Dr Malcolm Mackay – General medical practice and lifestyle medicine

Dr Malcolm Mackay is a General Practitioner with more than 35 years of experience in medical practice. He has a broad range of skills across the full spectrum of general practice and lifestyle medicine. Dr Mackay has a special interest in preventing, treating and reversing chronic disease with whole foods plant-based nutrition and other evidence-based lifestyle interventions. He provides Lifestyle Medicine and Telehealth consultations for patients across Australia. He works with patients who wish to take a nutrition and lifestyle approach to optimise their health

Book a telehealth consultation

Malcolm and his nutritionist partner Jenny maintain a website of information and resources for plant-based nutrition and provide seminars and webinars. Malcolm and his team run a lifestyle medicine program, available as a 7-day Immersion retreat.

Future events:

Lifestyle Medicine Immersion RetreatYarra Valley, Victoria, October 2025

Services

Medical: 
  • Consultations (in person)
  • Telehealth consultations (within Australia)

Educational:

  • Nutrition one-day seminars
  • Nutrition & lifestyle immersion retreats
  • Workplace nutrition programs
  • Webinars
  • Available for speaking events

Qualifications & Training

Medical degree

  • BMBS – Flinders University (1984)

Additional training

  • Graduate Diploma in Human Nutrition – Deakin University (1993)
  • Board Certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician (IBLM)
  • Plant Based Nutrition Certificate – eCornell
  • Certificate of Sports Medicine (ASMF/RACGP)

Professional affiliations

  • Fellow of the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine
  • Doctors for Nutrition – GP Resources Advisor

Melbourne Lifestyle MedicineVisit our new Lifestyle Medicine website

Recent conferences

  • International Plant-Based Nutrition Healthcare Conference USA September 2024
  • Doctors For Nutrition Conference, Melbourne, February 2023
  • Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine Conference, Cairns, July 2022

Presenter

  • Doctors For Nutrition Conference, Melbourne, February 2023
  • Doctors For Nutrition Conference, Melbourne, February 2019 (workshop presenter)
  • Veg and Vines Lifestyle Medicine Conference, Gisbourne NZ, January 2019 (conference presenter)
Speaker and host:
  • 7-day Immersion retreats in the Yarra Valley, Victoria:
    Next one: 16th-23rd March 2025

Podcasts & interviews

For more information about whole foods plant based nutrition, visit my other website and associated Facebook page:

www.wholefoodsplantbasedhealth.com.au

Plant Based Health Australia

2 weeks ago

Plant Based Health Australia
Forks Over Knives has announced that it will provide whole food plant-based recipes that include optional olive oil ("Forks Flex"). To state the obvious, oil is not a whole food. It seems that the aim is to provide recipes for those not ready for a completely whole food, plant-based diet and appease the growing chorus of new plant-based leaders who consider extra-virgin olive oil heart-healthy.If olive oil, a nutrient-depleted, calorie-dense plant extract, can make it into WFPB recipes, then, from a health perspective, why not fish? There is plenty of research showing that fish-eaters are healthier than other omnivores.When we see research headlines that olive oil or other food items support better health, we ask, ‘compared to what’ and ‘paired with what’. Eating fish is a healthier choice when compared to red meat. People who choose fish over red meat are often making other healthy diet choices such as eating more fruits and vegetables. In nutrition research, this can make fish appear healthier than it really is. It’s the same with olive oil.We have been reviewing some of the key olive oil studies cited as evidence of heart health benefits and have yet to find a convincing study. PREDIMED and CORDIOPREV both compared a Mediterranean diet rich in olive oil to a sham ‘low-fat diet’ group that was effectively a control diet. In both studies, the diet data for what the subjects actually ate was difficult to find and showed that high olive oil intake was paired with a higher intake of fruits, vegetables and other whole plant foods. A recent Harvard health studies data analysis found an association between olive oil consumption and reduced mortality. However, the type of olive oil was not specified, and it was equal to other vegetable oils in that it was healthier than margarine, mayonnaise, and butter.We support the concept of making the transition towards WFPB more doable and not making perfection a barrier to progress. However, we believe the message needs to be clear on what foods are WFPB and health promoting. Providing recipes with optional olive oil only creates confusion about the nutrition principles of WFPB. Our approach is to provide people with education on how and why to eat WFPB and let them decide how closely they wish to adhere. They do not need our help to eat off plan.For an analysis of one of the studies (CORDIOPREV) cited in the recent Forks Over Knives debate on oil, see www.wholefoodsplantbasedhealth.com.au/olive-oil-and-heart-health/For more information about oils, including an analysis of olive oil research, polyphenol content, nutrient displacement and other topics seewww.wholefoodsplantbasedhealth.com.au/no-oil/ ... See MoreSee Less

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