Food for life Nutrition Education & Cooking Demonstrations

Dr Heleen Haitjema is a retired paediatrician who received her Doctor of Medicine with Cum Laude distinction from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. She also obtained her Medical Specialist degree in Paediatrics from the Free University Amsterdam.

In 2010, Dr Haitjema discovered the impressive benefits of a Whole Food Plant-Based (WFPB) diet for patients with heart disease through an interview with Dr Dean Ornish and Dr Caldwell Esselstyn. This sparked her interest in exploring the research on plant-based nutrition and attending WFPB health conferences for medical professionals in the United States.

Realising the need for education on plant-based nutrition among healthcare practitioners in Australia, Dr Haitjema co-founded the charity Doctors For Nutrition in 2018. This initiative led to the Inaugural Nutrition In Healthcare conference in 2019 in Melbourne, Australia, followed by a second conference in February 2023. Doctors For Nutrition has since been championing the role of plant-based nutrition in disease prevention and care.

Dr Haitjema has continued her education and holds a Certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from eCornell University. She has also qualified as a Food For Life instructor with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington DC. In this capacity, she conducts community courses in her hometown of Adelaide.

She founded the Plant Powered Adelaide Facebook group, which is affiliated with the Plant Pure Nation movement in the USA and advocates for WFPB nutrition as a grassroots movement. The group regularly organises in-person meet-ups featuring outdoor potlucks or at restaurants that prepare WFPB meals on request.

Over the years, Dr Heleen Haitjema has co-organised, presented at, and attended numerous plant-based nutrition conferences, symposia, grand rounds, and community events in Australia, North America, and Europe. Her dedication to promoting plant-based nutrition as a powerful tool in disease prevention and care has had a significant impact on the healthcare community.

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