Garcias Going Vegan

When we spend our summer in our North Dakota house, we have plenty of time to think, talk about our life goals, read books, and try out new things.  It seems we make end up making some sort of life-changing decision while we are there.  Last time (in 2010), we decided that we really needed to make the leap from our small mobile home that has an even tinier yard in the suburbs to a house with a little more room and a piece of property in the country.  So, when we got back to So.Cal., we started our house hunt right away and had found the right place for us in about a month's time (of course, it helps immensely having a mother for a realtor :-).  This summer (2012), we were already focused on health issues due to Selah's hospitalization last spring and diagnoses of bronchiectasis.  We had brought along a book to read called, McDougall's Medicine, a book that was written quite some time ago, by Dr. John McDougall (McDougall's Medicine: A Challenging Second Option).  We also watched a fascinating documentary at the beginning of the summer while in Oregon on our Amazon Prime account (thanks to my father-in-law for recommending it as being extremely interesting!) called Forks over Knives in which several renowned scientists and physicians discuss the ill effects that animal proteins have on our bodies and their link to many of the diseases of affluence that are all to common in the U.S. today.  This led us to delve further into this topic and at our North Dakota house, we purchased two other e-books from Amazon to do further research.  The China Study was one of the books discussed in the Forks over Knives documentary; it is written by Dr. Campbell and I found it very compelling because he presents his scientific research done over decades which have led him to the conclusion that a whole-foods, plant-based, very low fat diet are the most beneficial for one's health.  The cardiologist, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., and a California-based physician, Dr. John McDougall, also appear in the documentary and talk about the ways in which their patients bodies have actually healed themselves through a change in diet in everything from heart disease and diabetes, to obesity and M.S.  We decided we wanted to read one of Dr. McDougall's more recent books, so we purchased The Starch Solution and read that as well.  

As a family, we have never been big meat eaters, eating maybe a few meals a week that included meat.  We were much heavier dairy consumers, though, and loved eating cheese and, also, eggs (as evidenced by having 11 laying hens).  But, given our daughter's chronic lung condition, my hubby's pre-hypertension blood pressure reading, and our oldest's propensity for coughing and congestion as well, we decided that a change in the way we ate would be worth the try.  We had begun to make changes little by little even as we began our summer travels, but on our wedding anniversary, July 21, of this year, my hubby and I decided that it would be our official date to go vegan.  I know there are plenty of connotations that go with the term vegan and I'd venture a guess that we don't fit most of them.  We haven't made this decision based on the ethical treatment of animals, but rather based on our own conviction that this will improve the overall health of our family.  Because of this, we aren't just looking for vegan foods (there are many junk-food vegans and junk-food vegetarians that avoid many foods, but still aren't "healthy"), but rather ones that fit the suggestion given by the doctors referenced above which really means it is a whole-foods, plant-based diet that is very low in fats.  Being that we didn't start out trying to lose weight, though, we don't eliminate all fats and definitely let our children have healthy plant-based fats such as avocados, nuts, nut butters, etc.  

So far, we have been very pleased with the results of this way of eating, and also our own enjoyment in the type of eating.  My hubby's blood pressure lowered considerably, and Selah was able to stay healthy and antibiotic-free during the summer months.  Recently, Selah caught a virus at school and despite being sick at home for a few days, she has been improving on her own without antibiotics.  I am pleased to see that her body seems to be building up its natural immunity by taking the nutrients it needs from the foods that we eat without being obstructed by a lot of the foods that might stand in the way of improved health.  From the materials that I have read on bronchiectasis, many individuals experience difficulties with dairy, eggs, wheat, and soy, anyway.  So, it seems we are on the right track  As far as the potential for boredom with solely vegan foods or the problem of missing foods we used to eat, I think we are doing rather well.  We thoroughly enjoy the whole-grain starches, eating lots of fresh produce, and eating beans and legumes, all foods that we enjoyed eating earlier and still enjoy.  Thankfully, I'm quite an experimenter when it comes to cooking and baking, so I'm doing a lot of improvising in my food preparation and most items have been a success.  I also have been using the recipes in the McDougall books that I own to help stimulate new and different ideas for meals.  And, of course, I'm looking at many blogs and websites to find tips and recipes for vegan cooking and baking.  I will be blogging about this topic along with all the other regular stuff so that you can follow along with us on our new vegan journey.