Testimonies
Megan Elliott
“I was nursing my son and he was having a reaction to dairy so I eliminated it from my diet. I noticed that he got better and I got better. We started making the transition slowly in January 2018 and haven’t looked back. I have a lost a total of 40 pounds in less than five months and I’ve just maintained since then. My blood pressure was consistently 120/80 and now plant-based it’s 110/60. I feel better and I can keep up with my kids and my husband who is very active. I’ve become a lot more diverse in what I eat now.”
Jim and Sharon Longstreet
“Six years ago, we both got heart scans. My wife Sharon got a perfect score on her heart scan and I got a perfectly lousy score. My cholesterol was 255 and I was on a statin drug to bring it down, but I was experiencing side effects. My blood pressure was 175/110 and now with this diet, my it’s 110/75. My cholesterol now without any medication is 118. It’s wonderful to not only have a peer group and network of friends and resources, but it’s great to have a group of restaurants in our community that accommodate our diet. Life is getting better and better.”
Shirley Loughlin, RN
“I did 100% plant-based and just in five weeks time when they rechecked my labwork, it was substantial. I was at the high of my MBI, now I’ve lost 20 pounds. My cholesterol came down by 30 points, from 159 to 122 in just five weeks. I feel young again.”
Imo Jean Douglas, RN
“I had a cardiac cath that revealed I had some blockages and my physician recommended extreme lifestyle changes. I'm learning new things, trying new foods, and it's kind of like learning to eat again. I have lost 71 pounds, dropped my insulin use by 75%, and stopped almost all medications I was on. I don't have the exhaustion, short of breath and dizziness that I was experiencing before.”
Rizwan Bukhari, MD
“I watched Forks Over Knives, read The China Study, and then finally Caldwell Esselstyn’s book How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. For the first time in my career, I realized I could do something to help my patients more than just operating on them. This was a defining moment…I started teaching my patients nutrition as a significant component and also transitioning my life to a plant-based lifestyle.”
Ashley Morford
“When I was 21, I was diagnosed with both papillary and follicular thyroid cancer. After my thyroid was removed, the surgeon told me he thought it would be unlikely for me to reach age 30 and he also said I most likely would not survive a pregnancy. I didn’t find it as difficult to start this journey as people told me that it would be. I was very motivated and the science is so clear that this is the best diet for human longevity. I love the foods I eat. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything.”
Tim Bolding
“In March 2017, I had a stroke that was pretty significant. I spent a lot of time in bed, I couldn’t carry on a 10-second conversation, and I had to walk with a cane. I’ve seen tremendous improvements in my health…my ability to walk, my brain function. I’m a Type 2 diabetic and have reduced my insulin usage by 84%. I was scheduled for open-heart surgery, but we’ve cancelled it because I no longer need surgery. I love the food and I enjoy it. I have no desire to change my diet. I’m plant-based until the end of my life. I thought my life was going to end last year, but now I think I have 20 years left.”
Camron Stotts
“My great granddad died at 55 by a heart attack, granddad had a heart attack in his late 60’s and my dad had his first heart attack at 45. After watching Forks over Knives and then reading Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, this huge light bulb went off. I thought this isn’t hereditary, it’s actually what you eat. That’s something we can control. We’re not destined to have heart disease or whatever our parents had.”
Ellie Dominguez
“I was always told it wasn’t a matter of if I would get diabetes, it was a matter of when. That set a lightbulb off and made me realize that’s not what I wanted for myself. Since I’ve started a plant-based foods diet, I’ve lost weight, I sleep better at night, my lab results are good, my cholesterol has gone down, I’ve lost inches and I just feel really good.”
Phillip Knight
“I grew up eating Doritos and Pop-Tarts and sugary cereal, but why do I think that’s food? Is that how human beings have been eating for the two thousand, four thousand years? Well, the answer is it’s not. The last seventy years of life in the United States is radically different than what the human species has been doing for the last several thousand years. I try to get people to question why they think the diet they’re eating today is what their body needs and ask if they realize that people haven’t been eating this way but for the last seventy years, and as the data comes in, it looks pretty ugly. This is harmful to us. This is killing us. I can’t imagine living my life the way I used to again. I wouldn’t want to go back.”
Susan Porter Allen
“In February 2015, my son approached me about getting my health on track. My weight was at an all time high, I had little energy and I was having terrible bowel issues with coinciding pain. My son made a challenge to me, stating that if I tried the plant-based way of eating for one month and did not see, or feel a noticeable difference, he would not confront me about it again. The first month of my new adventure began with more energy than I had felt in years, weight loss, and a clearer complexion. My hair looked and felt healthier and most surprisingly, my ability to taste food returned in a big way! I plan to continue a plant-based diet for the rest of my life, knowing this is the best health decision I have ever made.”