my sky high triglyceride level and eating vegan - now I'm...

How long had you been doing the wfpb when you got your blood work done?

Is the rise in your levels possivly due to your change in diet and weight loss?

How is your blood glucose? because high triglycerides often goes hand-in-hand with higher BG numbers.

What is a typical day of food for you? If you can post what you're currently eating, we can probably help point you in the direction of some changes.

I know my doctor said to increase green leafy veggies to help lower my triglycerides - I'm not a BIG fan of leafy but I've increased brussel sprouts and broccoli significantly and found a kale salad mix I can tolerate and added spinach to a few recipes successfully. Oatmeal is supposed to be helpful also - watch the portion size and the add-ins.

I'll second what Melissa said about cauliflower - it doesn't have a lot of flavour so it's versatile with so many things.

I've tried a couple of recipes from here before - I'm not vegan or WFPB myself but we eat vegetarian several times a week and DH and I are both diabetic eating (or trying to eat) low-carb. www.staceyhomemaker.com/low-carb-vegan-recipes/

Prayers

I'm a bit confused have you had blood work since you started eating wfbp?  I would eat lots of veggies but also eat carbs in the form of grains and call your Dr.  and ask to have your blood work done again.  Tell him you have changed your way of eating and would like to see if it has helped.   I recently have also started  wfpb diet.  I am loving it! I do no oil, no dairy no sugar and no animal protein.  I feel fabulous and plan to get my blood work doe in another week or two to see how I am doing.  

I recommend checking out Dr Greger and his daily dozen. He has put together a list of foods that we should try to eat every day. There are daily dozen challenges as well.

I'll just ditto what Merge said.  you just started and have lost some weight I'd continue.  No bread, no pasta, no oil and no added sugar and ask to retest in a month or so. Make sure you are eating lots of veggies and a wide variety.  Veggies should be half your plate then the other half is grains, legumes, and starch. 

I’m brand new to this way of eating, but I use/follow the Clean Food Dirty Girl menu plans (WFPB no Oil) and they use tempeh.

I'm sorry it's taken me a couple of days to get to this thread. I know how you must be feeling Flanz. Those darn antidepressants can really pack on weight as a side effect-I've been on a few that have done that and it can be so frustrating! As you know I'm a huge believer in Forks over Knives and the whole foods, plant based diet. It's what got me to finally get to my goal weight (from 186 to 125) and stay there for 5 years. Since you have so many questions about this diet I would encourage you to watch the film again. Don't listen to your doctor in regards to nutrition advice. Doctors don't study nutrition in medical school and the advice he gave you to severely limit carbs is wrong-as far as the theory behind the whole foods, plant based diet goes. Limiting carbs goes back to the South Beach diet which has morphed into the keto diet of today. 

There is nothing wrong with carbs, except that Americans are used to piling unhealthy foods on top of them or preparing them in unhealthy ways. A baked potato with sour cream, bacon bits and cheese on top vs. a baked potato with nothing but maybe a few herbs on top. Big difference health wise, calorie wise and fat wise. Carbs prepared in a healthy (whole foods, plant based) manner are fine for us-they form part of the whole foods, plant based diet because they keep us satiated. I eat whole wheat pasta with just one ingredient (whole wheat). I know you have a gluten intolerance but they now sell pasta made from other ingredients-as long as it is a whole (it will say the word whole in front of it in the ingredients list) food you are fine eating it. Look for the fewest ingredients possible and don't buy if it contains oil. The whole foods, plant based diet recommends whole foods, and minimally processed foods. Bread is fine if it is made from whole grains (yes, whole grains are great for us) and only has a few ingredients that are okay. We stay away from all animal products. 

I think it's wonderful that you've started eating WFPB!  Good for you and you've already started seeing results. Losing weight is 80% diet and 20% exercise I believe. Your blood work will get better if you follow this diet. Mine did and I'm sure yours will too. You can check out forksoverknives.com for lots of helpful ideas and also check out under their newsfeed in the top header, click on that and then click on success stories. Those are so inspiring to read. There are a lot of recipes at the website plus they've put out 3 recipe books so far. 

There is a difference between being vegan and following a WFPB diet. You can be a junk food vegan because Oreos are vegan and potato chips are vegan along with a lot of other unhealthy foods. Following a WFPB diet is making a decision to eat this way to improve your health. And Oreos and potato chips are defiantly not on the menu! I think tempah is fine as is tofu. I make sure to buy the tofu that says it is non-GMO just for my own satisfaction. Shopping in Whole Foods makes that easy because they label their foods on the shelf-which is non-GMO even though the laws in the USA still make labeling GMO foods illegal. 

You asked what a daily eating plan may look like? That varies so much because there are so many amazing recipes (from FOK)  that it changes every day. Since you are just starting out you might want to consider the book "The Forks Over Knives Plan". It takes you through the first month as you transition from your regular diet to the WFPB diet. Since you haven't been eating whole grains or carbs this might help you. To save money I always check first to see if my library has it and then if I like the book I order it. I also highly recommend the FOK recipe books but you can get by with just the recipes on line. The FOK website also offers a plan that will help you with planning your meals-it has a cost but you might find it very helpful, or you can plan your meals yourself using the recipes. 

Olive oil is not a healthy fat. Oil is a highly processed food that has no nutritional benefit at all. What it does do is add fat and calories to our bodies. If you want the benefits of olives eat a whole olive. WFPB believes that no oil is the healthiest for us. We cook using no oils in the skillet by  using a process called water sauteing. I put chopped onions (or whatever else I want to cook) in a non-stick skillet over heat and add a bit of water. I then move the onion bits around the entire time it is cooking adding water if needed. It cooks up perfectly, browning nicely this way. Some folks like to use vegetable broth for this but I like using just water. 

If you have any questions please feel free to PM me. I know you will be successful and will be able to get much better results on your blood work soon. Wishing you all the best!

OP, give this way of eating a real try, I believe you will be pleased with your next lab work. I know after all the advice in the past it’s hard to think so many carbs can be good for you, but the reality is amazing. Debbie,( Birukitty), myself, and so many others are living proof. I cannot imagine ever going back to the standard American diet, even though I used to think my diet was healthy.

Tonight DD and I made sushi rolls. They had roasted eggplant, avocado, cucumber, green onions, mushrooms. We ate so much! It was fun, delicious, and satisfying. And we felt terrific afterward, as we do after all our meals.

And I love going in for my lab work , my doctor is so proud of me.

Keep up the good work! I wish you the same good results. How perfect you got you “ before” lab work just before you changed your eating.

     You are very welcome. 

     And thanks lesserknownpea and merge for your posts. Flanz you can do this! 

I do take a B complex supplement, along with vit D and biotin.

Flanz, 


I'm so glad you mentioned B12 because I totally forgot about it. Yes, a B12 supplement is very important to take while following the WFPB diet and it's usually the only supplement you will need. I get annual bloodwork done and because I am also low in Vitamin D I take a Vitamin D supplement as well. But I only take what my bloodwork shows I need and what my Integrative Medicine doctor suggests I take. B12 is very important. Where did you get the B12 that gave you insomnia? I know you said you used an injection but where did you get the B12 complex multi?  I'm wondering if getting a B12 supplement from a better source may help? I have an Integrative Medicine doctor (a doctor who is a board certified Internist but also practices alternative therapies) who carries supplements in his office but they are also available online for the same price. The website is pureformulas.com and the two brands I take for supplements are Designs for Health and Integrative Therapeutics. You can find both of these brands on this website and they both offer a B12 complex vitamin. 

You are doing an incredible job in choosing your meals and what you are preparing! Good for you!!  I wouldn't use the flax oil simply because it is an oil (and as I mentioned above this diet excludes all oils) and once I stopped using all oils my weight really started dropping. You don't have to worry about omegas on this diet. If you want to include flax in your diet add ground flax seeds to your oatmeal or to other foods. There are salad dressings made without oil in the FOK recipes if you are looking for something like that. Seriously your food choices sound wonderful! Did you get the mock tuna recipe made from chickpeas from Forks Over Knives? If so I just made that one too and we love it! 

Dave's Killer Bread is a perfect choice for bread. I'm not sure I'd go with a protein powder-remember in this diet we are trying to get rid of processed foods. Plus Americans on average eat twice as much protein as they should and half as much fiber. So protein isn't something you need to really strive for on this diet. You will be getting plenty of it. There are recipes for smoothies on the FOK website and in the recipe books if you are thinking about smoothies as something you'd like to try. If it were me I'd use those instead of any kind of commercialized (pre-made) powder. 

Congratulations on a incredible start!  I wish you all the best and if you ever want to talk PM me. I love helping people.