Adopting a Plant-based nutrition

Last year my mom was diagnosed with advanced stage Breast Cancer and that same year she also died. Before she died, we went to various holistic doctors, and most of what they advise and say is that nutrition plays a big role in one's health. It accounts for about 80% of our health. You see, cancer, in general, runs in the blood of our family specifically my mom's side. My grandmother died of lung and breast cancer, my aunt died of breast cancer at the age of 30s and recently my mom. I remember one blunt and straightforward doctor, after learning of our family history, pointed at me and said, "ikaw! sige kumain ka pa nang mga baboy, manok, softdrinks, at hindi ka na aabot nang 40!"
I was shocked to say the least, that time I wanted to tell him, "how dare you say those things!".  But upon reading a couple of health books, it really dawned on me that there is a greater likelihood of me getting cancer if I don't take charge of my nutrition. Prevention really is the key. I discovered that a person can outsmart her genetic predisposition to disease thru nutrition. I haven't read the entire book yet since I can't find one in bookstores, but reading some parts of the  book "The China Study" in the web made a lot of sense to me. It's comforting to know that we can always take charge of our health by nutrition. And I personally believe that we owe it our loved ones, to take care of our health so that we can spend more meaningful time with them here on earth. And I want to live long, not just to see my future grandchildren but also to run and play with them :)

There are certain things in life that we have no control of, like our future, which lies in the hands of God. Our genetic predisposition is something we have inherited from our parents, but there is one thing that we can control and that is our lifestyle habits like what we eat and don't eat, what we drink and what we do.  It is our duty to take care of our health as we are a steward of our body. Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit hence we should be held accountable for it.

Before, my idea of healthy food, is one piece of cucumber and tomato slice in every meal. Be it with crispy pata or lechon. I even tell myself, with those two slices, "o ayan quota na ko sa veggies ko for the day!" But with my family's history I have to know better. So now, I'm slowly transitioning into a plant-based diet. Vegetarian or vegan for some. But I'm not really fond of those words because I'm not into the diet as an ethical response to cruelty to animals. I switched due to health reasons only and not for any ethical issue. Plant-based diet is an eating pattern dominated by plant foods and decreased consumption of meat, dairy and eggs.  I can't say I'm into it 100%, as the pork barbeque being sold near our house are tempting and I still eat fish once in while. But I'm happily and slowly enjoying plant-based diet. One step at a time.