Susan's Vegan Journey

In April of 2021, I suffered a TIA, a mini stroke. I discovered that I had moderate blockage – 50% – 70% in my P2 artery in my brain and that there was nothing the doctors could do for me. The P2 artery is about a millimeter thick, so cleaning it out is not an option. I didn’t want to come home knowing that in a few years, that artery would close up and I would either die or be severely disabled. So, I began an online search to see what I could do to improve my health. Google is a great friend of mine when I want to learn about anything. I found the start of a new way of eating to help me get healthy.

Searching for an Answer for a New Way of Eating

I searched online and found Dr. Esselystyn’s book How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. It explains that if you change your diet you can reverse the plaque buildup in your arteries. This requires eating a vegan, whole food, plant based diet with no oil, no nuts, and no avocados. Dr. Esselystyn’s book showed that the very sick people that were in his study and are still on this diet are still alive and healthy 25+ years later.

Dr. Michael Gregor’s Book, How Not to Die, talks about different diseases and how eating a whole foods, plant-based diet (or WFPB) can change your life. This is a great book and resource. I’ve read it several times and each time I read it, I find new nuggets of information I had overlooked previously. He also talks about “The Daily Dozen” which I will be sharing in another post.

Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. John McDougall share similar views and both have written books and created programs you can follow. Also, “Forks Over Knives” has a documentary on YouTube about a whole food plant-based diet and a website full of great information.

Vegan, No Oil… Whaaat?

I bought Dr. Esselystn’s book and began reading. My brother also gave me the How Not to Die book, which I read it as well. Both books are divided into great information and recipes that suggest what foods to eat. I found some recipes that looked good and began making my grocery list.

Gary and I went to the grocery store and started shopping. It took a while because we had to read the label of every food to make sure it did not contain oil or high fructose corn syrup. It was tedious at first, because we had never read the ingredients on food packages this closely! Boy, what a project! We were amazed at how many foods contain oil! With a little bit of hard work we were able to find good variety of foods that fit our new healthy, oil-free diet.

I cleaned out my pantry of any foods that I could not eat anymore, in order to have the space for my new foods. Below are just a few of the items I purchased. I am always on the lookout for new, interesting recipes. There are still a few unusual items out there that I haven’t purchased yet.

Finding Recipes

I find that if I Google “Vegan no oil” or “Vegan oil free” for any food category, many recipes came up. Between the recipes in Dr. Esselystyn’s book and what I found online, I was ready to begin my new eating lifestyle and I’ve never looked back. I jumped in with both feet and have been eating vegan, WFPB food ever since. Thinking about eating meat or dairy reminds me of my condition and, the thought of having a stroke takes away any desire to stray off my diet.

I enjoy all the foods I cook. Gary and I made a pact that if we didn’t like a recipe, we would cross it off the list. I like to joke that my recipes are “Gary Approved” or “Grandkids Approved.” That holds extra weight, especially since my grand kids do not follow a vegan diet. My goal is to make food that anyone will like eat. The word “Vegan” does not mean weird food that doesn’t taste good.

I’ve lost 25 pounds and my cholesterol (with a little help from generic Crestor) is now at an overall 141 (my previous high was 254) and my LDL is now only 41 (previous high of 110). My weight has been holding steady after my initial weight loss. My energy is up and I feel great.

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