Veganist_ Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World - Kathy Freston [28]
He had type 2 diabetes and was taking oral medication for this.
By default, he ate the same as we did. He didn’t like it and hated the “cow food” we ate. But he ate it. We observed the following changes in his condition:
He slowly improved. His strength returned and he began a healthy weight gain.
He could now stand to wash dishes without sit-down breaks.
Because of consistent good blood sugar indications, his doctor took him off the diabetes medication. His diabetes was now being controlled by diet alone.
He has fewer problems with constipation and indigestion.
He began driving again.
He’s had no recent angina attacks.
I’d like to say that we are all living happily ever after. But there is one glitch. It is an important glitch. Dad improved so much and was feeling so good that he started leaving the house more often. Suddenly he had days when he just wasn’t hungry. He had nausea and diarrhea, and the constipation returned.
It was only when we discovered the empty packages under his bed that we found out about his “departure” from our lifestyle. The dangerous glitch is that you start to feel so good that you go back. Dad had started buying junk food and sneaking it into his room. The good news is that he has sworn off cookie and cheese-curl binges and is feeling better again.
The New Menu
We are still fledgling vegans. I do still miss many of the old foods, but I don’t miss angina, weakness, indigestion, high blood pressure, and 38-inch pants.
We learn more every day. We try new foods, new recipes. Some are miserable failures, many are delicious. We have retasted a couple of our old favorite foods since we switched to plant-based and found them incredibly greasy, full of salt, and almost unpalatable. So while I think I miss them, I know I really don’t.
Barb makes a wonderful lentil soup in the pressure cooker. It’s easy. Just chop up all of the constituent vegetables, throw in the lentils, add vegetable stock, seal the pot, and cook for a half hour. It’s great coming out, but even better the next day.
I was never a lover of vegetables. Munching down a whole bowl of greens is tedious. One of the most effective ways I found to increase my intake of greens has been making green smoothies. My concoctions have a less than stellar aesthetic quality; mixing blueberries in with deep green kale, strawberries, lettuce, and a banana doesn’t yield an eye pleaser. But they are antioxidant rich, loaded with fiber and vital nutrients. They taste good and make a great replacement for sugar-filled soda.
Philosophy
I have approached the whole thing with a two-part philosophy:
The thought that I can never have a certain food again is depressing, so I compromise and say I’m just not going to have that food today. I can’t do forever, but I can do a day.
I ask myself, “Am I going to die if I don’t eat this steak?” No. But I might die if I do.
The whole thing starts to sound like an AA meeting, and maybe it is; there is certainly an addictive quality about the diet of Western civilization. But I don’t really mind being labeled as recovering fatty-food addicts.
My body tells me that I feel better. The documented studies say that at least some of the damage will heal. So I am encouraged. So it is good. So there is life after hamburger.
I really love Robert’s attitude of willingness and levity; he takes it all seriously, but he has fun and gives himself a break. He has a good sense of humor and adventure, and he’s leaning in to a healthier life—and bringing his family along with him—with gusto.
I highly recommend Dr. Esselstyn’s book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease; it’s packed with stories like Robert’s and is thoroughly substantiated by peer-reviewed research and hard science. Considering that the United States contains just 5 percent of the global population, but every year, physicians in American hospitals perform more than 50 percent of all the angioplasties and bypass procedures in the entire world, the information in those pages is highly relevant.
In his book, Dr. Esselstyn writes: “If you eat to save your