From the time I could remember, my father instilled in me the value of a healthy lifestyle. I now know that what he thought was “healthy” was a little wrong, but it was the idea that mattered, and it made me always strive to eat well. At least it inspired me to try adding some vegetables to the awful meals my high school friends and I were devouring every day.

During my college years, I developed an interest in health while battling mild but persistent acne. One day, I walked into a new age bookstore, flipped through books about healthy living, and found a section on skin care. Surprisingly, the number one recommendation for reducing acne was to avoid dairy products. I decided to give it a try and see what happens. Within a week, my skin started to clear up. Within a month, I felt better than I had in years. I decided to make my career out of helping others achieve health through dietary and lifestyle changes.

When I was training as a naturopathic doctor in the late 1990s, I was taught that a vegetarian diet was the healthiest, but my skeptical nature led me to believe otherwise. . So when I came across the concept of “Paleolithic nutrition,” which states that humans are best suited to a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet, I was intrigued. I read several books available on this subject at the time. This reasoning appealed to me, and I ended up spending his first 10 years or so teaching patients to follow this approach, sometimes with good results.

About 15 years ago, I decided to focus my practice on the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. As a physician whose primary tool is lifestyle medicine, my quest to better understand the causes and the best non-drug (or at least drug-restricted) treatment options led me to the work of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn. I learned how he was able to perform the treatment. Using a whole food, plant-based (WFPB) diet, we help patients dramatically improve their cardiovascular health. I was shocked. A high-carbohydrate, low-fat vegan diet?! I thought this was unhealthy, even deadly. But the more I considered the evidence, the more I realized that Esselstyn was right.

It was a difficult time. For the past 10 years, I truly believed I was helping patients. Now I realize that by encouraging them to eat Paleo, I may have been harming them in the long run. I admitted that I needed to learn more about the WFPB diet. It’s time for a new experiment. I decided to go on WFPB for 6 weeks before deciding whether to recommend it to my patient. I’m an all-or-nothing type of person, so I took the plunge overnight.

It took a few weeks for my gut to get used to the increased fiber, but I felt really good after that. When I woke up, I noticed a lighter physical and mental state, more energy, and less stiffness.

There were other surprising benefits as well. I have been involved in many different sports throughout my life and am still an avid basketball player. Before going to WFPB, it became increasingly difficult to recover from hard plays in a timely manner. After the switch, I began to recover much faster.

I like to get my blood tested every few months, and before going plant-based, my C-reactive protein (a marker of inflammation) was slightly higher than expected. Within a few months of going to WFPB, my CRP dropped to undetectable levels and my cholesterol dropped to a range where a cardiologist would think I was on a statin. Looking at these numbers, I decided to make a 180-degree turn in my personal life and medical practice. I gave my best to her WFPB.

13 years have passed since then, and I can say without a doubt that it was the right choice. I continue to enjoy intense training, quick recovery times, low inflammation and cholesterol, and a delicious plant-based diet. Some of my recent favorites include black bean tacos, lentil soup, and tofu scramble with potatoes and vegetables.

I am so grateful to have discovered the benefits of the WFPB diet. My patients and I are much better off that way.

A healthy plant-based diet is the most powerful tool in my arsenal to help optimize my patients’ heart health over the long term. Many other aspects of our lives and habits can have an impact. These are her four areas outside of the realm of diet that I focus on with my clients in my naturopathic medicine practice.

Unhealthy teeth and gums can become a reservoir for harmful bacteria that can leach into the bloodstream and damage blood vessels, making plaque more likely to form. Regular dental checkups and cleanings go a long way in maintaining heart health.

In general, sleep deprivation negatively impacts many aspects of health and recovery, and sleep apnea is a particularly potent contributor to poor cardiovascular health. If you snore, wake up frequently during the night, and/or don’t feel well-rested in the morning, see your doctor for a sleep evaluation.

Even if you train every day at some point during the day, sitting for long periods of time is harmful. I encourage all of my patients to stand up frequently and move around for short periods of time during the day if they are sitting.

Twice a day, take about 5 minutes to focus on slow breathing. Breathe out for about twice as long as you breathe in. This reduces sympathetic nerve activity, reduces stress, and lowers blood pressure.

Ready to get started? Check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal planning tool to help you maintain a healthy plant-based lifestyle. If you want to learn more about whole foods, plant-based eating, check out our Plant-Based Primer.