Paul was born in Detroit, Michigan and has lived in West Bloomfield, Michigan since 1971. He is currently 63 years old and in May of 2013, was diagnosed with Heart Disease. One artery was 100% blocked and two others were 65% blocked. Add to that leaky valves, an enlarged heart, the thickening of the right side of his heart, a left bundled branch block and heart murmur, he was in seriously bad shape. They performed a heart catheter procedure, and a heart transplant was ruled out, thankfully but he needed triple bypass surgery. His cardiologist gave him two options: bypass surgery or try “Plant Based Nutrition”. He chose nutrition and the rest is history.

After just 3 weeks, thanks to Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, his angina disappeared, his cholesterol levels dropped from 347 to 127 and today, it is at 100. He has lost 65 pounds, and has kept it off and feels great!

He attended a Plant Based Cooking Class hosted by the Esselstyn’s. The cost was $975.00. He tried to have Blue Cross/Blue Shield reimburse him but he was denied. He thought, “Hey, this is what I can do to give back”! So for the next 3 months he tried to work with BC/BS with no luck. After escalating to the highest level he was denied because they did not have a pay code assigned for cooking classes, and they suggested he work with the legislature for any hope of future change. He pointed out the absurdity of their being willing to cut a check for $125,000 for bypass surgery rather than reimburse him $975.00 so he can learn how to cook Plant Based and ensure he never needed surgery. It was then he realized how broke the system was and he needed a bigger voice. Plant Based Nutrition Support Group was born.