In the episode of Stories of Self-Healing, you are going to hear Joyce Hale share her story about overcoming Lupus. Just a few years ago, Joyce’s Lupus had advanced to the point where her medications were not stopping the progression of her illness and almost every organ in her body attacked by this disease. She was having daily seizures which were causing her to face the reality that soon, she would no longer be able to work.

Joyce already had a titanium plate holding one side of her jaw together and was recently informed that she would need to get another plate to hold the other side of her jaw together. Doctors told her that the only way avoid this was to get her Lupus under control.

But after years of struggling with this disease, her health started to improve. In a last ditch effort to “try anything”, Joyce decided to try eating a Whole Food Plant Based Diet. After only a couple of weeks, her seizures lessened, she was able to reduce the doses on some medications.

Over the next couple of years, Joyce dug deeper into plant based nutrition and today, Joyce is Lupus Free and 100% Medication Free. And today, she is here to share her journey and story with you.

One thing about a vegan diet that I find really interesting is how many subcultures there are within it. There are plant based vegans, vegans who follow a fruit only diet, there’s the high carb low fat approach, and there are also people who follow a potato diet.

Have you heard about this kind of diet? Where you eat only or mostly potatoes?  I know what you might be thinking “But potatoes make you fat”...

Well, Today I have Jeannine Elder with me who is going to share her story about following a potato diet. In February of 2017, Jeannine ate only potatoes for an entire month. She lost 8 pounds that month and was able to diminish her junk food cravings and reset her taste buds.

Now, a year later, Jeannine still follows a modified potato diet and is continuing to lose weight.

Jeannine has also struggled with Hashimoto's Disease which is the most common type of thyroid disorder in America, affecting over 14 million people. Today Jeannine is going to share all about her journey with the potato diet, how this diet and approach have affected her Hashimoto's and what she is doing to help others have their own health transformation.

One thing I really love about Jeannine’s story is that she didn’t have this crazy overnight health transformation. She didn’t see this rapid change in her health but she didn’t give up on her health either.

Jeannine is now helping numerous men and women achieve their health goals with a potato diet and she is also helping women with autoimmune conditions realize that they too can achieve a healthy weight with the power of the potato.

Dr. Aggarwal is a Board Certified Cardiologist.  She has expertise in heart failure, pulmonary hypertension and prevention. Her path in prevention started with her own illness when she was diagnosed with RA. It was then, with the fear she would not practice medicine again, that she found her path to whole body medicine.

In this interview we discuss: -Being Diagnosed with RA -Going from MD to becoming a patient -What is the Leaky Gut and what is it's association with auto-immune disease and inflammatory illnesses -The impact of dairy and inflammation and it's connection to Leaky Gut -The work and research she is doing at University of Florida on the gut biome - How she has been able to heal from RA with a plant based diet.

Kate, like myself, is a nurse, she was living a busy life like many of us do and one day, she developed a cough. Now, this was no ordinary cough and it developed into a lung condition which put Kate on the lung transplant list in a short amount of time.

Not only that, Kate quickly developed Diabetes and heart failure. Kate was told she had 2-5 years left to live.

A stroke of luck led Kate to a plant based lifestyle and today Kate is thriving and contributes to the whole food plant based community as a Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Life Instructor at Fork Smart.

"My Cardiologist gave me two options, bypass surgery or try "Plant Based Nutrition." - Paul Chatlin. Paul has a story of chronic debilitating chest pain, and a diagnosis of coronary artery disease that will stop you in your tracks, just like it did to Paul. Through a series of miracles, Paul was able to avoid having major heart surgery, no longer has chest pain and he has watched his health transform. Paul is the founder of the Plant Based Nutrition Support Group, is now devoting his life to giving back, and is here to share his story with you today.

In this episode, Nurse Kristin interviews Tim Kaufman. Tim is such a great example of what happens when we stop making excuses and start accepting challenges. In his late 30’s, Tim weighed over 400 pounds and struggled with an addiction to painkillers and had just kind of accepted that this might be how his life is going to be. But then one day, he was told by his doctor that he was on his way to an early death. So, Tim stopped making excuses and started making changes. Today, Tim is a Marathon runner, a motivational speaker and an inspiration to so many who are seeking to make a healthy lifestyle change.

Born and raised on the bayou in Southern Louisiana, Josh grew up with a lethal relationship to food that caused him to become over 400 pounds. 

Jill had a hard time losing weight no matter how much she exercised, and she was eventually diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. One day, Jill stumbled across an opportunity to be featured on the reality television show, The Big Fat Truth.

She got on the show, and within 10 days of following The Big Fat Truth Diet, an entirely plant based, whole food diet, she was able to reverse her Diabetes and get off those medications.

Jill has a story that is sure to inspire and really shows how our health destiny is in our own hands.

""I lost a total of 55 pounds. My BMI dropped from 30 to 23. My total cholesterol dropped 90 points without statins. I reached my ideal weight within three months. I have been on the whole food, plant-based (WFPB) diet since 2014. I have never looked back nor do I miss the Standard American Diet." 

- Steven Mattis