169: How To Choose A Supportive Doctor When You Are Plant Based

Ep #169 - How To Choose A Supportive Doctor When You Are Plant Based

Anita: Well, Hey, their sister. We are so glad to have you back again with us. And if you're new, we just wanna tell you a little bit about us. My name is Anita. I am a registered nurse with my bachelor of science in nursing. Jarrod is a Physician Assistant, and he also has a cellular and molecular biology degree.

Yeah, a few episodes back. I kind of embarrassed him and did a whole intro he didn't know I was gonna do talking about how awesome he was. But, he has a love for research. We have dug the research out as far as plant based goes, and that's why you find us on this journey today. Could it possibly be because we know so much from our medical and nursing training about plant-based eating and nutrition?

No. And you know why that…

Jarrod: Quite the contrary.

Anita: Yeah. We've studied and learned and gone back for more training. He is now certified in lifestyle medicine, and I'm certified as an integrative nutrition, health coach.

We are passionate about this because this way of living has changed our lives. And we see it change the lives of our clients every single day. What have we seen change? We've seen a client who was really scared about what was going on with her headaches. She went to get an MRI. They found nothing. She knew something wasn't right.

 She started working with us in Power On Plants Society, and now she doesn't have headaches anymore. Did we do anything magical as far as like prescribing a medicine for her or... No, she just was healed because she has the nutrients she needs. Now, she also had rheumatoid arthritis. She's not having pain from that anymore.

 We have different people who've gone through all these things. Weight, carrying extra weight, extra pounds that they could not get rid of. And by doing this, and not even trying to lose weight, that wasn't their main goal. They just wanted to feel better. It was like us and we lost 75 pounds, not even trying.

They had the same thing happen. I had fibro cystic breast disease. I don't have any lumps anymore. I had interstitial cystitis. It's like having UTIs all day, every day. It is not fun and requires medication. It's gone. We've had so many things reversed with this way of living.

It's just such an amazing thing. But we dug into the research because we were having all these problems and Jarrod loves research. So we didn't wanna have to do it for that reason, but we've learned so much along the way. And then I have an extreme love of figuring out recipes, figuring out how to cook, to make things taste good and figuring out how to make things taste good without even cooking.

Jarrod: Well, and it's not even just a love. I really honestly feel like it's more a superpower.

Anita: Aw, thank you.

Jarrod: It’s just a natural gift that she has. 

Anita: Well and it's not hard to learn. I love teaching it to other people. It's just so much fun to see. We have one member right now, and she's never cooked before in her life. And she's in her forties, right.

Jarrod: She's mid- to late forties, yes.

Anita: She’s in her forties. And she's like, if I had just known how easy this was to do, I would've done this so many years ago.

It's just so quick and so easy.

Jarrod: Well, and her husband was the person who cooked mainly.

Anita: mm-hmm. 

Jarrod: But they also have two daughters. So it's not just her, but her two daughters are also learning and doing these very same things. 

Anita: And coming up with our own recipes now, because we don't teach just recipes. And that one is one thing that makes us very different. We're not just the recipe people.

Yes, I create recipes. I create great base recipes, but I show you how to take a really great recipe of most any kind. It doesn't even have to just be vegan, and how to turn it into something you will absolutely love. It's about knowing how to create food formulas. You learn these formulas. You learn flavor profiles, how to get it to taste like you want it in a really simple and effective way.

And you learn how to repurpose your meals. So you save time and money and energy, but all the time, your body's healing and you're feeling better. And now you can do the things you love and you love the way you're living. Like we said, the last episode, it's a win, win, win, win . Cause I was gonna say win, win.

Jarrod: Win to infinity.

Anita: Yeah, but you keep winning. I mean, you just keep winning with this way of living. But, the whole point is this is not something that doctors are learning in medical school. They're starting to implement it a little more. And I'm so thankful for that, because it just breaks my heart that most doctors out there today, they don't know.

And not only do they not know. Some of them, many of them will discourage it. And it makes my heart break, because I know it's the key that can help so many people to lose weight and to heal disease. Heal disease, reverse it, and prevent it using and eating and enjoying whole plant foods. So we wanted to talk to you today.

I want you to really think about this. When you start eating whole food plant based, you are going to get some incredible results as you go. If you learn how to do it in the way that you actually enjoy, and it saves you time and that you love because you're gonna keep doing it. And as you keep doing it, your body starts to heal and your lab work starts looking better and better.

Let's just take diabetes type two, for example. We have members and we know people who do this and generally over time, what happens is your A1C numbers start to drop and they drop. And they start to get better and better and better. We had someone tell us recently that this happened with her.

And she told the doctor, she was doing whole food plant based. And she had her labs done. They were much improved. And he said, you don't need to be doing that. Let's get you on this medication. And I'm gonna send you to my nutritionist.

Really, but she's getting these incredible results.

Jarrod: And, she had also lost some weight, too.

Anita: Oh, quite a bit of weight.

Jarrod: In addition to the A1C improving.

Anita: Yeah. Quite a bit of weight and was starting to feel better too, but this is the thing here. I believe that most doctors and nurses and PAs mid-level NPs, they went into this because they wanna help you. But they just don't know.

So there are places you can go to find a plant-based physician. I don't think you should always have to change your physician. Absolutely not. You need a good doctor who just is for you, who wants what is best for you. I just want you to ask yourself if my doctor sees that my lab work is getting better and it's due to the fact that all I have changed is eating more fruits and vegetables and learning how to do that in a way that works for me in my life.

And they see this improvement, proof in my labs, and they say to me, I need to stop doing what I was doing that got me here. You need to ask yourself, am I with the right physician? Because you have a lot of choices for providers who even if they aren't plant based, even if they aren't vegan, many of them will support you because they see you're getting results.

And they'll say, keep doing what you're doing. Even if they don't know what to tell you to do, if they see that you're getting these results naturally, why wouldn't they tell you to do. I want you to ask, what is their motive? What would be their motive if they don't encourage you to keep doing what you're doing, and it's a healthy lifestyle, that's actually getting you proof of healing. Just ask yourself that and see what you can come up with. There's some reasons why that's happening. We're not gonna go there. All I want you to do is start thinking about, are you going to the right provider? This isn't just about plant-based it's about anything. If you're doing something naturally and it is helping you and you're getting results...

you know, I used to work with a spine surgeon. I did many things as RN, but I worked for the spine surgeon for a while and he said, "look, Anita, some of these things these people are doing, I don't necessarily agree with." He said, "but I'm telling you, if they're waving a chicken over their head and they feel better, do it, like, just do, it's not gonna hurt."

Jarrod: Now, was it, was it a chicken or was it a rubber chicken?

Anita: It was a rubber chicken.

Jarrod: It was a rubber chicken, okay.

Anita: but I mean, it's, he's just saying, some of these methods that are more natural, he didn't necessarily believe in, but if he saw his patient getting positive results and it was visible in lab work or in whatever was going on with him. 

Jarrod: And, it wasn’t something that would obviously harm them... exactly.

Anita: Then do that thing if it works for you. So if your doctor's telling you don't do plant based, that's not gonna work. Diet's not gonna work. It's not gonna help you. And your labs say otherwise, and the way you feel says otherwise, it might be time to start looking and asking, am I with the right person. Now again, we're not saying leave your physician if you go whole food plant based. Many physicians will support you, even if they're not whole food plant based or vegan.

Jarrod: And do, please make them aware of what you're doing, because many times blood pressure, diabetes, the cholesterol, things that nature will get better, and your need for medications may decrease. 

Anita: Yes.

Jarrod: Please do not alter your medications on your own.

Anita: No. 

Jarrod: Always with the guidance of your provider so that, that way they can watch, make sure things are going in the right direction. Make sure if you need to come off of medications, it's the appropriate time, or maybe just decrease them.

Anita: Right. So your doctor needs to know so that they can work with you to adjust your medications. Many people come off medications under doctor's supervision, eating whole food plant based. So it's really important that they follow you and they know what you're doing, because take, for example, if you had diabetes and your blood sugar start getting better, but you're still taking a lot of insulin or a lot of oral medication for your blood sugar to control it.

Well, your blood sugar may go too low, and that's also dangerous

Jarrod: Same thing can happen with high blood pressure because certain medications can make it go too low and then you're lightheaded and you may accidentally pass out. And that is also not a good thing. Always make them aware. But like, to your point, you wanna have someone that is supportive. And if you have a provider that is really negative toward this choice, then what is their motive?

Are they trying to support you? Do they have your best interest at heart? And we don't know them and we have no idea. But we just want you to maybe think in your mind, is this the right patient provider relationship, right fit. And maybe just ask yourself that.

And if you feel like maybe it's not. Maybe find somebody else who will support you in that decision. 

Anita: Because there are people who will. There are people who care about you, and are really thinking about you. And they're not just doing a job. So they're in this to help you. You'll see that by their reactions to when you start getting better.

You'll know. I want you to just keep your eyes open. That's what Jarrod and I want for you because we always, always are here for you and we always want your best. So, if you don't currently have a provider that you feel like is supporting you, or you think, I just want a plant based doctor. I want a vegan doctor. I want somebody who's gonna support me on this journey that I'm on. Then you can go to a couple of different places online and find one in your area.

The first place I recommend is pcrm.org/findadoctor. P as in Paul, C as in cranberry, R as in Rosemary, M as in what? Myrtle, I don't know…

Jarrod: Mustard. 

Anita: Mustard!  I should have done all of them as food, right? Pickles… Pickles, Cranberry, Rosemary, Mustard.

Jarrod: And PCRM stands for Physician Committee for Responsible Medicine. And another website that's fantastic, this one is actually done through the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. It's called lifestylemedpros, with an S, P R O s.org.

And then you can look and find a doctor around your area.

Anita: We're so glad you joined us for another episode of Power On Plants. We are looking forward to hearing about all the incredible changes that you are getting, make sure to post a review. Type in and let us know in the review how this podcast is changing your life and your journey.

We cannot wait to hear from you. We read all of our reviews and we cannot wait to hang out with you again next time on Power On Plants.