Originally posted on Sep 26, 2018, 10:36 am. Updated on Oct. 16, 2019.

If you’re doubtful of the healing power of food, just ask Brooke Goldner, M.D. When she was 16 and diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Nephritis with stage four kidney disease, she never thought she would reach the age of 40. Now she’s healed, healthy and was featured on the cover of Vegan Health & Fitness magazine’s Fit Over 40 issue in April 2018. That’s a transformation that she credits almost entirely to the way she eats. Today, as a best-selling author, the founder of VeganMedicalDoctor.com, GoodbyeLupus.com and creator of the Hyper-Nourishing Nutrition Protocol for Lupus Recovery, she’s helping others to heal themselves with food as well.

As I was interviewing Dr. Goldner for my post on Exploring a Plant-Based Diet, she shared her story with me. There was simply no way I could fit in all of the powerful information she gave me into that one post, so I decided to begin my new profile series on the Healing Power of Food with Dr. Goldner’s journey from disease to health. She reveals the not-so-secret way that she overcame her debilitating and potentially deadly disease and some things you can do to heal your body and feel your best.

** The end of this post was updated in October 2019 with information about the amount of nutrition training U.S. doctors get in medical school.

Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases made through some of the links included on this page. You can read my disclosure policy here.

A Grim Outlook

When Dr. Goldner was diagnosed with Lupus as a teenager, she was already in stage four kidney failure from the disease, she had arthritis throughout her body, would get long-lasting migraines, and some days couldn’t even get out of bed. She was told she had at best six months to live unless she did “above and beyond aggressive medical therapies.” To say the prognosis was extremely grim would be an understatement.

After two grueling years of chemotherapy and high doses of steroids, Dr. Goldner’s disease went into remission. Even though she was stable at the time, she knew that she was going to be someone who didn’t live a long life and that she would probably end up handicapped at some point, more than likely by the time she was in her 40s. As she started medical school, she remembers thinking, “If I go into medicine, I can help people, and even if I don’t live a long life, I’ll have done something important.” Because of the rigorous schedule she had to keep in medical school, Dr. Goldner ended up getting sick again and developed new antibodies that caused blood clots resulting in a mini-stroke. When that happened, they told her that getting pregnant was not an option because she may have a massive stroke or repeated miscarriages and that she would have to be on blood thinners for life. Her expected life span and quality of life were looking fairly grim again.

“I had just graduated medical school at the time. I knew that nutrition had nothing to do with disease!” – Brooke Goldner, M.D. 

A Healing Discovery

When Dr. Goldner was 28, she asked her celebrity trainer fiancé Thomas Tadlock, M.S. to train her for their wedding. As part of that training, he put her on the meal plan he had developed. She says, “He had figured out that you can increase people’s metabolic state, by feeding them huge amounts of raw vegetables, high Omega 3s and a lot of hydration, and at the time, he also thought you needed meat for muscle building. This was a long time ago. So, it was kind of like the best version of paleo could be nowadays. He was doing that and getting great results.” Since Dr. Goldner was a vegetarian at that point, she didn’t eat the meat, but she added tofu and followed the rest of his plan. Within a few months and with nutrition being the only thing that had changed, her Lupus tests were negative for the first time since she had been diagnosed 12 years before, and they have been ever since. That was 13 years ago.

Dr. Goldner has easily maintained low body fat and high fitness levels and was even able to have two healthy pregnancies and to give birth to two healthy sons. She says, “I have an amazing life now. It’s quite remarkable to compare the 12 years prior and the 13 years after. It’s like I’m in a different body altogether, and really I am. The body I live in now is built out of kale, spinach, broccoli, flax and chia seeds instead of being built out of macaroni and cheese, Doritos and eggs like it was before.”

According to Dr. Goldner, what she discovered for herself about the healing power of food holds true for everyone. “All of our cells, every single cell in our body, is made out of what we eat. There’s no way around it. Literally, that expression, you are what you eat, is true. We make ourselves out of our foods. The reason that people get sick is that they’re either eating foods that make them sick and/or they’re not eating the foods that their body uses for repair and healing.” What do our cells need for healing and repair? Dr. Goldner says the not-so-secret secret is in the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and all the different phytonutrients we get from living plants. In other words, a whole foods, plant-based diet that she strongly believes can cure most of what ails us.

Photo by freestocks.org from Pexels

The Healing Power of Food

When Dr. Goldner is trying to help people recover from illness, she implements a protocol with them that focuses on what she calls hypernourishment. This is her specialty – to use the healing power of food to help her patients learn how to nourish themselves from the cellular level. She does this by getting them to focus not only on what to get rid of but what to add. “Every bite that you put in your mouth is something that your cells use for cellular repair – nothing else.” This means making sure that 75 percent of what you eat is coming from green salads, green smoothies and fresh foods “because that’s what our bodies should be built from.” She says that in the long term, people can eat things like whole grains, beans and other things but when she’s helping people with what she calls rapid recovery (a matter of weeks to a couple of months), she doesn’t use any cooked plant foods. The focus is on raw foods, especially greens.

She says that even if people just want to get closer to a healthier version of themselves, adding what they’re missing, even if they’re still eating foods that aren’t so good for them, is the best place to start. “If you’re not eating processed foods, you’re not eating animal products, you’re getting a good dose of Omega 3s every day to create your anti-inflammatory immune system, and you’re eating lots of fresh foods like vegetables, you’re going to go a long way toward general good health.”

Dr. Goldner believes that eliminating animal products is critical in healing because they may very well be what’s making us sick in the first place. She says, “There’s a lot of research that shows that eating meat increases mortality by 50 percent, that processed meats are in the same category of carcinogens as asbestos and cigarettes, and that it increases your risk of heart attack and stroke.” Dr. Goldner also blames dairy products for illness because they’re “probably the most inflammatory thing that people eat. That’s why as a vegetarian, I was still extremely ill because I ate a ton of eggs and cheese every day. Those increase your inflammatory markers, they encourage the production of your inflammatory immune system, which is going to drive inflammation up and trigger your genes for illness. When you get rid of animal products, you are automatically increasing your ability to heal disease and eliminate inflammation.”

Getting Down to the Numbers

If you’re looking for amounts to guide you on a daily basis, Dr. Goldner likes to see the following:

• At least eight cups of raw vegetables a day
• At least 96 ounces of water a day
• A handful of flax or chia seeds a day (her suggestions include either ground up into your smoothie or in a chia pudding)

She says this isn’t as intimidating as it may sound at first. “Drink green smoothies and eat salads all day, so that you’re raw all day, and then come home and cook dinner with your quinoa and beans and vegetables or something like that.”

Dr. Goldner believes that based on her own experience and her experience with treating her patients that if people can follow this way of eating, it’s not only going to help with any kind of disease they already have, but it’s going to keep them healthier than they would normally be.

Resources for Healing

Dr. Goldner is so passionate about making sure that everyone has access to healing resources that in addition to her books Goodbye Autoimmune Disease (affiliate link) and Goodbye Lupus (affiliate link), she also offers free 6 Steps to Reversing Disease with Supermarket Food online classes. In addition, Dr. Goldner’s husband Thomas Tadlock, M.S. started smoothieshred.com, which offers FREE smoothie recipes, workouts, group support and mentoring. If you don’t want to give any personal information, you can still access the smoothie recipes without signing in.

If you’re dealing with a chronic illness, Dr. Goldner suggests talking with your doctor about the possibility of incorporating nutrition into the treatment plan. But, she cautions, don’t be sidetracked if you meet resistance. According to her, doctors weren’t taught about the role of nutrition in illness, health and healing in medical school. Now, they should be getting more exposure to how it’s all connected, but “This is a ground up movement. Patients are the ones that are going to have to bring it to their doctors.” After all, it is your health, and ultimately, eating a lot more vegetables can only help to fuel your body and your recovery.

October 2019 update: While doctors should be getting more education about the role of nutrition in illness, health and healing in medical school, recent studies show that in most cases, they’re not. According to the research article The State of Nutrition Education at US Medical Schools published in The Journal of Biomedical Education, as of 2013, most U.S. medical schools (71 percent) fail to provide the recommended minimum 25 hours of nutrition education and 36 percent provide less than half that much. That’s based on survey responses from 121 of all 133 U.S. medical schools. Bottom line: Trust your doctor but don’t be afraid to educate yourself about the healing power of food and bring what you learn back to them. Together, you’ll be better equipped to support the best you possible. 

The post The Healing Power of Food appeared first on Peppermint Tea.

Healing, satisfying, nourishing and delicious. Are those the words you would immediately think of as describing a plant-based diet? If not, you might want to think again. As the experts I went to affirmed what I’ve already learned firsthand, a plant-based diet is more than just a way of eating, it’s a way of life, a way of healing and a way of looking at the world around you. As we help you to explore different ways of eating here at Peppermint Tea Holistic Health & Wellness, a whole foods plant-based diet is something that I hope you’ll at the very least come to understand a little better, and at most, possibly embrace for yourself. If so, these tips and resources for getting started with a plant-based diet will help to make your transition easier and will help to put you on a path to lifelong wellness.

Note: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases made through some of the links included on this page. You can read my disclosure policy here.

What is a Plant-Based Diet?

While many people consider a vegan diet and a plant-based diet to be the same thing, there are experts who believe there are important differences. For our purposes, we’re referring to it as plant-based.

Dr. Neal Barnard, M.D., F.A.C.C. is an adjunct associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, founder of the Barnard Medical Center, best-selling author and one of the most well-respected voices within the medical community in support of a plant-based diet. He explains that a plant-based diet means that “The animal products, the meat, dairy and eggs, are gone. The advantage of that is that it eliminates all of the animal fat, all of the cholesterol and it puts all the power in the healthy foods – vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans and the wealth of meals that can be made from them.”

Dr. Brooke Goldner, M.D. is a best-selling author, the founder of VeganMedicalDoctor.com, GoodbyeLupus.com and creator of the Hyper-Nourishing Nutrition Protocol for Lupus Recovery. She explains that when you talk about a vegan diet, “Really what that means is what you don’t eat. On a vegan diet, you eschew anything from an animal, as well as not using animal products in other areas of your life.” But, she cautions, there are many vegans who eat processed foods, which can actually be “super unhealthy.” The term whole foods plant-based focuses on what you do eat and means that “Your food comes from intact food sources and not processed.” 

Healing Power of a Plant-Based Diet

Focusing on the foods you need to eat to heal not just the foods to avoid is something that Dr. Goldner is extremely passionate about. She credits a plant-based diet with ridding her body of Systemic Lupus Nephritis, a disease that nearly killed her and that she had been battling for 12 years. She’s now been Lupus free for 13 years. (For more on her story, please read Healing Power of Food: A Doctor’s Journey From Disease to Health)

Why a Plant-Based Diet?

Both of our experts agree that there are many health benefits to a plant-based diet. Dr. Barnard lists among them weight control, reducing cholesterol and protecting the heart, reversing heart disease, reversing diabetes or improving it, reducing cancer risk and probably reducing Alzheimer’s risk. Dr. Goldner agrees wholeheartedly. She says that “All of our cells, every single cell in our body, is made out of what we eat. There’s no way around it. Literally, that expression, you are what you eat, is true. We make ourselves out of our foods. The reason that people get sick is that they’re either eating foods that make them sick and/or they’re not eating the foods that their body uses for repair and healing.”

Benefits of a Plant-Based Diet

Cells need vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and all the different phytonutrients that are found in living plants to repair themselves. According to Dr. Goldner, they do not need and are damaged by animal products, processed oils (because they’re inflammatory), and processed foods, “which tend to have a lot of oils and sugars and things like that as well as chemicals that are not meant for the human body.”

Even though he grew up eating meat, Dr. Barnard has understood for a long time that “Heart disease is the number one killer, and heart disease comes from diets that are heavy in animal fat and cholesterol. When people don’t eat those things, their risk of a heart attack goes way, way down.” He also links what we eat to colon cancer and many of what he calls hormone-related cancers such as breast cancer, uterine cancer and prostate cancer.

Plant-Based Nutrition

One of the biggest questions that seems to come up regarding a plant-based diet is whether you can really get all of the protein, calcium and other nutrients you need. Dr. Barnard offers his thoughts on each of these.

Protein

• “Think to yourself, how did a bull get to be so big because a bull is vegan. Or an elephant or a giraffe or a gorilla or a cow, and you think how did that happen? It’s because plants have lots of protein. To give you some numbers, the U.S. Government and pretty much all health authorities would say that a woman from day to day needs about 46 grams of protein a day. For a man, maybe 56. Let’s say as an experiment, I wasn’t going to eat any animal protein at all – in fact, on one day, if I eat maybe 2,000 calories a day, on this day of my experiment, I’m only going to eat broccoli, nothing but broccoli. That would give me 146 grams of pure protein.
• What people actually do on a plant-based diet is they have some broccoli, some other green vegetables, some lentils, other legumes, some fruit and some grains. You always end up with more than enough, even if you are an athlete, a growing child, whoever, you’re always going to get enough protein as long as you’re having any just normal variety of these plant-based foods.”

Calcium

• “Cows don’t make calcium. The calcium that’s in the ground as an element gets into the grass through the roots. When the cow eats grass, some of the calcium gets into their milk. But you only absorb about 30 percent of that, so if you eat green vegetables directly – it could be broccoli, brussels sprouts, kale, collards or any of the greens – you’re getting calcium. And most of them, have very high absorption, so it’s much more efficient than getting it through milk.”

Other nutrients

• “Vitamin B12 isn’t made by animals at all. It’s not made by plants. It’s made by bacteria, and you need a tiny trace of it for healthy nerves and healthy blood. I believe people should just supplement it no matter what their diet is. A B12 supplement is going to be far better than the fortified foods or any other source. You don’t need other supplements – except vitamin D. If you’re not getting a lot of sunlight, a supplement would be a good idea.

Tips for Getting Started with a Plant-Based Diet

Here are some tips that Dr. Barnard and Dr. Goldner offer for getting started with a plant-based diet.

1. Figure out why you might want to switch to a plant-based diet.

1. While Dr. Goldner calls this “Why Power,” both she and Dr. Barnard agree that it’s one of the key first steps. Dr. Goldner advises that you need to figure out why you want to change your lifestyle. “You have to really focus on the life you want, not the food you want because willpower always fails. Why power always wins.”

2. Take 7 days and try out plant-based foods.

1. Barnard suggests not taking anything out of your diet, but just check out what the possibilities might be. Dr. Goldner says that in this step, you’re simply adding what you’re missing. Whether it’s smoothies, oatmeal with blueberries or cinnamon, a veggie burger from your local burger place or fancy Italian, try adding in things that are new and write down the ones you like.

3. For 21 days, eat all plant-based, all the time.

1. Once you’ve figured out which plant-based foods you like in step #2, Dr. Barnard says you’re ready for step #3. For 21 days, eat only plant-based foods. He predicts that at the end of that time, two things will happen. “Physically, you’ll be healthier. You’ll be losing weight, and your cholesterol will be coming down. If you have diabetes, your glucose is coming down too. You’re feeling better. But the other thing is that your tastes are changing and drifting in a healthier direction, and you see how easy it is.”

4. Don’t be afraid of starting over.

1. Goldner advises that if you eat off plan, simply start with the moment you’re in. “Right now is the best time to start over. Don’t put a ton of pressure on yourself to eat perfect. It’s going to be a process.”

Resources for Eating a Plant-Based Diet

Dr. Goldner

One of the most important things to keep in mind if you’ve decided to transition to a plant-based diet is that you are not alone, and there are plenty of resources available for you. If you’re looking to this way of eating you may want to check out Dr. Goldner’s book Goodbye Lupus (Affiliate Link), as well as her FREE online course focusing on learning the six steps to reverse autoimmune disease with supermarket foods. In addition, Dr. Goldner’s husband Thomas Tadlock, M.S., who is a celebrity trainer, started smoothieshred.com, which offers FREE smoothie recipes, workouts and mentoring. If you don’t want to give any personal information, you can still access the smoothie recipes without signing in.

Dr. Barnard

Dr. Barnard has also written many books on using a plant-based diet to promote healing and optimal health. Those include The Cheese Trap, Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes and his newest book, The Vegan Starter Kit (Affiliate Link). He says the Starter Kit can be read in 45 minutes and is “your owner’s manual to get a whole new body.” He also suggests the resources available on the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine website.

Whether you decide to adopt a whole foods plant-based diet or not, it’s important to be informed and to make a conscious decision about what and how you’re going to eat. As we’ve seen here, the implications for your health and overall wellbeing could be too important not to.

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