This post is part of my ongoing Reader Questions Series, however, it’s more of a comment than a question. See what you think.
READER COMMENT:
It’s great to hear about your health journey and success; however, let’s be honest, a whole food plant-based lifestyle does NOT cure everything for everyone as people preach. Folks out there make it the panacea that will make everyone healthy, wealthy and sexy, and will definitely cure the world’s problems; it doesn’t, and I am a living example of that, even though I wouldn’t change a whole food plant-based lifestyle for anything.
Glad to hear that your cholesterol went down, mine did not and there a host of other issues. I’m new to this website, but you have done a great job here, thank you.
PLANT-BASED COOKING ANSWERS:
There are lots of stories about people who have recovered their health while eating a whole food plant-based diet. Take Carol’s success story, for example. She is thriving and was able to lose weight and improve her health exponentially with very little effort, it seems. This is not always the case.
You’ve made some excellent points and I agree with you. People don’t always recover from illness just because they eat a whole food plant-based diet. Recovery depends on several factors:
- How severe the health issue
- How long it’s been going on
- An individual’s genetics and age
- How long they’ve been eating a plant-based diet
- What kind of emotional support they receive
- What environmental conditions might be contributing
- How well their immune system is functioning, and other reasons
Given the incredible complexity of our biology, statistically, some people will not do as well as others.
I’m sorry to hear you haven’t responded as well as you’d hoped. I know for cholesterol, some people have genetically high cholesterol no matter what. I can’t speak to the prostate issue, except that high fat and dairy in the diet contribute to prostate cancer. Here’s an article related to that.
Are They In It for the Money?
It can seem as though some plant-based gurus are just in it for the money. It’s certainly possible. Most of the medical profession look to drugs as the answer and rarely to diet and nutrition. They operate from a principle we can call the ‘disease model,” not the health model. Furthermore, there’s no money for drug companies if people find health through food and nutrition?
I know a few plant-based gurus who give money back into the system and only take a salary. For example, Dr. Michael Greger of nutritionfacts.org sells well-researched books and gives lectures. He sure gives credibility to the nutrition point-of-view.
I do fault those who sell snake oil supplements that are most likely a waste of people’s hard-earned money. Dr. Greger has been outspoken on this.
I also need to make enough money to support this passion. Soon, I’ll be offering courses on making the transition to eating a plant-based diet. So far, I’ve spent far more money spreading the word then I’ve made back.
Our Bodies Want to Heal
Aren’t we lucky that mother nature imbued us with an ability to heal? Our cells need proper nutrition to function their best. And when we give them the nutrition they need, they should be able to start the healing process if we are also getting the right amount of sleep, mental relaxation, and exercise.
We’d be better off if the medical industry, as a whole, embraced diet and nutrition as a healing practice. Fortunately, some doctors are coming around and having great results with their patients. I only wish it was working better for you. I’m glad to hear that you’ll continue to eat a whole food plant-based diet and hope that things start to turn around.
Don’t Give Up
It can sometimes take more time to heal as toxins are released and eliminated from the body. Patience is required to stick with it for the long haul and practice what we know to be a proper diet…. one that nature intended and what I promote on this website.
Stay motivated, look for support from friends or groups that are also eating this way, and take encouragement in knowing that many people have recovered.
Remember it’s a process and you’ll want to support both your body and your mind.
Relaxation, meditation, and visualization can help. Give yourself loving support. Read my post, “Create a Vision Board to Rock your Plant-Based Goals,” about making your very own vision board to cement your goals and keep you on track.
It sounds like you know this is THE way to eat and one of the most important aspects of life. Health really is our greatest wealth.
We’re Here to Help!
I hope you know that you’re not alone. There are many enthusiasts and bloggers who support this way of life, including myself. There are fantastic plant-based Facebook groups that offer support, guidance, and a community of like-minded people. If you’re into Facebook, you could try that route.
I’m always here to answer your questions, as well, so please reach out if you need to.
Be sure to check out some of my articles for inspiration:
- “Staying Motivated on a Plant-Based Diet”
- “My Health Journey” (this is my personal story)
- “Carol’s Plant-Based Success Story”
- “What to Expect Eating a Plant-Based Diet”
- “Angela’s Story: A Plant-Based Diet Goes Beyond Expectation”
Share Your Experience
Either way, if you’re reading this and feel frustrated with the progress you’ve made and would like to share your experience, we’d love to hear from you. Or, if you’ve had successes in your health journey eating a whole food plant-based diet, please do share here. Your experience will help someone who really needs it.
Do You Have a Question?
This post is part of an ongoing series of questions and comments from my readers about eating a plant-based diet. If you have a question that you’d like me to answer, please email me at diane@plantbasedcooking.com. I read every question and answer them personally, so if you feel stuck, or are struggling with something, or feel overwhelmed, I’d love to help you!
Want more of Plant-Based Cooking?
Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram.
I am the one who posted the original comment, and for the sake of all who follow this website, I will relate another conversation with a functional medicine primary care physician, I am here almost quoting her exact words.:
‘Following a whole food plant-base lifestyle with physical activities does not guarantee a cancer free sailing’. She further added that she would rather treat CA patients with lousy life style , because these patients exhibit a great improvement once they clean their act, whereas the healthy lifestyle patients have a hard time!!!!
I would add that during this conversation, the good doctor failed to mention stress-free living;; unresolved personal traumas greatly predispose to cancer, even in the presence of a healthful lifestyle.
Keep up the good work on this site, this appears to be a clean, honest site!
Mike
I have recently spent time in the hospital with Ulcerative Colitis and after being a vegan for most of my 70 yrs I have been told I can no longer eat that way. I am on a low residue diet and have the hardest time eating. I have lost too much weight and am miserable and depressed with my new lifestyle. Doctor said my vegan diet was the culprit.
Hey Kathy, I’m so sorry you’ve had to spend time in the hospital. I had to look up what a low residue diet is and I can see why you’re frustrated. Basically it’s eating foods that are low fiber, from what I understand. Let’s hope when things calm down you can slowly add back in some of the foods you love and that your system handles it better. Can you still stay vegan instead of eating meat and dairy? I can’t imagine that they would be any easier for you to digest. Of course, eating a vegan diet can be quite different from a whole food, plant-based diet and a qualified professional would be able to analyze your “vegan” diet for foods that may have contributed to the issue. You may already know this, but there’s quite a bit of information about eating a plant-based diet to help colitis and IBS. Here’s one example on someone that was helped from Forks Over Knives. That said, everyone’s different and it sounds like, at least for now, you need to take a break from eating high-fiber foods. I hope that you recover soon and thanks for giving us your perspective.
I would like to share my plant based journey. It has been a long journey for me. I have been vegan for about 10 or so years but it wasn’t until about three years ago I Started searching out what does it mean to eat Whole Foods? I was confused because I included in my diet processed foods and vegetarian meat substitutes. So began my search. I found your website about 2 years ago and it was then that I realized what Whole Foods meant.
But I still was sabotaging my efforts.
I knew that I have allergies. I am allergic to dairy, chocolate and have a strong sensitivity to wheat. Any kind of sugar except dates and whole fruits really harm me. It wasn’t until I stopped “having just a little” of the foods that I knew I shouldn’t have that my body started to heal. It took about a year for me to feel better.
I am now losing weight and my stomach bloat is disappearing. What a blessing. I don’t count calories- just eat plant based foods. I am thankful for you and your website. You have helped me with your recipes and articles. Thanks!!
Thanks for sharing your story. And, what great news that all of your hard work has paid off. Good for you for being persistent. That’s half the battle. It’s amazing that it took a year. I’m so glad I could be a part of your healing.
I wanted to response to your Blog About WFPB curing everything and if it is for everybody.
First let me tell you I am a 52 female, married with 2 children 11,14. I started my WFPB journey, cold turkey, on my 50th Birthday. I have no major illness. I saw ForksOverKnives and other movies and decided to change my Lifestyle completely. My kids had in the past always problems with theirs skin and with me changing our diets so many times I thought this might be it.
For me personally I wanted to loose weight. Now I am not big, all I want to loose is max 3-5 kilos.
The whole Family agreed and we are now plant based since 2 years. All of us are feeling fine, my husband lost lots of weight. Energy is up, the kids are fine and healthy. Son lost alLittle weight. But he is not big, he is tall. None of us you would consider overweight. My husband maybe, but not anymore.
For me I can NOT loose the weight.
I cook every meal every day. No processed foods. Sometimes The kids have vegan cheese or spread from simply V. But everything else we either don´t have it or I will make it.
To tell you the truth, when I heard about it I thought this is the Miracle Cure for everything. I have glasses and some minor health issues. I still have glasses even needed a stronger prescription☹
But I guess I can´t really complain, we are healthy, haven´t been sick in a long time. And you really can´t tell if we would feel this way Eating the way we did before. And I can tell that the food does my body good. You never feel as bad as before after eating. Just my weight is not coming off.
So I hope this helps a Little. Nevertheless we will keep on sticking to it.
Hi Sabine, Thanks for sharing your perspective. I’m sorry you haven’t lost weight as you’d hoped but glad to hear you’re still happy eating a plant-based diet. My weight tends to fluctuate depending on how much time I spend sitting and just how much I’m actually eating. Calories still count, right? Keeping a food diary really helps me to actually see what I’m eating, and to motivate me in the right direction. And, weighing myself every day, helps, too. It’s just so different for everyone and our fondest desires won’t necessarily be met by eating this way. Best of luck and let us know if you start to have luck losing weight.
I believe it’s true that we don’t all heal the same if at all, I had 5 bypasses in 2014 and within 6 months 2 had failed, I went plant-based cold turkey, later I removed all oils and fats as best I can, that’s not always possible, my surgeon said I was born with poor arteries, go figure. My cholesterol remains around 3.0 with no drugs, I’m happy with that.
I also have Ryanalds disease for as long as I can remember when its cold my finger will turn blue or white and toes get really cold, that’s poor circulation, the diet has done nothing to improve this, its winter here in Australia and even typing this all my fingers are white and cold.
I’m on a low drug dose for blood pressure but they are required, so diet hasn’t cured this, tho it has helped but so has losing weight. I have a couple of skin issues, diet has done zero for this. I have always loved veggies so I never had issues dropping meat, dairy was a little harder. Would I change the way I eat, No, but it’s not the all to end all?
I follow Esselstyn on how to prevent and reverse heart disease the best I can, I also follow McDougal.
I’m still overweight, still have heart disease and always will I figure, still have blood pressure issues, I walk 1 hour every day, but that’s something I’ve done for many years (20+)
So we are not all the same and some will see better results than others, we will only ever hear about the recovery of those that get better. I don’t disbelieve the 2 that I follow, but I just don’t believe its a 100% guarantee for the same results.
Am I happy with my results? Well pretty much but it could be better, I wish.
Thanks for sharing your health journey with us. It is definitely a journey that can take time and patience. You’re doing many of the things that I would suggest such as walking every day and eating plant-based. Unfortunately, many doctors don’t use nutrition as part of the recovery process and if you haven’t tried it before, I would suggest working with someone who comes from the plant-based point of view. Here’s a website that you can search for practitioners (not just doctors), plantbaseddoctors.org. There are a few in Australia. Keep up the good work and I hope things start to turn around for you.
Hi, I am looking for some input on my recent blood work. I moved to a plant-based diet over 4 months ago. I eliminated most dairy, only 1-2 tbs cream in coffee. I may eat chicken or beef a few times a month. I eliminated eggs. I am a 66-year-old male with a history of high cholesterol. In addition, I am very active, working out 3-4 times per week. I was a little shocked at my results from today’s blood work compared to the two previous ones. I was on a very low dosage statin 3-4 times per week for the previous tests. I stopped taking statin when I went plant-based. I was expecting a significant drop in my HDL and instead it went up 17 points. In addition, my PSA also is higher than a year ago. I expected a lower ratio, as I eliminated eggs and dairy. I am now questioning why I should make such a change when the results have not improved.
today – 1/4/23 8/17/22
total Cholesterol 210 208 186
triglycerides 56 72 78
HDL 61 65 64
LDL 137.5 120.5 106
Ratio 3.42 3.19 2.9
It’s great that you’re actively monitoring your health and making dietary changes. However, interpreting blood work results, especially concerns over your LDL, HDL cholesterol and PSA levels, can be complex and depends on various factors.
You mentioned that your HDL went up, but I think you were referring to your LDL.
Here are a few thoughts that might help explain these changes but keep in mind that I’m not a doctor and would suggest you consult with a plant-based doctor or dietitian who is more knowledgeable. Also, a dietitian can look at your food diary and hopefully be able to pinpoint the problem.
To find a plant-based doctor by location go to Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. They also have a search for telehealth providers, as well.
High Cholesterol:
Some individuals have a genetic predisposition for high cholesterol and may be difficult to manage even with a plant-based diet and regular exercise. Keep in mind that even small amounts of dairy or occasional consumption of chicken or beef might have different impacts on different individuals.
Are you eating olive oil or coconut oil? Those have some saturated fat and may be contributing.
Has your weight gone up or are you eating faux vegan meat or cheese? Either of these could cause a change in your numbers.
Going Off Statins:
The statins you were taking probably brought your numbers down quite a bit, I’m guessing. Since you’ve gone off them, you might want to compare the new numbers on your plant-based diet to what they were before you started taking a statin. Are the numbers better when you compare this way? You may have listed those, but I can’t exactly tell from the numbers in your comment.
Enough Time:
Remember, transitioning to a plant-based diet is a significant change for your body, and it might take time for your health markers to reflect these changes. Also, factors like genetics, age, and exercise play a significant role in how your body responds to dietary changes.
PSA Levels:
Unfortunately, I don’t know much as PSA levels but according to what I’ve read, levels can rise due to a variety of reasons including age, prostate enlargement, inflammation, infection, and prostate cancer.
Don’t get too frustrated because eating a whole food, plant-based diet has many more benefits than just lowering cholesterol. Best of luck.