plant based journey —

A couple months ago I got my blood work done. My doctor said I was fine. But I didn’t trust him. So I set out to find a plant based doctor to review my blood. That’s when I found Dr. Greg Feinsinger.  Dr. Feinsinger is a retired family physician, who started a heart attack prevention program at Glenwood Medical in 2003, and now does volunteer preventative work.

Feinsinger saw my numbers differently. He explained to me that bloodwork numbers are based on an unhealthy population. For example if your total cholesterol is <200, doc’s will give you the thumbs up. That’s what mine did.

Feinsinger explained that the numbers (lipid values) doctors should be using are based on what people in Blue Zones have—who never develop hardening of the arteries and are therefore heart attack proof.

Blue Zone lipid values are:
Total Cholesterol <150
Triglycerides < 70
LDL <50

The values you’ll find on most websites, and what my doctor based his examination on are much different:
Total Cholesterol <200
Triglycerides < 150
LDL <100

My values were:
Total Cholesterol 166
Triglycerides 71
LDL 93

He immediately ordered a Carotid test. The results weren’t good. Turns out I have the arteries of a 71 year old man – I’m 60. Plus they showed significant plaque (hardening of the arteries). Read Beat the Heart Attack Gene by Bale and Doneen to learn more.

I don’t want to die before my time. So I’ve made huge changes.

I’ve cut out all added sugar, salt, and oil. I’m back to following Dr. G’s Daily Dozen. I’m following the 5:1 rule. I’m only eating plant based food – nothing processed. No more Impossible Burgers. No more organic jam or honey from my friends in Hotchkiss.

I wasn’t eating meat – haven’t since Renee and I started this. But on trips back from Denver I’d stop and get some fries and a shake. Chips – organic of course – were my friend. I’d get popcorn, candy, and soda at the movies. Every now and then I’d have a slice of cheese pizza. We were using Maple for sweetener. I put jam on my peanut better sandwich and honey in my tea. I was salting my food. BTW, there’s no such thing as healthy salt. Use No Salt Salt.

I could never get my weight down below 195 without starving myself. Today, I’m 187. I’m 6’1″.  My BMI is normal now, I used to be overweight. The western doc waist circumference number is <40. Again, that’s a number based on an unhealthy population. The real number, is <=37. I’m 38″ at the belly button.

I’m eating more than ever. Feel better than ever. I owe it all to Dr. Feinsinger. He saved my life.

Here’s a picture of today’s “shop with a doc” meetup. Feinsinger meets people at the grocery store. He’ll spend an hour or 2 taking them up and down the aisle, going over what to buy, what not to buy, how to read labels and more.

Healthcare expenditures are $1 trillion a year. 80% of this cost is attributable to lifestyle diseases – diabetes, heart disease, obesity etc. 400,000 people a year die from heart disease. Heart disease is preventable by going plant based.

My doctor has seen my bloodwork for years, but never once recommended the Carotid test. All but once, he’d look over my numbers and send me on my way. The one time he did say something he prescribed moderation – “try to eat better”. Moderation is about being moderately healthy and maybe living as long as the average life expectancy.

There’s a reason why the documentary is called Forks Over Knives.

I’ve got better care from Dr. Feinsinger, who volunteers his time, than from my doctor — who I paid. Imagine if doctors everywhere volunteered a few hours of their time once a week, what Dr. Feinsinger does. If people went plant based, what would be the reduction in healthcare expenditures? I bet it’d be a few hundred billion, at least. We could take that money to wipe out food deserts. We could subsidize plant based food, instead of junk food. Thousands of lives would be saved each year. Millions would be healthy. Our healthcare and health insurance costs would go down.

Instead, Trump tweets pictures of him scarfing down burgers and fries. Government gives money to corporations to make junk food. Giveaways to the medical industry for drugs that make us sicker and keep us on the dole. There’s no money in healthy people. So the system keeps us sick – then it kills us. Why aren’t more people fighting back?