WFPB - What's That; Another Craze?

The acronym, WFPB, stands for whole food, plant based. Is it another craze or trend? Probably for some. For me, it's life.

So why did I choose to switch to a whole food, plant based diet? Because the science is clear. It's the only diet in the world that has been proven time and time again to reverse our major ailments such as heart disease and diabetes.

The reason I believe that it is a bit of a trend right now rather than a way of life is that there have been many documentaries like, What The Health and Forks Over Knives that have become popular recently. Now this isn't a bad thing, but some people will try anything and if it doesn't work within their time frame, they give up and move onto the next big thing.

That being said, I tried it for two weeks, feeling rather skeptical, and the immediate results were fantastic! It helped with my IBS almost instantly. Inflammation went down allowing me to lose a good bit of weight quickly. I finally had energy and I could finally go to sleep rather than toss and turn all night. As of today, I've been on this journey for 61 days. My insulin resistance has improved drastically. Normally, I'd wake up with very low glucose levels (50's or below) and this morning when I checked them (after 12 hrs of sleep) they were at 89.
After eating, my blood sugars don't really get any higher than 110 and all I've been eating is carbohydrates and some fats. Before, I could eat an apple and they would spike to 130 or higher. For me, this is incredible and I'm happy with the results.

Not only has it helped me physically, but emotionally as well. I struggle with depression and lately, I've been able to keep my emotions in check. I've gone from having weeks if not months of feeling hopeless from something little triggering it to the same situations getting me frustrated but only temporarily. I no longer have this constant state of anxiety or stress either which is amazing for me.

And the last major thing I want to point out about this way of living is my eyes. I have an eye disease called cone-rod dystrophy and it basically breaks down the lens of the eyes over time. I'm not sure if this can be reversed, but when I went to my eye doctor he was so excited that he would be able to adjust my prescription to allow me to see 20/20. The whole 20 plus years that I've gone to see him, I've never had that kind of success in anything I'd done prior!

Anyway, this is a blog about PCOS and not my eyes!

Okay, okay what does whole food, plant based eating include?

To begin, WFPB basically follows the same food guidelines as veganism. No meat, no dairy, no eggs, no fish, no animal bi-products. But here is where it differs, it also requires that you avoid all oils, added sugars and added salts. All of these have negative affects on our bodies and while I'm still working on avoiding oil, sugar and salt, I still fall short here. I do however, still see major health benefits from just cutting out any animal products.

Whole foods means to eat a plant in its entirety. So don't avoid fat, but rather eat whole nuts, seeds or avocados. Avoid sugars but don't say no to whole fruits. Fruit juices, however, are not a good choice. Even juicing them yourself could still be harmful. And while I'm on this, berries and bananas can be blended up for smoothies or juices as they don't seem to have the same negative affect as fruits like apples or oranges.
Separating the fructose from the fiber basically gives you pure sugar. The fiber in fruit is what helps slow down the absorption of sugar into the blood.
Now, a lot of people get mad about having to avoid oil, but when you eat just oil you're eating pure fat. It does not matter if it's coconut oil, olive oil or canola oil. When separated from their whole form, they cause issues in our bodies from paralyzing our arteries right after eating to heart disease.

Here's a video by one of my favorite YouTubers. He goes into the studies showing about the dangers of oil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbtwwZP4Yfs

I hope that helps you understand why, if you are using food to heal your body, that it's better to eat whole foods instead of processed foods.

Then you have plant based. It basically means just that - eat plants. Any plants! We do have issues with major crops and GMOs around the world. I personally try to avoid soy, wheat or corn that do not have the GMO Free stamp on them. If you are not sure what these are, leave a comment and I'll do a blog just on those!

Hopefully this gives you a better understanding of a whole food, plant based lifestyle.

PS: I will go into the different aspects of PCOS and see what the science has to say about each and how a wfpb diet can help. Also, September is PCOS awareness month, so I will be setting aside one weekend to do an entire blog, possibly vlog using cronometer.com and my glucose tester to show everyone what I typically eat day to day and how much I'm eating as well as how it's affecting my glucose levels. Stay tuned!