I've gone through some deep thought, then asked a few professionals, mainly my doctors, what they thought of my diseases and any dietary recommendations. That left me still not sure. Then I just ate what I most liked for a while, but avoided a lot of dairy and meat, and did have more fats and cholesterol raising foods. Tomorrow I'm having my fasting blood work done. I've had 6 solid months of eating a whole food plant based, low fat diet. And only in the last month have I fluctuated.
So I'll not be able to tell exactly how that stricter level of eating might have affected my numbers. But I have found out why it was important for me to try other foods for the last month. First, I couldn't cook when I was really sick with pneumonia. I ate minimally, and mainly soups, crackers,and liquids but was also on antibiotics, which also played havoc with my gastro-intestinal system.
Incidentally, these are other doctors who are talking about WFPB diets, and Dr. Ornish isn't involved anywhere.
As I came out of fevers, I continued to not want a messy kitchen that had to be cleaned up, so I went to various take-out restaurants. That was at least once a day for five out of seven days a week. And some of those meals had fish or chicken in them, as well as veggies.
I did find I preferred to avoid high fat foods. But I was craving salt a lot. Not sugar. I was happy still with my daily 2 fig newtons. But I could go through a bag of potato chips, or popcorn a day. I haven't figured out why except that the drugs I'm on have really dehydrated me. My skin looks like an alligator's. I have to rub vaseline on my feet so they don't crack from the dryness. I sure hope I can get off whatever drug causes that symptom. I'm drinking a 10 oz. glass of water every hour or so during the day. Swelling sometimes in my ankles, but not directly related to salt intake...and maybe more related to how long I sit here at the computer.
So these comments are for my own journaling efforts.
And here's a link to one of the best (though its 10 years old now) movies which promotes whole food plant based diets to reverse some diseases, including cardiac conditions.
Forks Over Knives on YouTube. If you haven't seen it, or some of the other ones about eating for health, do take the time to see it. There's really no reason we should continue to eat in an unhealthy way.
