The first time it happened I was only 28-years old. It was 6:48 on a Thursday morning and I had just gone to a commercial break on a news/talk radio show that I was hosting, when the owner of the station burst into the studio.
“Rich, are you drunk?”
I was flabbergasted that he even asked the question.
“Umm, no,” I replied ponderously. “Why do you ask?”
“Because you are slurring your words,” was the response.
As it turned out, I had suffered my first transient ischemic attack or TIA, which is a mini stroke. The doctors explained to me that it was a warning for future and larger strokes that was brought on by high blood pressure. So, they started me on prescription medications that I was told I would need to be on for the remainder of my life.
My second TIA caused me to temporarily lose sight in my right eye, the third was a bit larger and put me out of work for a couple weeks. The fourth one happened in September of 2019, and I had finally had enough.
Medications were clearly not the answer. Despite constantly changing the doses and types of drugs I was prescribed, my blood pressure and cholesterol were always high. I felt sluggish, which I was told was a side effect of the meds, and my joints constantly ached. Nothing that the doctors tried worked, and I felt like I was failing my family and myself. One thing all of the physicians that I had seen agreed upon was that a major stroke was now a predetermined certainty.
I really felt that I was failing as a husband, a father, and a man. To me, men were strong individuals who provided for and protected their family; real men were quasi superheroes who personified virility, integrity, and power. I believed that I was genetically fated to be physically weak and dead before the age of fifty.
Then 90 minutes of watching Netflix changed my life.
I stumbled across a movie called, “The Game Changers.” If you haven’t seen it, it’s much-watch stuff. Basically, it showed in no uncertain terms that you can thrive on a plant-based diet. For someone who ate meat and dairy for virtually every meal, who had been raised to believe that milk was healthy, who firmly subscribed to the notion that animal protein was good and carbs were bad, who literally scoffed at and derided vegans, who worked as a district manager for Arby’s, who once owned an all-you-can-eat rib house, this film was a revelation. I needed to know more.
Next, I watched “Forks Over Knives” and “What the Health?” That lead me to read The China Study and How Not to Die. Before I knew it, I was watching Dr. Greger’s videos, reading every thing I could online, and formulating a plan. Then, on November 1, 2019, I was reborn.
Plant-based eating has literally saved my life. My blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight are now all good numbers, and I am no longer on any medications at all. While I thought that I would crave meat and dairy, especially cheese, I found that I never yearned for those items once. Plus, I have never enjoyed the taste and variety of what I eat like I do as a plant-based eater. My only regret is that I had not started eating this way decades earlier.
Now, I get a chance to talk to you about my journey, both through this blog and with our brand new podcast. If I can convince you of anything, it’s that plant-based is worth a long look and a definite try. Do your research, take our 30-day challenge, and hopefully you can feel as amazing as I do…healthy, content, and ready to step up for you and your family. It is so worth it.
About Rich Reynolds:
Rich started his broadcast career at a suburban Chicago radio station when he was just 17-years old. He has hosted sports, political, and lifestyle talk shows, does sports play-by-play, has been the sports editor for two newspapers, and is a public address announcer for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as for the Madison Capitols, and Pure Fighting Championships.