Going Vegan: My Story
As of the writing of this post, I have been "vegan" for 9 years. I researched the lifestyle and the diet starting in 2011 when my grandmother was diagnosed with stomach cancer. While looking for alternative treatments, I stumbled upon the word "vegan". Unfortunately, not only did my grandmother pass away before I could implement anything I had just learned (when you are stage 4 you'll try anything, right?), my youngest daughter, only 8 at the time, was also diagnosed with cancer two weeks after my grandmother died. All that I had read took a back seat.
Once my daughter was stable, I started to ask questions. I cooked most of our meals (on average I cooked 340 days out of the year), when we did eat out it was usually at restaurants, I avoided fast foods generally (I can count on my fingers the number of times I've taken them to the golden arches), and overall I thought I was doing "the right thing". So why did my daughter get cancer? The guilt a parent goes through when their child is sick, second guessing every decision you've made, even more unsure about how to proceed going forward, led me to keep reading and keep talking about health. I stumbled upon many theories, some of them labeled as controversial, and veganism kept popping up. I was intrigued.
In August of 2014, after going on a YouTube run of people discussing veganism in many ways (diet, lifestyle, advocacy), I came across a video by Gary Yourofsky that put everything into perspective for me. I quit meat, dairy, and eggs immediately and decided to make September 1st my official start day as a vegan. I was that moved. In my mind, by increasing my intake of fruit and veggies and learning to make them the forerunner in every meal (have you ever noticed how meat is the main player in a Standard American Diet and everything else are just supportive characters?) instead of just sides, I could increase my family's intake of fruits and vegetables. I went to the "extreme" to get them to a better normal.
I started my vegan journey in a healthy way. I loved and still love smoothies and salads. It wasn't long before I discovered that Oreos and certain chips were vegan, that I could have all the junk food, processed food, and everything else labeled as "bad" for your health while still being vegan! 😃 I was proud to be a "fat vegan" and told everyone I was doing it for the animals. Sigh.
Fast forward to today. I am still overweight and am dealing with leaky heart valves. In 2009, I was diagnosed with a murmur and a mitral valve leak. The doctor at the time said to not worry about it and it shouldn't impact my health. As of 2023, three of my heart valves are regurgitating blood, my BP is elevated, and my cholesterol is high after I lowered my BP and cholesterol when I initially went vegan. Here's my theory: During the lockdown, all I did was cook and eat. (I'm skipping a major health event that took place in 2015 when I went through a topical steroid withdrawal, I'll save that for another post), but I know my cholesterol was in optimal numbers then and my BP on average was 110/70 since becoming vegan, but I did not go to a doctor for several years, my stress was elevated (as we all experienced) which means elevated cortisol, and I was not moving as much as I used to. There were also other factors that I think impacted my heart, including over use of pre workouts, (from 2018-2019). I write all of this because I recently started using collagen. My rationale is simple: heart valves are made up of connective tissue, aka collagen. I do not consume collagen in my diet, so I will supplement it for a year and then see if my results are different.
The Vegan Society defines vegan as such:
"Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals."
In my opinion, I can still use the label vegan based on this definition if I wanted to, because I am using the collagen for a medical reason, not one of vanity or simply because I like the taste. My life and health are important to me; if there was a plant based collagen I would absolutely use that, but plants do not produce collagen and I was already using a "collagen promoting" supplement prior to getting this news from my doctor.
Why am I telling you this? This far in my journey, I know a diet based on fruits and vegetables, especially if they are in their raw and natural state, is the optimal diet for all humans. That being said, I also believe that we should use whatever we have to improve our health and maintain optimal health when we achieve it. Our morals are not negated by self preservation. This also means that I am open minded when it comes to the diet of others. I won't attempt to force any diet or lifestyle choice on anyone that chooses to work with me, and instead, we will discover, together, what is the optimal balance for where you are along your journey at this moment.
To summarize my thoughts:
- I've been eating a plant based, vegan, and now gluten free diet for years now. I can help you eat a vegan/plant forward diet too.
- While my morals are still the same, I am rational enough to know sometimes you have to do things you are uncomfortable with to improve your health, and that is okay.
- I do not judge anyone for their decisions. I just help them make the best decisions they can.
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