Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky, Gothamist, February 7, 2022
On the heels of “vegan Fridays,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams says his administration will be expanding a chronic disease management program that focuses on diet, exercise and other lifestyle factors rather than medication.
The Plant-Based Lifestyle Medicine Program, piloted at Bellevue starting in 2019, will open up clinics in five new Health and Hospitals locations across the city this year, officials announced during a press conference, prior to a mayoral vegan chili cooking demonstration on Monday.
In addition to the original Bellevue location, patients will be able to enroll at Health and Hospitals Jacobi and Lincoln in the Bronx, the Brooklyn sites of Woodhull and Kings County, Elmhurst in Queens and Gotham Health Vanderbilt in Staten Island….
“New York is going to change the conversation about using food not to feed healthcare crises, but to stop the crises,” Adams said, adding that he credits his diet, described as a “plant based-centered life,” for his management of his type II diabetes…..
Studies suggest that a diet low in animal foods and rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts and seeds can slash the risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases. In 2017, about 12% of New Yorkers reported they were diabetic, according to city data. Black and brown New Yorkers are more likely than their white peers to be diabetic, and diabetes rates are highest in low-income neighborhoods. Black New Yorkers are also more likely than any other group to die prematurely of heart disease….
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