Archives for 2018

Reversing Type 2 Diabetes – Dr. Anthony Lim & the McDougall Health & Medical Center

Dr. Anthony Lim, a board-certified family physician with exceptional credentials, is on a mission to help people prevent and reverse type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases. He is the Medical Director of the McDougall Health & Medical Center, and he oversees the medical treatment of participants in the McDougall program.

Dr. Lim and the other medical doctors at the McDougall Health & Medical Center help people reverse their type 2 diabetes, heart disease, auto-immune conditions and other illnesses with whole food plant-based nutrition.

In addition to preventing and reversing disease, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease, Dr. Lim and his colleagues at the McDougall Center help overweight patients lose weight faster and more easily than they could have ever imagined by switching to whole food plant-based nutrition.

Dr. Lim earned his undergraduate degree in Human Biology from Stanford University.

He then went on to earn his law degree from Harvard Law School, and his medical degree from the Boston University School of Medicine.

In the interview video below, Dr. Lim describes how his medical school education included essentially zero hours of education in nutrition, and that, upon graduating from medical school, Dr. Lim himself did not really know what a healthy diet should include.

For a period of time he went along with others who would recommend that type 2 diabetic patients eat lots of meat and hardly any “carbs”; but over time he could see that this did not help his patients. None of his patients’ type 2 diabetic condition improved, he just saw continuous suffering, despite using the tools he had learned to use in medical school to manage type 2 diabetes (diabetes medications as well as insulin).

Dr. Lim describes the standard medical treatment of type 2 diabetes as “disease management,” rather than health care.

One day Dr. Lim happened to see board-certified family physician Dr. Joel Fuhrman on PBS (television) describing the power of a whole food plant-based nutrition to prevent and reverse all kinds of diseases and illnesses, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and most other diseases that are the result of eating the S.A.D. standard American diet.

Dr. Lim was astonished by Dr. Fuhrman’s PBS presentation. For decades, Dr. Fuhrman has been helping his patients prevent and reverse disease including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, auto-immune conditions, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, high blood pressure, and much more, all thanks to nutrient-dense whole food plant-based nutrition.

Watch Dr. Fuhrman’s PBS presentation, “End Dieting Forever,” here:

In Dr. Fuhrman’s presentation above, watch at 29:57, where Dr. Fuhrman shows Before and After photos of a woman named Laura, from Missouri, who watched one of Dr. Fuhrman’s previous PBS shows, and learned for the first time that type 2 diabetes is reversible with whole foods plant-based nutrition.

Laura had been type 2 diabetic for five years at that point. She also had high cholesterol, sleep apnea, and depression, she weighed 252 pounds, and at age 43 had given up hope of ever feeling good again, because nothing had ever worked for her before. However, upon watching Dr. Fuhrman’s PBS show, Laura had a “light-bulb moment” because it all made so much sense. She switched to whole food plant-based nutrition and reversed her type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Fuhrman read aloud and showed on screen the letter Laura wrote to him about her transformation after watching his PBS presentation:

I was amazed! Not only did my weight drop quickly, but also my energy skyrocketed and I didn’t have a trace of depression. I was no longer in a fog and feeling sick. I felt alive and happy. After a few short months, my type two diabetes, high cholesterol and depression were gone.

And I want to add that my cholesterol was lower following Dr. Fuhrman’s nutritarian diet-style than it was with 40 mg of a popular statin drug. I have lost 88 pounds so far, and I was able to reverse my sleep apnea and say good-bye to my CPAP machine. Thank you and PBS for saving my life.”

In Dr. Fuhrman’s PBS presentation (watch above at 48:05), Dr. Fuhrman discusses the transformation of Robert from Ohio, who lost more than 200 pounds, is no longer in a wheel chair, and now can work on his feet. He was on 10 different medications. The whole food plant-based “nutritarian” diet (plant-based maximum nutrients per calorie) cured Robert’s type 2 diabetes, and cured his rheumatoid arthritis, so that he was able to get off all of the drugs.

Dr. Fuhrman’s PBS presentation opened the door for Dr. Lim to learn more.

Watch Dr. Lim describe his own journey to discover the truth about nutrition, and his mission to help people prevent and reverse disease with whole food plant-based nutrition:

Immediately, Dr. Lim began googling to learn more about the power of whole food plant-based food to prevent, heal, cure, and reverse so many of the standard chronic diseases that currently are being treated with “disease management” (a life sentence of drugs/medications), instead of disease prevention and reversal.

The next day, Dr. Lim went out and got Dr. Fuhrman’s book, Eat to Live, and read it from cover to cover the same day.

That night, Dr. Lim watched the documentary, Forks Over Knives on Netflix.

Anyone interested in protecting their own health and their family’s health — as well as our nation’s health, and the health of populations worldwide — should watch Forks Over Knives.

Forks Over Knives includes testimonials from people (Before and After their health transformation) who reversed their type 2 diabetes and reversed heart disease as well as other chronic illnesses and disease.

Read here about Joey Aucoin, who reversed his type 2 diabetes, got off all of his medications, and reclaimed his health destiny, over the course of the documentary film Forks Over Knives.

Next, Dr. Lim watched another documentary on Netflix, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, which features the transformation of Australian Joe Cross, who came to the U.S. to film his 60-day juice “fast” and lost a lot of weight (82 pounds in 61 days) and reversed his autoimmune disease (urticaria).

Note: The Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead documentary focuses on green juices and juicing as a way to make this kind of transformation. However using the whole foods (not removing the fiber by juicing) to make a green smoothie, gives you all of the fiber as well as the vitamins and nutrients. A green smoothie made with greens and fruit keeps all of the fiber which can help you to feel more satisfied than a liquid juice would.

A few months later, in order to learn more about the power of whole food plant-based foods to prevent and reverse diseases of all kinds, Dr. Lim attended a plant-based medical conference (the International Plant-Based Nutrition Conference) in San Diego, California, where he met other medical doctors who are luminaries and top experts in the field of nutrition, including Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. Neal Barnard, and Dr. John McDougall.

Dr. Lim says that as a result of learning about the power of whole food plant-based nutrition to reverse (and prevent) disease, the trajectory of his life changed.

The focus of his mission led him to accept a position as Medical Director of the McDougall Health & Medical Center.

It is now Dr. Lim’s mission in life to help as many people as he can to learn about the power of whole food plant-based nutrition to heal themselves and reverse type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other diseases.

You can reach Dr. Lim online at the McDougall Health & Medical Center (located in Santa Rosa, California). The McDougall Center offers a 3-Day Intensive Program, 10-Day Live-In Program, and other disease reversal programs. The McDougall website also offers a FREE online program, complete with 10-day meal plan and free recipes.

More Resources: Dr. Fuhrman’s Step-by-Step Proven Method to Reverse Type 2 Diabetes

“The End of Diabetes by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

More than a thousand people have written book review testimonials about how they reversed their type 2 diabetes after reading Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s book, The End of Diabetes. In these book reviews, people give detailed descriptions of how they got off all of the diabetes drugs after reading The End of Diabetes and applying what they learned from the book, switching to eating an abundance of delicious whole food plant-based (no oil added) foods. No weighing, no measuring, no calorie counting, not feeling hungry because this food is rich in nutrients and fiber and fills your stomach completely.

Reversing Type 2 Diabetes: Dr. Steve Lawenda – David’s Testimonial

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Board-Certified Medical Doctor Steve Lawenda describes how his patient, David, a 66-year-old retired truck driver, reversed his type 2 diabetes.
Dr. Lawenda affectionately describes him as having been, initially, “David the Grumpy Skeptic.”
David says he went along with Dr. Lawenda’s recommended changes because David thought he would prove he couldn’t reverse his type 2 diabetes — but the changes DID succeed in reversing David’s type 2 diabetes.
Watch (below) David’s emotional testimonial video about how he reversed his type 2 diabetes by following Dr. Lawenda’s recommended nutritional changes.

Board-certified medical doctor Dr. Steve Lawenda is a physician with Kaiser-Permanent in Southern California, who reversed his own pre-diabetes by switching to a whole food plant-based foods. Now he helps his patients reverse their type 2 diabetes.

Dr. Lawenda accidentally stumbled upon the power of whole food plant-based nutrition to reverse type 2 diabetes and to prevent and reverse many other diseases, including heart disease, at a time when he himself was already a medical doctor, but obese and pre-diabetic. (Dr. Lawenda’s wife played an audio disc of Dr. Fuhrman’s book, Eat to Live, on their car stereo during their drive home from a family vacation. Steve Lawenda was astonished by what he learned just listening to the audio of Eat to Live, and by the end of the drive he had decided he change his nutrition as Dr. Fuhrman recommends and see if he could lose weight and reverse his pre-diabetes.)

Dr. Lawenda’s own father had suffered from type 2 diabetes, including amputations, but had previously passed away before Dr. Lawenda learned about the power of whole food plant-based nutrition to prevent and reverse disease, including, specifically, type 2 diabetes.

Read here about how Dr. Lawenda made his own health transformation.

In addition to his medical practice, Dr. Lawenda now also is often a speaker at events to help others, including other medical doctors, learn how they can reverse type 2 diabetes and (in most cases) get off the diabetes drugs and insulin, by switching to whole food plant-based foods.

David reversed his type 2 diabetes quickly and easily thanks to Dr. Lawenda and plant-based foods.

Watch this testimonial video (below) of David, a 66 year old type 2 diabetic retired truck driver, who accompanied his wife to see Dr. Lawenda and learn about whole food plant-based nutrition as a cure for type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other diseases. David only went to Dr. Lawenda’s group to support his wife. As Dr. Lawenda describes in the video, “[David] was tagging along, supporting her, but he actually admits that he wanted to prove that this doesn’t work.”

It is a powerful testament to how quickly whole food plant-based nutrition can reverse type 2 diabetes, even for a person like David who was skeptical and only made these changes to prove that it wouldn’t work.

But, as David describes, he was astonished at how quickly and easily it did work. David reversed his type 2 diabetes, for which he is so grateful, as he describes in this video below.

The first three minutes of the video above includes a brief introduction by Dr. Lawenda, describing how he himself reversed his pre-diabetes.

As he introduces David’s type 2 diabetes reversal testimonial video, Dr. Lawenda asks,

So does anyone want to see what happens when you take a retired truck driver, who never ate well, and didn’t want to be there, and wanted to prove it didn’t work, and then see what happens when you put him on a plant-based diet?”

Dr. Lawenda then shows the video testimonial of David, his formerly skeptical patient, who reversed his type 2 diabetes quickly and naturally by switching to whole food plant-based nutrition as Dr. Lawenda had recommended.

Watch the video above and see what happens!

David says, “At first, I wasn’t impressed, because I am 66 years old and I don’t like change!”

He drove trucks for 43 years, and his diet wasn’t great; he ate wherever he could find room to park a truck.

He went on a plant-based diet at Dr. Lawenda’s recommendation, and he says that, the first couple of weeks, they called him ‘grumpy’, and that he had a little bit of an attitude. “I was going to prove to them that it doesn’t work,” David confesses, laughing. “That was my whole objective. I came to support my wife, it wasn’t for me.”

After 3 weeks, he had lost 15 pounds, without even trying, just by switching to whole food plant-based foods. He didn’t know what was going on; how could this be happening, and so quickly? So he started checking the numbers, and he couldn’t believe what had happened. Previously (on diabetes medications) if his blood sugar was lower than 170 or so, he would have been impressed.

All of a sudden his numbers were down to 104; whereas his blood sugar had never been anywhere near as low as 104 in 13 years. David was able to quickly get off all of his medications by switching to whole food plant-based foods.

As David reiterates,

The numbers don’t lie.

My last reading for A1C was 6.7. That was remarkable. The numbers just don’t lie. It does work, even if you are not trying. It works, it really does. It was really impressive. There is no more blood pressure medicine, there is no more diabetes medicine, there is no cholesterol medicine, I am on nothing, absolutely nothing.

It works. The plant-based diet really works, it really does. If you give it half a chance you are going to succeed.

There is no way you are NOT going to succeed, if you give it half a chance.

Who wants to lose their feet? Nobody wants to lose their feet. Or lose their eyesight.

So you know, you talk about being given a second chance in life, all kidding aside, it chokes you up inside, gives you a lump in your throat, because you have been given a second chance. My grandchildren are going to be able to … I’m going to be around for a while, thanks to Dr. Lawenda, thanks to the plant-based diet, and thanks to the group.”

Dr. Lawenda concludes by pointing out that his patient David’s story gives Dr. Lawenda a lot of hope, and should give everyone hope. Upon first meeting a skeptical person like David, a 66 year old who describes himself as someone who “didn’t like making changes,” you might not have thought he would have been able to make these changes. But he did. And so can you, or someone you care about who is suffering with type 2 diabetes.

More Resources: Step-by-Step Proven Method to Reverse Type 2 Diabetes

“The End of Diabetes by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes without Drugs

Another excellent book that details and explains in a simple, easy to understand way, how and why type 2 diabetes happens, and how to reverse type 2 diabetes with a whole food plant-based, no oil added diet, is Dr. Neal Barnard’s book, Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes without Drugs

Nick Delgado Reversed his Type 2 Diabetes and Has Helped more than 4,000 People Reverse Their Type 2 Diabetes Over the Past 40 Years

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If you are asking your doctor, without success, “What is the cure for type 2 diabetes?”, read on to learn the solution that Nick Delgado has taught to more than 4,000 people (over the course of 40 years) who, like him, REVERSED their type 2 diabetes naturally.

Dr. Nick Delgado (pHd) is considered to be one of the foremost experts on anti-aging.

He holds world records for strength and endurance (weight lifting), and at over 63 years old continues to set strength and endurance records and win challenges competing against strong, fit young men who are decades younger than him.

He also has more than 40 years of experience helping more than 4,000 people to REVERSE their type 2 diabetes, after he REVERSED his own type 2 diabetes more than 40 years ago.

When he was in his 20s, Nick Delgado reversed his own type 2 diabetes, and lost a lot of weight, after he read Nathan Pritikin’s 1974-era book Live Longer Now and applied what he learned in the book. He had been a college football player, trying to gain weight to be a bigger (stronger) football player, but ended up gaining a lot of fat. He had a stroke on the football field at age 22, which was a real wake-up call.

Nick Delgado read Nathan Pritikin’s 1974 book, followed Nathan Pritikin’s guidance in the book, switched to a vegan (whole food plant-based diet) and lost the weight and reversed his type 2 diabetes. Nick was so amazed by and grateful for his results, that he wrote a letter to Nathan Pritikin thanking him, which ultimately led to Pritikin offering Nick a job to come work at the Pritikin Center in Loma Linda, California.

Nathan Pritikin was a scientist, inventor, engineer, and author who reversed his own heart disease at age 40 by eating a whole food plant-based diet. He founded the Pritikin Research Foundation and Pritikin Longevity Center. Over the years, Pritikin’s team published over 100 scientific papers in some of the world’s most respected peer reviewed medical journals. The Pritikin Center offers controlled diet, counseling in lifestyle change, and exercise in a resort/spa-type setting. Thousands of people have attended the Pritikin live-in programs and experienced reversal of their type 2 diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and obesity, in a matter of days or a few weeks. Nick Delgado worked closely with Nathan Pritikin for decades, and considered him to be a mentor as well as a close friend.

Since the time that Delgado worked with Nathan Pritikin, Nick has served as a mentor to some of the top medical doctors who are experts in reversing type 2 diabetes and reversing heart disease naturally, simply by changing the foods you eat, without measuring, counting calories, weighing food, and while feeling full and able to eat as much as you want of these healthy, delicious foods.

Nick is over 63 years old, and he is fueled solely by whole food plant-based (aka vegan) foods for over forty years, he holds world records for having the greatest strength endurance in the world, and wins strength and endurance challenges over men 40 year younger than he is.

He has the strong, muscular physique people associate with a 20-something-year-old, at age 63+ years. When he was 53, using the same methods and nutrition that he teaches, Nick broke the world endurance record for the most pounds lifted overhead (53,000 pounds!) over the course of an hour (pictured in the video screenshot below).

Nick Delgado has eaten ONLY whole food plant-based, no oil added, foods for more than 40 YEARS — and he attributes his strength, endurance, clarity, mental acuity and youthful fit physique to the plant-based, no-oil-added food he eats. Whole-food plant-based (no oil added) nutrition fuels his strength and his endurance.

He dislikes when people trot out images of someone who is thinner than optimal, eating whole food plant-based foods, because, as he points out, these people need to eat more calories. They aren’t eating the wrong foods, they aren’t eating ENOUGH of the right foods to have the calorie density required for whatever their lifestyle requires. Nick eats enough calorie dense whole food plant-based foods to build and maintain a strong, muscular physique, and the results show in his world record setting strength and endurance.

An athletic lifestyle or a work lifestyle that involves a great deal of physical activity requires MORE calorie density — eating MORE of the same kinds of delicious whole food plant-based foods. A person wanting to lose weight eats the same kinds of whole food plant-based foods, but can choose foods with lower caloric density. All whole food plant-based foods are packed with nutrients; but within that entire universe of delicious, nutrient-rich foods, choose the foods your body requires for your lifestyle and for your current situation. If you want to lose weight, eat lots more of the foods with a lower calorie density but high nutrient density – lots of nutrients per calorie. For people who don’t need to lose weight and need to fuel an athletic or active lifestyle, raw nuts and avocados have a much higher calorie density than do non-starchy green vegetables, so athletic/active people can eat more of those calorie dense, higher calorie whole foods. For an in-depth discussion of what foods have lower calorie density (for weight loss) versus whole food plant-based foods with a higher calorie density, read Chef AJ’s new book – she is a fantastic chef and the book is full of delicious recipes.

Recently Nick Delgado posted a short video, “How to Develop Diabetes in 6 Hours” (watch below), a kind of live science experiment (using himself as the subject), in which you can watch as his blood (a microscopic slide of his blood magnified on a large computer screen) deteriorates from being perfectly healthy, to being woefully unhealthy, in a matter of hours.

Watch the video here:

How did he achieve such a fast reversal of his healthy state? First, he drank a dixie cup size of olive oil, to bring his blood health down to more like what a “normal” healthy person’s blood would be like. Then, over the course of the next six hours he ate things that are just typical foods that are part of a S.A.D. standard American diet, including a white-bread sub (meat and cheese); whipped cream; chips, etc.

During the six hours of filming, after eating these foods he experienced brain fog, he had to lie down as the food quickly had a deleterious affect on his blood coursing through him. The changes in his blood (clearly evident on the computer monitor) also quickly translated to the way he felt, feeling sicker and sicker.

Nick’s results from eating this way for his “How to Develop Diabetes in Six Hours” video experiment included sky-rocketing of his blood sugar and his triglycerides, within only six hours of eating the typical kinds of foods that are part of the S.A.D. standard American diet.

The message? If you want to eventually develop type 2 diabetes, eat the standard American diet. If you want to prevent or REVERSE type 2 diabetes (often within only days or weeks of eating this way), switch to whole food plant-based (no added oils) nutrition. As Nick demonstrated in the video, using himself as the test subject, the deleterious changes in our bodies (as measured by blood health) happen very quickly when eating the kinds of food that are part of the S.A.D. standard American diet. When people eat the standard American diet for a prolonged time and over the course of a lifetime, the health consequences usually are predictably devastating. Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, auto-immune diseases, arthritis, asthma, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, erectile dysfunction (E.D.) and so many other illnesses, can be prevented and reversed simply by switching to whole food plant-based nutrition. Cancers can be prevented and sometimes even reversed by switching to whole food plant-based nutrition.

Nick has also participated in other real-world experiments that demonstrate that eating whole food plant-based (no oil added) nutrition cleans up people’s blood, giving them drastically improved blood work numbers after only days of making the change. Nick has worked with Tony Robbins, the renowned author, motivational speaker, and inspirational mentor to presidents, athletes and every day people. Tony Robbins had read Nick’s book with recipes, and Tony was so inspired by Delgado’s book that Tony asked his team of chefs to prepare meals based on the book/recipes for the participants in Tony’s Life Mastery course. After 10 days of eating this way (delicious, abundant filling whole food plant-based, no oil added, nutrient dense foods), the attendees at Tony Robbins’ Life Mastery course had reduced their triglycerides by 30%. Nick describes his work with Tony Robbins and much more in a recent interview with Cyrus Khambatta and Robby Barbaro of Mastering Diabetes.

Nick Delgado has a tremendous wealth of experience over the course of more than forty years, helping more than 4,000 people reverse their type 2 diabetes, using the Pritikin Protocol first established by Nathan Pritikin, as developed by Nick over the past decades (now known as the Delgado Protocol).

The solution that worked to reverse type 2 diabetes (and pre-diabetes) for more than 4,000 people is both simple, powerful, and easy to adopt, with no measuring, no weighing, no counting calories, and without feeling hungry – because you eat as much as you want of these delicious, fiber-filled, nutrient rich foods.

Best of all? This SAME SIMPLE SOLUTION also prevents and reverses heart disease, auto-immune diseases, including things like asthma, lupus, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and many more illnesses and diseases that are the result of eating the S.A.D. standard American diet.

Nick Delgado’s book Simply Healthy includes recipes and sets out the Delgado Diet for transforming your health. Read Nick Delgado’s book, follow the whole food plant-based no-oils-added lifestyle (with recipes in his book); do what Nick Delgado did to reverse his type 2 diabetes (within a short period of time) and lose weight.

Additional resources are listed below: anyone who wants to reverse their type 2 diabetes, or help someone they care about reverse type 2 diabetes, in solidarity, should read the books listed below. The solution and cure for type 2 diabetes is laid out, step-by-step in each of these books. Start your journey to reclaim your health now — right now! — by reading one or both of the books listed below, apply what you learn about the power of whole foods plant-based foods to reverse type 2 diabetes (as well as heart disease and many others — all by switching to a whole food plant-based diet, no counting calories, no weighing food, eating far more food than you did before).

Most medical doctors currently tell their type 2 diabetic patients that they must resign themselves to a lifetime sentence of diabetes drugs, insulin, resign themselves to “living with” type 2 diabetes, and the “complications” that come with type 2 diabetes, including going blind, foot and leg amputations, heart disease, neuropathy … When you ask your doctor, “What is the cure for type 2 diabetes”, you are looking for answers, you are looking for a solution. Fortunately, there now are growing numbers of medical doctors in the U.S. who do teach their patients the cure for type 2 diabetes; and who teach their patients step-by-step how to reverse type 2 diabetes: switch to whole food plant-based foods for life. As Dr. John McDougall says, “It’s the food.” If you don’t live near a medical doctor who is an expert in the power of whole food plant-based nutrition to prevent and reverse disease, including to reverse type 2 diabetes, fortunately you can learn all you need to know to get started on your journey to reclaim your health for life by reading books like Dr. Fuhrman’s book The End of Diabetes, and Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes without Drugs.

What do you have to lose? What do you have to gain, once you free yourself from chronic disease and reclaim your health for life?

Here’s to your health for life!

More Resources: Step-by-Step Proven Method to Reverse Type 2 Diabetes

“The End of Diabetes by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes without Drugs

Michael Abdalla of Atlanta, GA Reversing Type 2 Diabetes and Heart Disease – What the Health Documentary

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The documentary What the Health, produced by Joaquin Phoenix, and featuring some of the leading medical doctors who are experts in nutrition for healing, preventing, and reversing diseases and illness, also features powerful testimonials from people who have reversed type 2 diabetes as well as heart disease, asthma osteoarthritis and more.

When viewers are first introduced to Michael Abdalla, 69, of Atlanta, Georgia in What the Health, Michael was suffering from type 2 diabetes and a list of health issues.

He had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes ten years prior, and he had previously had heart surgery (two stents) eight years prior to What the Health.

As Michael described his situation at the beginning of the documentary,

I don’t know where to go, I don’t know what to do, you are just like out of options, and you don’t know what to do.
You’re taking medicines.
You listen to this doctor.
And the cardiologist says take this.
And the endocrinologist says take that.
And your general practitioner doctor says…
You don’t know what’s going on here.
It’s a real challenging thing and it is something that you don’t want to get. You just don’t want to get it [type 2 diabetes and heart disease.]” – Michael Abdalla, What the Health documentary

Later in the What the Health documentary, Michael Abdalla goes into more details about his health situation at the time, before he began to reverse his type 2 diabetes and his high blood pressure:

I’m taking about 16 drugs.
Not counting the insulin in the morning.
I take insulin in the morning, insulin at night, 32-34 units, of insulin. …
Some of these meds are for diabetes.
This is for peeing.
I have to use this for my prostrate.
And then I have to use this for the heart.
And I have to use this for blood pressure.
And it’s just on and on and on and on.
The doctors are telling me this is what I gotta do for my whole life.
And it’s frustrating and it’s very stressful.
And I don’t know how long my liver is gonna last taking all this stuff. – Michael Abdalla, What the Health, at 59:43.

In the documentary, Dr. Alan Goldhamer explains powerfully the results of standard medical treatment of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses, (as many can relate to, based on their own experience under similar circumstances as Michael Abdalla’s),

Under conventional medical treatment, whether it be for autoimmune disease or even conditions like high blood pressure, or diabetes, you’re told that you have to take drugs.

And not just for a week or a month or, a year, you’re told you have to take drugs forever.

You are guaranteed that if you follow your doctor’s advice you’ll be sick forever, you will NEVER get well. That’s the guarantee.

Because the strategies are all about manipulating the symptoms, not dealing with the underlying cause.” – Dr. Alan Goldhamer, What the Health at 1:00:20.

The standard medical treatment of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease is “disease management,” and has nothing to do with causation; nothing to do with addressing and solving the source of the problem. So with a palliative of never-ending drugs, the only solution offered is to medicate and treat the symptoms, not to eliminate the disease itself.

In contrast, as described throughout the What the Health documentary, whole food plant-based nutrition is a simple but powerful way to eliminate the source of the problem, preventing and reversing type 2 diabetes, preventing and reversing heart disease and many other common illnesses and diseases.

Michael Abdalla’s Results in What the Health

After Michael switched to whole food plant-based nutrition (aka vegan), he quickly reduced all of his medications in half, reduced his insulin by half, and resolved to continue eating this way to get off all of the drugs. He had heard about other people going vegan / whole food plant-based, and reversing their type 2 diabetes and reversing their heart disease, so he decided to change his eating to get the same results.

On Valentine’s Day, I decided to go vegan, which was never in my thoughts before, never in a million years, but I’ve heard so much success from people that are vegan.

And so I gave up all animal product whatsoever.

I’ve lost 29 pounds.

I’ve been able to cut my meds in half,
I’ve been able to cut my insulin in half,
and now I’m going for the moon,
I’m going to [get off all the medications].

In the last six weeks, we’ve just had three grandchildren.
And [I’m] going to be around to see them graduate from high school and college. I’m going to be here.” – Michael Abdalla, What the Health, at 1:22:00.

You can watch the What the Health documentary film here (on Amazon):

(Click to watch the movie online or to purchase the DVD. You can also watch What the Health on Netflix).

Kip Andersen, the documentary’s narrator and host, describes how “government and media almost exclusively blame lack of exercise and sugary foods as a cause of diabetes,” but he spoke with a preeminent expert on the role of diet and diabetes, world-renowned board-certified physician and researcher, Dr. Neal Barnard.

Kip asked Dr. Barnard about whether sugar causes diabetes, and Dr. Barnard explained that this is a misconception and misunderstanding of the cause of diabetes:

Diabetes is not and never was caused be eating a high carbohydrate diet, and it’s not caused by eating sugar. The cause of diabetes is a diet that builds up the amount of fat into the blood.

I’m talking about a typical meat-based, animal-based diet.
You can look into the muscle cells of the human body, and you find that they’re building up tiny particles of fat that’s causing insulin resistance.

What that means is, the sugar that is naturally from the foods that you’re eating can’t get into the cells where it belongs. It builds up in the blood, and that’s diabetes.” – Dr. Neal Barnard, What the Health

Later in the documentary, Dr. Barnard made this memorable sugar-as-Trojan Horse analogy:

Here’s the thing. If I eat a sugary cookie, the sugar lures you in like the Trojan horse, but waiting inside that cookie is a huge load of butter or, shortening.
And that’s what fattens you up.
And that’s the part that leads to the diabetes, it’s the fatty foods, not really so much the sugar. – Dr. Neal Barnard, What the Health documentary

Kip had never heard that meat was associated with causing diabetes; the general idea people have is that sugar or obesity causes it.

So Kip next spoke with renowned weight loss bariatric surgeon, Dr. Garth Davis, who reiterated Dr. Barnard’s points and added:

Everyone thinks that you get diabetic because of carbs. They did a huge study in that EPIC study 500,000 people, [and] carbs consumption was inversely related with diabetes. In other words, the more carbs someone ate, the less diabetes they had. But, meat was strongly correlated.

Get that aha moment. The starch, the carbs are good for you. They’re not bad for you. This idea that carbs make you fat is utterly ridiculous. Carbs cannot make you fat in and of themselves. We have storage in our muscles and in our liver for carbs called glycogen. So, when we eat carbs, we either store it or we burn it.

Now eat fat, that goes straight to your fat. Your body can’t turn those carbs into fat unless you’re really overdoing the calories. And obesity is a death sentence. You’re at much higher risk of getting cancer, you’re almost certainly going to get diabetes.” – Dr. Garth Davis, What the Health documentary

Dr. Davis added this critical point:

No one wants the fat shame, and we all want everybody to be comfortable with our bodies, but, this movement to be comfortable with our bodies has made us comfortable with being sick.
And that’s a huge problem.
I go into the hospital and I look around me, people on dialysis, all these sick people. And just about every disease in there is because of what people are eating.” – Dr. Garth Davis, What the Health documentary

Of course, table sugar on its own or as an ingredient in processed foods or in baked goods or recipes isn’t good for you either. In contrast, the sweetness in delicious whole food plant-based foods comes from healthy, naturally sweet, fiber-filled and nutrient-rich whole foods such as whole fruits (with the fiber, not juiced) and medjool dates, for example.

As Dr. Davis emphasized,

It’s not that sugar’s good for you. There are no nutrients in it. It’s excess calories. But, when you eat sugar, you don’t get inflammation right away. When you eat sugar, you’re not getting plaques forming in your vessels. When you’re eating sugar, your body’s going to store most of it as glycogen or burn it as calories.

And so this focus on sugar has taken all the focus off meat, dairy, eggs, pork, turkey, chicken.

People need to understand.

If their child gets diabetes, you’ve just taken 19 years off their lifespan.

We’re talking life and death.”

The documentary then discussed the findings of a Harvard research group, in which Harvard researchers looked at nine prospective studies and found that just one serving of processed meat per day increased risk of developing diabetes by 51 percent.

The link between eating meat and developing diabetes is something Kip had never heard about previously.

(Anecdotally, read the description of Jim Balla, who reversed his type 2 diabetes in days, and lost 162 pounds in 22 months, about how he never ate sugary or processed foods, no chips, no ice cream. Read here Jim Balla’s description about how he weighed up to 324 pounds at his heaviest, and was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes at age 34, from a lifetime of eating lots and lots of meat and dairy every day, but not sugar, not ice cream, not chips or fried foods, not packaged or processed foods.)

In the documentary, Kip then went to the leading diabetes organization’s website, and found that, not only did they not have this information front and center, they were featuring recipes for red [meat] and processed meat, including bacon.

Later in What the Health, Kip had an extraordinary, eye-opening interview with a medical doctor (“Chief Scientific & Medical Officer”) of that same leading diabetes organization (it is named in the movie), in which the interviewee became [seemingly infuriated] by Kip’s questions about the connection between food choices and diabetes, and abruptly ended the interview.

Anyone who has type 2 diabetes (or any kind of diabetes), should watch What the Health from beginning to end, and especially pay close attention to witness this interview for themselves. The visual of this person (interviewee’s) agitated body language, and [seemingly barely contained anger] in refusing to discuss studies or the connection between food and diabetes, is practically shocking. One might ask themselves if they can trust an organization that refuses to discuss or acknowledge (or even to debate) the studies and science regarding the connection between the kinds of foods that cause diabetes.

The film follows Kip as he went on to discover that this leading diabetes organization receives its funding from some of the largest and most influential processed food companies and meat and dairy companies / conglomerates. That organization is funded by powerful food companies that are purveyors of, and big-money advocates of, and lobbyists for, the standard American diet (S.A.D.) that makes people who eat the S.A.D. sicker and sicker.

What the Health also goes into detail about the many other health problems, diseases, illnesses and maladies that are directly caused by eating the standard American diet, and how eating a whole food plant-based diet prevents and reverses, and at a minimum, dramatically ameliorates most disease and illness.

Watch What the Health for inspiration from (1) Michael Abdalla who reversed his type 2 diabetes and reversed his heart disease, and (2) a 61-year-old woman who reversed her debilitating osteoarthritis within two weeks after she switched to whole food plant-based nutrition, as well as (3) the testimonial from a woman who was at critical risk of heart attack, and who reversed her heart disease and cured her debilitating asthma (in under 30 days).

Watch What the Health to learn the science behind the way whole food plant-based nutrition brings about these dramatic health transformations.

Then get started on your own health transformation for life, beginning with the resources offered in What the Health.

Read Dr. Neal Barnard’s book (Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes Without Drugs).

Watch the Youtube videos about how to reverse type 2 diabetes from world-renowned board-certified medical doctors, Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, and Dr. John McDougall. Read Dr. Fuhrman’s book, The End of Diabetes.

Read some of the 1,500+ type 2 diabetes reversal success stories in the reviews for Dr. Fuhrman’s book, The End of Diabetes, to give yourself more certainty and belief that, since all of these people reversed their type 2 diabetes after reading this book, you can do what they are doing and achieve your own health transformation. Step one: READ THE BOOKS, The End of Diabetes and ! Watch What the Health. Get started now; this is your LIFE we are talking about. This is your QUALITY OF LIFE we are talking about.

Arm yourself with all of the information you need to make this change: it’s all within your reach right now, in this very moment.

Here’s to your health for life!

What do you have to lose? What do you have to gain, once you free yourself from chronic disease and reclaim your health for life?

Jim Balla of Detroit Reversed Type 2 Diabetes & Lost 162 Pounds

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What is the cure for type 2 diabetes? It’s a question on the minds of many, because millions are suffering from this disease. The answer is easy to find when you discover where to look. Testimonials and success stories from people who have reversed their type 2 diabetes naturally, and gotten off all of the diabetes drugs and insulin, are like a spring board to your own transformation.

Learn what they did to reverse type 2 diabetes, do what they do, transform your health. As you read these diabetes reversal testimonials on reversediabetes.com, you will find a consistent theme in many of these success stories: the person who reversed their type 2 diabetes is surprised and amazed by how EASY it was to make the changes that reversed their type 2 diabetes in days or weeks. That is the case for today’s type 2 diabetes reversal success story.

Today’s type 2 diabetes success story comes from a person who has been through some serious health challenges, but now, at age 58, he has reversed his type 2 diabetes (almost 2 years ago), he lost 162 pounds (half of his previous body weight, 324 pounds.) He lowered his blood pressure; lowered his cholesterol, and no longer needs statins or diabetes medications. All of these changes happened within DAYS. He lost the weight in under 22 months.

Also, the serious health issues from which he had been suffering as the result of an emergency hospital surgery years before, all were resolved within only days.

Jim Balla’s health transformation seems miraculous, both in the simplicity of the cure he discovered to reverse his type 2 diabetes, and in the profound, joyful effect he has experienced from transforming his health almost two years ago.

Jim Balla was interviewed by Jason Cohen for the Big Change the Film interview series. You can watch the entire interview below.

Please note that in the interview (watch above) Jim goes into some detail about the emergency situation that led to excruciatingly painful repeated surgeries. That part may be hard to listen to, but it is part of his powerful health transformation success story.

Jim Balla, 58, of Detroit, Michigan grew up in a family that grew vegetables and did not eat processed/packaged foods; no potato chips, no ice cream. But they ate tons of meat, tons of cheese and butter, and lots of milk. They had huge dinners, always with a 16 ounce steak (or bigger) for each person, as Jim describes it in the interview (watch above). Jim remembers the sandwiches he had for school lunch were inches thick of meat and cheese between the bread.

Eating this way caused Jim to gain a lot of weight beginning from a young age, in grade school, in high school and beyond, he continued to eat this way, and he continued to gain weight.

By the time he was 34 years old, he was hospitalized for health issues, and diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. In the coming years his doctor put him on diabetes medications and insulin, as well as statins and blood pressure medications.

Jim is a painter in the Detroit area, and he has his own business in which he does most of the work / painting jobs. At the point where he weighed more than 320 pounds, it was difficult to get up and down the painting ladder and to do the kind of concentrated physical work that house painting requires.

To make everything much worse, he ended up experiencing a terrible infection as the result of going to the hospital to visit a family member. The infection led to numerous painful surgeries, including the removal of large areas of his leg as well as removal of a large section of his colon.

In the interview (watch above) Jim describes the details of the infection, surgeries, and resulting health disaster, compounding the type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity at 324 pounds. As a result of the surgeries, Jim was left with a limp, a great deal of swelling in his leg (that was often debilitating), and constant diarrhea.

Fast-forward to the very happy new beginning of Jim’s health transformation for life.

Twenty-two months ago, Jim was listening to a set of recorded audio talks from Dr. McDougall, transcribing them for a friend. In the process of listening to Dr. McDougall’s recorded audio talks, after just the first few hours, Jim had already transformed his thinking, and his understanding of nutrition for life, thanks to what he was learning from Dr. McDougall in the recorded audio.

Jim learned from Dr. McDougall’s recorded audio talks about the power of whole food plant-based (no added oils) nutrition to prevent and reverse disease and sicknesses.

Jim immediately decided he would make this change. He was amazed, (as well as disappointed, and even angry), that he had never learned any of this before. Thanks to Dr. McDougall, Jim understood what to do, and believed that he could do it.

Listen to Jim talk about his transformation in the interview (above). It is a powerful testament to the power of whole food plant-based nutrition to QUICKLY heal and reverse disease, including reversing his type 2 diabetes.

Jim was only 4-5 days away from relief from the pain he previously had needlessly suffered for more than 5 years

Jim described that by Day 4 and Day 5 after switching to whole food plant-based foods (WFPB), eating a large abundance of delicious health WFPB foods, ALL of the terrible effects of the previous surgeries had DISAPPEARED completely.

IN ONLY 4 DAYS, Jim’s leg no longer had any swelling — he had been suffering for more than 5 years from the extreme swelling in his leg post-emergency-surgery.

IN ONLY 5 DAYS, he no longer had any diarrhea, he had become completely, perfectly normal in that regard, using the bathroom just twice a day — he had been suffering for more than five years from constant diarrhea as a result of the previous emergency surgery that removed a large part of his colon.

Jim says, poignantly, in the interview (above): It took only 4 and 5 days to heal and cure with whole foods what five years of his doctor’s drugs did NOT heal or cure or ameliorate. The whole time, he had been only 4-5 days away from his (EASY, delicious), cure, but he didn’t know this until he listened to Dr. McDougall’s recorded tapes (to help a friend).

Jim reversed his type 2 diabetes and was off the drugs and insulin within days. He also has lost 162 pounds – half of his body weight – in the past 22 months.

After only a few more days, Jim also was off all of the diabetes drugs, off the insulin. He lost a lot of weight, effortlessly, while eating lots of delicious nutrient rich, fiber rich, plant-based whole foods, without ever feeling hungry, because he ate as much as he wanted until he was full.

He went back to his doctor several months later to test his blood cholesterol levels; his cholesterol had fallen to 164 and he got off the statins. His doctor reduced his thyroid medication by 50%, all in only 2 months after he had switched to eating whole food plant-based foods.

But when Jim went into the doctor’s office that day after making such dramatic improvements in his health, reversing his type 2 diabetes, lowering his blood pressure to normal, healthy, lowering his cholesterol to the healthy range, losing a lot of weight (after previously weighing 320+ pounds), his doctor said something like, “oh good, the drugs are working.” Nope, the whole food plant-based food is working.

When Jim told his doctor that he accomplished all of this, including reversing his type 2 diabetes naturally, simply by eating whole food plant-based foods, his doctor’s reaction was, with raised voice, “No, no, no, no! You can’t do that. You’ll die if you don’t eat meat and dairy. Come over to my house and I’ll feed you lots of meat; I have a deer carcass in the freezer, etc.” (To paraphrase.)

Jim has lost 162 pounds (half of his heaviest weight, 324 pounds), effortlessly, and without ever feeling hungry, after switching to whole food plant-based nutrition (no oil added).

Jim says that the most surprising things about making the change to whole food plant-based nutrition is HOW EASY IT IS, and how delicious the food is, and how easy it was to lose this much weight (162 pounds) without ever feeling hungry, eating as much as he wants of this delicious food.

In the interview (above) Jim describes how the change to whole food plant-based nutrition has brought joy and happiness to his life.

Life is so different now. Life is a JOY.

I feel alive, I feel like I have my life back.

I wasn’t in control of the first half of my life.
but now I am in control of my life, I can do whatever I want.

If I want to go walk, I can get into a kayak or canoe, things I never
wanted to do before, loving nature, walking in the woods and hiking,
walking with my dog. [Before], I never did any of that stuff.

Look at what I missed out on in life,
and why did I continue feeling this way for 50 years? …

I just didn’t have any of the information.

Now with the internet the information is out there.
Go to PBNSG.org. Go to Youtube … the information is there.

The books [about whole food plant-based nutrition] are unreal.
This will absolutely change your LIFE.

I am a different person.

If I see Dr. John McDougall, I think I would hug the guy and never let him
go, and just say, “Thank you.” I went to his website and I told him my
whole story, he knows everything

It’s just, this is the diet for humans.
You can’t be fat, you can’t be sick [when you switch to whole food plant-based nutrition]; it reverses all of your diseases.

I would never, ever, go back to eating [the standard American diet].

I never miss [anything about] it.” – Jim Balla Big Change the Film interview, at 49:56 – 51:38.

Now Jim constantly is learning more and more about plant-based nutrition. He signed up for Audible and he listens to whole food plant-based doctors talking about health and nutrition, while he works, painting.

He joined a whole food plant-based group in the Detroit area called the Plant-Based Nutrition Super Group (PBNSG), which has grown to more than 4,700 members (the largest such group in the United State). They have monthly speakers come and speak to the group, luminaries in the plant-based movement including Dr. McDougall, Rip Esselstyn, Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and his wife, Jane, (coming in October 2018, Doug Lisle), and many others.

Do you know what the third leading cause of U.S. deaths is? Another reason why everyone should empower themselves with whole food plant-based nutrition for life.

The third leading cause of death in the United States is something you might not have guessed, but it’s something to seriously consider and ponder. The third leading cause of death in the United States is doctor error.

As reported by NPR, According to Johns Hopkins researchers, medical errors rank behind heart disease and cancer as the third leading cause of death in the U.S. The Johns Hopkins study estimates that more than 250,000 Americans die each year from medical errors.

This includes deaths of patients caused by medications prescribed to them by their doctor, and which the patient took exactly as prescribed.

Truly consider how frightening that statistic is: doctor error is the third leading cause of death in the United States.

It’s another very good reason to choose and decide a different way when it comes to the many preventable and often reversible chronic diseases that are the result of eating the standard American diet, like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and many others.

The U.S. “health care” system has often been described instead as mostly “disease management.” For type 2 diabetes (and other chronic diseases), thousands are choosing a whole food plant-based lifestyle to reverse (and prevent) illnesses and disease, rather than to “manage” chronic, never-ending diseases (type 2 diabetes, auto-immune diseases, asthma, lupus, osteoarthritis, and many other chronic illnesses) with drugs.

Why would anyone choose the pain and suffering that accompanies all of these chronic diseases, “mangaing” them with drugs and side effects that make them even sicker in so many ways, when they could instead choose health in the simplest, easiest way possible: IT’S THE FOOD (to quote Dr. McDougall).

Remember Jim Balla’s experience. Before he discovered Dr. McDougall’s audio recordings about the power of whole food plant-based foods to prevent and reverse disease, Jim never knew he was only 4 or 5 days away from being PAIN FREE; he never knew he was a week or so away from curing his type 2 diabetes.

Jim had taken doctor-prescribed drugs for YEARS, simply managing the illnesses, and setting himself to just continue the illnesses on and on and on. Until he discovered the EASY way (as he emphasizes throughout the interview above) to reverse his type 2 diabetes, and heal and cure ALL of his health issues: IT’s THE FOOD.

He also lost 162 pounds in 22 months, in the easiest way possible, as he describes it, without weighing, measuring, counting calories, and without ever feeling hungry because the food he eats is nutritionally dense with lots of fiber, (but also comparatively low in calories), so it’s filling and satisfying in a way that the standard American diet never is.

Jim is diplomatic in the way he describes both his experience at the hospital with the devastating infection (after he visited a family member), then the many surgeries during which he had been at risk of possibly losing his leg.

He is grateful that he still has his leg, he is grateful that the surgeons and doctors saved his life from the infection. He glosses over whatever happened when the surgeon(s) accidentally “nicked” him during one of the surgeries, causing internal bleeding, which went undetected by hospital staff, even though Jim was in a great deal of pain from the pressure caused by the internal bleeding.

Jim also is diplomatic and kind when he describes the way his doctor is practically vehemently opposed to the idea of anyone not eating meat and dairy, even when his doctor can see with his own eyes the miraculous healing transformation that whole food plant-based (no oil added) foods have brought about for Jim: dramatic weight loss (from 324 down to 162). Jim’s doctor also witnessed that Jim reversed his type 2 diabetes naturally: no more drugs, no more insulin. His doctor witnessed that Jim lowered his cholesterol to normal levels: no more statins. His doctor witnessed that Jim lowered his blood pressure to normal: no more meds. His doctor witnessed Jim’s sudden relief from the debilitating effects of the emergency surgery five years prior: No more diarrhea; no more debilitating swelling in his leg.

Jim’s doctor witnessed all of these seemingly miraculous results from Jim’s switch to whole food plant-based nutrition, yet his doctor still is vehemently opposed to learning anything whole food plant-based nutrition. (Just think of how many more patients in the future could be helped if only their doctors had witnessed this kind of healing, especially first-hand, as Jim’s doctor did, and also would TELL them about it).

As Jim’s doctor knows, Jim accomplished ALL of these miraculous results simply by switching to eating lots of delicious whole food plant-based foods, with the guidance of Dr. McDougall’s website, Dr. McDougall’s Youtube videos, and his books and recipes.

What if someone said they had one pill that could do ALL of those things, reverse type 2 diabetes, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and many more, all without any side effects?

That one-stop health solution does exist, zero side effects, no drugs to buy: it’s simply whole food plant-based nutrition. One-stop healing.

Jim is enthusiastic about the PBNSG Plant-Based Nutrition Super Group, and mentioned that the group has a Doctor Teaching Doctors program to train other medical doctors about the healing, transformative power of whole food health-based nutrition.

Jim invited his doctor to come to the group, to join in this Doctor to Doctor training initiative (which gives the doctor continuing education credit, and it’s funded by the group so the doctor doesn’t have to pay for the training that gives them required continuing education credits.) But Jim’s doctor (in the Detroit area) vehemently declined. “He wanted nothing to do with it.”

Jim noted that, as a result of his doctor’s fundamental incompatibility [aka close-mindedness] (apparently his doctor doesn’t want to believe that “IT’S THE FOOD!”), he is “looking for a new doctor.” But then Jim immediately corrects himself, he’s not really actively looking for a new doctor, because he says he hasn’t needed to go to the doctor for the past several years since he switched to whole food plant-based nutrition.

But still, as diplomatic and humble as Jim is, his story is a powerful testimonial as to why we all should jump at the opportunity to choose a solution that is so simple, whole food plant-based nutrition, yet so powerful at preventing and reversing disease.

Do the same things that Jim Balla did and continues to do for life: eat lots of delicious whole food plant-based foods, with no added oils. It’s that simple. The food is delicious and you can eat as much as you want of these foods. You can prepare them in ways that are very similar to the favorite foods you already enjoy.

Listen to Dr. McDougall’s Youtube videos; visit his website; read his books. Watch Forks Over Knives. Join a plant-based community group for support from others in your community who also are choosing health via a whole food plant-based (no oil added) lifestyle.

When you choose whole food plant-based foods to prevent disease, you also prevent yourself from ending up in the clutches of the “disease management” system, potentially with a life sentence to be on drugs for (usually preventable and reversible) chronic diseases for the rest of your life.

Now you know that the third leading cause of death in the United States is doctor error. (Read the NPR article quoted above here; do some research.) Avoid that roulette spin.

Prevent disease and illness in the first place, by eating whole food plant-based nutrition. Like Jim Balla, if your doctor is vehemently opposed to whole food plant-based nutrition or learning anything about it, consider your options. You have choices. But when you switch to whole food plant-based nutrition, like Jim, you just may find that you don’t need to visit a doctor frequently, anyway.

As Hippocrates said several thousands of years ago: “Let food be thy medicine.” Still applies today, maybe more than ever.

Here’s to your health for life!

What do you have to lose? What do you have to gain?

Amy Johnson of Frisco, TX Reversed her Type 2 Diabetes & Osteopenia, Inspired by Forks Over Knives Documentary

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Testimonials and success stories from people who have reversed their type 2 diabetes are powerful inspiration for anyone who wants to change their own health destiny.

Amy Johnson, 54, of Frisco, TX is a great inspiration for anyone who wants to lose weight, reverse type 2 diabetes, and/or improve osteopenia, as she accomplished all of those things, simply by changing the foods she ate, with the support and camaraderie of her husband and her sons.

Amy credits the documentary film Forks Over Knives as her inspiration to make these changes to transform her life and her health.

Jason Cohen interviewed Amy Johnson for the Big Change the Film interview series in June 2018 (watch below), and in the interview Amy shares her top advice for anyone who is looking for solutions to lose weight and/or reverse type 2 diabetes naturally.

Watch the June 23, 2018 interview here:

Amy got off her diabetes medications and statins in only three months after switching to whole food plant-based foods (inspired by the movie Forks Over Knives). That was SIX years ago, and Amy feels great, never gets sick, and says she feels twenty years younger than her age.

Other people tell her she looks like she is reversing in age; they tell her, “You look younger!” She says it’s because she feels younger, and she feels so good and healthy eating this way.

She also lost 50 pounds (without feeling hungry, without measuring, counting calories, weighing, etc.)

Amy also marvels happily that she has never been sick once in six years after she switched to whole food plant-based nutrition.

She now helps other people who are committed to reversing their type 2 diabetes and/or weight loss, with the Mrs. Plant Facebook community she created, as well as with her recipes online.

Amy’s Path to Type 2 Diabetes, Osteopenia, Obesity (220 pounds) & Other Serious Health Issues by her 40s

In the interview (watch above), Amy describes how she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when she was in her 40s.

Previously, she had been diagnosed with endometriosis in her 20s, and was told she should have her babies early because endometriosis could affect her ability to have children.

Amy says she piled on the weight year after year, especially during and after pregnancy, and she was constantly having to buy new clothes in increasingly larger sizes until she was wearing women’s plus size clothing.

Later she worked in the corporate world, where unhealthy foods were always available (candy bars and cookies in the lunch room, catered lunches). She also says she was addicted to every kind of fast food, and her busy working life gave her an excuse for eating that kind of food (even though she likes to cook and is a good cook). She later became a teacher, but still struggled and never was able to lose weight.

At her heaviest, she weighed 220 pounds.

She tried diets constantly, but always ended up gaining the weight back. She was “tired of weighing and measuring, tired of counting calories, tired of not getting results.”

By the time Amy was in her 40s, she was 220 pounds, she had type 2 diabetes, and she was on three medications. She was taking statins due to high cholesterol. She hated taking the medications and had a hard time choking them down.

In addition, she also had severe osteopenia, and she walked with a limp due to significant bone loss in her left hip. (Her mother had also suffered from severe osteoporosis.)

She credits her miracle change to watching the documentary, Forks Over Knives.

Amy’s path to reversing type 2 diabetes and other health conditions in under three months (six years ago, and now she never gets sick!)

Six years ago, when one of her sons was in college, and her younger son was in high school, her college-age son brought her the Forks Over Knives DVD to watch together as a family.

Amy emphasizes in the interview (watch her interview, above) that the Forks Over Knives documentary CHANGED HER LIFE.

By watching Forks Over Knives together, Amy and her husband and sons learned about the power of whole food plant-based foods (WFPB) to prevent and reverse disease.

Forks Over Knives includes testimonials and success stories from inspirational people like Joey Aucoin, who reversed his type 2 diabetes. Read more about Joey Aucoin’s journey to reverse his type 2 diabetes and reclaim his health here.

Adopting the whole food plant-based (no added oils) lifestyle means eating an abundance of delicious healthy foods, without weighing, without measuring, without counting calories — and losing excess weight. When eating whole food plant-based foods you can lose weight without feeling hungry, since the nutrient-rich and fiber-rich plant-based foods fill you and satisfy your body’s nutritional needs.

Whole food plant-based nutrition offers freedom from all of those negative things associated with what most people associate with “diets” (measuring, counting calories, weighing, counting points, etc.), while also having powerful RESULTS in weight loss and preventing illness and disease, as well as the potential to reverse type 2 diabetes.

In the interview, Amy emphasizes how grateful she is that the “three men in her life” (her husband and two sons), all agreed to go plant-based together, “ALL IN” as a family, immediately after watching Forks Over Knives, at her husband’s suggestion.

In the past, her boys and her husband (who didn’t need to lose weight), didn’t join her on her diets. So back then, it was “just her” and she was eating different foods than they did while she was dieting, which was even more challenging for her (to be the only one on a “diet”).

She appreciates the familial support in making the change to whole food plant-based nutrition together.

In fact, she says that the #1 success key for her in making the switch to WFPB was having her family support her in doing this together.

Upon making the change to whole food plant-based nutrition, her health issues simultaneously resolved.

After switching to whole food plant-based foods, she reversed her type 2 diabetes and got off all of the diabetes medications in under three months.

After switching to whole food plant-based foods, she also lowered her cholesterol to normal, healthy levels.

Before switching to whole food plant-based nutrition, Amy was walking with a limp, due to osteopenia, with bone loss in her hip. Now she walks every day.

More recently, Amy also trained for and ran in a 5K race. She used an app called the Couch to 5K APP, a training program that has helps beginning runners move from the couch to the 5K finish line. Amy says she followed that app’s program to the letter and ran in that year’s HealthFest 5K in Marshall, Texas. That is a LONG WAY from walking with a limp before switching to whole food plant-based nutrition! Amy says that finishing the 5K also was great for the feeling of accomplishment she got.

She says that in six years since she switched to whole food plant-based food, she has never been sick; she has never had a single illness. Before, she had chronic constipation because what she used to eat was lacking in fiber, lacking in nutrients. Upon switching to whole food plant-based nutrition, that problem disappeared: another benefit of whole food plant-based nutrition.

Amy’s husband and sons also had excellent health results within weeks of making the change.

Don’t wait to make these nutritional changes until you hit “rock bottom.”

Amy cautions that anyone who is overweight and says — “I’m just overweight, but I don’t have health issues” — should consider Amy’s experience.

Amy got health tests annually as a teacher. Up into her 40s, even though she weighed up to 220 pounds at her heaviest, she had normal blood sugar and normal cholesterol, with nothing bad showing up in her blood work . . . UNTIL . . . the NEXT year’s tests.

One year, her test results were fine, but the very next year she was diagnosed with full-blown type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.

It was a REAL SHOCK for her to have these devastating diagnoses, seemingly out of the blue like that (when her test results previously were fine – despite the obesity, up until that point), so Amy cautions other overweight people to heed the warning of her example.

Amy points out that if you are overweight, even if your numbers look good now, “IT CAN CHANGE IN A MINUTE.”

When Jason Cohen asked Amy whether she had to hit rock bottom in order to change, and whether she was still looking for an answer at that point, Amy said:

I would say I was rock bottom. But I was not looking for an answer. I felt like I had done everything and there was no hope for me.” – Amy, Big Change the Film interview series June 25, 2018, at 11:09. (Watch the full interview above at the beginning of this article).

Amy explains that although she had given up looking for an answer, her college-age son brought the Forks Over Knives DVD home for the family to watch together, unexpectedly and out of the blue.

When they watched Forks Over Knives it was the first time in a long time that she had felt encouraged or had hope about the potential to reverse her type 2 diabetes, stop taking the medications, and regain her health.

Upon watching Forks Over Knives, Amy kept asking her husband, “Why did we not know this?” She had never heard this information before. She says it was a complete shock to her.

Another question one might ask upon watching Forks Over Knives and learning about the power of whole food plant-based nutrition to heal, prevent and even reverse illnesses and disease might be, “Why didn’t my doctor tell me this? And if my doctor knows nothing about this, why DOESN’T my doctor know about the power of whole food plant-based foods to prevent and reverse disease?” Best-selling author John Robbins has made this analogy, in that regard: “What if fire fighters didn’t know about the water?”

After watching the film, Amy’s husband said, “LET’S GO ALL IN,” which was a big relief to Amy because she knew she would have the support of her family and she was going to be doing this alongside her husband and her sons, encouraging her.

One note on this point: as Joseph Alexander emphasized in his Big Change the Movie interview (read more about Joseph Alexander’s type 2 diabetes reversal success story here), it’s important not to use lack of support from family or friends as an excuse. Don’t use NOT having support as an excuse to stop you from making the changes you need to make for YOUR health … because the ONLY person who can make these changes for yourself is YOU.

Additional Health Benefits for Amy’s Husband and her Son – Cholesterol Lowered, Cystic Acne Completely Cleared Up, & Weight Loss

Amy’s husband had always had high cholesterol, as did his parents, so he also had his own incentive to switch to whole food plant-based nutrition in order to lower his cholesterol, after watching Forks Over Knives.

After eating whole food plant-based (no added oils) for only two weeks, his cholesterol went down to 150.

He also lost twenty pounds.

Amy’s son cleared up his cystic acne completely after only 3-4 weeks after switching to whole food plant-based foods.

He had suffered from cystic acne affecting his confidence through middle school and high school, but whole food plant-based nutrition cleared it up completely, quickly, and as a result he has clear skin with no scars. He also lost the 15-20 pounds he had gained while in college before switching to whole food plant-based foods.

Now her son is married to a woman who also eats whole food plant-based, and they post delicious recipes online. Amy says she is so happy to see her children choosing to eat these whole plant-based healthy foods.

The Steps that Amy Johnson and her family took in making the change to whole food plant-based foods

First, Amy’s husband enlisted everyone’s help together to go through all of the food in the kitchen, and look at the ingredients of every package.

They sorted the food, with any meat or dairy on one counter, processed food in a different place.

A rule Amy uses when looking at package ingredients is this:

If the box or package has an ingredient we couldn’t buy at the grocery store, we probably shouldn’t eat it.”

By the time they had finished sorting the food, they threw anything unhealthy into the trash, because now, they looked at all of the unhealthy food as poison.

Amy adopted this new mindset quickly, simply thanks to watching the documentary Forks Over Knives, and applying what she learned WITH her husband and sons (who were not very overweight and did not have the kinds of health issues that Amy did).

NOW she looked at that food as poison, because she looked at the sorted foods and thought to herself, “This is what caused my type 2 diabetes. This is what caused me to be overweight.”

Keeping unhealthy foods OUT of your home is key, too. Don’t bring it into your home, don’t store it in you home. It makes it so much easier to stick to delicious nutrient-dense healthy foods (with delicious healthy snacks) when there is nothing unhealthy to tempt you in your home! Bringing anything other than healthy food into your home is a set-up; don’t set that kind of trap for yourself in your home. Choose health (in the form of delicious, abundant, fiber-filled, nutrient-filled whole plant-based foods).

Watch Forks Over Knives, and then start by figuring out what recipes you already like. Make that kind of food (the kinds of food you already like), modified to be whole-food plant-based, without added oil.

The next step after cleaning out the kitchen and cupboards: Amy would find great vegan recipes online, or in cookbooks, and if they had oil in them, she would just eliminate the oil and make the recipe oil-free.

For inspiration, Amy also watched Rip Esselstyn’s Engine 2 Kitchen Rescue video, in which Rip Esselstyn goes out to three families to help them sort through the food in their cupboards and refrigerators, showed them how to grocery shop, and how to cook delicious meals.

In describing how she got over her previous junk food / fast food addiction, Amy said that switching to whole food plant-based nutrition is easy, because “We like EVERYTHING [whole food plant-based they now eat] BETTER than any standard American diet [S.A.D. foods] we have ever had.” Amy, interview at 17:14.

Also, she didn’t miss the junk food because she was feeling better all the time.

She points out that people eating a whole food plant-based diet don’t eat perfectly ALL the time, “but eating this way makes me LESS interested in the food we used to eat.” – Amy, interview at 18:19

Throughout the interview, Amy emphasizes that “Once you go whole food plant-based, IT’s SO EASY TO EAT THIS WAY!” (emphasis added).

Amy began to have so much energy after making this change, that she naturally just wanted to get outside and move, so she also began taking walks, and still enjoys walking (with a little running). A few years ago she also completed a 5K and was thrilled by the feeling of accomplishment she got from setting that goal and achieving it.

Amy celebrates her new way of eating by helping others, through her Facebook community (where others share their recipes, and their success stories, including a large group of type 2 diabetes success stories and testimonials), and by publishing recipes online, for people anywhere in the world to enjoy.

Amy notes that over the past six years, eating whole food plant-based foods has become even easier now, with so many more options available in grocery stores and restaurants, and so many people learning the power of whole food plant-based nutrition to heal, prevent, and reverse disease.

As Amy points out, “Plant-Based nutrition is global. People everywhere are recognizing the power of plants.” – Amy Johnson

In the interview, Jason Cohen asked Amy (at 34 min.),

When you hit play on the Forks Over Knives [DVD], what has surprised you about this journey the most?”

Amy replied that the biggest surprise for her was that, “It’s NOT HARD! It’s REALLY not hard.”

She reiterates that her family still enjoyed the same kinds of food they liked before, just modified, plant-based and oil-free.

She also explained that she enjoys eating so much more now, because there is NO GUILT in eating this way … including at a spiritual level.

She says that grocery shopping also is easier and faster because she skips over half the store. However, she notes that you do have to put some effort into planning what you will eat.

Watch Forks Over Knives and get started to protect your health, lose the excess weight, and change your health destiny.

Amy says that she had pretty much hit rock bottom after trying for many years to lose weight. It was a blessing out of the blue when her then-college age son brought her the Forks Over Knives documentary DVD to watch together as a family, more than six years ago.

If you or someone you care about is suffering from type 2 diabetes and other diseases and illnesses, or have tried to lose weight but still haven’t found the solution, take heart.

Just as Amy’s son handed her the solution in the form of the Forks Over Knives DVD, Amy has now passed the solution on to you, in the form of her testimonial and type 2 diabetes reversal and weight loss success story.

As Amy describes in the interview (watch the full interview above at the top of this article), whole food plant-based nutrition quickly becomes an easy, fun, delicious lifestyle that offers the rewards of regaining your health, giving you the hope and inspiration you need to change your health destiny for the rest of your life, getting off the medications, losing the excess weight, having energy and clarity and purpose, reversing type 2 diabetes, reversing heart disease, lowering blood pressure, and so much more. All from switching to eating lots and lots of filling, delicious whole plant-based foods.

As Amy emphasized in the interview video (watch the interview above), watching Forks Over Knives with her family gave her the belief and understanding that, “I CAN DO THIS!”

Watch Forks Over Knives with your family and friends, because you can do this too, and reap the same kinds of rewards that Amy and her family have.

You can do this for yourself, but also, like Amy’s son, you can do this in solidarity to help someone you care about.

Give the Forks Over Knives DVD to someone who, like Amy, had gotten to the point where they may even have given up on looking for a solution to losing weight, reversing type 2 diabetes and other illnesses, reversing heart disease, lowering blood pressure, regaining their health for life.

The chain continues, as each person making these changes can offer inspiration and help to other people, and then those people can help and inspire others too, and on and on. Success story testimonials are powerful motivation to help other people to change their lives for the better.

Here’s to your health for life!

What do you have to lose? What do you have to gain?

More About Amy Johnson’s Type 2 Diabetes Reversal and Where to Find her Recipes

You can find Amy Johnson, also known as “Mrs Plant in Texas” on Instagram for inspiration, recipes and food pics.

Amy also offers advice and recipes on her Mrs Plant Facebook page, as well as the Mrs Plant Community on Facebook, where people share their own recipes, diabetes type 2 reversal success stories and testimonials, and support for other people’s weight loss through switching to whole food plant-based foods.

Visit her website for her recipes, and for her ebook about how she got off the medications for type 2 diabetes.

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Reversing Type 2 Diabetes – Dr. Anthony Lim & the McDougall Health & Medical Center

Watch Dr. Fuhrman’s PBS presentation, “End Dieting Forever,” here:

More Resources: Dr. Fuhrman’s Step-by-Step Proven Method to Reverse Type 2 Diabetes

“The End of Diabetes by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

More Type 2 Diabetes Reversal Success Stories

Reversing Type 2 Diabetes: Dr. Steve Lawenda – David’s Testimonial

Watch the video above and see what happens!

More Resources: Step-by-Step Proven Method to Reverse Type 2 Diabetes

“The End of Diabetes by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes without Drugs

More Type 2 Diabetes Reversal Success Stories

Nick Delgado Reversed his Type 2 Diabetes and Has Helped more than 4,000 People Reverse Their Type 2 Diabetes Over the Past 40 Years

If you are asking your doctor, without success, “What is the cure for type 2 diabetes?”, read on to learn the solution that Nick Delgado has taught to more than 4,000 people (over the course of 40 years) who, like him, REVERSED their type 2 diabetes naturally.

More Resources: Step-by-Step Proven Method to Reverse Type 2 Diabetes

“The End of Diabetes by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes without Drugs

More Type 2 Diabetes Reversal Success Stories

Michael Abdalla of Atlanta, GA Reversing Type 2 Diabetes and Heart Disease – What the Health Documentary

Michael Abdalla’s Results in What the Health

More Type 2 Diabetes Reversal Success Stories

Jim Balla of Detroit Reversed Type 2 Diabetes & Lost 162 Pounds

Fast-forward to the very happy new beginning of Jim’s health transformation for life.

Jim was only 4-5 days away from relief from the pain he previously had needlessly suffered for more than 5 years

Jim reversed his type 2 diabetes and was off the drugs and insulin within days. He also has lost 162 pounds – half of his body weight – in the past 22 months.

Do you know what the third leading cause of U.S. deaths is? Another reason why everyone should empower themselves with whole food plant-based nutrition for life.

More Type 2 Diabetes Reversal Success Stories

Amy Johnson of Frisco, TX Reversed her Type 2 Diabetes & Osteopenia, Inspired by Forks Over Knives Documentary

Amy’s Path to Type 2 Diabetes, Osteopenia, Obesity (220 pounds) & Other Serious Health Issues by her 40s

She credits her miracle change to watching the documentary, Forks Over Knives.

Amy’s path to reversing type 2 diabetes and other health conditions in under three months (six years ago, and now she never gets sick!)

Don’t wait to make these nutritional changes until you hit “rock bottom.”

Additional Health Benefits for Amy’s Husband and her Son – Cholesterol Lowered, Cystic Acne Completely Cleared Up, & Weight Loss

The Steps that Amy Johnson and her family took in making the change to whole food plant-based foods

NOW she looked at that food as poison, because she looked at the sorted foods and thought to herself, “This is what caused my type 2 diabetes. This is what caused me to be overweight.”

Watch Forks Over Knives, and then start by figuring out what recipes you already like. Make that kind of food (the kinds of food you already like), modified to be whole-food plant-based, without added oil.

Watch Forks Over Knives and get started to protect your health, lose the excess weight, and change your health destiny.

More Type 2 Diabetes Reversal Success Stories

More About Amy Johnson’s Type 2 Diabetes Reversal and Where to Find her Recipes