Late last year in the fall, I set out to determine if the whole plant-based lifestyle was evidence based. I watched a public television documentary in which the speakers advised patients suffering from heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases to remove all animal source foods from their diet and adopt eating only plant based foods. The results claimed were virtually too good to be true; many of these patients reversed diseases entirely to a state of wellness. The basis for consuming only plant foods was determined by T. Colin Campbell in his book "The China Study" to contribute to a body mass index of 21.0 with blood cholesterol levels below 170 mg/dL. What really got my attention was these people with healthy BMI and cholesterol levels ate a whopping 700 calories more than we Americans do but our BMI averages an obese 27.0 with Cholesterol levels around 210 mg/dL.  Since the early 1980's, my cholesterol levels between 217-232, the latter number being the most recent, in spite of my well designed healthy diet.  Elevated blood cholesterol above 170 mg/dL increases the risk of compromised health to which individuals are genetically predisposed. In other words the common trigger may be the type of food we eat turns on the mechanism that causes disease. After lengthy study of Campbell's book, and several others such as Caldwell Esselstyn's book,  "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease," Mike Anderson's RAVE diet books, Joel Fuhrman's articles especially the ANDI-scoring system for whole foods, Brendan Brazier's "THRIVE" book, a Nutrition Guide for Athletic Performance, I enrolled in eCornell's Plant-Based Certificate course the 1st quarter of 2010 semester. I elected to put the whole plant food method to trial for 90-days. My cholesterol went from 232 to 151 mg/dL and my body weight went from 136 to 125 lbs or BMI of 22 to a BMI of 20.5.   Being persuaded by results, I wondered how this might affect my performance in competitive running events. I ran 5 races; won 4 age group runs from 5K to 8K and won the silver medal in the 2010 USA National 15K Trail championships.  The 83-pages in "Phytonutrition: Finding Fitness for Life!" contains only the "tip of an iceberg" of the evidence that convinced me to eat whole plant foods and eliminate animal source foods.  Of those who were also were persuaded and observed this past year, all have reduced their cholesterol and body weight. I am most fortunate to have made a decision that changed my personal health and be in a position to share these results. Several remarkable scientists contributed to this manuscript in hopes that the evidence presented will result in a productive response to restore health or prevent disease. We need to present this evidence without compromise. I have been surprised by who responds and who do not. Compliance is key to results. I am evidence that this protocol is doable.

All proceeds are donated to the T. Colin Campbell Foundation.

Bill Misner, Ph.D.
AAMA Board Certified Alternative Medicine Practitioner Certification #32872409
Certificate - Plant Based Nutrition - Cornell University {2010}