Real Results

Randy and Nancy are on their way to better health with plant-based nutrition!

Hi April,  I just wanted to share some good new with you.  Randy had an appointment with his cardiologist today and his LDL number is significantly lower than it was before he changed his diet to whole food/ plant-based.  Three years also it was 118, last year it was 108 and this year it’s 91.  Seems pretty significant to me.  His blood pressure is also in the ideal range according to Dr. Greger.  I believe these improvements are the result of the change in his diet.  The cardiologist was so impressed he is going to read Dr. Greger’s book.  

I am convinced that your message and your cookbook have made these improvements possible.  I sincerely believe you are saving lives and we are so very grateful to you!  I’m seeing improvements in my health too but have a way to go to catch up with Randy.

Thanks again for all you are doing to help educated us to be healthier.  BTW, Randy’s mother died at age 51 from a stroke, which we believe may have been prevented with a healthier diet.            Randy and Nancy, CA

Jenny Cleared up very bad stomach issues and feels great on a plant-based diet.

Hi April! I wanted to let you know that even though you first cooked for me and I got your recipe book almost three years ago, I finally made the full transition to a plant-based diet in October and I feel better than I have in a long time. I had very bad stomach issues and they have cleared up, too. I don’t know the science to exactly why cutting meat out has helped my stomach issues, but that’s what did it! I just wanted to say thank you for what you do because you helped give me the tools to be able to do this. Jenny T, Bridge Health Recovery Center

Frank is off all his medications and lost 26 pounds on a plant-based diet.

Frank has been attending my cooking classes for 5 months and at my last class he shared his success.  I asked him to send me his story in writing so I could share it with others.  Here is what he wrote:   (Thanks so much Frank for sharing your story! You are an inspiration!)

Dear April,  

Troy has lost weight and feels amazing on a plant-based diet.

Our friend Troy lives out of town and commutes each week to St. George for his 4 day work week at the hospital and stays in our guest room. Before he joined us for dinner the first time, my husband warned him about my vegan cooking. He was open and willing to give it a try and figured he would just sneak out later for some “real food.” To my surprise, and his as well, this 6 foot 5:, 255 pound “meat and potatoes” guy loved the food!! OK, so I got lucky this time. Well, six months later he still loves the food and has converted his wife who is now drinking green smoothies, and his kids are talking about “super foods.” And not only that, he’s got half the staff on his floor at the hospital coming to him with questions and has converted several. This great new diet is just about all he talks about! I think I’ve created a monster!  When Troy first came to stay with us, he had already lost about 30 pounds from just giving up the sodas and other junk foods. Since then he has lost almost another 40 pounds and is feeling better then he has in years! He has lost all desire for his previous meat and potatoes and loves his new plant based diet which he now refers to as “real food.” He has converted his brother Travis (testimony below) and they are both influencing a third brother.

Weight loss has never been a motivating factor for Troy. For him it’s more about his health. After all, he is a nurse and should be a healthy example to his patients. I think his weight loss is very exciting because it’s such a motivator for so many others. As of April 2011 when this picture was taken, he was at 225. He is now hovering around 215 and feeling great!

He has said many times that if you would have asked him a year ago if he would try a “vegan” diet he would have said “no way!” Now he say’s “if I can do it, anyone can!…It’s not hard and I love it!”
  

Travis (Troys brother) has lost weight, lowered his blood pressure and cholesterol, and feels better with more energy on a plant-based diet.

 Thanks so much for the reading recommendations. I’ve got people asking me for advice on what to eat. I love knowing such good information. It all makes so much sense and after a little practice is so easy. My brother Ben called, asking for your Shepherd’s Pie recipe, my favorite so far. Last night he had to call me and let me know how stinkin’ good it was. And let’s not forgot how healthy too.

 Thank you for being an influence on Troy. I couldn’t imagine making such a HUGE lifestyle change without him and the constant reminder as I read all I should being doing. EAT TO LIVE really is the way to go. I’ve learned so much, lost weight, lowered my blood pressure and cholesterol, and feel better with more energy.  Thanks!!!   Travis / Wyoming

Dawn is on her way to better health in just 3 days on a plant-based diet.

After a journey of eight months, following an acute heart attack, and while  learning a little at a time, I discovered Dr John McDougalls book last week.  I have begun eating a Whole Plant Food Diet.  Doing so for three days my blood pressure and blood glucose already have improved and my energy level is high. 

On November 20 2014, a couple of months after receiving the above, I received this from Dawn:

Jim and Marie lost a total of 70 pounds and kept it off on plant-based diet.  “Old dogs can learn new tricks!”

We are so enjoying your cookbook Whole Food Goodness.  It is my ‘go to’ cookbook. We eat out of it so often.  Jim loves the Kale & Black Bean Tacos, Potato Salad and many others.  He is still amazed at how good the food is and how much better he feels.  His cholesterol went from 230 (he was being put on statins) to 175 and went off the medication. Says he: “I’ve eaten more fruits & veggies than in my entire life combined.  My mother would be amazed.”  (Jim just turned 79 and I am 68….so old dogs can learn new tricks !)

Claira no longer needs glasses thanks to plant-based nutrition.

Cathy is off statins and on to better health with a plant-based diet.

For as long as I can remember I’ve had high cholesterol. Up until 2 years ago I’ve been on statins.

I felt the side-affects in my chest and leg muscles. No matter what statin drug I was on, it gave me problems. I had difficulty breathing or walking. I would take the statins for 3 months at a time and go off it for a month just to relieve my symptoms.

In October of 2010 I went to my doctor for my yearly check up. After having blood work done my cholesterol was 350. Triglycerides 104, LDL 210, and HDL 68. That was a wake-up call. I exercise all the time and I have high HDL which is good. My doctor said that I need to go back on the statins or change my eating habits. I told him I wasn’t going to go back on the statins. I chose to change my eating habits over drugs.

In February 2011 I met April for the first time at her home for her dinner class. Since that night I Changed to a vegan diet. I love fruits and vegetables so I already had a good start. I bought some books April recommended,  several by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, and Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn’s Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. These books have excellent information and have helped me in so many ways. They are my bibles.

10 months later, I’m happy to say that my cholesterol is now 203*. Triglycerides is 74, LDL is 132 and HDL is 88. My weight is down from 134 to 112. I’ve gone from 32% body fat to 21.2%, blood pressure from 120/96 to 95/59 and from size 12 to a size 6. I feel better, look better, sleep better and have tons of energy. The whole food plant based vegan diet has done wonderful things for me.
*Comment from April: Cathy’s cholesterol levels at 203 are still above favorable range (studies show that at 150 you become heart attack proof) but I am confident that they will continue to drop as she sticks with a whole food plant based diet. Congratulations Cathy!

Ellen – “Do I ever feel better on a plant-based diet!”

I have been very active all of my adult life, running, hiking, swimming, which I thought gave me the go ahead to eat most anything I wanted. I also had low cholesterol. When I went for a wellness check-up, my total cholesterol was 220 and my bad cholesterol was over the limit.  I could not believe it!!!  It really startled me but I did not really decide to make major changes until late summer. I noticed I was having some chest pains at times which concerned me. I have family history of health problems. My parents both died of cancer in their sixties. They both smoked and had horrible eating habits.  My Mother suffered with rheumatoid arthritis and had both knees and a hip replaced starting in her 40’s. She died from pancreatic cancer and I have no doubt that diet played a huge part in her health problems. 

In July, I started attending April’s cooking classes and became obsessed about attending all that I could, not only for recipes but for the education that April provides to get me motivated. I also purchased April’s cookbook, Whole Food Goodness. Thanks to Aprils counsel, I’m no longer confused about what to eat. She has made it so easy!! I now eat GOMBS daily (greens, onions, mushrooms, beans and seeds), and I only eat fruit in the morning. I have to admit I spend much more time in the kitchen but it is worth it. As April would say,”I would you rather spend one hour in the kitchen every night then an hour in the emergency room!”

 At my last check up I had lost around seven pounds and my blood pressure was lower. I feel better in my cloths; lighter and less sluggish at work and when I exercise. I just feel better in general. I still struggle with sugar addiction but much less now. I use to eat ice cream regularly. Now I eat nut based ice cream and don’t crave the other ice cream at all.   Thanks to April for her guidance and encouragement!

E-mail from Ellen after following my recommendations for only a week: 

“I know I should have had my salad, but just had a busy day, and to tell you the truth, I just am more satisfied and not as hungry.  Do I ever feel better though!!!!  My clothes already feel like they are fitting better, my skin even looks better to me, could that be?  Anyway I’m going with it.  My cravings for sweets have gone way down, thank goodness! That was a big downfall for me.  I am planning on having my labs done in two months to see the difference.”

Fighting Cancer with a plant-based diet.

I have been eating whole food plant based for over four months now. I feel better than I have in many years and am encouraged about my own cancer prognosis and quality of life. Thank you for being an answer to my prayers. I only wish this information was widely distributed to cancer patients. In my three year battle with cancer, no information was given to me from my doctor or breast cancer support coordinator about the importance of my diet. Now that I have studied many books and articles…there is a WEALTH of information about nutrition and the prevention of most western diseases. I am doing my part to get the word out and have many opportunities to share what I know. Every person on my Christmas list is getting either Dr. Fuhrman’s books or The China Study.     Kindly, Kathy