Dr. Stancic is a board-certified lifestyle medicine physician and the founder and owner of Stancic Health and Wellness, where she treats patients using lifestyle modification, including a plant-based diet.
As a third-year medical resident, Saray Stancic, MD, went from doctor to patient. After a brief nap during an overnight shift at the hospital, she woke up to find both her legs numb and heavy. An emergency MRI confirmed a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the nervous system that’s often considered incurable. But recent studies show that following a diet low in saturated fat may play a key role in managing the disease.
In this video from our 2019 Plant-Based Health and Wellness Summit, Dr. Stancic talks about her personal experience tackling MS with a plant-based diet.
Dr. Stancic produced the documentary film Code Blue: Redefining the Practice of Medicine, in which she highlights the practice of Lifestyle Medicine to prevent, treat, and manage chronic illnesses. Code Blue follows a passionate physician, Dr. Saray Stancic, as she reflects upon her journey from a multiple sclerosis diagnosis to wellness through her own adoption of lifestyle medicine. Dr. Stancic introduces us to expert physicians and scientists who are paving the way to make meaningful and necessary changes in our healthcare environment and, in turn, empowering audiences to stand up and reclaim control of their health.
A whole-food, plant-based diet is holistic in the sense of its basic nutritional composition of macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein, and fat) and vitamins and minerals (micronutrients), which include antioxidants and phytonutrients. The whole is much greater than the sum of its parts.
Plant foods provide all nutrients the human body requires — carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, fiber, — and sufficient calories. All these nutrients act like a symphony in the body with each nutrient doing its specific job and working in concert together. So, consuming a diet of whole plant-based food is truly a holistic approach that nourishes the whole body with the vital balance of nutrients.
Eating a whole food plant-based diet supports and promotes, what is called, ‘Spontaneous Healing’ which is where the body starts to heal and repair the damage done by damaging quantities of fat, protein, cholesterol, and chemicals ingested from the beef, chicken, cheese, refined flours, and sugars which are sources of present-day malnutrition—excesses and deficiencies of vital nutrients plague these foods.
Eating the right food is more effective for your health than any supplement or pill! The only two vitamins that are not produced by plants are vitamins D and B12. You can get vitamin D in some fortified cereals or from sunlight, and B12 you can get from a supplement.
For vegan or plant-based diets, it is recommended that pregnant and nursing women, and people following a plant-based diet strictly for more than 3 years, take five micrograms of vitamin B12 each day to ensure that they are getting an adequate supply of the vitamin. (Both vitamins are stored in your tissues for long periods of time.)
Did you know that heart disease is our #1 killer? Yet, you can prevent and reverse heart disease by saving your Endothelial Cells.
“The truth is that cardiovascular disease needn’t ever exist. It’s absolutely a toothless paper tiger. But if it does exist, it needn’t ever progress, as long as you are willing to change completely to an oil-free plant-based diet” ~ Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
The basic understanding we all need to accept is that with every meal of oil, dairy or meat we eat, within minutes, there is damage & injury to the “life jackets” of our vascular health–which is the single layer of endothelial cells that line all of our blood vessels. The endothelial cells produce the “magical gas” called nitric oxide which keeps our blood vessels relaxed, prevents our white blood cells & platelets from becoming sticky and prevents the growth of plaque–the dreaded “hardening of the arteries”.
And what can you eat to ensure that your endothelial cells will have the raw materials to produce this healing nitric oxide? Like beans & leafy greens. Load up on kale, collard, chard, bok choy & beans and you will be well on your way to healing the lining of your blood vessels.
On the positive side–as soon as we stop eating these damaging foods–the endothelial cells have the capacity for restoration. Switching to a whole food, plant-based diet trumps every other lifestyle modification you can make. It trumps exercise and it trumps stress management. Both are important–but diet is the trump card.
Switching to a plant-based diet even trumps the genetics card. As Esselstyn says, “Genetics only loads the gun–it’s diet that pulls the trigger.”
Reference: Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., M.D., from book: Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease
Watch this short video on the Endothelial cells from The Plantrician Project:
Kenny Brown attended our 2019 Plant-Based Health & Wellness Summit and has a story we believe should be heard it is truly emotional and life-changing for him and his family.
Meet Chef Kelley Williamson and Nutritionist Jerry Casados
Meet Chef Kelley
A Whole Food, Plant-Based (WFPB) Chef based in Denver, Colorado, Kelley Williamson offers personal chef services and cooking classes. To date, she has taught over 1,000 students how to heal through plant-based nutrition. A certified Food for Life Instructor through the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), Kelley has shared recipes and nutritional information under the business name Plant-Based Kitchen.
After a loved one experienced significant health issues, Kelley turned to a plant-based diet to support both his and her health. “The first week of stringent plant-based meals was tough, but after the first week, the food started tasting better and I learned how to adjust the recipes to make them wholesome and ‘kick butt’ tasty.”
Coming from an unhealthy Midwestern cooking style had her body craving fat, salt, and sugar, but switching to a whole-food, plant-based diet proved effective in reversing many of the diseases and illnesses she was facing in her home. She is now passionate about teaching others this lifestyle choice that leads to optimal health. Join Chef Kelley and other experts to learn more recipes, nutritional information and to enjoy chef-prepared cuisine.
About Nutritionist Jerry Casados, NTP
Jerry Casados is a Nutrition Therapy Practitioner (NTP) specializing in whole food, plant-based nutrition as an approach in preventing and even reversing most chronic diseases we have today based on decades of peer-reviewed scientific evidence. He provides nutrition counseling and programs to guide and educate clients to achieve their health objectives with a balanced and nutrient-dense, health-promoting diet.
As part of the nutrition counseling he develops meal plans, provides diet analyses, provides grocery shopping services (food label reading and choosing healthy options/alternatives), and he also provides customized nutrition programs for maximum weight loss, for chronic diseases such as Heart Disease, Diabetes, Autoimmune Disorders, Cancer, Obesity, Food Allergies, and Digestive Disorders. In addition to nutrition counseling, Jerry provides public nutrition education classes and seminars for people who want to transition to a healthy lifestyle with a health-promoting diet.
About the Plant-Based Health and Wellness Summit
The Plant-Based Health and Wellness Summit is an annual event that offers a transformational outlook on health, leaving you feeling empowered and in control of your vibrant life through a complete 2-day wellness education from world-renowned speakers, culinary chef demos, gourmet plant-based meals, and nutritional education. Discover long-lasting wellness, including weight loss, lowered cholesterol, diabetes prevention, and overcoming food addiction.
It is about the food and the healing power it provides when you eat nutrient-dense plant-based whole foods.
The theme of the Summit is about living a healthy lifestyle with the emphasis on the four major components of a healthy lifestyle: Diet/Nutrition, Stress Relieve, Love/Support, and Movement. The Summit is dedicated to broadening the understanding and knowledge about all four of these components.
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