How My WFPB Adventure Started

In early 2023, we learned a friend had ended up in the ER with a blood-pressure event.  Before she was discharged, her attending physician wrote her a prescription; buy and read Dr. Michael Greger's book, How Not to Die.

I've seen a lot of stories claiming this or that fad diet would make you healthy, cure your whatever, or prolong your life dramatically.  I've always ignored them, mostly because I was skeptical that they had any science behind them, or that what science they did have would not stand up to independent scrutiny.

But I was intrigued that an ER doc, who has probably seen a lot of people die of chronic disease, would recommend what is essentially a nutrition book.  I hit Amazon, read some of the reviews, and was even more intrigued; enough so that I ordered a copy.

I read the first 40 pages or so, put the book aside, and completely emptied the kitchen, fridge, freezer, and pantry of anything animal-based.  Dairy, eggs, meat, fish, anything with ingredients from an animal; it all went.  Dumped all the junk food, too.  Just cleaning out the freezer dropped several hundred dollars worth of food.
 
Why such an immediate and complete reversal after decades of what most would consider good (or at least adequate) nutrition?  Because I was struck by Dr. Greger's research, his nutritional background, and his clearly presented information.  These reach far past the fad diets I've ignored before.  His presentation was compelling enough that I thought I would at least try his diet for a few weeks.  Even if it didn't make me healthy, it at least seemed healthier than how I had been eating.  What did I have to lose?

I started this whole food, plant-based (WFPB) adventure on 23 May, 2023.  I dropped ten pounds within two weeks and my weight stabilized at 175.

A lipid panel in July of 2023 did not show a significant LDL drop, but I figured it was probably too soon to see any results.  I had a follow-up doctor's visit scheduled for November 2023, along with some bloodwork.  I hoped that lipid panel might show some kind of measurable improvement, some sign that this lifestyle change had a shot at making me healthy (or at least healthier).

I remember sitting at my desk, pulling up the test results, and checking my LDL.  Previous LDL results had hovered around 130 mg/dL and I hoped to see that drop, at least a bit.  At first, I couldn't believe what I was seeing; the result showed a nearly 40-point drop, down to 92.  When I realized what had happened, I started to cry.  I had taken almost 40 points off a critical marker for chronic disease, in just a few months, with nothing more than simple dietary changes.  At that point, I knew I was going WFPB for the long haul.


Your Body Doesn't Care What You Think

Before I started WFPB, I did an annual wellness check at my clinic.  This meant filling out a health self-assessment, which included possibly the stupidest question in medicine, "How do you rate your health?".  Well, my total cholesterol was just under 200 and my doctor said that was normal, so that must be OK, right?  And my systolic BP was 125 or so, which I dimly remembered as a good value.  And I did a lot of yoga and ate lots of meat and dairy, so that's gotta count for something.  I ended up marking Excellent.

If I had known then what I know now, I would have checked Poor without a moment's hesitation.

My year-plus adventure with WFPB has made one thing crystal clear; your health has nothing to do with your opinion of your health.  Your body simply doesn't care how healthy you think you are.

You can tell anyone how good you feel, how healthy you eat, how much you think your health has improved on whatever diet or exercise plan you are using.  Tell your partner, your friends, your family; tell the world how healthy you think you are.  Doesn't matter.

Your health is a huge collection of internal interactions driven by the food and drink you ingest and the exercise you get.  It is improved or degraded by your intake of heme iron, non-heme iron, antioxidants, saturated fat, unsaturated fat, cholesterol, arachidonic acid, hetero-cyclic amines, phytonutrients, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, heavy metals, toxins, and Lord knows what else.

Your health is also the results of those interactions, including buildup of visceral fat, insulin resistance, atherosclerotic plaque levels, systemic acidosis, levels of mTOR and IGF-1, mitochondrial oxidative stress, endothelial health, and again, Lord knows what else.

Many of these factors can be measured and studied if you get the appropriate bloodwork or tests done.  But if you don't get these done, you are basing your healthspan and your lifespan on wishful thinking, and the odds are near zero that ends well.  The bottom line: If you ain't got the numbers, you ain't got dick.


Show Me the Numbers

OK, here are some of my numbers.  Note that the WFPB values are based on bloodwork done 5 Nov 2024, and that I was in my early 70s at the time of testing.  Note further that most of my markers have always been in the reference range; what I show here are the few that were ever out of reference or are of particular interest to me.

Marker	Last SAD value (60+ years)	Recent WFPB value (1.5 years)	Reference range	Notes
BMI	24.4	22.8	<25
Calculated LDL (mg/dL)	130	105	0-100	Up slightly from the first WFPB reading of 92; I'm working on it...
PSA (ng/mL)	4.9	4.78	0-6.5	Age-adjusted reference range
HbA1c (%)	5.3	5.1	4.0-6.0
Systolic blood pressure (mmHg)	125	100	<120	Yup, that's right; I have the BP of an infant.  Not bad for someone in his 70s.  And with no meds...
Body fat percentage (%)	low 20s	13	6-13	InBody 270 4-pt test at gym; reference is for Athletes, per American Council on Exercise
C-reactive protein (mg/dL)	N/A	<0.3	<0.3

These numbers provided one of my rewards for switching to WFPB.  My current PCP, Dr. C, pulled up my labwork and scrolled through the results; I can still see the shocked look on her face.  Then she turned to me and said, "We never see patients with numbers this good."  That was damned sweet!



Anecdotal (No Numbers)

The lab numbers can give objective evidence of outcomes for different food intakes.  But there are subjective, non-numerical changes that happen.  It would be nice if there were numbers for some of these, so they can be quantified and compared, but there aren't so you end up with observation and opinion.

For example, after being on this diet for a year and a half, my scalp hair has almost completely reverted to its natural brown pigment.  I still have traces of dark grey at the temples, but I lose more grey hair with each cut; all the grey should be gone in the next few weeks.  I didn't start this diet to lose my grey hair, but I don't mind losing it.  I was curious about any nutritional science that might support this change, so I hit Dr. Greger's newer work, How Not to Age.  In a section on preserving your hair, he describes how eliminating oxidative stress (stop eating animal-based foods) and boosting vitamin B12 (supplements or nutritional yeast) can start scalp hair repigmentation.  See HNtA, page 279.

For decades, I have been seeing the dentist three times a year to get my teeth cleaned.  I have always had a lot of plaque and tartar buildup, despite flossing and brushing with an electric toothbrush at least twice a day.  My first visit after switching to WFPB showed the same large plaque buildup.  But the next visit, after eating WFPB for four months and starting with cleaned teeth, showed no plaque or tartar, as have all subsequent visits.  OK, back to Dr. Greger for reference.  His HNtA section on preserving your teeth described research showing improved saliva flow on diets lower in cholesterol and saturated fats.  Additionally, he describes in HNtD how the initial digestion of meat in your mouth can create an acidic dental environment that might boost plaque and tartar formation.  Regardless, my last three dental visits have been for polishing only, no plaque or tartar removal needed.

For at least forty years, I have worn pants with a 34-inch waist.  Sometimes, these would be a bit difficult to fasten, but the size has remained constant.  After about eight months on a WFPB diet, I put on some pants, didn't add the belt, and had the pants fall to my ankles.  In fact, all of my 34W pants fell down unless I was wearing a belt.  So I ordered some 33W pants from Amazon.  These are still too large, but at least they don't fall down without a belt.  I don't have any 32W pants yet, but they're on my buy list.  I'm assuming this dramatic drop (har!) in pant size is related to my 13% body fat value.  I also assume this lower waist size is a marker for reduced visceral fat, but that's just a guess.

(OK, this one has numbers, but it's still an anecdote.)  I have had discolored, swollen ankles for the last several years.  No pain or discomfort, but it's chronic and I talked to Dr. C about it.  She, like prior PCPs, recommended compression socks, but I've tried repeatedly and find them too difficult to deal with.  To check for Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), Dr. C ordered an Ankle-Brachial Index test.  This test measures blood pressure on both arms (brachial arteries) and both ankles, then uses the ratios of these numbers to gauge the risk for PAD.  Reference range is 1.1 to 1.5 ratio; my ratio was 1.1.  My brachial BP systolic values were 100 and 110 mmHg.  Right after the test, the technician started asking me a LOT of questions about my lifestyle.  What meds did I take?  (None.)  What was my diet like?  (WFPB.)  Turns out, he was fascinated that a man in his 70s would have the BP of an infant and he wanted to know how I did it.  We ended up giving him a copy of HNtD, hoping he finds it useful.



So How is WFPB Like an ARPG?

For non-gamers, an ARPG is an action role-playing game.  You start with a weak character wearing shabby gear and able to do only slight damage, then set out on various quests to fight monsters (your risks) and pick up loot (your resources) so you can level up your character and provide her with better, more powerful gear (your rewards).  As your character gets stronger and better equipped, she levels up, gaining access to yet more powerful gear and abilities.

For the last decade, I have played possibly the best ARPG ever written, Path of Exile.  My gaming life is centered on giving my PoE chars the best possible gear so I can get the greatest rewards and beat the biggest monsters.  Much of this effort is spent on tweaking their gear and their abilities (the skill tree), trying to find any added edge or advantage.

I started my WFPB diet hoping to turn my health around, to undo some of the damage I had done after decades of eating the Standard American Diet (SAD).  At some point, as the lab numbers came back and I could gauge my progress, I realized I was in a very slow, long-term ARPG.  My risks were the various chronic conditions, such as heart disease, stroke, or diabetes, that are an integral part of the SAD.  My resources were the foods that make up the WFPB diet, along with lifestyle changes like exercise.  And my rewards were the lab numbers and the bodily changes I saw over time.

In an ARPG, changes can be assessed in seconds or minutes.  WFPB is a very slow game.  I can make a diet change, such as increasing B12 intake, and it might take days, weeks, or even months for significant benefits to appear.  But the rewards are lifelong and powerful.

And there are rewards beyond the numbers.  For one, my palate is no longer assaulted by the sugar, salt and fat that make up so much of the SAD.  After a few weeks on WFPB diet, I was amazed at how good natural food tasted.  Beans, carrots, rice, oatmeal; they actually have flavor.  And the spices I put in my food are no longer overpowered by the salt that gets added to so many commercial spice blends.

In gaming, you can usually find build guides on the web; these instructions can help you set up and run your ARPG char so you are more successful in the game.  In WFPB, I turn to Dr. Greger's books, his website (nutritionfacts.org), and the work of others who promote and support a WFPB lifestyle.  These lifestyle build guides provide endless tweaks and buffs I can use to make myself even healthier.  For example, I might discover a miso soup recipe or a technique for roasting beets, try it out, and add a new option to my cooking.

And here is the most important part; this stuff is FUN!  I started WFPB because I had to, but over the last year I have discovered how much I enjoy the whole experience.  I love whipping up a silken tofu chocolate mousse; takes maybe five minutes (no cooking!), the flavor is excellent, and it is an incredibly healthy desert.  So I get to explore new cuisines and cultures of the world, cook foods I've maybe never even heard of, all while knowing I'm improving my health.

I spent decades eating the Standard American Diet, one of the most toxic, unhealthy diets on the planet.  There is a good chance that some of the damage I did to myself over those years won't get fixed by a WFPB lifestyle.  It is possible I will still suffer a massive stroke or heart attack from some hidden plaque buildup I haven't cleared.  But I'm now eating one of the most nutritious diets on Earth, doing all I can to help myself live longer and healthier.


Thanks for reading...



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