Patient Stories

I started my whole food plant-based (WFPB) diet as a fit 34-year-old who exercised regularly. I just had blood work done, only to find my cholesterol was very high, and my blood pressure was not ideal. My father died from a heart attack at age 52, and my results were somewhat of a wake-up call.

My cousin, a WFPB advocate herself, said I should look into how a WFPB diet could help me as I was hesitant to go on medication at such a young age with an otherwise healthy weight and active lifestyle. She mentioned that whilst we may have our family's genetics, we don't need to eat the same way they did or just roll over and accept that we can't swing our health odds in our favour. My uncle said we all have high cholesterol and blood pressure and that it runs in the family and to look into medication.

At this point, and somewhat as an experiment, I decided I didn't have much to lose by trying a WFPB diet. I convinced my wife to come on the journey with me, and we immediately cut out all obvious animal products. I was concerned about giving up an easy and (what I was conditioned into thinking) high-quality source of protein in red meat. I also regularly consumed chicken, fish, cow’s milk and cheese, which I thought were part of a healthy diet.

We started by eating a big salad each day, including black beans as a base, modified our snacks and replaced our breakfast with oats, chia seeds, and blueberries. The transition was challenging at first, more so for my wife than me, and we often weren't sure what we should be eating outside of a big salad.

I had a lot of pushback from my family, telling me I needed to eat meat for iron and protein and that cow's milk provided the calcium I needed to maintain bone health. My wife comes from a Greek background, and the men in that family didn't understand and couldn't be convinced of how meat could be problematic from a health, environmental or compassionate standpoint. Many of the older females in the family, however, were open to the idea and told stories of a more plant-based history many years ago.

"My doctor was shocked ... He didn't expect the results to be so significant"

There were many awkward moments during my WFPB journey around decisions about what to eat when out with friends or what we were going to do for Christmas. I puzzled all my friends when I no longer ordered a meat lovers’ pizza but rather a veggie-style pizza with no cheese! There certainly was some judgement about what I chose to put in my mouth. Some friends were supportive, but the majority of them challenged the idea.

Another challenge we faced at home was a lack of creativity with our WFPB meals. I further educated myself on the WFPB diet and expanded my understanding of the foods, what was available and their nutrition profile. I read up on more studies, testimonials and science-based evidence that I applied to my WFPB diet. At this point, I felt like I was rolling along nicely, and everything tasted great. As my palate changed, the food I was previously eating began tasting either too fatty, salty or sweet.

Three months later, I returned to my doctor for blood work. My cholesterol dropped from 6.9 to 4.8(mmol/L). My doctor was shocked and commented that I was the 1 in 10 patient who was committed enough to do something about their health through diet. He didn't expect the results to be so significant and was surprised to see I also lost 10kg, and my blood pressure had normalised. I noticed my energy levels had increased, and my physical stamina when exercising had certainly improved. I remember feeling frustrated because I felt like all the indirect nutrition information I had 'consumed' over the years was only a single way of eating and not a very efficient one for me.

Seven years later, my wife and I remain WFPB advocates and eaters and we intend to be so for life. The journey I have been on has been fascinating. I have explored so many different foods I didn't know existed and inspired others to look further into how a WFPB could help them. Most of all, I have reset my body and gained control of my health.

I truly believe that food can be your medicine and would urge anyone to look into what a WFPB can do for you, as it can, and as it has been in my case, be life-changing.

Author: Alex Fabris

Image: Alex Fabris