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OUR JOURNEY TO A PLANT BASED DIET

Our journey to a plant based diet started after my 2nd child was born. I was experiencing severe acid reflux and migraines and my doctor wanted to put me on a strong medication that would make it risky to breast feed my baby. I was not able to sleep well and every morning I woke up like my chest and head were on fire. Soon, my voice began to change. I had already developed a thyroid issue during the pregnancy which the doctor said was going to mean medication for life. My mom had been taking thyroid medication for 30 years and the specialist said it was hereditary.

I had read study after study on the importance of breastfeeding and couldn’t imagine not being able to give my child this health advantage. A co-worker of mine recommended I see a homeopathic MD she knew. The doctor said that he could fix everything if I followed his direction and kept to a strict vegan diet. I was already a vegetarian and always believed the vegan diet was a bit extreme but I was desperate and so I agreed. I had only 50% breastmilk for my 1st child and had to supplement with formula so I wasn’t sure how it was going to work on a vegan diet. I stayed on the vegan diet for one year and my acid became significantly better, my thyroid (to the disbelief of the thyroid specialist) went back to normal and my 2nd child was 100% breast fed. I also lost 30 pounds, rarely got sick and decided to stay vegan for life. The first 6 months was very difficult because I LOVED cheese, pizza and lasagna – I don’t know if I would have been able to get through it if it wasn’t for my baby. This was 11 years ago and they didn’t have all the vegan options they do now. I did it and never looked back!

My husband’s journey started much later. He is from Europe and lived on cheese, sausage, meat and potatoes. When we met, his cholesterol was so high that his doctor had him on medication because lifestyle changes in his opinion were too difficult. The young doctor himself was on cholesterol meds. When we changed our primary doctor to a friend, she quickly stopped the medication and encourage him to improve his diet and increase exercise. Year after year, he would agree to make changes and then go back to his old habits. At a friend’s Christmas party in 2018, he loaded up on meat and cheese while he listened to 2 good friends that shared with him their journey to changing their health. The psychiatrist was on a Keto diet and the cardiologist was on a vegan diet. I thought for sure the Keto would win out for him but he left that party and said on the new year he was going vegan and he did exactly that. He was in a transition mode so he played with finding all of the restaurants that had great substitutions for his favorite foods like cheeseburgers and fries. At the 6 month mark, our doctor checked him and he had lost 22 pounds, his good cholesterol was up and his Triglycerides went down 45 points (better than when he was on medication). But he was still a coach potato and eating a lot of processed foods so for the 2nd part of the year, he is focused on reducing processed foods and incorporating more activity. I still can’t believe the man that hated salads, is now. the happiest vegan I’ve ever met!

We have two beautiful children age 11 and 13. They were not on a vegan diet and my daughter was getting back to back ear infections. A friend recommended Dr. Furhman’s book called Disease Proof Your Kids. I took away just milk and eggs and my daughter’s ear infections went away completely. We then met Jarick and Adrienne and they shared how their kids also thrive on a vegan diet so we started to go to their pediatrician and now our kiddos are plant based as well.

My mom has always eaten a clean diet but it included dairy, eggs and meat. Once she saw the positive changes our health went through, she decided to go plant based and has never looked back. Today, she is a very young 75, walks at the beach for 2 hours a day and looks years younger than her age.