peter Gøtzsche (b. 1949)
H. Gilbert Welch (b. 1955)
Natalie Grams (b. 1978)
In natural building
Alfred Eisenschink (b. 1932)
Professor Claus Meier
Architect Ianto Evans (b. 1940)
Architect Edward Mazria (b. 1940)
Architect Konrad Fischer
General
Majella Lenzen (b. 1938)
Arno Stern (b. 1924)
Bernard Litaer (b. 1942)
Regina Jonas (b. 1902 – d. 1944)
Historic
Galileo Galilei (b. 1564 – d. 1642)
Nicolaus Copernicus (b. 1473 – d. 1543)
Socrates (b. 470 BC – d. 399 BC)
Russel Henry Chittenden (b. 1856 – d. 1943)
Is in this list for historical reasons. He was a pioneer in biochemistry and physiology, and did research on nutrition and digestion, amongst other things. He directed one of the first studies to find out how much protein humans need, and discovered it to be 50g/day within 2500kcal/day (about 8% of the total calories ingested per day), which was a lot lower than the 118g recommended by the Voit Standard. Under this nutritional regime the male subjects “were in perfect health and had a measurable gain in body strength.“
Walter Kempner (b. 1904 – d. 1997)
Physician and scientist, and a pioneer in medical nutrition. As early as the 1950s he demonstrated that a diet that was low in fat and protein, with plentiful carbohydrates, was a treatment for heart and kidney failure, as well as for high blood pressure and much more.
Roy Swank (b. 1909 – d. 2008)
American neurologist, who noticed that in the second world war, under the forced dietary change to eating mostly potatoes (high carb and low fat), multiple sclerosis did not progress, and that the number of new cases fell. In 1949 he suggested this form of diet for MS patients. His studies, during 30 years, demonstrate improvement.
Roy Swank explains why medical nutrition is not the basis of all treatment:
- It is cheap, and the national health system does not pay for it
- The patient must make the effort
- Not high-tech or in vogue
- The physician is not in charge
Denis Burkitt (b. 1911 – d. 1993)
Scottish physician and surgeon, who was called the fibre man. He worked for many years in Africa, where he learned the differences between the Western (high in fat and animal products) and the African diet (rich in complex carbohydrates and based on vegetables). In Africa the typical diseases of western abundance were practically non-existent. Burkitt considered the basic difference to be the amount of fibre in the diet (fibre is only present in vegetables). In Africa it is about 60 – 100g/day, compared to Western countries with only about 15 – 25g/day. He wrote several books on this topic, gave talks and negotiated with companies in the food sector to increase the amount of food with whole grains (rich in fibre) on the market.
“America is a constipated nation. If you pass small stools you need big hospitals.” [Denis Burkitt]
Nathan Pritikin (b. 1915 – d. 1985)
Inventor and scientist. When he fell sick with coronary artery disease in 1957, he began to research the disease. He discovered that people who still lived close to nature ate a largely plant-based diet, and did not get sick. He experimented and developed a hitherto unknown diet for himself: based on plants, whole grain carbohydrates and very low in fat. This was considered to be the gold standard among American diet successes. After his death in 1985, no signs of coronary artery disease were found in his body.
„A pill could be an alternative to lifestyle changes, if it worked. The truth is: no pill or medication can improve or compensate for the devastating consequences of the western diet.“ [Nathan Pritikin]
Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr. (b. 1933)
American physician and surgeon (specialized in breast cancer). Very early in his career he became interested in the causes of diseases. He read about epidemiological studies in which there were substantial differences in the prevalence of certain cancers and of coronary artery disease in different populations. These differences were only possible to explain by lifestyle and diet. In 1995 he published his first article about radical dietary change in patients with coronary artery disease, which proved once again what the physician Dean Ornish had already shown in his research: a reversal of coronary artery disease and a re-opening of clogged coronary arteries is possible through dietary change.
T. Colin Campbell (b. 1934)
American scientist and biochemist, specializing in nutrition and its long term consequences. He was one of the scientists who directed “The China Study” a large scale epidemiological study. Ever since then he has advocated a whole food, whole grain, plant based, low fat diet.
“This type of diet can prevent and maybe even reverse 70-80% of the chronic diseases of western nations.” [T. Colin Campbell]
“This treatment is broad and extremely quick (days to weeks) and often life saving.” [T. Colin Campbell]
John McDougall (b. 1947)
Physician, specializing in American nutrition, who had a stroke when he was only 18 years old, after which he decided to study medicine. He worked as a young doctor in Hawaii, where he noticed that the older generations of immigrants who ate rice and vegetables – thus, a plant based, low fat diet – were much healthier than their children. This fact in itself refuted the dogma: to get older means to get sick.
„It is the food. The fat that you eat is the fat that you wear.” [John McDougall]
“Diabetes (type 2) is not a disease, it is an adaptation to the rich western diet.” [John McDougall]
“Treating signs of disease like blood pressure, or doing blood tests, does not mean that people are getting healthier.” [John McDougall]
Dean Ornish (b. 1953)
American physician, researcher and pioneer in medical nutrition and lifestyle medicine. He proved for the first time (over 35 years ago) that coronary artery disease is not only prevented, but also reversed, with a plant-based, low fat diet with yoga/meditation, exercise and psycho-social support.
Neal Barnard (b. 1953)
American physician and researcher; established the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine to promote preventive medicine, conduct clinical research and advocate for higher ethical standards in research. He lead one of the pioneer studies of the last few years about diet and diabetes type 2. He proved that a high carbohydrate, strictly low fat diet helps revert diabetes, in contrast to the low carbohydrate diet advocated by diabetic societies arround the world. In the year 2000, PCRM filed a law suit against the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture – who make the Dietary Guidelines for Americans), because most experts who worked on the guidelines were being paid by food industries, so they had conflicts of interests, and they won!
Douglas Lisle
American psychologist and researcher; the founder of “esteem dynamics”.
His psychological theories are based on evolutionary biology ie how people have evolved since the stone age, studying the evolution of animals and comparing animal and human behaviours.
Michael Greger (b. 1972)
American physician who, as a child, witnessed the healing of his grandmother, who had end-stage heart disease. She went on to be treated by Nathan Pritikin with a plant based diet, when cardiologists gave up on her.
“Best kept secret in medicine: Lifestyle changes are often more effective in reducing the rates of heart disease, hypertension, heart failure, stroke, cancer, diabetes and premature death than almost any other medical intervention.”
Barbara Starfield (b. 1932 – d. 2011)
American paediatrician and professor of public health; was the author of the groundbreaking study showing that physicians and medications are the 3rd leading killer after heart disease and cancer. She advocated for a primary care centered health system – cheaper, better, with emphasis on treating the patient as a whole – and doing preventive medicine.
Peter Gøtzsche (b. 1949)
Dänischer Arzt und Mitbegründer und Direktor des Nordic Cochrane Centers, setzt sich für kritische Studienüberprüfung ein und wurde zum Professor für klinisches Forschungsdesign und Analyse ernannt. Setzt sich besonders für eine angemessene Verschreibung von Psychopharmaka ein.
H. Gilbert Welch (*1955)
Amerikanischer Arzt und Wissenschaftler, hat sich mit Krebs-screening auseinandergesetzt und ist kritisch gegenüber Früherkennung bei Krebs – mehr Leben retten oder mehr Menschen zu Patienten machen und diese unnötig behandeln?
Alfred Eisenschink (*1932)
Deutscher Ingenieur, beschäftigte sich mit Heiz -und Kühlsystemen. Studierte die Geschichte des Heizens in Deutschland und fand die Strahlungswärme, als gesunde, billige Heizungsform. Er setzte sich ein für physikalisch basierte Bau und Heizungsherstellung. Gleichzeitig zeigt er was gesunde Luft im Haus bedeutet, und wie schimmelfreie Heizungsanlagen funktionieren.
Claus Meier
Deutscher Architekt der sich besonderes mit Bauphysik beschäftigt hat, und hat mehrere kritische Bücher über die “moderne” Bewegung Richtung mehr und mehr Dämmung und weg vom physikalisch-gesunden und schimmelfreien Bau geschrieben.
Ianto Evans (*1940)
Architekt, beschäftigt sich besonders mit natürlichem Bauen. Besonders naturnahe Kleinhäusern aus Lehm und Stroh, mit Komponenten des Passiv Solar Systems und besonders natürlichem Wohnens.
Edward Mazria (*1940)
Amerikanischer Architekt, beschäftigt sich besonders mit erneuerbaren Energien OHNE High Tech – also besonders mit Passiv Solarer Architektur, und das schon in den 70er Jahren!
Konrad Fischer
Deutscher Architekt, beschäftigt sich besonders mit der Restaurierung von Fachwerkhäuser. Ist ein bekannter Dämmkritiker und setzt sich in dem Gebiet stark für Aufklärung ein.
Wolfgang Thüne (*1943)
Deutscher Meteorologe, setzt sich für die physikalische wissenschaftliche Behandlung der Meteorologie und der Umweltwissenschaft ein, besonders beschäftigt er sich mit der Kritik an dem Treibhauseffekt und der Erderwärmung.