Let Food Be Thy Medicine

Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn said "Genetics loads the gun but nutrition pulls the trigger." Sure, you may have markers in your DNA that might be favorable for certain health conditions. High blood pressure, cholesterol, cancer risk, etc. but that's no reason to think that you are victim to attaining everything you've been given. Dr. Neal Barnard explains it best:

“It’s important to understand that genes work in many different ways. Certainly, some genes are dictators–the genes for hair or eye color for example. If they call for you to have blonde hair or brown eyes, that’s it. Those dictator genes won’t take no for an answer. But, the genes for cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and a host of other illnesses are like committees. They don’t give orders, they make suggestions. And research suggest that changes in diet and lifestyle can keep those genes from expressing themselves. Like dry seeds on a desert floor, they simply lie dormant. If you don’t water them, they’ll never sprout."

In many cases the lifestyle to help these genes "flourish" is passed down. If I believed that health was based solely on genetics, I would be in for an awful existence: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, lung cancer, Alzheimers disease, and heart disease. I chose not to believe that my fate was handed down to me, but that I had some control over it. My issue was cholesterol and through living a plant based diet I have lowered itl (which has been as high as 242) down to 170. People don't think that's possible without medication. But, it is! Because I live this lifestyle you may think it's easy for me or that my results are a fluke. Enter, my husband, Don.....

Don likes to watch documentaries with me. We watch a lot of health docs. It was easy for him to hear what they were saying but it wasn't enough motivation to do something about his own health. Don's healthy, although, he had mildly high blood pressure, high 120s, low 130s and also mildly high cholesterol, low 200s. Don likes to work out and has been seeing a trainer for 5 years now and I am convinced that the working out is what's kept his numbers in the range that they are. But, like I always say, you can't exercise your way out of a bad diet and it was finally catching up with him. He was feeling more tired than usual and noticed a few extra pounds packing on. His most recent bloodwork showed his cholesterol still in the high category and his doctor was going to talk with him, in April, about medication. Don hates medication and so he vowed to try the plant based eating to see if his numbers would move at all. He has been doing it for 2 months now and just had his blood rechecked. Results were amazing. His total cholesterol dropped 47 points and his LDL dropped 40 points! Both within normal range now. Makes sense if you look at it scientifically. Animal protein contains cholesterol and if you aren't eating it you have no fat to clog your veins. His blood pressure also went down from 130/86 to 112/78! All through a change in lifestyle. I am SO proud of him. Don even mentioned that for the first time in his life he likes vegetables and that they taste different to him now. Whatever genetics he thought he may have inherited doesn't matter anymore because he took charge of his own health.

In closing, I would like to say that this is not easy. It's work. It involves planning and changing thought patterns that have been passed down through the generations. It's being the odd man out and getting a lot of crap from people about the way you eat. I am here to tell you that it's not all eating "rabbit food." It's good food that's good for you! Now, there's a concept. It's empowering yourself with the knowledge that your genetics are NOT your destiny and that you have a choice in what you put in your mouth.