Lifestyle interventions can be transformational for many suffering from chronic illness. No-one is more familiar with the benefits of diet change than lifestyle medicine practitioners, who witness the dramatic health improvements of their patients and who have often recovered from their own chronic ailments.

Around 50% of the UK population report having some kind of long-term health condition at any given time, with around a fifth being limited in some way by their illness. Most of us, at some stage, will be struck down by disease. But mounting evidence – from individual success stories to scientific research – shows that we can significantly reduce our risks by simply eating more fruits and vegetables, and fewer animal products and ultra-processed foods.

Being mindful about our food choices is vital, not just for personal health, but also for global health. Transitioning our current food system towards one that is predominantly plant-based has been shown to be a crucial and urgent step in addressing increasing risks of global disease (including lifestyle-related diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and certain cancers, and infectious diseases arising from intensive animal farming, overuse of antibiotics, and changing species distributions from climate change and habitat loss), malnutrition, and to avert environmental catastrophe.

Promoting and transitioning to plant-based diets for personal and global health is therefore more important than ever, and health professionals should help to lead the way to a healthier world for all.