Why You Should Consider a Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet (WFPB)
This article is republished from Authority Magazine and shared from the originial text.
An Interview With Stanley Bronstein
Longevity! Every study we have pointing to people’s longevity and living a long, healthy life, lower rates of cancer, lower rates of dementia — all point to a whole foods diet rich in colorful plants and food diversity.
Nutrition plays a critical role in overall health, yet many people are unaware of the profound benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet. From reducing the risk of chronic diseases to improving energy levels and longevity, this way of eating has been endorsed by many healthcare professionals. What are the key reasons someone should consider transitioning to a plant-based lifestyle? As a part of this series we had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mona Fahoum.
Dr. Mona Fahoum is a naturopathic physician, expert in integrative medicine, educator and lecturer. She specializes in evidence-based approaches to wellness and has extensive experience in clinical care utilizing supplements, herbal medicine, probiotics and conventional medications to support health.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
Thank you! I’m very excited to be talking about the topic of whole foods and plant-based nutrition. I was born in Arkansas and raised in Washington State. My father was an immigrant, literally coming here on a boat for college from the Middle East, and my mom is from Arkansas. I’ve grown up with a very diverse background with two different cultures, two different religions and two very different extended families.
Interestingly, though perhaps predictable having an immigrant father, he very much wanted one of his children to become a doctor. I fought against that for a long time, but I was always interested in pursuing science and math. I tried research in college and was bored out of my mind in the lab. It became clear to me that health and, subsequently medicine, was what really interested me. Having grown up with homemade food, sports and natural remedies via my parents, then working at a health food store and accidentally, for a couple of the best Naturopaths in Seattle, I ended up going to Bastyr University to pursue my naturopathic medical degree after having gotten my biology degree at University of Washington.
That could be another story entirely, but let’s just say that going to University with a lot of pre-med students who were oriented toward the degree and not in healing patients, and seeing the incredible power of natural medicine and nutrition shifted me from conventional to naturopathic school — and my father was elated either way!
What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.
As I mentioned, I learned about Bastyr University and naturopathic medicine while I was working at a health food store during college. I didn’t know much about it, so I literally surfed the Yellow Pages and called all the naturopathic clinics within walking or skateboarding distance from the University to see if they were hiring. I ended up getting hired as a medical records clerk and receptionist at a clinic in the University District. It turned out, unbeknownst to me, that two of the elders of our naturopathic profession here in Seattle, Dr. Leanna Standish and Dr. Patrick Donovan, owned the clinic. Watching them with their patients, the results they got, the chronic diseases they helped to manage, and seeing them catching conditions the rest of medicine had missed in these patients inspired me to switch my course from the conventional medicine track to naturopathic school.
From there, I ended up co-owning and then taking over the entire business from Dr. Donovan, and 20 years later, I still own the clinic and have opened a second location. I get to see patients every day and provide mentorship to my own seven associates, just as I received — full circle. I also currently serve on the Physician’s Choice Scientific Advisory Board, working to ensure every supplement formula is backed by science, rigorously tested and designed for real, everyday health needs. Our Developed With Doctors* approach incorporates input from doctors, researchers and health professionals so you get probiotics that meet the highest standards and truly support your health.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
I have to say, one of my funniest stories is actually from before I started practicing medicine, but when I first started medical school. I was vegetarian through high school and college and into medical school. Looking back, it was a great way to keep me healthy through my younger years, keeping me away from the fast food and pizza that are ever present in college. However, starting medical school, carrying 27 credits a quarter and working two jobs at the same time meant I had no time for food prep and planning. By the end of my first trimester, I was so anemic I was dreaming about hamburgers and steak.
Through that experience, I’ve learned not to judge others or follow any particular dogmatic approach in medicine because people’s life circumstances are going to dictate where and what we can do to help them. My body was screaming for protein and iron, and I had to listen to that and as much as my young self was judging others for eating meat, I was not listening or respecting what my body needed. From the mistake of not eating well I know firsthand I have to meet patients, friends and family wherever they’re at in that moment. In doing so, I have a really successful approach with patients so that we can make lasting changes by utilizing what works for them and their families. That said, I do joke with patients that I am part cheerleader and part drill sergeant — because they are coming to me for results and it takes both of us doing our part!
For the benefit of our readers, can you briefly let us know why you are an authority in the wellness field?
That’s a great question. I feel I’m an authority in this field, partially just because of the time I’ve been in the field, 30 plus years, between actually practicing medicine and before that having worked in the natural health industry, always playing sports and being active with fitness and nutrition through my younger years just from my natural proclivity toward it.
Additionally, and as my story alludes to, I’ve learned over the years how important it is to meet patients where they are. I understand research swings wildly from one direction to the other. If there’s a positive study that comes out tomorrow, in a year you can guarantee there’s going to be a negative study on the exact same topic. I find myself very capable of dancing in between the data points and not getting stuck in any dogma or any one particular ideology because I recognize how important individualized medicine is for my patients. Taking a science and evidence informed approach to natural medicine, then peppering in the great things modern medicine can offer is where the medical field is going.
People excel when we pick the right nutrition and the right treatment plan for them. Sometimes the right plan can be conventional medications because that’s what’s necessary, other times we can use all botanicals, and other times we just use nutrition and lifestyle. Holding space, and dancing between, conventional and naturopathic medicine is my superpower.
OK, thank you. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview about eating a whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diet. How challenging is it to transition from a typical American diet — high in processed foods and meat — to a whole-food, plant-based diet? Would you recommend making the switch all at once or gradually over time?
I think for most people, me included, making drastic changes all at once becomes like a New Year’s resolution you manage to hold on to for a week or two then everything goes out the window and you’re off the wagon and back into old habits very quickly.
For a few people the full switch may work, but for most people, I think it’s more about incremental change. To ensure people don’t feel they are restricting or feeling deprived, I always recommend people start by adding the good stuff. I think most patients are successful when I don’t admonish them for what they are eating because the standard American diet is full of addictive additives like sugar and salt, full of chemicals, full of comfort foods playing tricks on our brain chemistry. Those are very difficult to give up, so we need to admit there’s a challenge. If we can start adding fruits and vegetables, adding beans, adding whole foods then we’re winning. Those small changes start their own positive feedback loop — better energy, better mood, better poop, fewer headaches and it encourages them to keep cleaning up their nutrition. I love watching people go from super processed boxes and cans to canned beans, then soaking their own. I will have patients start with buying a veggie tray because if it’s pretty and already prepped they’re more likely to eat it — then they realize they can do this on their own and get better variety.
Making those small step-by-step changes help people create long-term habits that, while maybe not perfect, are improvements we can continue to build upon. Anytime we can get even to a 75% whole foods diet and cut down the number of boxes, cans, extra sodium and additives among other things, we’re going to have a healthier patient in front of us and a healthier population, and planet as a whole.
Have you witnessed significant health improvements in patients who transitioned to a whole-food, plant-based diet? If so, could you share one or two success stories?
Since nutrition is one of the foundational concepts in naturopathic medicine, it’s a part of every treatment plan for my patients. At the very least, we’re working on trying to get more fruits and vegetables and fiber into the diet, whether it’s for gut health, immune health, preventing cancer, brain health or hormone health. More whole foods and plant-based foods are going to help with all aspects of someone’s long-term health and longevity.
I’ve even had more than one person really turn around their diabetic status by transitioning to a whole foods, plant-based diet. Some go all the way and become fully vegetarian, getting high protein through beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains like quinoa, with low glycemic fruits and vegetables. Others are eating vegetarian and plant-based about 85% of the time, with occasional ‘meat as medicine’. Harkening back to my anemia story, some people definitely do better with a little bit of animal protein, but we can keep it as a very small portion of their diet. This way, we can still get the blood sugar, triglyceride, and anti-inflammatory benefits of all those plant-based foods.
One woman came in with borderline blood sugar numbers, but patients like to disappear for a while, so after treating her initially, I didn’t see her for a few years. When she returned two or three years later, her A1C had tipped over into diabetic levels, around 7.1. While she wasn’t ready when she first came to see me, she realized she was going to be started on a statin, a blood sugar medication, and a blood pressure medication all at once by her regular doctor — and honestly, by me too, if we couldn’t make some drastic changes. We had a long conversation about how to change her diet, utilize intermittent fasting along with the whole foods plant-based approach, while also incorporating low glycemic concepts. She took it seriously, making significant changes as we were up against the wall.
We’ve since been able to reduce her A1C. She’s lost weight, feels better, sleeps better — all the things, especially since we also started her on some hormone replacement given menopausal status. I look forward to continuing to see her now that she isn’t going to disappear given the gains we’ve made.
If someone aims to permanently lose a significant amount of weight, could a whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) diet be an effective approach? Why or why not?
Yes, for most people looking to lose a significant amount of weight, a whole foods, plant-based diet could be a very effective approach. If we’re doing it properly, thinking about making sure we get all the macro and micronutrients someone needs, doing some meal timing, watching the overall calorie count, although you really can’t eat too many vegetables, can definitely create lasting weight loss.
One of the big advantages of eating more fruits, vegetables and legumes is that you have more fiber coming in that’s going to fill up your stomach and help you feel full and more satisfied. We also end up inherently cutting out a lot of extraneous calories, fat calories, sugar, and other things like sodium, all the things in packaged and processed foods that muck up our metabolism.
The other great thing about going plant-based is you’re going to be improving the gut microbiome. Whenever we’re feeding our gut bugs more fiber, more fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, the microbiome is going to change and the more we learn about the gut, the more we see how much it impacts the rest of our health.
From a weight perspective the gut microbiome aids in satiety and appetite control, immune function, hormone health and metabolism. All those things are going to improve by feeding the good gut bacteria, which is one of the primary benefits of a whole foods, plant-based diet.
This is of course, as long as we’re doing it properly. Where it’s not necessarily going to help someone lose weight is if you’re not doing it well. You can eat a plant-based diet, but it could still be highly processed if you’re relying on pre-made options. If you’re eating vegan bologna and vegan sour cream and vegetable proteins, which can be massively processed soy and pea proteins to form alternative meats and things like that, then those are really not whole foods. They may be plant-based, but they’re not the healthiest of foods when they’ve been overly processed.
If someone wants to lose weight, I want them to think about whether it looks like it did when it came from a tree or out of the ground. That is really going to help guide good decision making with the least amount of processing and that is where people are going to find the healthiest diet and lose the weight that they’re looking to lose.
We also must take into account when losing weight, we need to make sure hormones are balanced, you’re drinking enough water, and there’s an element of making sure the kitchen is closed in the evening, so our body actually has time to process all that nutrition before we lay down to sleep. There are lots of pieces that need to weave together, but this certainly is an effective way to lose weight.
Since a plant-based diet excludes meat, what are the best sources of protein for someone following this lifestyle?
If we’re going 100% plant-based and excluding meats, then you really need to focus on high-quality protein-rich foods like nuts, seeds, beans and legumes, soy and switching out simpler grains like rice to quinoa that has higher protein content. This can be challenging so often adding a vegan protein powder that’s a pea and rice blend, so you’re getting all the amino acids, can be beneficial as well. Most protein shakes are going to be 20 grams of protein per serving so that can really be helpful in topping things off for people who are going fully vegan.
Plant-based can be more vegetarian as well so we can include eggs, or some low-fat dairy can also be helpful in keeping the protein count up. If you’re not doing that, then I do usually find you need to include a protein powder or a protein bar as a snack to keep the protein up around a minimum of 75 or 80 grams a day. Obviously, that’s a generalization! You should talk to your doctor about what your individual nutritional needs are, but as a general rule, you need a fair amount of protein to be able to lose weight, keep blood sugar stable, and that can be a little bit more of a challenge if we’re going fully plant based.
Here is our main question. What Are “5 Reasons Why You Should Consider a Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet”? (If possible, please share a story or example for each one)
1. Longevity! Every study we have pointing to people’s longevity and living a long, healthy life, lower rates of cancer, lower rates of dementia — all point to a whole foods diet rich in colorful plants and food diversity.
2. Gut Health! If you’re not pooping, you’re miserable inside and out! A plant-based diet is going to help the ‘go’ — cleansing the system of waste products, supporting hormone metabolism, the immune system, you name it, the gut microbiome and a healthy gut wall are involved.
3. Processed foods are terrible for you and the environment — beyond the empty calories that nourish very little in our bodies — there’s the packaging, the plastic, the chemicals, the factories…. Need I go on?
4. Cardiovascular health — heart disease has been the number one killer in the United States since the 1950s. Coincidence with the rise of packaged and fast foods — I think not. There are innumerable studies showing a whole foods, plant based diet will reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes and obesity.
5. Because it feels good! Have you ever done 30 days of eating a whole-foods, high plant food diet? Try it, even if you have a bit of meat — if you increase your fruits and veggies and cut out all processed foods you will feel better — whether joint pain, brain fog, headaches, acne, PMS, constipation, you name it. You can do anything for 30 days!
Many people worry that a plant-based diet might be too restrictive or difficult to sustain long-term. What are some practical tips for making this lifestyle both enjoyable and sustainable?
Eating a whole foods plant-based diet is only restrictive if you make it that way. Variety is the spice of life, making sure you’re eating the full complement of vegetables and fruits, making sure you’re using herbs and spices, finding recipes from different cultures and learning how to cook in different styles with different spices is going to keep it interesting and sustainable for the long term.
From a day-to-day perspective, it means you do have to think about meal prepping and meal planning. My family builds the menu and grocery shops on Saturday and the whole family preps two or three dishes on Sunday. We package it so we don’t have to cook every night of the week, and we always have something in the fridge to heat up. Dinner one night is always lunch the next day, so we make a double batch of just about everything and pack lunches while cleaning up from dinner.
Because you can’t always just grab and go with a whole foods diet you have to plan ahead, rearrange a few habits in your day-to-day routine. It is possible to meal plan and meal prep with minimal extra effort. If you decide to include eggs, then you can hard boil three or four eggs on Sunday, and you’ve got breakfast with a piece of fruit or some veggies on the way out the door. You do have to get a little more creative and branch out and look at other cultures’ foods and recipes because there are so many great ideas out there on how to keep things interesting and sustainable.
The other thing that can really help the feeling of being restrictive is to do plant-based and whole foods 90% of the time. We do only live once. We do have family, relationships, functions, parties and cultural events. There may need to be some allowances — if it’s just at the holidays or it’s every once in a while, truly every once in a while — not every week, but 5–10% of the time then you’re eating right 90–95% of the time! That is not the kind of things that get people in trouble on the health basis typically. I always recommend people don’t be too dogmatic, but think about making conscious choices.
There’s a lot of conflicting information about nutrition in the media. What are some of the biggest myths about plant-based eating that you’d like to debunk?
The first myth I would debunk is that a whole foods plant-based diet is automatically healthy. Inherently it’s going to be healthier because you’re taking out a lot of high meat, high saturated fat, processed foods, however, there are ways to do it in an unhealthy fashion that don’t include enough or all the macro and micronutrients you need to be healthy. You have to make sure there’s plenty of iron, plenty of protein, B12 and folate for example, those are all really vital to a healthy whole foods plant-based diet.
The other myth is that it’s boring and restrictive. I think we’ve talked about that a lot. But it’s not boring. Look at Indian foods, many are naturally vegetarian. Try Middle Eastern food, chickpeas, cumin, allspice, harissa, look to Asia… There are so many different cultures out there to pull from and keep things interesting that you’ll never get bored if you have the interest and the curiosity to explore — antioxidants galore in the spice cupboard!
Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
What a great question and it may not be what you expect. Honestly, the movement I wish I could inspire is supporting healthcare professionals, whether they’re MDs, DOs, ARNPs or NDs like myself, who practice holistic, individualized medicine to be licensed in every state, supported in every state with scope of practice and insurance coverage so that we can provide this medicine to the masses.
I’m lucky to be in Washington State, where, as a naturopathic physician, I’m classified as a primary care physician who can bill insurance for my patient care. But in most places in the U.S., access is absolutely horrendous for people to work with a doctor who understands their entire physical self, along with their mental and emotional health and is trained to think about the whole person from a functional medicine standpoint.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them :-)
I think that answer might have to be Drew Barrymore. Her and I are in the same age range, and when she had that spot on her show where she actively had a hot flash and brought it to everyone’s attention, it felt like a huge turning point in the conversation around women’s health, the impact that menopause has on women and their lives. I know we’re talking about whole foods plant-based nutrition in this article, but nutrition plays into so much of the other things I do with women’s health, I find them completely intertwined.
Everything in this article along with education and better management of all things hormonal — menopause, perimenopause, PMS to PCOS — would be their own movement. I feel sitting down with someone like Drew Barrymore who has the mouthpiece to provide good information to the masses would be incredible.
Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.
About the Interviewer: Stanley Bronstein is an attorney, CPA, and author of more than 20 books. However, he doesn’t consider any of those his greatest achievement. His most significant accomplishment was permanently losing 225 pounds and developing the personal growth system that made it possible — The Way of Excellence. As a catalyst for change, he has dedicated his life to helping others maximize their potential, transform their lives, and achieve optimal health. To learn more, you can download a free PDF copy of his latest book, The Way of Excellence Journal, at https://TheWayOfExcellence.com.
Published in Authority Magazine
In-depth Interviews with Authorities in Business, Pop Culture, Wellness, Social Impact, and Tech. We use interviews to draw out stories that are both empowering and actionable.
Written by Stanley Bronstein
Stanley Bronstein, attorney, CPA and author of 20+ books has devoted his life to helping others maximize their potential and gain optimal health along the way
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