Reversing diabetes with a Whole Food Plant Based diet

Mike Farrell: cured himself of Type-2 Diabetes and some other ailments.

story of curing diabetes with nutrition alone!

In my lifetime I have had two medical events that changed my life. Why am I sharing this with you? Why would you be remotely interested in what they were? Well, the most recent event may help you or someone you know, so I thought I‘d share. I will try to keep brevity in mind.

I was diagnosed with cancer many years ago. I did not feel sick, but I certainly had key symptoms. I had heavy doses of radiation therapy and have moved on and have been free of cancer for three decades now. It changed my outlook on life. I was a smoker then and continued to be for several more years. How dumb was I? Pretty addictive. The type of cancer I had, had nothing to do with smoking, but of course I ultimately came to my senses and quit the very foul habit. I was a very heavy smoker at 3 packs per day.

In January of 2017 my Doctor said my last three blood tests showed a continuing increase in blood sugar levels. He said I was officially classified as a Type-2 diabetic. That got my attention! It scared me far more than the cancer diagnosis did in 1979. Maybe the reason it hit me so hard was I spent 2016 feeling pretty lousy. I felt old and very achy and wasn’t quite sure how I would do the things my wife and I have planned to do in the coming years.

The doctor indicated an Rx was in my future. We agreed I would make a serious effort to change my eating habits by my next appointment, which was scheduled for late April. I have friends who are diabetic and some who take daily insulin. I was determined not to go down that path.

I immediately with very little instructions and guidance stopped eating my very favorite things: white potatoes, white rice, pasta, cheese with my evening cocktail, lots of red meat, deli meats and way too much fast food. I was hungry.

The Turning Point

I shared my news with a cycling friend, John van Vlaardingen. He shared his nutritional program with me. John is a Certified Health and Wellness coach and a certified plant-based chef. He has a 21 day Detox program that he thought I should try with a particular focus on the diabetes. Since I love life and don’t want to miss the things my wife and I plan to do, I was all in and so was my wife.

The adventure begins. I weighed in at 216 pounds on January 23rd. I was classified as obese with a BMI of 30 and change. A detox program can help solve a lot of issues; but my goal was to get rid of and/or reduce the lipids or fats in my cells so they would accept the glucose and theoretically lower my blood sugar levels. Apparently your organs work pretty hard with diabetes and that isn’t a good thing either.

So what has happened?

Oddly the first thing I noticed was I did not notice my gastrointestinal issues (GI issues). I have suffered from GI problems for many years blaming the issue on the massive doses of radiation I had for my cancer treatments. Well POOF they have truly disappeared. I would miss meetings and social events because of GI problems, so to me this is an incredible benefit of the changes in diet and nutrition John had made me implement through his detox program.

Obviously, now I see it was my poor choice of foods and beverages that were the main culprits for this issue. Secondly, I mentioned that I was achy. I was stiff in my joints, bones, muscles. It hurt to get up out of a chair. I really did not want to get on my bike or walk or stand too long. I was about to get a prescription for an arthritis medicine. Arthritis seems to be a family trait. Honestly, I now have a spring in my walk, can flex my hands without pain, get up out of a chair without moaning, and have more energy.

I think I had a great deal of toxicity and inflammation in my body, as I feel like a new person now. These are benefits I was not expecting. I was also having vision issues and blurriness at times. I suppose a symptom of the sugar levels. The blurriness has pretty much stopped and the vision seems better, but will still follow through on that with the ophthalmologist.

Did I mention that after 7 weeks into the dietary changes I weighed in at 189 pounds. The BMI number keeps going down as well. Yet another benefit of the detox program. I still have a ways to go, but I am positive the Doctor is going to say…”what the heck did you do to get these results”

I have learned some important things by working with John and all the information he has shared with me:

1. Food is a powerful drug. Understand what you are eating because the bad stuff builds up in you over the years.
2. Fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains truly are the foods that gave the gods immortality. I had no idea how good one can feel.
3. Approaching a diet change can be hard unless you approach it the right way.

Fast forward to late April

April was the 90 day mark my Doctor and I agreed on to be retested and evaluated.

Well the results were amazing, and the Doctor was impressed. My Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) number is now 4.7, which is consistent with the absence of diabetes. The number was so good, the Doctor went back to his notes to see why he would have ordered these tests. When he looked at the original numbers he was really impressed. Now he is anxious and curious to see all my blood work in 6 months and if I stay with the Wole Food Plant Based (WFPB) diet/lifestyle.

I told him he has little faith and that I was not going back. He just smiled. I may stray but never going back to the way I ate.

People ask about my energy level? I ride with a bike club that has various speed groups. The last 2 weeks I have ridden with a group I have not been able to stay with for over a year. Yes, I have the energy. I have lost 40 pounds, inches and reduced my BMI to 26. I want it to be at 23 or 24.

My goal is to continue to eat healthy.

If you are feeling lousy as I did, or have your own or know someone with health issues check out the link to my friend’s site or better yet call him. Link: JvVhealth.com. His 21 day program was pretty easy because of his approach, the recipes he provides and his support, education and advice.

We are all too busy to figure this stuff out and what to eat, plus there is a lot of conflicting information out there. Why get stressed over it. John made it easy and I was never hungry on the program.

All I can say is thank you John for such a life-changing program. You made this easy and fun.

Here’s to good food and good health!