The Cause for Plant-Based Nutrition

Shortly after returning from Italy in 2006, I took a job working for a nutraceutical company in the obesity medicine and weight loss surgery space.

The obesity epidemic in the U.S. was at an all-time high with no signs of slowing down.

Additionally, diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, and other chronic illnesses were also skyrocketing.

Despite the advances in western medicine, our health was deteriorating at an alarming rate.

So what was it that was making us so sick?

The answer? Our FOOD!

Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are.

- Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

As one of the leading countries in meat consumption per capita in the world, we have literally become a society of pigs and cows.

In addition to declining health, the industrial raising of livestock for food and the clearing of forests to support this growing demand is the second leading contributor to greenhouse gases, resulting in more harmful emissions than the entire transportation sector combined.

The documentaries “Cowspiracy” and “What the Health” do an excellent job at shedding light on this global issue, which is one of the most pressing social and environmental concerns facing society today.

How we choose to address this issue will determine the future of our planet and life as we know it.

I'm convinced that changing what we eat is the number one thing that each of us can do to restore our health and save the planet.

As a lifelong athlete, I always considered myself to be in good health.

However, it wasn’t until after my professional career as an NFL Fullback that I truly began to understand the impact that diet has on health and performance.

Having bulked up to a massive 240 lbs to be competitive at my position required me to consume an extraordinary amount of calories every day.

The focus was much less on the quality of food.

It was all about quantity.

Eating this way was exhausting.

I had constant heartburn, felt tired and sluggish after meals, and had pain and inflammation throughout my body.

The common prescription for dealing with these symptoms was pharmaceutical drugs and pain medication, which did little to nothing to address the root cause.

Even though I had reached a state of elite-level athleticism, I began to question whether I was actually “healthy”.

Unhappy with the way I looked and felt at this size, I decided to make some changes.

My desire to change compelled me to start with the science.

I began to study various dietary and training theories to get educated on the subject.

I read over 50 different books from all the best dietary experts, bodybuilders, exercise physiologists, and nutrition scientists.

Despite a myriad of varying viewpoints, there was one fundamental theme that most experts seemed to agree upon.

The consensus was that eating a predominantly plant-based diet is the most important thing you can do for your health.

So that’s exactly what I did.

Making the shift from eating animal protein at every meal and guzzling down whey protein shakes to build muscle wasn't a simple adjustment.

It certainly wasn't a transition that I was able to make overnight.

For me, it was a gradual process that adapted and changed over time as I experimented with various diets to find out what worked best for me and fit with the lifestyle I wanted to achieve.

I tried everything from the Zone, to paleo, to slow-carb, low-carb, low-fat, keto, pescatarian, vegetarian, flexitarian, the cabbage soup diet, the South Beach diet, the spartan diet, the warrior diet, you name it.

My primary objective to this dieting roller coaster was to gain a better understanding of how each diet affected the way I looked and felt.

My conclusion was that there is no one perfect diet.

What works for me may be different than what works for someone else.

I learned that the real secret to attaining optimal wellness was not in any one diet but rather in being more mindful about where our food comes from and know the source of the fuel I was putting in my body.

Diets tend to have a short-term frame of mind and temporary results.

For sustainable results and to thrive, what I needed was a set of principles to guide my choices and behaviors.

What I needed was to live a LYFESTYLE committed to health with the objective of optimal wellness and high performance.

I didn’t just want to survive, I wanted to THRIVE!

Having finally cleaned up my diet, I was feeling great and was in the best shape of my life, however, there was still something lacking.

Constantly on the go and traveling frequently for both business and pleasure, I found it difficult to find convenient and healthy options to fuel my body and mind throughout the day.

My experience as a nutraceutical sales rep for Metagenics opened the door to functional plant-based nutrition. During my time working with functional medicine experts and bariatric surgeons, I learned about key nutrient categories that the majority of Americans aren't getting through food alone, even when following a healthy whole food plant-based diet.

This promble becomes even more pronounced when following a more restrictive diet like veganism or keto because we miss out on important nutrients from foods that we’ve consumed for thousands of years.

Nutrients like prebiotic-rich fiber, essential omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, magnesium, and others become more difficult to get through diet, which is why many vegans experience the symptom known as a failure to thrive.

In an attempt to fill these nutritional gaps in my own diet, I found myself taking a handful of supplements each day and sucking down numerous whey protein shakes that often left me gassy and bloated.

I was finding that eating healthy was becoming just as much of a chore as eating to play in the NFL.

Physically I was on the right side of the health spectrum - I was being proactive about my health by being mindful about how I was fueling and moving my body.

It was simply part of my lifestyle now.

But, keeping up with the daily supplement regimen was downright dizzying.

My medicine cabinet was beginning to look a lot like someone who was suffering from chronic illness.

Plus, I had no clear way to measure whether all the pills and shakes were actually having the intended effect.

Looking for answers, I began to dig even deeper into the manufacturing processes and ingredients within the products I was taking.

What I learned was shocking!