2009 Expo Speaking Schedule

Friday, October 16 -- 6 to 10 pm

Healthy Vegan Banquet & Rip Esselstyn -- Keynote -- "Light your health on fire!"
Rip Esselstyn is a professional athlete turned firefighter. Responding to emergencies is nothing new to him and when the high cholesterol and other health risks of his fellow Engine 2 firefighters in Austin, Texas, came to light, he responded with a way to fight it. Rip's program helped his fellow firefighters lose weight and see their cholesterol plummet. He is the author of The Engine 2 Diet.

Saturday, October 17 -- 8:30 - 5:00

9:00 - 10:15 -- Joel Fuhrman, MD -- "Nutritional Research Update: Important studies to be considered by the nutritionally-conscious individual"
Dr. Fuhrman is a board-certified family physician who specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional and natural methods. He is the author of the best selling Eat To Live, Disease-Proof Your Child and his most recent work, Eat For Health.

10:30 -- 12:00 -- Jeff Novick, MS, RD, LD/N -- “From Oil to Nuts: Essentials of Fats, Oils & Nuts”
It seems that every other day some new study comes out with conflicting information about fats, oils, nuts and seeds.  Are you “going nuts” trying to sort out the truth from the propaganda? Are all fats created equal?  Is olive oil a health food? Is the Mediterranean Diet the healthiest diet?  Do you really know what the Mediterranean Diet consists of, that all studies of it are based on?  (Hint: you don’t.)  What about the French Paradox?  Are nuts and seeds good for you? Dr. Novick is Director of Nutrition at the McDougall Health Center in Santa Rosa, California. He is an acclaimed author, researcher, nutritionist, and teacher -- and he'll answer all these questions and more.

12:00 - 1:00 pm -- lunch break (low-fat vegan lunch buffet available: $15.00)

1 - 2 pm -- Rory Freedman --"Keeping It Real"
Rory Freeman is a former agent for Ford Models and author of the Skinny Bitch series of bestselling books.

2:15 - 3:30 -- Joel Fuhrman, MD -- "Obtaining and Maintaining Ideal Weight is Easy...When You Understand Nutrient Density"

Dr. Fuhrman offers his healthy, effective, and scientifically proven plan for shedding radical amounts of weight quickly, and keeping it off. Losing weight under Dr. Fuhrman's plan is not about will power, it is about knowledge. When the ratio of nutrients to calories is high, fat melts away and health is restored. Losing 20 pounds in two to three weeks is just the beginning. The more high-nutrient food Dr. Fuhrman's patients consume, the more they are satisfied with fewer calories, and the less they crave fat and high-calorie foods.

3:45 - 5:00 -- Walter Jacobson, MD -- "Optimize Change and Well-Being by Neutralizing Negativity from Self and Others"

Dr. Jacobson is a Board Certified Psychiatrist in private practice who specializes in spiritual solutions and cognitive tools for happiness, well-being and material success. He is an expert in insight oriented psychotherapy, cognitive therapy, marriage counseling, medication management and spiritual psychotherapy. Former Editor of The Southern California Psychiatrist, the monthly newsletter of the Southern California Psychiatric Society, Dr. Jacobson has written dozens of articles about psychiatry and mental health. He currently teaches The Art of Forgiveness as part of the Northridge Hospital Integrative Medicine program, and is Chairman of the Northridge Hospital Physician Well-Being Committee.

Sunday, October 18 - 8:00 - 5:00

8:00 - 9:15 -- Cooking demos with Rip Esselstyn, Jeff Novick (and his "fast food" twins), and Sabrina Nelson of vegsource.

9:30 - 10:30 -- Rev. Heng Sure, PhD -- "Use It Up! Wear It Out! Make It Do! Or Do Without! The Joys and Lessons of Simplicity"
How to live simply, joyfully, and well. Senior monk of the City of 10,000 Buddhas, Rev. Heng Sure is Director of the Berkeley Buddhist Monastery.

10:45 - 12:00 -- John McDougall, MD -- "The Starch Solution"
The truth is simple, and therefore easy to explain. That the natural human diet is based on starches is a simple observation that you can easily validate for yourself: All large populations of trim, healthy people, throughout verifiable human history, have obtained the bulk of their calories from starch. Examples of once thriving people include Japanese, Chinese, and other Asians eating sweet potatoes, buckwheat, and/or rice, Incas in South America eating potatoes, Mayans and Aztecs in Central America eating corn, and Egyptians in the Middle East eating wheat. John McDougall MD is a bestselling author and Medical Director of the 10-day, live-in, McDougall Program in Santa Rosa, California.

12:00 - 1:00 pm -- lunch break (low-fat vegan lunch buffet available: $15.00)

1:00 - 2:15 -- John McDougall, MD -- "Salt: The Scapegoat for the Western Diet"
During Dr. McDougall's seven years of medical school and residency training, which began forty years ago, he learned two — only two — dietary lessons to share with his patients: switch from butter to margarine and reduce salt. Both pearls were supposed to save his patients from heart attacks and strokes, but neither did.

2:30 - 3:45 -- John Robbins -- "Responding to the Planetary Anguish"
We are living in times of great planetary anguish. There is untold suffering and imbalance in people’s lives. Many live with deep fear for the future. In such a time, what healing response is being called for? Is it possible for us to turn the tide, so that in our lifetimes we may yet see a spiritually fulfilling, socially just, and environmentally sustainable human presence on this planet? Can we meet illness and lack of balance in ourselves and in others, and transform them into wellness and strength? John Robbins’ presentation is about facing the disease and pain of our times, and responding with vitality, compassion, and wisdom.

4:00 - 5:00 -- "Panel Discussion"
With the weekend speakers joining together on stage, audience members will be able to ask questions and get perspectives from any and all speakers on issues of specific interest to you.