My vegan story: why I switched to a plant-based diet

Back in 2014, I began experiencing some heart pain that I had never experienced before - every morning after I woke up, I would feel a mild pain at the center of my chest which would soon dissipate as I went on with my day and thus I never paid it too much attention.

In late 2015, my father suffered a minor stroke which was very upsetting for the family and I began to grow more concerned about the heart pain I had been experiencing, off and on for the last year or so. I had just turned thirty years old and my Dad had been experiencing heart problems for a couple of years so I began to suspect that the problem was hereditary and what I was experiencing was part of the aging process.

I decided to go and see a doctor to get a professional opinion on my condition and after running some tests, I was told that I was fine. How can I be fine when I’m experiencing this pain in my heart???!

I was already skeptical about the conventional approach to medicine and this experience just confirmed my supposition that western medicine didn’t have all the answers.

The doctor never asked me about my eating habits, whether or not I drank, smoked, exercised, nothing to do with my lifestyle whatsoever. I had to volunteer this information and even then, I was told that it probably had something to do with me exercising and never offered a solution so I decided to go the alternative route.

I knew that my diet had something to do with the pain I was experiencing as I often felt it the morning after I had some junk food and especially after drinking coffee so I knew I had to make a change.

In January 2016, I moved to the United States and in February 2016 I became a vegan. I found it quite easy to convert to a vegan diet in the US as it is a very vegan friendly country. The only thing I changed in my diet is I stopped eating meat and dairy and I substituted these products with vegan meat, vegan eggs, etc.

I knew I had to put in more effort into my diet as I was aware that eating the vegan meat was not good for me in the long run but I decided to postpone making this change as I initially felt great after giving up meat and dairy - namely more energy and stamina in the gym.

I kept having my cheat meals on weekends, eating vegan burgers and fries and on the morning after, I would experience pain in my heart again but I would rationalize to myself that I was a vegan and as long as I ate healthy 90% of the time, I would be fine so I kept my weekend cheat meals.

Every Saturday I would have my cheat meals and every Sunday morning, I would wake with heart pain that was getting worse every single week until one morning, the pain was so excruciating that I had to take immediate action in changing my habits.

I do not know what a heart attack feels like but I’m certainly sure I was close to experiencing one that day. Being confronted with my own mortality prompted me to do the necessary research and figure out what diet I had to follow to experience optimum health. I had bought a couple of meal plans after turning vegan but they all either recommended lots of vegan processed foods or a bunch of smoothie recipes, neither of which was appealing to me.

I now follow a whole foods plant-based diet and I feel better than I have ever felt in my entire life!