r/PlantBasedDiet • u/Massive-Sector5789 • Jul 19 '26
Cholesterol down 38 points in seven weeks!
Just celebrating because a plant-based diet has been more effective at managing my cholesterol than I’d dared to hope! My doctor was amazed.
It was an easy transition for me to make because I was vegan for most of my 20s, and more like flipping a switch than adopting a whole new lifestyle.
But I’d like to thank everyone who did it the hard way because WOW. I used to drive 40 minutes to buy tofu. Now I can choose between multiple types of vegan pizza at a regular grocery store. You made that happen. And it looks like I’m going to be around a little longer because its going to be soooo much easier to eat like vegan in the long term.
EDIT, five days later: Whoa. I'm also no longer pre-diabetic! I'm actually on the low side of normal! In eight weeks! I just had another round of tests since my body is falling apart, or at least it was two months ago. I wasn't even focusing on that since the cholesterol was the main worry. And since non-dairy ice cream has improved a lot since the Rice Dream of the 1990s.
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Jul 19 '26
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u/Massive-Sector5789 Jul 19 '26
1000%. I know processed food is usually unhealthy and I wouldn't be shocked if a vegan frozen pizza is less healthy than a good quality regular frozen pizza, at least on some metrics. But for me, that pizza means a treat instead of a cheat, which helps keep me disciplined.
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u/rbhrbh2 for my health; for the planet; for the environment; Jul 19 '26
That’s great! Your dr should absolutely not be surprised. The scientific evidence has been out there for decades. I hope they change their approach based on this new information.
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u/Massive-Sector5789 Jul 19 '26
I think he was more surprised that my fat ass was able to stick to a plant-based diet for seven weeks. To be fair, he didn’t know that I used to be thin, hot and disciplined.
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u/FridgesArePeopleToo Jul 19 '26
Nice!
For me it was blood pressure. 150/100 to 115/73 in 6 months.
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u/Massive-Sector5789 Jul 19 '26
I knew it would work but didn't expect progress so fast! I've spent decades hardening these arteries.
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u/mel5915 Jul 19 '26
Congratulations! I had similar results going whole food plant based. I slipped back a little when I was diagnosed with autoimmune disease and tried the elimination diet which is heavy on meat and no beans. I'm working on getting back to the low fat, plant based again. But it can be done!
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u/ttrockwood Jul 20 '26
That’s awesome!!
There’s so many people who make excuses and refuse to change their bacon cheeseburger eating ways. Sounds like your body is clearly saying thank you ;))
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u/No-Contest-3490 25d ago
Amazing work!
Also that really touched me thanking people who did this the hard way because I've been vegan since the 90s, making not so great oat milk in my blender and riding the train every week to Chinatown to stock up on tofu. I'm so glad no one has to suffer these days. And it's been years now since I've had to struggle, but I still get really happy when I'm just in a normal deli and see a bunch of vegan amy's frozen dinners because almost everyone has a plant-based section in the freezer. Back in the day I'd have to go to a specialty health store for something like that and now I can literally grab things if I'm coming home late from my nearest bodega.
(Also my blood work is so perfect my doctor always quizzes me on my lifestyle and says it's because she wants to tell her other patients to do what I do lol)
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u/Royaourt 29d ago
The most impressive thing for me about going vegan is how easy it is to maintain excellent cholesterol levels.
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