Well…there aren’t any…that I know of at least.

I have been SUPER stoked to get this guest post out! Seven months ago my sister and brother-in-law (Doug and Steph) chose to follow a 100% whole foods plant based diet (similar to vegan, but a little healthier).

(Can you tell we’re sisters?)

Doug and Steph researched into the benefits of eating a whole foods plant based diet. They shared with us the compelling (VERY compelling) life-saving research and I have been eager to share it with others–in hopes that it could possibly save someone’s life, or help someone avoid disease.

Before we start, I want to let you know I am not telling you to do anything. I am simply presenting facts, and allowing you to choose as you like. I don’t judge people for how they eat, and I hope you don’t judge anyone as well. I post this will all respect to everyone and their nutritional choices.

Warning: Many of you will roll your eyes at what will be said—but just give it a chance, maybe you’ll find out something you could consider, now or in the future.

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So let’s get to Doug. He will explain WHY he chose to eat this way.

If you are serious about your nutritional research, I challenge you to follow every link Doug shares. Personally, these facts have slowly seeped into my brain over time and meat has become less and less appealing…which I never thought was possible. I love it.

DOUG:

There were a lot of questions I had when my wife and I started considering eating a whole foods plant based diet. Despite reassurances from respected people, we had concerns about adequate nutrition, like getting enough protein, and whether humans could be healthy without calcium from milk, or at least calcium-fortified food or supplements.

I soon discovered how truly ignorant my concerns were, and perhaps how influenced we are by industries set to gain from confused consumers with misinformed ideas on what the body really needs. But I went to work in the scientific literature. I’ve spent a lot of time doing so.

If I were sent back in time one year to talk to my former self, and told Early 2014 Doug that he will soon decide to completely avoid all meat, he would have laughed really hard, then wrestled me to the floor and hit me in the head to knock some sense into me.

After regaining consciousness and putting a football helmet on, I would go back and tell him that he would also stay away from all dairy. He would stare with confusion and pity. I’d tell him that he wouldn’t even pour olive or canola oil on a skillet to make fries, and he wouldn’t eat another Reese’s, Almond Joy, Twix, or Starburst.

He would then say, “So, take that dumb helmet off and tell me what I will in fact eat, because all you’ve left me is an IV-drip.” I’d take the helmet off, sit down, and explain that he would essentially just eat food made from unrefined plants, and before getting another word in, I’d throw the helmet at him to slow him down as I jumped out of the chair and started running down the street with him coming after me.

After two hours, the chase is still on, but by this time we’re in the mountains where I had led the pursuit. He gladly follows, still trying to punish me into the ground for thinking a meatless, milkless, oil-free lifestyle could beat the energy, strength, and endurance he enjoyed from his balanced, complete meals.

He puts up a very good race, but he never catches me. Every time he pushes harder, and I lengthen the distance between us even more. At last when I am gone from sight, he collapses to the ground and wonders if I had simply abandoned my values and taken stimulants or something to give myself the upper hand, because I certainly couldn’t have gone that fast that far with plants as my only fuel.

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My muscles would have withered away from a lack of protein. I’d be missing essential nutrients only found in milk and meat. He wouldn’t believe I was honestly 100% avoiding some cheese or chicken now and then.

After he recovers and finds a ride home, he would find a message I left for him.

“Hey Doug, it’s Doug. The one from the future who ran off into the distance while you tried your best to catch me. Listen, you are in awesome, impressive shape, as always, but you’re not a kid anymore, and as you can see, you’re not as good as you could be. Something is holding you back.

In fact, you’re going to just keep getting worse now, unless you listen to your wife in a few months when she asks you to watch a documentary (see the trailer) with her. It will help you see something amazing that will spark your curiosity and excitement on a topic that you think you already understand well.

(Kirtley: I HIGHLY recommend watching this if you want to learn more about meat)

Caldwell Esselstyn and Dean Ornish have shown that the plaque building up in your arteries, that as you know gradually gets worse over the years, can not only be stopped, but reversed without surgery or drugs.

Heart attack proof. Yeah, it blew my mind too. Dr. Esselstyn also discusses dementia prevention as well, eliminating micro-strokes that most people don’t notice. T. Colin Campbell has shown that tumor growth can be switched on by eating animal protein, and switched off by replacing it with plant protein. Others have shown that many diseases including autoimmune types appear to have ties to inflammation caused by animal protein.

Roy Swank has shown that meals heavy in fat, including isolated vegetable oils, cause blood cells to stick to one another and form clumps that slow blood flow almost to a standstill in places and even cause the blood-brain barrier to break down, possibly leading to the lesions typical of multiple sclerosis. Type 2 diabetes has been shown to be triggered mostly by fat buildup in muscle cells.

Pick almost any disease, and even if I haven’t heard of it, I’ll be confident that for most if not all cases, eating a diet centered on minimally processed, whole plant foods will surely do you no harm, likely stop the progression of the disease, perhaps help you to reverse the disease, and work at least as well as drugs in many cases, without side effects.

Center your calories on whatever variety of plant-based foods that you enjoy and satisfy you. I recommend centering your meals around starches for most of the calories: Whole-grain wheat, rice, oats, corn, or others. Potatoes, yams, squash, beans, and lentils. Take your pick. Enjoy hearty meals of them by adding generous combinations of flavorful vegetables, and season it if you like with garlic, onions, spices and herbs.

Eat all the fruit you want, or none if you don’t like fruit. Eat all the food you want (and still lose weight doing so. More on that later). You’ll want the perfect amount, because you’re eating exactly what your body is good at measuring and using. Your body will take a sigh of relief as you stop forcing it to deal with unexpected hindrances with every meal.

I think part of the reason I perform so well without as much training is that my blood is flowing so well already. The artery plaque and especially inflammation has most likely, based on previous research, been reduced dramatically. Just as important, there isn’t that excess fat from animals or oil paralyzing the epithelial cells, or clumping and slowing the passage of fresh blood through all the capillaries. The muscles can just do their work, cleanly and efficiently without getting bogged down by so much fat and inflammation.

Be willing to try it out. You’ll feel even stronger. You’ll feel excited and happy about your discovery. You won’t see the beauty of it until you really go for it though. And after wondering how you’re going to satisfy your hunger for meat and milk, you’ll see your tastes change dramatically and a lot will begin to make sense.”

“On second thought…all those vegetables…too much work.”

(What about the cavemen…they ate a paleo diet right?)

People always want to know HOW they would actually go about making delicious meals based on this kind of lifestyle, and what the day-to-day food would look like. Like what my wife and I actually eat to feel perfectly satisfied without meat, milk, eggs, oil, and sugar, as unbelievable as that might sound.

Stephanie or I would love to help anyone with the details. We’re positive that we can understand and work with anyone to develop a sustainable family or personal plan that will get them to their ideal weight regardless of exercise, and relieve many health issues while eating very satisfying foods.

If you’re curious, email either one of us your story or what you think. We would love to listen, and discuss methods and perspectives with you personally as you try the promising experiment for yourself.

Doug Hawkes: douglas.hawkes1@gmail.com

Stephanie Hawkes: stephanie.s.hawkes@gmail.com

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So….? What are your thoughts about this?? Could you give up meat or dairy?

Have you ever considered trying out a whole foods plant based diet?

Who do you get your nutritional information from? How do you decide what is ‘healthy’ food for you?