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Bob was a longstanding patient of mine who was overweight. In February of 2014, he presented with blurry vision, increased thirst, and frequent urination, all classic signs of diabetes. His initial bloodwork showed a fasting blood sugar (FBS) of 442 and a hemoglobin A1c (a measure of the average blood sugar over the last 3 months) of 9.8%.

Bob and I had a long discussion about the fundamental importance of a whole-food, plant-based diet and exercise in the reversal of diabetes.  I then had him watch the Forks Over Knives film and read Neal Barnard’s book Reversing Diabetes.

When Bob returned just three months later, I was frankly shocked at his results! His weight had dropped from 275 to 205 pounds, his FBS had plummeted from 440 to 80, and most astounding, his A1c went from 9.9 to 5.3!

To put the significance of that change into perspective, standard lifestyle changes (restricting calories but still including animal foods) has been shown to reduce A1c by only one to two percentage points. Metformin (a standard medication used as initial therapy) can reduce A1c by another one to two percentage points. And adding other medications can gain another drop of 0.5 to 3.5 percentage points (insulin providing the greatest reduction, at 1.5 to 3.5 percentage points). Bob had attained better blood sugar results with a plant-based diet and exercise than he would have with a combination of two or three medications (including insulin!). And he not only “controlled” his diabetes ― he had outright cured it! To top it all off, he had significantly reduced his blood pressure and cholesterol readings, as well.

I think this is a perfect example of why the standard of care for treatment of diabetes and most other chronic diseases is fundamentally flawed. By taking a reductionist approach, we expose patients to the cost and side effects of drugs and oftentimes leave them with residual risk. We pat ourselves on the back when a patient’s diabetes is “controlled” (i.e., their A1c  reads less than 7 percent), even though they are on two or three medications, they still have diabetes, and they are still at risk for the complications of diabetes, such as heart disease, stroke, and nerve damage.

This treatment approach is what I was taught in med school and what my patients learn from the media, particularly TV ads.  But the most powerful medication we have available to us to prevent, treat, and sometimes reverse many chronic diseases is not the medication from your doctor; it is the food you put in your mouth.

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As the director of prevention and wellness at St. Luke’s Hospital in St. Louis, I had always considered myself knowledgeable about the importance of diet and exercise, tried to eat “healthy,” tried to stay active, and counseled my patients to do the same. My “healthy” diet centered on eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, lean meat, low-fat dairy products, and whole grains (although I wasn’t averse to an occasional bowl of ice cream!).

In the fall of 2010, I sustained a knee injury that required surgery and didn’t do a very good job with post-op rehab. The resulting decline in physical activity led to weight gain. In July 2011, I had a physical, which showed, much to my surprise, elevated cholesterol, borderline high blood sugar, and borderline high blood pressure. My primary care physician talked about putting me on cholesterol-lowering medication, but I was reluctant.

A short time later, I chanced across Forks Over Knives while browsing Netflix one night. After watching the film and reviewing the medical literature regarding the health benefits of plant-based diets, I realized that it would be unconscionable for me to not to try a whole-food plant-based diet for three months and then answer three questions: 1) How hard was it to shop, prepare meals, eat out, etc.? 2) How did it affect my energy level and mood? 3) At the end of three months, how did it affect my numbers (weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol)? At the same time, I began to rehab my knee so I could begin exercising again.

At the end of three months, the results were nothing short of miraculous. I found that shopping for and preparing healthy, complete, flavorful meals was not nearly as difficult as I had anticipated. Eating out was more of a challenge, but many restaurants were more than willing to prepare a plant-based meal with advance notice. More amazing were the mental and physical changes that occurred. My mood and energy markedly improved—no more sugar lows mid-morning and mid-afternoon! Also, with a minimal change in physical activity (as I was just completing my knee rehab), I lost 25 pounds, my cholesterol dropped from 240 to 150, and my blood sugars and blood pressure dropped significantly and were now in the normal range.

Since then, as I have added more exercise and continued following a whole-food, plant-based diet, I have lost almost 60 pounds total, have completed five half-marathons and four triathlons, and will soon compete in my first half-Ironman.

As I have a shared this message regarding the power of whole-plant-based eating with my patients, those who have embraced it have had the same astounding results that I had, oftentimes being able to stop the medications they were taking for diabetes, cholesterol, or high blood pressure. It is now clear to me that almost every chronic disease I was trained to treat (often with the help of prescription medication) is directly or indirectly related to living a lifestyle discordant with the one we are designed to lead—we eat things we are not designed to eat, we don’t eat things we are designed to eat, we don’t get enough physical activity, and we deal with stress in ways we were not designed to. This discordant lifestyle has profound effects on the health of our society as well as the health of our planet, and a whole-food, plant-based diet can play a transformational role in improving both.

Ready to get started? Check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path. To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer.

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