Our journey from a Standard American Diet (S.A.D.) to a whole food, plant-based diet began after a series of health crises in my family.

When it Rains, it Pours

I watched my mother bravely fight a losing year-long battle against cancer of the appendix, complete with all the side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy, as well as the negative side effects of various drug interactions.

After we lost my mother, my husband had not one, but two health scares. Following a routine blood test to monitor his liver function, he was told to immediately stop taking Zocor, the cholesterol lowering drug he had been on for 20 years. He was diagnosed with fatty liver disease. At this same time, he was experiencing an irregular heartbeat and was placed on a Holter Monitor for 24 hours. Thankfully, his heartbeat returned to normal without intervention. He was advised to continue taking his blood pressure medication as prescribed.

On the heels of my husband’s health scare, my father was hospitalized for congestive heart failure and once again, I witnessed the many negative effects and interactions of the more than 18 drugs he was taking at the time, for a number of serious health issues, including high blood pressure and diabetes.

Although I considered myself to be in fairly good health, the reality was that I needed to lose about 25 pounds, was taking blood pressure medication and my cholesterol level was just on the border of requiring medication to lower it.

Enough is Enough. No more Medications!!

All of these events caused me to begin searching for a new physician – one who was not so quick to prescribe medications, and instead, intervene with lifestyle changes.

After much searching, I was able to find a doctor who understood my concerns. I was given a physical and blood was drawn for lab work. The doctor and I sat down to talk, following my physical and the first thing he did was to tell me to stop taking my blood pressure medication. Immediately. The second thing he did was to write me a “prescription” to purchase, and read cover-to-cover, The Starch Solution by Dr. John McDougall. I asked what the book was about and my doctor told me that it was a nutrition-centered approach to healing your body with food rather than medicine.

I was skeptical, but willing to give the “whole-food, plant-based diet” a try, in order to avoid being on multiple medications for the rest of my life. I was none too sure I could convince my husband and son to join me since they were both very meat-and-potato kind of guys. And cheese. They loved their cheese! I affectionately referred to them as the “More Cheese Please Twins.” They both surprised me, however, by agreeing to give it a try — my husband because of his recent health scare and my son because of a chronic and often debilitating illness.

Our Transformative Journey into Health

After 30 days on a whole food, plant-based, no added oil, limited salt and sugar diet, my cholesterol dropped 40 points, my blood pressure returned to the range I enjoyed as a teenager and I lost 15 pounds without trying! I lost another 10 lbs. during the following 30 days. My husband was able to get off his blood pressure medication and dropped about 20 pounds (he was weaned off his medication slowly because he took a different type than I had be on). His cholesterol fell to normal levels and his liver function improved. My son also lost weight, his health improved dramatically, and he had more energy.

We are now five years into our whole food, plant-based diet and none of us are taking any prescription medications and are in much better health than we were in when we started this journey.

Plant-Based Diet: Recommended Resources

For anyone interested in learning more about how to slim down and regain your health, I highly recommend reading Dr. McDougall’s book, The Starch Solution and the accompanying The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook to learn about the benefits of a plant-based diet. Read T. Colin Campbell’s China Study to understand  the relationship between diet and disease. I’d highly recommend watching the video, Forks Over Knives, a documentary that advocates a low fat, whole food, plant-based diet as a way to avoid or reverse several chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.

What we Ate Then…What we Eat Now

This is a sample comparison of the typical diet we grew up with and ate, versus the range of whole foods we currently enjoy.

Breakfast

• Then — bacon, eggs, hash browns or toast, juice, coffee
• Now — oatmeal with lots of seasonal fruit, green tea

Lunch

• Then — lunch meat and cheese sandwich, chips, iced tea
• Now — shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, sliced scallions, chopped avocado wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla spread with roasted red pepper hummus; iced tea

Dinner

• Then — grilled chicken breast or steak, baked potato with sour cream, butter and cheese, mixed green salad with more cheese, a glass of wine
• Now — BBQ Tofu Chopped Salad (recipe below is a family favorite and easy to prepare in 45 minutes to an hour), a glass of wine

BBQ Tofu Chopped Salad Recipe

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS
• 8 cups chopped lettuce- I prefer Romaine
• 4 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 2 avocados, chopped
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup corn – I usually thaw and use frozen corn
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1 16 oz. package extra firm tofu, drained and pressed, then cut into 1/2” cubes 
• 1 cup BBQ sauce, DIVIDED
• ½ cup vegan mayo
• ¼ cup soy milk or almond milk
• ⅛ cup chopped parsley
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• salt/pepper

 INSTRUCTIONS
1. Chop the pressed tofu into cubes. Place in a bowl and cover with ½ cup BBQ sauce. Toss to evenly coat. Marinade for at least 20 minutes.
2. Make the dressing: whisk together the mayo, soymilk, chopped parsley, garlic powder, 3 tbsp. BBQ sauce and pinch salt/pepper.
3. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the tofu cubes and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove, flip cubs and lightly brush with remaining BBQ sauce- you might not use it all. Place back in oven and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

The author of this blog, who wishes to remain anonymous for personal reasons, is an amazing woman with great talents including expertise in the areas of Accounting/Finance, Copy-writing, Graphic Design, Herb Gardening, Marketing/Public Relations, Proof-reading/Editing, Public Speaking and Social Media. She’s a wonderful quilter too. The profile picture is one of her creations.