I get asked just about everyday how I got started following a Whole Food Plant Based diet, (WFPB). The answer is not really a short one....for anyone that knows me, I have ALWAYS struggled with weight, from my childhood right thru adulthood. I have been on every "diet" that is out there from Weight Watcher's, South Beach, Mediterranean, Low-fat, no-carb, Jenny Craig, LA Weight Loss....the list is endless.
What I FINALLY realized was, these were not really HEALTHY diets. Every one of them worked if your goal was to lose weight, but, most of them state "you can eat whatever you want" if you followed their instructions. Eating this way is not HEALTHY...that's where we are going wrong....we need to focus on our health. When you eat healthy, the side effect is WEIGHT LOSS. America was overweight then, and America is more overweight now and SICKER THAN EVER. What's going wrong??
In the medical practice I work in, we had two YOUNG patients with sicknesses that only "older people" were suppose to have. One 23 year old had a MASSIVE heart attack; a 40 year old was diagnosed with cancer which by the time it was discovered, was everywhere in his body, including his bones. The 23 year old is alive, the 40 year old died. How does this happen? These two patients are what prompted me to further my education in nutrition, and what an eye-opening experience it has been since then! I started researching nutrition, BUT I was extremely selective in choosing where I would get my information from (extremely important). Anyone can publish anything.....i.e., the Atkins Diet....this is one of the most DANGEROUS diets out there. Scientific research concludes repeatedly that animal protein causes heart disease, is linked to several cancers, causes inflammation in your body, places a HUGE stress on kidneys, and is responsible for a host of other diseases.
Once I found the answers to so many of my questions, such as how could young people get these horrible diseases that only "older" people were "suppose" to get. Well, much to my surprise, all the nutritional research done by several reputable institutions, (Harvard, Berkeley, Yale, Cornell, Cleveland Clinic), all reported the SAME RESULTS....NO ONE has to get these diseases....they can be PREVENTED. Why were so MANY Americans overweight and sick? Very simply....Americans are eating their way to the grave. It doesn't have to be this way.....we have CONTROL over our health and most people don't even know it!
We have come to rely on our physicians who have been trained to diagnose a disease and treat it with a pill. That's what physicians are trained to do...and they will tell you that. Unfortunately, we have this backwards....we don't want the diagnosis to begin with....We can PREVENT this.....and even if you already have a diagnosis, you can REVERSE IT with the FOOD YOU EAT. I really is that SIMPLE.
So, my goal is to give you the information I have, (I am certified through Cornell University in a WFPB diet), so you too can make informed decisions on HOW to take control of your health.....the MOST PRECIOUS commodity you have! Now, many physicians will say, "But eating that way is just too hard for a patient to follow". Really???.....Given the choice of having your chest split open, a surgeon's hands inside your chest bypassing clogged arteries with arteries taken from your legs and arms is easier than changing the food you eat???? Having a diagnosis of cancer and going through the suffering of chemotherapy, radiation, and the barrage of medications you must take with all the horrible side effects is easier than eating a WFPB diet vs animal products?? Not in my book....I'll take the HEALTHY DIET anyday!
Let me give you some quick information regarding cholesterol that most people are not aware of:
These are just 4 very quick little tidbits of information that most people find astonishing. We are a very overweight, sick nation BECAUSE we are MISINFORMED. Unfortunately, MONEY drives the information BIG BUSINESS wants us to hear. The pharmaceutical companies are giant superpowers...the meat and dairy industries are two of the biggest industries in America telling us to eat and drink their products to keep us healthy. Take a look around....we are sicker now than we ever have been in American history. Yes, artificial and processed foods play a big part in all this too, but WE have to take CONTROL....we cannot rely on bad information that makes us sick but makes others extremely wealthy.
It's NEVER too late to begin to take control of your health. As a matter of fact, after eating lots of vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole-grains, people come back to me and tell me how GOOD they are feeling after only a couple of WEEKS!! And, (it never fails), if they stop eating meat for a week or so and then end up eating it for whatever the reason, they report how BAD it made them feel....after only a short period of time!! LISTEN to your body!!
Please, do not wait to be diagnosed with some sort of disease, it's easier to stop the car from rolling over the cliff than it is to fix the car after it has dropped. However, if you already have an issue, you CAN REVERSE IT!! Make your mind up to take control.....start eliminating damaging foods right now....
HEALTH DAMAGING FOODS
HEALTH PROMOTING FOODS
Remember, there are so many recipes available on line to choose from.... so as not to constantly repeat myself, if you need more information on these recipe sites, check out my previous blogs. Eating a WFPB diet is such an EASY FIX...remember my motto:
When you give your body what it needs, it will heal itself!
Need help in trying this? Please let me know.....this is my passion....I eat, sleep and breathe this....I would love to help you!
What I FINALLY realized was, these were not really HEALTHY diets. Every one of them worked if your goal was to lose weight, but, most of them state "you can eat whatever you want" if you followed their instructions. Eating this way is not HEALTHY...that's where we are going wrong....we need to focus on our health. When you eat healthy, the side effect is WEIGHT LOSS. America was overweight then, and America is more overweight now and SICKER THAN EVER. What's going wrong??
In the medical practice I work in, we had two YOUNG patients with sicknesses that only "older people" were suppose to have. One 23 year old had a MASSIVE heart attack; a 40 year old was diagnosed with cancer which by the time it was discovered, was everywhere in his body, including his bones. The 23 year old is alive, the 40 year old died. How does this happen? These two patients are what prompted me to further my education in nutrition, and what an eye-opening experience it has been since then! I started researching nutrition, BUT I was extremely selective in choosing where I would get my information from (extremely important). Anyone can publish anything.....i.e., the Atkins Diet....this is one of the most DANGEROUS diets out there. Scientific research concludes repeatedly that animal protein causes heart disease, is linked to several cancers, causes inflammation in your body, places a HUGE stress on kidneys, and is responsible for a host of other diseases.
Once I found the answers to so many of my questions, such as how could young people get these horrible diseases that only "older" people were "suppose" to get. Well, much to my surprise, all the nutritional research done by several reputable institutions, (Harvard, Berkeley, Yale, Cornell, Cleveland Clinic), all reported the SAME RESULTS....NO ONE has to get these diseases....they can be PREVENTED. Why were so MANY Americans overweight and sick? Very simply....Americans are eating their way to the grave. It doesn't have to be this way.....we have CONTROL over our health and most people don't even know it!
We have come to rely on our physicians who have been trained to diagnose a disease and treat it with a pill. That's what physicians are trained to do...and they will tell you that. Unfortunately, we have this backwards....we don't want the diagnosis to begin with....We can PREVENT this.....and even if you already have a diagnosis, you can REVERSE IT with the FOOD YOU EAT. I really is that SIMPLE.
So, my goal is to give you the information I have, (I am certified through Cornell University in a WFPB diet), so you too can make informed decisions on HOW to take control of your health.....the MOST PRECIOUS commodity you have! Now, many physicians will say, "But eating that way is just too hard for a patient to follow". Really???.....Given the choice of having your chest split open, a surgeon's hands inside your chest bypassing clogged arteries with arteries taken from your legs and arms is easier than changing the food you eat???? Having a diagnosis of cancer and going through the suffering of chemotherapy, radiation, and the barrage of medications you must take with all the horrible side effects is easier than eating a WFPB diet vs animal products?? Not in my book....I'll take the HEALTHY DIET anyday!
Let me give you some quick information regarding cholesterol that most people are not aware of:
- Chicken has the same amount of cholesterol as beef...chicken is not a "health food".
- Fish has MORE cholesterol than beef or chicken...not doing yourself any favor by eating fish. Not to mention, the majority of store-bought fish is HIGHLY toxic with several chemicals including mercury.
- One egg yolk has MORE cholesterol than 2 Burger King Whoppers. Who eats just one egg yolk?
- One 8 oz glass of whole milk is equivalent to 4 slices of bacon and twice the calories.
These are just 4 very quick little tidbits of information that most people find astonishing. We are a very overweight, sick nation BECAUSE we are MISINFORMED. Unfortunately, MONEY drives the information BIG BUSINESS wants us to hear. The pharmaceutical companies are giant superpowers...the meat and dairy industries are two of the biggest industries in America telling us to eat and drink their products to keep us healthy. Take a look around....we are sicker now than we ever have been in American history. Yes, artificial and processed foods play a big part in all this too, but WE have to take CONTROL....we cannot rely on bad information that makes us sick but makes others extremely wealthy.
It's NEVER too late to begin to take control of your health. As a matter of fact, after eating lots of vegetables, fruits, beans, and whole-grains, people come back to me and tell me how GOOD they are feeling after only a couple of WEEKS!! And, (it never fails), if they stop eating meat for a week or so and then end up eating it for whatever the reason, they report how BAD it made them feel....after only a short period of time!! LISTEN to your body!!
Please, do not wait to be diagnosed with some sort of disease, it's easier to stop the car from rolling over the cliff than it is to fix the car after it has dropped. However, if you already have an issue, you CAN REVERSE IT!! Make your mind up to take control.....start eliminating damaging foods right now....
HEALTH DAMAGING FOODS
- Artificial and processed foods, (foods in a package with more than 4-5 ingredients listed)
- Meat...beef, pork, chicken, turkey, fish (anything with a face and a mother)
- Dairy...that includes milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, sour cream, cream cheese, butter
- Eggs
- Oil...that includes olive oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, and any other kind of oil...oil is oil is oil...there is no oil that is GOOD for you!!
HEALTH PROMOTING FOODS
- Vegetables...any and all vegetables...eat the colors of the rainbow...there are literally hundreds of vegetables to choose from!
- Fruits...again, eat any and all fruits. If you have diabetes, (which, type 2 can be REVERSED with EATING the right foods), monitor your intake by testing your sugars, (which you should be doing anyway).
- Legumes...this family includes peas, lentils, chickpeas, all red beans, white beans, black beans, etc. Buy the beans in a bag, soak them overnight, cook the next day for about 1-1 1/2 hours....you have a huge batch of beans for a dollar and change....wonderful protein source!
- Whole grains....breads, pasta, rice, quinoa, millett, faro, barley...all different kinds to experiment with!
- Nuts and seeds.....choose the raw versions. If you are concerned with weight loss, eat nuts and seeds sparingly...the calories can add up quickly, BUT, nuts and seeds provide us with the GOOD FAT our body needs.
Remember, there are so many recipes available on line to choose from.... so as not to constantly repeat myself, if you need more information on these recipe sites, check out my previous blogs. Eating a WFPB diet is such an EASY FIX...remember my motto:
When you give your body what it needs, it will heal itself!
Need help in trying this? Please let me know.....this is my passion....I eat, sleep and breathe this....I would love to help you!
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