I welcome the opportunity to help you with any areas where you need help, but the one change that I believe will have the most profound impact on your health is your diet. This is because, directly or indirectly, improving your diet will improve just about all other concerns. What I would like you to consider is changing how you eat. I would like you to switch to a whole food plant-based diet (the acronym for this mouthful is WFPB). No, not permanently!!! Just for a short time. Consider it a 3 month experiment. Just try it for a short time and I believe that you will feel at least 80% better, no matter what your current condition is. And then you will be informed. You will know what it took. You will know what it felt like. You will know how easy or hard it was (it’s not hard). You will know how expensive it is (it actually costs a LOT less). And you will know EXACTLY what the trade-offs were. 

And then you can choose to go back to what you were doing before. Easy Peasy. No harm, no foul. Limiting your commitment to 3 months is psychologically easier than “changing forever”. You can do this and you really will be better for it, even if you decide it’s not for you in the long run. 

But, please don’t think you can do this without learning a little first. Don’t just start eliminating foods willy nilly or you will risk failing. Learn a little so you can be successful at it for 3 months. Just 3 months! That is all I’m asking. There really isn’t any good reason not to try it. 

If I have convinced you, or even if you are not convinced yet, but just curious… start with a video by Dr. Michael Gregor, MD of his presentation called “How Not To Die”. You can go to it by clicking the link below the picture (if your copy of this is digital) or you can find it on YouTube.com by searching for “How Not To Die Dr. Michael Greger, MD ”. Pretty catchy title, yes? You will know you are seeing the video you want when you scroll down the search results and see this preview picture:

How Not To Die: The Role of Diet in Preventing, Arresting, and Reversing Our Top 15 Killers

Side note: I picked this video because it is NOT a propaganda video. 

• Yes, the animal meat industry has severe climate impacts but this video does not include Jane Goodall and doesn’t even mention it.
• Yes, the animal meat industry treats livestock horrifically, but this video has no PETA contributors and doesn’t even broach the subject.
• Yes, the worldwide fishing industry is decimating the oceans but that is not in this video.

This video is really just about what a WFPB diet will do to help you get and stay healthy. If nothing else, you will better understand what your vegetarian and vegan and WFPB friends are doing and why.

If you are not convinced yet, please watch this shorter video by Dr. Neal Barnard, MD. Search on YouTube.com for “Why Go Vegan? Barnard”. Yes, another “why” video, but it is helpful to get another perspective and explanation and Dr. Barnard really has invested a lot of energy into helping you with free tools and information for beginners on the “how” part of this experiment including the first link in the additional resources listed below. The video you are looking for has a preview image that looks like this:

The Health Benefits of Going Vegan with Dr. Barnard | The Exam Room Podcast

If you have doubts about the ability to get the nutrition you need to perform at a high level, you do not need to worry. In fact, I think that you will find this next video fascinating. It is available with a Netflix subscription or an Amazon Prime subscription (among others), but if you don’t have access via subscription, click on the cover image below to view this YouTube link to a great synopsis with the added benefit of an authoritative assessment of the program’s strengths and weaknesses. :

Finally, here are some resources for you that will make things easier:

• https://forksoverknives.com has a lot of recipes, a meal planner subscription service which is cool, and a lot of other great information. 
• https://tedshealthclub.com is a site created by a friend of mine who is not a health practitioner but who experienced his own life-changing transformation and, in the process, he gained an amazing library of practical advice and “how-to” knowledge. He has a wonderful way of communicating that does not go over people’s heads  or come off as “too teach-y”.
• https://nutritionfacts.org/ is a great informational website by Dr. Greger