Whole Food Plant Based – Five Years and Counting

I’ve been following a Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) diet that has been 100% plant based for just over five years. I stopped eating added oils approximately three years ago.  I’ve maintained good health and have had no need to visit a doctor while following a WFPB diet.  My weight had remained pretty steady for 4-1/2 years. However, I put on six to seven pounds over this past winter.  The mirror made it very clear that most of the weight was in the form of body fat.  I’ve since dropped about three of those pounds as I’ve been going lighter on the more calorie dense plant foods (nuts, seeds, dried fruit and bread).

On Friday, May 30, I attended the Health Expo at the Empire State Plaza to get my annual health assessment done by the Capital Care Medical Group.  I was curious to see how much body fat I’d acquired and, more importantly, to see how my blood pressure, blood glucose and blood lipid levels were faring.

First the bad news; my body fat percentage more than doubled from last year’s measurement! It’s not as bad as it sounds as last year’s measurement was 2.4%.  My reading this year was 5.5%.  The method that the Capital Care Medical Group uses is called Bioelectrical Impedance.  This method seems to underestimate body fat percentage.  I never really believed that my body fat was 2.4% – or the 3.8%% measured two years ago.  So the actual number is not as important to me as the increase that occurred from last year to this year. Even if my body fat was as high as 10%, it would still be well below the guidelines for men in my age group.  So although my current body composition is good, the recent measurement did confirm the veracity of my mirror.

The rest of the health assessment went well.  Here are the numbers:

• ·         Total Chol – 113
• ·         LDL Chol – 69
• ·         HDL Chol – 33
• ·         Non HDL Chol – 80
• ·         Triglycerides – 52
• ·         Blood Pressure – 122/66
• ·         Blood Glucose – 89

I did not fast prior to these measurements.

So all in all, I don’t see a need in doing much tweaking to my personal WFPB diet.  I’m on no medications and I don’t plan on being on any in the near future.

For those of you that might be concerned about my “low” HDL levels, please refer to the Big Changes = Big Results” blog. It will explain why my low HDL level is not a risk factor.

When I began my WFPB journey, I expected that scientific discovery or  physical symptoms would provide me with a reason to add animal products back into my diet.  I’m still waiting to find that reason.  I think I’ll keep living the life 100% plantastic.