I decided to write again because I have news. I switched to a vegan diet in the beginning of the year! My son was prompted by his health teacher to make improvements in his life and he made the switch over a year ago. But since I'm the middle-aged guy with a father who died of heart problems at 42, I figured I should give it a try. My dietary switch worked very well. Two aspects to consider are that my total cholesterol dropped 22 points and I think I have become a faster runner.
The running part is not as objectively quantifiable as the cholesterol, but today I ran a loop that I have run often over the years and saw improvement. I had not run in three weeks and had run only sporadically before that, and yet I came within one minute of my personal best on this particular loop. This, despite stopping for a photo and running in deep slippery mud for certain stretches. Normally, when I get back into running in the usual fits and starts, I am slower for weeks before I start to improve. But here, I wasn't even looking for a personal best and wonder if I could not have beaten it if I had not tried. So, it is really great news for me and it does support the notion that vegan is not a downgrade for your health.
For vegan purists and animal lovers, I have to be candid, I still plan on elk hunting this fall and after Vegan January I may well grab a chicken sandwich or a spare piece of bacon. But I honestly believe that, forever for me, I will not be ingesting as much animal-based protein and fats.
Anyway, happy to be back on the trail again. Big Sur Marathon is only three months away!
Dan
