Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

My husband went to the ER with unstable angina. His cholesterol was 270 and two arteries had 70-90% obstruction. He had to stay in the hospital for more than a week, waiting for his operation. We watch Forks over Knives before his procedure. Two stents were put in. He went home with the standard heart meds of a statin, blood thinners and so on.

We started eating a whole plant based diet but not as strict as Esselstyn's. I was so happy to throw out the meat which I have never liked. Our daughter never wanted to consume However, I am usually in the kitchen and I need some salt, occasional nuts and tiny bit of cooking oil. Big coffee people here, and we like to put a bit of milk in it (yes, the real stuff, all knock offs did not cut it). On the other hand, we cut out sugar. Sweet tooth cravings went away on its own anyway. To make it a lifestyle instead of a diet, we all must be able to stick to it. It has been easy.

Hubby just got his cholesterol checked after about 6 weeks of being admitted to the ER. His cholesterol dropped from 270 to 113! Wow, that blew any expectation I had. Granted, he is taking a statin but he had so before which never put an appreciable dent in the readings. He also lost about 10 lbs and has too much energy. Heart disease runs on one side of his family, but he is also convinced that it is all about diet now.

Congratulations! The Moment you realize you have the power to improve your life is amazing right? My dad was eating a mostly vegan diet and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and tryglicerides. The doctor told him he needed medication but my dad asked if he could Change his diet before starting his medication. The doctor agreed but told him it wouldn´t make a big difference. I designed a McDougall Style diet for my dad and he followed it to the T. After 28 days, he got new blood tests done and...everything was within normal range. The doctor thought this had been a mistake because such improvement were Kind of impossible so he wanted to repeat the tests after one month. The did and his results came again perfect! Since then, my dad has become a very hardcore McDougaller and I´m so proud of him!