You may recall that Mark and I decided to "go vegan" right after the first of the year. Moral oppostition was not the deciding factor, health was. Specifically, Mark's blood pressure, to start with. We are no fanatics and do not put anyone out. If we are dining out, we make appropriate choices and sometimes meat and dairy are included in those choices. Most times they are not. This seems to work for us.
Immediately upon starting to change our diet, Mark started losing weight. Sixteen pounds total just by eliminating animal products. The one benefit we were hoping for, happened, he has been able to go off of his blood pressure medication. What a blessing!
While I did not have the same medical concerns as Mark, I was anxious to live healthier. Not being much of a meat eater, the transition was nearly seamless. On the health side, I did drop a couple of pounds immediately, but my weight generally flunctuates a couple of pounds up or down anyway.
The real benefit became apparent this week when I had my annual check-up with my general practitioner. My cholesterol was down, considerably. For some reason, unknown to my doctor or myself, my cholestral tends to run high. Not too high, but higher than it should for a person of my stature with my dietary habits. But, on Friday, my total cholesterol was reprted at 206. Not terrific, but my LDL (bad cholesterol) was 115, 30 points below my last test. My HDL was at 64 which is now in the "best" range. My triglycerides, which had been in the "high" range, are now 136. They are now in the "normal" range. Fantastic!
When we decided to change our diet, I had no idea that it would impact my cholesterol quite the way it did. The reasons for my "higher" choleterol have always been attributed to genetic make-up. Just goes to show, a simple change in diet can have impressive results.
Tonight our meal consisted of Pasta-Zucchini-Mushroom Toss With Garlic-Herb Sauce, warm bread and Summer Solstice from Tomasello Winery. A delicious vegan offering that I altered by adding fresh basil and oregano from our garden. Yum!
