Motivation for Eating a Plant-based Diet

Chances are, you’ve heard it repeatedly, maybe from your doctor or even on the news.   “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” so you want to prevent health issues before they start.

In terms of health, things are pretty serious in this country.  According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2025, 694,700 people died from heart disease in this country, while 622,800 died from cancer.  Yet many of these diseases can be prevented by simple dietary changes, such as eating more plant-based foods, or even switching completely to a whole-foods plant-based diet. 

In 2023, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health completed a meta-analysis of 76 health studies involving more than 2 million people.  The researchers found that participants eating a plant-based diet had a lower risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, cardio-vascular disease, and cancer.  Participants who consumed healthy plant-based foods such as vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and legumes, had a lower risk of developing chronic diseases.  In contrast, participants who ate unhealthy plant-based foods that were heavily processed, had a higher risk of developing chronic diseases.

In 2025, the National Institutes of Health published a study on the benefits of a plant-based diet in preventing heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and certain cancers.  The researchers found that people eating traditional Mediterranean and Asian diets tend to be healthier, because these diets tend to be low in animal products, being based on grains, legumes, and fresh vegetables.  As a result, they are naturally rich in fiber, antioxidants, and healthy fats.

In the U.S., far too many people eat heavily processed food that is high in saturated fats and refined sugars, leading to inflammation, oxidative stress, and metabolic dysfunction, paving the way for the development of chronic diseases.

 Many of us have lost family members to chronic diseases.  I know that I have.  When I was 17, my father was diagnosed with heart disease.  His doctor gave him a list of foods to avoid, mostly the meats that he loved, such as salami and bacon.  I tried to talk him into becoming a vegetarian, and even asked me my mother to come with me to the local health food store.  We bought a cookbook of tofu recipes and experimented with them, although my father never really took to them.  In fact, no one in my family did, except me. 

Although my father did cut down on the amount of meat he ate, he never gave it up completely.  He made it to the ripe old age of 89, but suffered so many serious diseases along the way: heart disease, high blood pressure, polymyalgia, arthritis, contracture, vascular dementia, diabetes, and gout.  A year before he died, I was visiting my father, and saw that he had to take about 20 pills per day.

I said, “Gee, Dad, you have to take a lot of pills.”

He replied, “Yeah, it’s because I ate a lot of meat.”  Then he said sadly, “Why did I eat so much?”

I said nothing.  I didn’t have the heart to say, “Why didn’t you listen to me?  I tried to talk you into becoming a vegetarian.”

Much as I tried, I couldn’t help my father, but I can help you.  I want to help you learn how to eat healthy food to prevent the chronic diseases that will lead to terrible outcomes.  Contact me, so we can give it a try!