Success Stories
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Success StoriesSee articleType 2 Diabetes, Angina, Exhaustion, and 50 Pounds Gone in 18 Months
I have had a love affair with food my entire life. Growing up, my dinners consisted of meat, potatoes, fried vegetables, white rolls, and desserts topped with ice cream. The winter holidays were filled with cooking and entertaining. And every New Year’s Eve, I would make a resolution to go on another diet to get […] -
Success StoriesSee article“Plant-Fueled Trucker” Got Healthy and Lost 70 Lbs on the Road
Just a year and a half ago, I was over 300 pounds and was on antidepressants and blood pressure meds. I’m a long-haul trucker, and I was having a hard time staying awake to do my job. Walking around hurt, and just getting up was a chore. The Department of Transportation was putting more and […] -
Success StoriesSee articleBreaking the Family Cycle of Heart Disease With Diet, Not Drugs
Many Fork Over Knives success stories describe stopping dozens of daily medicines after having endured massively invasive surgeries … then going on to lose hundreds of pounds and compete in Ironman triathlons (or other such incredible accomplishments). My story is less dramatic, but definitely life-changing, at least for me. It’s about breaking the cycle of […] -
Success StoriesSee articleMultiple Medications, 40 Pounds, and Health Problems Gone in Four Months
My story began in 2007, when I visited my doctor because of a number of troubling symptoms, including acid reflux and chronic painful heartburn. Blood tests revealed high cholesterol, and my doctor wrote me prescriptions for Simvistatin, Niaspan, Tricor, and Pantoprazole. Over the course of four years, these medications produced small incremental improvements in my […] -
Success StoriesSee articleHow I Fuel Myself With a Plant-Based Diet as a Competitive Bodybuilder
I did not grow up eating meat because my mother was a Seventh Day Adventist and health and vegetarianism are part of the religion. We moved to Jamaica for a few years to live with my grandparents, and it was during that time that we did eat some meat. After a while, I did become […] -
Success StoriesSee articleIn the Best Shape of My Life After Losing 67 Pounds on a Plant-Based Diet
I was never a fat kid, but I was big, bordering on chubby. I was active. I played sports, I rode my bike, and I walked. I was a typical kid in the glory days before cable, the Internet, and “real” video games. I stayed that way through college—big, but not fat. My “body type” […] -
Success StoriesSee articleFor 26 Years, I’ve Managed Type 1 Diabetes With a Plant-Based Diet
Until age 35, my health was very typical for an American. Then in November of 1988, all that changed: my immune system suddenly decided that my insulin-producing pancreas beta cells were foreign and attacked and annihilated them, leaving me with type 1 diabetes. In less than 30 days, I lost 45 pounds and grew deathly […] -
Success StoriesSee articleStudents at First Vegetarian School Find Better Health and Academic Success
PS244Q, a public school in Flushing, Queens (New York), was the first public non-charter school in America to offer students an all-vegetarian menu. The all-vegetarian plan (which includes breakfast and lunch) was launched in 2013. The school’s administration was able to implement an all-vegetarian menu with the support of the Coalition for Healthy School Food. […] -
Success StoriesSee articleHow I Lost 140 Pounds, Cured My Type 2 Diabetes, and Saved Thousands in Medications
In 2010, my doctor suggested that I purchase a funeral plot, because I would most likely need one within five years unless I lost weight and got my chronic health conditions under control. I was 51 years old and taking well over $1,000 in medications per month. I had type 2 diabetes; my total cholesterol […] -
Success StoriesSee articleHow This Family Doctor Lost 75 Pounds Easily Without Portion Control
As a family medicine physician, I treat patients all day long for conditions related to poor nutrition and obesity: diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, acid reflux, sleep apnea, arthritis, and low back pain, to name a few. Yet not so long ago, I too was careening down the very same path to […] -
Success StoriesSee articleHow I Lost Half My Body Weight and Became a Health Advocate
[Editor’s Note: This post was updated January 2016.] My world changed on May 25th, 2013. A quiet Memorial Day weekend and the self-promise to actually relax a little bit led to my perusing the documentaries available for streaming on my DVR. I had glided by this Forks Over Knives film in the past but hadn’t […] -
Success StoriesSee articleHow I Reversed My Diabetes and Stopped All Medications with a Plant-Based Diet
I grew up at the tip of southern Texas with four brothers and three sisters. When I was eight years old, my father abandoned our family, and my mother was left to raise eight children on her own. In search of better employment, she moved us to the Chicago area in 1982. In high school, […]
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