Redefining January 6th
January 6th has always had special significance. It was the day a beautiful lady, my mother Carolyn was born. She would have been 80 years old today had a nasty brain tumor called a glioblastoma not taken years off of her life in 2019. She was truly a smart and beautiful woman. My husband has confessed a few times to noticing my mother was a beautiful lady as he made his choice to spend a lifetime with 21-year-old me. He was hoping the apple would fall close to the tree. I think he made a good choice. I know I did. I love you and miss you, Mom.
One year ago, my view of January 6th was hijacked forever. It was no longer only Mom’s special day. Horrible people did horrible things on her birthday. Her day will forever now be associated with the day bad people tried to overthrow democracy in America. It was the day that the “back the blue” crowd would turn a blind eye to assaults on peace officers. It also marked a day that otherwise rationale people would deny anything bad happened. It makes me sad that so many could be manipulated by a group of money and power-hungry con artists so easily, but here we are.
Today, we added another asterisk to January 6th. Today, both my husband and I tested positive for Covid. We are both fully vaccinated. We got our booster shots in October as soon as we were allowed to do so. So far, we are just feeling some cold-like symptoms. My husband most likely was infected on New Year’s Eve when his band played at our local pub. I’m pretty sure he shared with me during that pre-symptom time. I had skipped the event in hopes that we would reduce the chances of bringing home omicron by half. Hopefully at least our viral dose is lower. I feel pretty lucky that we made it as long as we did before getting this virus. I also feel fairly confident that we will weather this challenge without significant health effects. We have worked hard in the past year to get healthy and lean. This virus has an affinity for adipose (fat) tissue. Our health journeys have helped to drastically decrease the amount of adipose tissue available to support viral replication in our bodies.
Many people with whom we talk about this journey say there is no way they could give up the foods we have chosen to exclude from our diets. I get it. We did a pretty drastic thing. It was, for us, a matter of life and death. As I explained to my husband after his bypass surgery, they restored blood flow to the parts of his heart that were being deprived, but they didn’t fix the clogged vessels in his brain, his neck, or his abdomen and legs. He has to choose to help himself reverse those areas, if he wants a good quality of life going forward. Heart failure sucks. Stroke is debilitating. I’ve seen patients cope with the life altering and limiting effects of both. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Nor would I wish another bypass surgery on anyone.
We are expecting our first grandbaby in April, with the assumption there may be several more to come since we have four girls. Kids need their grandparents. My girls need their daddy. I need my husband. Given these factors, diet changes were an easy choice. This crazy lady went on a rampage and threw out every bit of food contraband in one dramatic swoop. We went pretty much cold turkey. There was some turmoil. There were recipe flops. There was some shopping re-education. There were ultimatums. It’s all about what you value. Do you value the people who love you, or do you value your favorite foods? There may be issues with food addiction that complicate this process, but the science is clear. The most long-lived healthy people in the world are those who eat a mostly whole food plant-based (WFPB) diet with little to no animal products consumed. We know this. They’ve always told us to eat our fruits, veggies, whole grains and legumes. That hasn’t changed.
Where would someone start? You have two options. You could take the gradual approach and ween yourself off of the standard American diet (SAD). You could focus on adding healthy foods into your diet to crowd out the unhealthy foods. You could designate one day a week as WFPB meal day, then later add a second day and a third until you are eating mostly whole plant foods during the week. Your second option is to commit to the change and do as we did going cold turkey. There are several resources that can help you do this including the free 21 Day Vegan Kick Start from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine or a paid meal planner such as Rich Roll’s Plant Power Meal Planner at https://meals.richroll.com/.
Whatever you do, realize that this is a health continuum. Whatever you choose to put in your body will yield a corresponding state of health or disease. If you are truly interested in reversing disease, then an oil free whole food plant-based diet is the best way to go. Whatever positive changes you make will help slow disease progression. Some changes have actually been shown to reverse disease. Wouldn’t it be great if you were able to remember January 6th as the date you decided to take your health back from the money and power hungry food industry?
**While I am a certified and registered holistic nurse with an extensive background in the study of nutrition and health, I AM NOT YOUR DOCTOR. You should always consult with your doctor about the best diet for your health needs. If you find your own doctor doesn’t have the knowledge to support your journey toward a plant based diet (and many do not), there are some excellent doctors available through Plant Based Telehealth, who have proven to be quite helpful on our journey.
I went to listen to Dr Ben Edwards. He is an MD but has switched to holistic. His main point on the shots was don’t get them because they are not FDA approved and no one k owes exactly what’s in them. Right no I know several people that had all thre shots and have a really bad case of Co is right now. Another major point was we need to go back and eat the things our grandparents ate. Butter lard fresh fruit and veggies and also meat. It need to be organic. Very informative and practices in Lubbock.
Hi Barb. Thanks so much for taking time to read this post. I have a bit of a history with Dr. Edwards and his staff. I did a graduate nursing project that included an interview with him and shadowing one of his nurse practitioners. I even chose to be seen by one of his nurse practitioners and took my husband and oldest to them as well, so I am very familiar with his teachings. Dr. Edwards has done a lot of good for a lot of people. For many, he has helped them to give up some of the most inflammatory foods and add in healthy nutritious foods, which goes to show you don’t have to make drastic changes to see some positive results. He is a strong advocate for the use of herbs and plants in general, which I am 100% behind. I adopted the diet he and others like him advocated for several years, which is in many ways almost a keto diet. What I found was that my blood glucose was still dancing in the prediabetes stage, which self corrected when I went WFPB very low fat. Also of note, the guru after whom he chose to model his practice ultimately still died of prostate cancer that most likely could have been put into remission with a combination approach rather than a alternative only approach. Again, the research is strong for the benefits (or at least no harm) from complementary therapies. Not so much for alternative only at this point, although I do think it is possible to reverse some pretty nasty diseases with diet.
After Mom’s brain tumor diagnosis, I decided to dig into the science and see what the research shows, because my family history didn’t leave me feeling comfortable with what I was doing at the time. I found some good evidence-based sources like Nutritionfacts.org which is non-profit and not selling any products other than the books that share the research information, all freely available on the website. They also explain the research and help you learn how to read past the headline that says, “Eggs are Heart Healthy” to see that indeed they are when you compare them to bacon, but not when you compare them to plants. There simply is no denying that the best diet for longevity and health is a whole food, plant based diet, much of which is advocated by Dr. Edwards. There is research dating back 100 years as well as much more recent research that supports this. The Adventist studies out of Loma Linda, California are very compelling, as is additional information we have learned about “The Blue Zones”. The research shows that any consumption of animal products increases inflammatory responses and cancer risks because of growth factors that promote cancer cell growth rather than suppress it. See https://nutritionfacts.org/2013/02/14/animal-protein-and-igf-1/ for more on that.
Bottom line, if I’m wrong, and you go three weeks eating whole plant foods without any meat, dairy, eggs, white flour, processed sugar, or oil, what have you lost? IF I’m right, what have you gained?
As for the vaccine, I’ve also been vaccine hesitant in recent years, because I do think there is something to be said for natural immunity, if it doesn’t kill you, and because I chose to listen to “holistic” doctors like Dr. Edwards. Again, the science. Hospitals are not overwhelmed with people like us who are fully vaccinated. Kleenex manufacturers are. The post nasal drip is annoying for sure. The people filling the hospitals and dying are still those who chose the natural route or simply didn’t get around to doing it. I don’t know what else to say. Everyone knows someone who is an exception, but when you look at the big picture of evidence, I know which route I will follow. I believe it is the most kind, compassionate and selfless thing I can do for my friends, family, coworkers, and community and the numbers overwhelmingly support it. And yes, we do know what is in the shot. We know how it was developed for the most part, and we know the science behind it is not new. I am familiar with Dr. Edwards stance on most vaccines, and I can say with some confidence that I believe he is not a fan of any vaccine, including those that are FDA approved. I respect everyone’s right to choose what they do with their body, but I also feel that with that choice there are consequences that must be accepted. Also note, I took my megadoses of Vitamin C, Vitamin D, some Zinc, and some melatonin, as well as my favorite homeopathic flu remedy because that’s what I do. I complement and support where I can. I looked up research articles and found one through the NIH that supports the potential effectiveness of some homeopathics for COVID. In all fairness, good research on complementary medicine is sparse. I will also be brewing up some elderberry tea today to help fight this thing.
Wishing you good health.
Angie, I loved your piece! I am so sorry that you and Erick got the virus, but again we learn that the vaccine helps us not get super sick!
I want to try the Vegan life. It makes sense to me. (but again, the flesh is weak and I have a sugar addiction to break!) Convincing my better half is another issue, but am hoping for the best.
My sister had breast cancer a few years ago and has done the vegan route off and on(mostly the off because of travel issues, etc.) She lives in Albuquerque. She said she truly did feel the differences and has committed once again to the path. I have good intentions and am hoping for the best.
Miss you my friend.
Vivian, this is great news! Please know that I will do whatever you need to help support your process. It’s all about finding your why. What do you feel so strongly about that this is important enough for you to stick with it? Then forgive yourself and get back on the wagon when you deviate from your desired path. I had to find substitutes for my addictions. The Hershey nugget stress eating addiction got replaced by a never ending supply of purple grapes. The effect was the same. The sweet was still there.
As for your other half, baby steps. I bet he enjoys a good meal of beans and cornbread. We just have to find a way to replicate that ham hock taste without the ham hock! There’s where smoked paprika and bottled smoke sauce are your best friend. There are some decent corn bread recipes that are egg and dairy free. I’ll be happy to share with you when you are ready. Now instead of once every few months, he gets this meal once a week or so. Chili is another great example. You can make an incredible tasting three bean chili and he probably won’t miss the meat. Sloppy joes made with lentils instead of ground beef are pretty good too. Bribe him to watch The Game Changers movie on Netflix with you. It’s a very manly movie about plant based eating benefits. For your own motivation, Forks Over Knives (see their website for the movie), Cowspiracy and Seaspiracy (both on Netflix) are great motivators for your tender heart. And again, please let me know how I can support you on your journey! Stay well my amazing friend.