Reflections on 10 years of plant-based eating

For those questions and discussions on the McDougall program that don’t seem to fit in any other forum.

Moderators: JeffN, f1jim, John McDougall, carolve, Heather McDougall

Reflections on 10 years of plant-based eating

Postby Drew_ab » Wed Mar 31, 2021 7:54 am

Earlier this month, I am proud to announce that I officially hit the 10-year mark on my plant-based journey. I've learned a lot the way and I figured that I would share it with others on this board. The list is by no means exhaustive, but I'll attempt to provide sufficient enough detail as to leave you with something to reflect on and hopefully leave inspired. I sat down to write about it and below is what came out...feel free to comment, ask questions, and so forth.

What does this WOE look like for me?
Personally, I consume a great deal of starch with each meal (usually about a 500 cal base) along with generous amounts of nutrient-dense plants including vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, and so forth. I know it's not always a popular sentiment around here, but I do favor things like cruciferous vegetables and dark leafy green over iceberg lettuce, berries over bananas, and darkly colored starch such as orange/purple sweet potatoes and black/red rice over white potatoes and white rice, although I still feel they are extremely healthy foods. The biggest factor for me is the inclusion of vegetables rich in nitric oxide. It helps my blood pressure to run closer to 105/60 rather than 115/70. I am a cardiac patient and consider this to be extremely important. I personally do a lot of endurance exercise (running and triathlon), so I do include a fair bit of dried fruit and nuts. When I'm training I often need 2800-3200 calories per day to maintain a pretty trim BMI between 20.7 - 21.7. At one point my BMI went into the 19's but I didn't feel as good when being so trim (though I still felt better than 99% of people). I also eat an SOS-free version of the diet as I don't see the need for any of these foods. The only 'questionable' item I still consume intermittently is caffeine in the form of green tea or black coffee. I don't consume processed food period - this includes things like Ezekiel whole wheat bread and organic whole wheat pasta. I consider both of them to be mildly processed and I just feel better with fully intact starched. My main starches include oats, lentils, chickpeas, sweet potatoes, and rice, though I will eat other fully intact starches as they come into my home. I also eat nearly entirely organic (but this only started in more recent years as I wasn't previously able to afford it - it is not necessary but I like what it offers to the planet and consider it to be an act of compassion).

Write things down until they become more than an ingrained habit.
For the first year I followed this WOE I wrote every single thing down I consumed. Very quickly I became aware of patterns of behavior that were (or were not), serving me. It was interesting to see the exact correlation between calorie density and my BMI. For example, consuming dried fruit with some regularity made my weight about 2-3 pounds heavier. Consuming nuts with some regularity made my weight about 2-3 pounds heavier. Consuming honey, agave, maple syrup, or other sweeteners made my weight about 2-3 pounds heavier. Consuming pasta/bread made my weight 2-3 pounds heavier. Consuming salt (though non-caloric) made my weight about 2-3 pounds heavier. These small changes result in 12-18 pounds of total weight difference. Now, with endurance training, I need a bit of the calorically dense foods (nuts and dried fruit only), but these additions really do add up, particularly with those who are trying to reverse disease. By writing everything down, it kept me accountable to myself and resulted in true intrinsic change and habit installation. I was also able to learn the lessons that some people struggling with this WOE struggle with year after year. Your experience may vary, but this held true for me. There were no exceptions - if it went in my mouth I wrote it down. I believe this allowed me to fast-track the process of change to a new lifestyle.

The results do get better with time and adherence.
When I transitioned to a starch-centered plant-based diet, I initially felt much better, but not all the time. Food withdrawal is a very real thing. Giving up meat was easy, giving up dairy was a little harder, but giving up diet-coke was the worst. I honestly craved it for a good 12 months after dropping it. It took some tinkering to figure out what meal schedule worked for me, what could be integrated into my family's pattern of eating, and what would keep me feeling great throughout the day, but after several months this was more or less accomplished. But here is the wildest thing of all... After 3 months I felt better. After 6 months I felt even better than at 3 months. At 1 year I felt better than at 6 months...and well, you get the idea. After a full decade of a starch-based lifestyle, each year I feel better than the year previously. The body is gradually remodeling itself overtime - time and adherence will almost certainly give you the results you are looking for. I started eating this way at 26 years old after a quarter-century of eating terribly and following an absolutely horrible lifestyle (yet one that is common for North America). It's sad to think that most of this wonderful continent we live on walks around feeling awful all the time without even knowing it. They simply don't have a baseline for feeling great. This might be the biggest threat to our planet.

Use bloodwork and other medical tests to provide guidance and assurance.
I've been fortunate in that nearly every time I've asked a doctor for blood work and other tests (i.e. echocardiograms), they are more than willing to order them. I've studied the results closely and know what they mean (and sometimes even moreso than my family practitioner). Doctors are great people who want good things for their patients. Usually, their training and the system aren't set up for this. You need to advocate for your needs. Do be somewhat careful though - like Dr. McDougall says, "sick people go to doctors. " Dr. Greger has a recent series on nutritionfacts.org where he talks about the dangers of stents, as well as an older series in which he outlines how dangerous annual physical examinations can be. You really do need to be a well-informed patient. Nobody cares more about your health than you do. Having said all this, it is very reassuring to see a total cholesterol that is outstanding every time it is measured. It great when a full plethora of blood markers all come back better than normal. For me personally, I feel that it has contributed to compliance greatly.

People will initially critique you, ridicule you, and try to dissuade you. Eventually, some of them will join you, and the naysayers will be quiet.
In the first few years of doing this, many people criticized me, worried that I was going to become gravely ill, and outright tried to talk me out of this. Where are these people now? Many of them are fat, sick, and have become more and more engulfed with conventional medical care for chronic lifestyle conditions that are entirely preventable. Don't get me wrong, if I crash my bike I want to visit a hospital. If I cut my finger building a new deck in my backyard that needs to get stitched up, I want to get fast attention in an ER. But most people receive medical care for conditions that are entirely preventable. Over time the people around me have become more interested in eating plants and now see the value. They'll frequently say things like "I think it's a good strategy for making it to 100, but I don't think I can do it. But good for you for doing it." I have never tried to convince anyone around me to follow this WOE, but a few have done so along the way while others have leaned in that direction. We live in a very interesting world at the moment. On the one hand, our world is the most food-toxic it has ever been with access to calorie-rich and processed food (CRAP) being so prevalent. Yet, on the other hand, people are the most plant-curious they have ever been, though perhaps it's misguided with access to things like the impossible burger, beyond burger, and so forth.

The benefits of increased cognitive performance and productivity are real.
People around here talk about reversing angina, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other serious conditions. But almost no one talks about the cognitive benefits of plants. I was fine before this journey, but it really has been like gasoline on the fire for ramping up cognitive abilities and productivity. I have two young children and a demanding career, which means that time and efficiency are extremely important. Yet, despite this, I was able to earn a graduate degree in my field of expertise while obtaining a 3.9 GPA and doing very well in the program. Don't get me wrong, it took A LOT of work, but I am almost certain the outcome would not have been the same pre-plants. Also, I find myself able to accomplish many of the same tasks that my colleagues are in 25-50% less time. Furthermore, when I'm done completing cognitively demanding tasks, I'm still energetic and not exhausted like they are... which means it's time to swim, bike, or run. Your brain is an organ just like your heart and as your blood vessels open up with this WOE, so do the blood vessels going to your brain.

You will become a kinder, more compassionate, and caring human being.
And don't mistake this kindness for weakness. Because you will feel better physically and be sharper mentally, you are more in tune with who you are and what you want out of life. You will become more patient and in the same token become better positioned to advocate for the changes you want to see in the world. Perhaps better than words, you will be role-modeling a way of being that is good for people, good for the planet, and good for animals. Does it get any better than that? I don't think so, but you may feel different.

Simplicity is helpful for long-term compliance.
If you were to come to my house and open my fridge, you would see gigantic glass tupperware containers filled with cooked lentils, sweet potatoes, and other starches. You would also see gigantic containers of vegetables that are grab and go (like grape tomatoes, bell peppers, carrots, etc.) along with my nitric-oxide-rich veggies like arugula, kale, and beets. Everything is precooked and in large batches. If you were to arrive on a Sunday you would see 5 lunches for the week packed. Every Sunday I visit Costco and an Independent Grocer to get all of the produce I need for the week to feed a family of 4 (and during the summer months you'll often see bags of fresh produce from the farmers market). During the week I live a very busy professional and family life and do not have the time to worry about extra trips to the market for more food. There have been periods where my life has become extremely busy and I've literally eaten oatmeal with fruit/veg for a month straight. While this won't surprise anyone around here, I felt entirely fine doing so. In fact, I continued to thrive and live a great life. My meals are often created as one-bowls with a starch base where I add generous amounts of plants. While I indicated my preference for nutrient-dense plant foods, if you take a variety of plants you will be just fine.

Diet is one part of the puzzle, but there are others to consider.
While I've mentioned I exercise a lot before, one doesn't need to do a lot to maximize benefits and minimize risk (it is quite possible that I do too much exercise for longevity, but it's what I love to do and I am aware of that risk). Other health habits like meditation and its varying permutations have been invaluable for me. My work life is extremely stressful (and rewarding) - while plants have powered me with a great deal of resilience, so has meditation and mindfulness. I also subscribe to stressing our bodies in other ways such as cold-exposure and heat (i.e. sauna, steam room, etc). Aspects like community, belonging, and social connections are also pivotal and health and well-being. Don't underestimate these but don't compromise your health (i.e. eating calorie-rich and processed foods) to go along with others simply to fit in. You are better than that and deserve the best. Once you have diet in check, then it's time to move on to other things like exercise and community. You might eventually get to the point where you consider the types of soap, hygiene products, and cleaning supplies that fill your home. You may also consider the purity of your water and the cleanliness of your air.

But never lose sight of Dr. McDougall's trademark phrase - "It's the food." I remember visiting these boards in the beginning of my journey not comprehending how one could make it so long. It can be done. It gets easier with time. You are the locus of control. You can do it and it will be worth it.
Drew_ab
 
Posts: 774
Joined: Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:03 am

Re: Reflections on 10 years of plant-based eating

Postby michaelswarm » Wed Mar 31, 2021 12:36 pm

Drew, congratulations, from another 10+ year follower. Wishing you many, many more.

Find your observations about vegetables and blood pressure very interesting, and also your observations about calorie density and BMI. Not that this is news, but that you actually measured and logged everything.

Amazing success story. A couple of questions?
Am I to understand you were a cardiac patient at 26 years old?
Is the rest of your family as compliant as yourself?
User avatar
michaelswarm
 
Posts: 854
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2011 11:01 pm
Location: Traveling Mexico and United States

Re: Reflections on 10 years of plant-based eating

Postby Daydream » Wed Mar 31, 2021 2:28 pm

Drew_ab: what a wonderful post, thank you for sharing with us. You are so lucky that you can eat 2,800 to 3,200 calories a day remaining trim! I wish I could do that without gaining weight. I do exercise but not has intensely as you do.

I have the same question as Michaelswarm... You said you started eating this way at 26 years old, you have been eating the McDougall diet for 10 years and you are a cardiac patient. I'm not sure why you would be a cardiac patient at age 36 with 10 years of healthy eating.
User avatar
Daydream
 
Posts: 669
Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 11:16 pm

Re: Reflections on 10 years of plant-based eating

Postby Drew_ab » Wed Mar 31, 2021 5:40 pm

michaelswarm wrote:Am I to understand you were a cardiac patient at 26 years old?


Simply put, I had open-heart surgery to replace my aortic valve, aortic root, and the whole aorta itself with prosthetic/bio-prosthetic gear when I was 26 years young. It's a long story, but the short version is that I had a congenital defect that needed to be fixed. It required 5 hospital visits, 90 days in the hospital, and two open-heart surgeries. Most people at that age would never change, but when you've been through the wringer, making change comes a lot easier (one surgeon said the second open heart surgery came with a 10% mortality risk). I was fortunate to have a couple of phone consults with Dr. Esslestyn and to discover the work of Dr. McDougall, Dr. Greger, Dan Buettner, and others immediately post-op. I jumped in with both feet and never looked back...ever. My surgeon made it pretty clear that I could live a normal life so long as I didn't also get coronary artery disease on top of my congenital defect. I made it my mission to make sure that no plaque will see the light of day in my arteries.

Here is a photo from 10 years ago:
https://ibb.co/rcQwwGx

Here is a photo from today:
https://ibb.co/z6nYBZd

I will get to responding to the other items in this thread when I have a moment. :D
Drew_ab
 
Posts: 774
Joined: Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:03 am

Re: Reflections on 10 years of plant-based eating

Postby Drew_ab » Thu Apr 01, 2021 10:59 am

michaelswarm wrote:Drew, congratulations, from another 10+ year follower. Wishing you many, many more.

Find your observations about vegetables and blood pressure very interesting, and also your observations about calorie density and BMI. Not that this is news, but that you actually measured and logged everything.

Amazing success story. A couple of questions?
Am I to understand you were a cardiac patient at 26 years old?
Is the rest of your family as compliant as yourself?


Thanks for your kind words! I'm wishing you the same and many more years of health, vitality, and well-being. The rest of the family is not as compliant as me with the exception of my mom (who was initially very concerned with me choosing to live this way) - she is 64 and takes no medications, which says a lot in our society. It's great when I can visit her house and get a great plant-based dish prepared SOS-free. My wife's family prepares everything in a way that is WFPB SOS free too, in part to accommodate me but also because there are so many different food preferences in their family (lactose-free, gluten-free, vegan, etc). Food is prepared plain and you basically build your dish from there. Yes there will be a side of chicken breasts, a container of butter, and a salt shaker all within arm's reach, but I just don't ever go for them. For example, a baked potato, some brown rice, beets, turnips, broccoli, and sweet potatoes can all go on a plate for a nice thanksgiving dish when I'm visiting them. They'll make a gigantic salad and not add processed food or dressing to it. People can add whatever toppings, dressings, and condiments they like.

Although my immediate family does not have my level of compliance, they do eat better than most around here. My wife has meat a few times a week while still packing the Vitamix full of veggies/fruit each day, downing homemade black bean brownies, baking oil-free flax crackers, downing oatmeal with berries, walking every day, not smoking/drinking, and so forth. She certainly does some things better than me (i.e. social connection & relationships), while still being reasonably health-conscious by nearly all standards. Will this be enough for her to stave off chronic disease? I'm not sure... Her bloodwork comes back decent enough with a total cholesterol of about 150. Having said that, I cannot help but think of Dr. Joseph Crowe from the Cleveland Clinic who had a total cholesterol of 156 and no other risk factors, who still had a heart attack at something like age 44. He then starting following Dr. Esselstyn's program and saw his total cholesterol fall to less than 100. I would like to think that this makes him as close to heart attack proof as is humanly possible.
Drew_ab
 
Posts: 774
Joined: Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:03 am

Re: Reflections on 10 years of plant-based eating

Postby f1jim » Sat Apr 03, 2021 3:24 pm

That was a very nice piece. I am another 10+ year veteran of this way of eating. All your points are on mark and I echo them.
It's a great thing to look back on more than a decade of healthy eating. For me, it was all about staying alive when heart disease became front and center in my life. I can honestly say it's the reason I am still alive after 13+ years of making this change. Now it's like breathing.
It's a 13+ year old gift that keeps on giving every morning I wake up. What more can you ask.
Sad, that so many won't even try.
f1jim
While adopting this diet and lifestyle program I have reversed my heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, and lost 54 lbs. You can follow my story at https://www.drmcdougall.com/james-brown/
User avatar
f1jim
 
Posts: 11349
Joined: Sun Feb 17, 2008 4:45 pm
Location: Pacifica, CA

Re: Reflections on 10 years of plant-based eating

Postby Lyndzie » Sat Apr 10, 2021 8:11 pm

This is such a wonderful post! Very thorough. I look forward to writing my 10 year entry in a couple more years.

We’re similarly aged, I’m 38. It’s nice to see people from all ages and walks of life have success with the program.
Lindsey
My food journal: Adventures in Eating
My pregnancy journal: Maybe a Baby 2017
www.lindseyhead.coach
User avatar
Lyndzie
 
Posts: 2709
Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2016 7:24 pm
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana USA

Re: Reflections on 10 years of plant-based eating

Postby curcubit » Fri May 07, 2021 8:12 pm

HI Drew,
Thank you for your inspirational post, I know how long it takes to compose such a thorough, thoughtful history. Congrats on your lifestyle and commitment to health.

I was born with a congenital heart defect as well, although not as serious as yours. Its called patent ductus arteriousus and I had a right-to-left shunt for the first four years. I was borderline hypoxic/cyanotic all the time. It was surgically repaired in 1965 when I was 4. I have some pretty impressive scars too ...back then the incision ran under the left breast, armpit and up into the left scapular area. They cut 4 ribs and deflated my left lung to tie off the ductus arteriosus and put everything back together. One of my earliest memories is waking up in an oxygen tent in the hospital. Long story short, afterwards I had a functional heart with a moderate murmur and I finally started to gain weight and thrive. Interestingly over the years that has faded away...My midwife could still hear at 38 when I was pregnant, but in the last 10 years no doctor has been able to hear it.

I found out 5 years ago I have genetically elevated lipoprotein (a). It is a independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Thankfully, given my family history of CVD disease, my doctor thought to order an advanced lipid panel that discovered this, as it is not measured in conventional cholesterol panels. I thought she was being overly careful….My total cholesterol was never over 175 and my LDL:HDL ratios always excellent. I had never heard of lipoprotein (a), and actually my doctor really had not either, she initially told me the labs looked great. I happened to notice at the very bottom of the two page report that my lipoprotein (a) was almost 200 (should be less than 20 or so). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/well ... otein.html. So if you have not gotten that checked, please do. I was referred to a cardiologist who basically said…just keep your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose in control. Don’t smoke, and exercise daily and you should be fine. So that is what I did.

Fast forward to Covid. There is evidence have elevated lp(a) is a risk factor for clotting during a Covid infection. Meanwhile I had moved to a new city and decided maybe I should see about the health of my arteries. I self referred myself for a Carotid artery intimacy media thickness/CIMT ultrasound. I was stunned to find out I have the arteries of a 85 year old, at 59. I got myself a new cardiologist pronto who said given my lp(a) levels it was inevitable, although I wish I had known sooner. I would have not eaten all those eggs, dairy and occasional meat over the years.

The new cardiologist ordered a stress echo which was somewhat inconclusive…he said it could be due to the changed architecture in my left ventricle wall due to my surgery for PDA repair… or it could be coronary artery disease thanks to lp(a). No worries, he said, we can just do a angiogram and stent you. Well, I was having none of it. I follow Dr. Gregers work too…and I also read the cardiac literature and knew the ISCHEMIA trial showed no benefit in patients with stable heart disease over conventional management. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6005768/

I could not believe he was trying to rush me into the cardiac cath lab when I had no angina at rest or exertion and a normal EKG, a hsCRP of 0.3, normal blood pressure, normal A1C. It really felt like they needed bodies to do procedures on during Covid…as people were reluctant to go to the hospital at that time (summer 2020). I said NO. I want to double down on WFPB diet this time cutting out all fats and SOS. He did get me to agree to taking red yeast rice and CoQ10…as, even though there is no treatment for lp(a) one strategy to lower heart disease risk is to lower LDL to below 70 (mine was 99 at the time).

Long story short, my BP of 120/80 is now 100/60. My A1C went from 5.5 to 5. My LDL was 66 at last check and my APoB particle number below 800. Everything looks great. I plan on repeating my CIMT in July, the one year anniversary to see if there is any regression of plaque. I would love to loose some more weight, but at my age and activity level is has been really slow….but it is coming off ounce by ounce. I am still active: walking, biking, paddle boarding, hiking, snowshoeing.

I finally convinced my husband to go WFPB with me, although he eats meat when we are out at restaurants. He is very accommodating at home and eats what I cook, although he is requesting some vegan meats like beyond burger occasionally for his meals.

I am very happy to say my son did not inherent the mutation in LPA gene. And my two siblings do not have it either. One of my cousins has it though, interestingly her lp(a) was identical to mine ….and given it can range from 0 to 1000, that was a stretch. She has switched to a WFPB diet too. She is 12 years younger than me, so hopefully she has caught things in time. She plans on doing a CIMT sometime soon too.

I wanted to reach out to you and flag this marker…as it occurs in 1 in 5 Americans, and not diagnosed often enough. I think many “healthy” young people who die of MI actually have silent heart disease due to lp(a), like Bob Harper. Test, don’t guess. Then, you can take all the steps you can to minimize your risk, like you have.

All the best,
Curcubit
"One cannot pick a flower without troubling a star." Aldo Leopold
curcubit
 
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2020 10:54 am

Re: Reflections on 10 years of plant-based eating

Postby Drew_ab » Sat May 08, 2021 1:37 pm

Curcubit,

Thank you so much for sharing your story. It's wild to think about undergoing surgical repair for ducts ductus arteriousus (something I knew little about until Googling it a few minutes ago). It sounds like surgery was one heck of a procedure - you sound like an incredibly resilient person.

I have never gotten my lipoprotein (a) checked, but perhaps I should. The good news about being someone who has had open-heart surgery twice is that doctors are fairly agreeable to ordering tests. Particularly if it's an independent risk factor like you mentioned.

It sounds like you are right on track by doubling down on your WFPB efforts and your results speak for themselves with a greatly improved BP. I did not realize that 1 in 5 Americans had an elevated lipoprotein (a). I thought only 1 out of several hundred fell into this category, but a quick search quickly revealed otherwise: https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161 ... he%20apo(a)%20component%20is,%3E120%20nmol%2FL%5D.
Drew_ab
 
Posts: 774
Joined: Sun Feb 23, 2014 9:03 am


Return to The Lounge

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests



Welcome!

Sign up to receive our regular articles, recipes, and news about upcoming events.