Normally, when you try to mix nutrition and politics nothing positive comes to mind. But today, I was proven wrong. Former President Bill Clinton’s testimonial on Wolf Blitzer came as one of the most pleasant surprise I’ve come across in recent months. Clinton revealed for the first time in public his choice of plant-based diet. In other words, you may even conclude Bill has gone Vegan!
As a wellness coach and vegan myself, I can’t help but applaud Bill Clinton’s choice of diet. He said that he no longer consumes meat (not just red meat but ALL meat!), very little fish, no dairy and no other animal-based products. Instead he eats plenty of fruits, vegetables, legumes, beans and even loves drinking almond milk! Clinton stressed that he didn’t just change his diet to lose weight but to promote overall health and wellness. As we know, he had a heart surgery a couple of years ago and he noticed that his arteries are still clogging up with cholesterol. Plant-based diet contains essentially no cholesterol which is responsible for the heart condition. So it makes sense why he choose to eliminate animal products.
If you have been a follower of my blog, you are already familiar with my mission to promote raw plant-based diet. Making the transition away from animal-based foods has helped me lose weight, clear up my skin, energize my body, enhance my memory and inspire me to launch my new line of living foods RAWbundant. There is definitely a LOT of truth to the plant-based diet. If you don’t believe me, try it yourself and see how you feel. Sometimes we don’t know how great we could feel until we cut out the foods responsible for the making us sick and lethargic.
Where do you start? Just browse my blog and videos for some immediate tips and advice.
- Read my blogs on Green Smoothies and The Truth About Dairy.
- If you are interested in cleansing, give Master Cleanse a shot. I’ve written and shot video tutorials that can assist you.
- Pick up a copy of The China Study and The Live Food Factor and start getting educated on the plant-based diet.
- If you live in my state of New Jersey, come to one of my workshops. Check the tab “Events” on top for my schedule.
- If you are interested in a private class or house party, email me at greenmomzoe@gmail.com and we can discuss your nutrition goals and how to best meet them.
- Purchasing the right equipment (i.e. Vitamix blender, Excalibur dehydrator, Omega juicer) will be crucial support on your new health journey. I’m a distributor and will be able to hook you up with a discount.
Those are some immediate steps you can take right now to transform your health. You should not wait until you are very sick or unable to recover to make changes to your diet. Start with small steps and build from there. One day when you are 80 years old and feel like you are 30, you’ll be grateful for the investment in your health you made today.
Peace & Blessings,
Zoe
Copyright © 2010 Zoe V. All Rights Reserved
zoevblog.com 
I know – that is so awesome.
Man, I want to leave all kinds of links in this comment outlining how wrong you are to be excited about this. But if I do that it’ll be eaten up by your spam filter. Grumble.
I found out a few years ago that I was short on vitamin A, by the strangest way you could imagine. I had been plagued for something like three years with massively heavy periods. They were so awful I sometimes had to stay home and stay near the bathroom and break out the rag bag on the first day or two. I’d also get this weird twingy cramping on my left side the day before they started. I should have gone to a doctor but at the time I didn’t have health insurance, and I was terrified of finding out I couldn’t afford Planned Parenthood’s sliding scale, and I was pretty sure if I tried to go back on Medicaid I wouldn’t be able to find a doctor who’d listen to me. And then on top of that I might have found out I had cancer or something. You know. That kind of situation.
Then I was casting about on the Internet for natural remedies for endometriosis–the premenstrual pain in my left lower abdomen suggested I might be suffering from that. Simultaneously, I ran across information that suggested that if one is hypothyroid or diabetic, one cannot convert beta carotene to vitamin A. I had had to have repeat GTTs while pregnant with my younger child, and I’d had weird symptoms after she was born (including rapid weight gain) that made me wonder if my thyroid was screwed up. I decided to start supplementing with natural vitamin A from fish liver oil.
Right around that time I read that some women were using vitamin A with some success in dealing with menstrual problems, so I felt reassured and kept going.
Long story short, my period problems cleared up nicely. At first I could tell when I’d gone too long without taking any (I forget my supplements sometimes) because the weird premenstrual cramping would come back. But it never got wickedly heavy again. And now, I’m guessing I have enough reserves built up in my liver, because I can go for longer if I get flaky about supplementing and I don’t have any problems.
I’m wondering now how many women have hysterectomies or are put on drugs for their period problems when all they needed was to eat some liver. It makes me furious.
It gets better. Or worse, actually. My daughter was diagnosed at 4 months old with a urinary tract infection. Come to find out she had vesicoureteral reflux on both sides. That means the tubes leading from her kidneys to her bladder hadn’t inserted right during her fetal development, and sometimes her urine traveled up into her kidneys. It was worse on the right side than the left, and the right kidney was noticeably undersized too. She’s had surgery to reinsert the ureter on that side; the left side resolved on its own. But she is now at greater risk for end-stage renal disease later in life.
The urologist who presided over her case told me he thought it was hereditary because in his experience, a child with VUR has a 30 percent chance of having a sibling with the disorder.
Then I found out vitamin A is also involved in the signaling process that develops the kidneys of a fetus. Specifically the development of the ureteral bud, which develops in one direction into the nephrons, or tiny filters in the kidney, and in the other direction into… you must have guessed it from the name… the ureter! Thea’s reflux was worse on the right side. Her kidney was way smaller on the right side. Eureka.
Guess what other group besides hypothyroids and diabetics can’t convert beta carotene? You got it. Babies and little kids. It didn’t matter how many carrots I ate, Thea wasn’t getting enough vitamin A in utero. Early on in the pregnancy I must have had some reserves left because she’s not blind and her vision test at her most recent checkup was normal. But I didn’t have enough reserves left by the time the kidneys came online.
So I speak up when I see some vegan trumpeting about the superiority of plants as a nutrient source. This isn’t funny, and it’s hurting kids. If you don’t care about the adults, at least care about that.
I don’t care what T. Colin Campbell said, either. His interpretation of the China Study data has been thoroughly debunked–as it happens, *wheat* has a much, MUCH stronger link to bad health than dairy does (to wit, no link at all).
You’re a health coach. Try learning more about health first, please.
Dana, I respect your long comment and value your opinion. Keep in mind that we are all different and our bodies have their own unique responses to a particular diet lifestyle. I know people who eat 100% raw vegan and thrive on it. And I know people who failed miserably on the raw vegan diet with merely 30% raw foods. Our family is somewhere around 60-70% raw vegan and it seems to be working well right now. It’s about listening to your body and finding your balance through nutrition.
As a health coach, I advice that you maintain open mind and experiment with your diet rather than hold “black & white” attitude towards nutrition. There is no right or wrong for everybody. There is only right and wrong for you. Find that and live it as your truth. But also respect others who have found and live their truths as well.
Hi I just found your website and it is real inspiering!
In one of your videos you mention the chart of food combination. Where can I find it on yout blog?
Kind regards
Asa from Sweden
The Food Combining Chart is located above my video on the Green Smoothie blog. There will be a link right there.
And I’m happy to hear you are inspired my my blog. 🙂 Feel free to subscribe.
Hi Thanks for posting your healthy videos. I love my Vitamix as well! I am looking for your printable food combining chart on your blog but can’t see it anywhere…..does anyone know where it is?> Thanks a bunch!
It is on the Green Smoothies blog.