No matter where you are in your health journey, you are welcome! We buoy each other up with helpful advice about sticking to a whole-food, plant-based diet. Sometimes, I talk about how to navigate the holidays, how to socialize, how to eat out and travel, and how to manage in a house where no one eats the way you do. Sometimes, we share our challenges and where we are doing well. Sometimes, we have a guest speaker. I love to leave time for the questions, though, since this is mainly a support group. We’re here to support each other!
I have reversed my heart disease by following a whole-food, plant-based, oil-free lifestyle since 2015. I have experienced every challenge, so bring it to me; I can help!
About the Host:
Your host, Lauren Bernick became an inadvertent health advocate when she was diagnosed with Coronary Artery Disease in 2015. Her cardiologist told her that since her situation was familial (and it is, she has the cruddy DNA and dead relatives to prove it) there was nothing much to do about it except eat healthily and get on a statin (cholesterol-lowering medication with a myriad of side effects). He told her to eat chicken, fish, fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy, and healthy fats such as avocados, nuts, seeds, and olive oil. Since that was EXACTLY what she was eating it didn’t add up. Not one to cover problems up with a Band-aid, Lauren wanted to get to the root cause of the problem.
After researching alternatives to a life on statins and other medications, she began following Dr. Esselstyn’s Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, a low-fat, whole-food, plant-based diet. Dr. Esselstyn famously said, “Genetics loads the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger.” Lauren was able to drop her cholesterol 100 points, change the size and shape of her blood platelets, and lose 20 pounds without medication. Her doctor says her blood pressure, weight, BMI, thyroid, and every other blood test is perfect and reflects the body of a much younger person! She still struggles to reach the ideal cholesterol target of 150 where Dr. Esselstyn says you are heart attack proof even though she sticks to the plan relentlessly.
Wanting to learn more about the science behind how eating a low-fat, plant-based diet affects one’s health, Lauren earned a Certificate in Plant-based Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell institute from e-Cornell. She honed her writing and stage skills as a stand-up comic and was a semi-finalist in Roseanne Barr’s Funniest Mom in America in 2007 and winner of the Funniest Mom of Austin, Texas. Now she helps others adopt this lifestyle with humor and without judgment. She has been a guest on Chef AJ’s YouTube show, has five recipes featured in the PBNSG cookbook, has authored an article about Eating Out in Health Science magazine, and is a popular guest speaker. Lauren focuses on the ins and outs of daily life and helps others be prepared to eat a wholefood, plant-based diet in any situation.
No matter where you are on your journey, you are welcome here. Join us! 🌱