The run up to his 50th birthday was traumatic.

Gastroenterologist Aaron Levy, MD, was grieving the deaths of 4 close friends and colleagues at the Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center who died of sudden heart attacks. Then a dad in his kid’s little league baseball program also died of a heart attack.

“That was around 2012, my kids were around 10 and 8-years-old, and I was really worried,” said Dr. Levy. “So, I started doing research that I could apply to helping my patients.”

He read the “China Study,” a book that detailed a massive epidemiological study supporting a plant-based diet. Before long he was convinced that eliminating or reducing meat from daily meals was the best way to help.

A plant-based diet includes unprocessed fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and legumes. It minimizes or excludes meat, fish, dairy, and eggs.

The diet can reduce, and in some cases, even reverse the risk for heart attacks. It also can help cure fatty liver disease, a dangerous condition caused by poor diet that his patients were being diagnosed with at what he called an alarming rate.

“I was learning that when patients switched to a plant-based diet because they had a heart attack, they got better. If they also had fatty liver disease, that got better, too,” he said.

Armed with his new evidence-based research, Dr. Levy proposed and ended up teaching, along with a chef, a plant-based diet class to patients at the Vallejo Medical Center for 5 years. Today, he teaches fellow physicians struggling with health issues about lifestyle medicine, which includes a plant-based diet.

Making the switch

Tri Tu, a 70-year-old retired data analyst from Santa Clara, switched to a plant-based diet at the beginning of this year after learning he had an 80% blockage in one of his coronary arteries. Tests also revealed he had a rare type of blood cancer.

“My doctor suggested I go to the lifestyle medicine class at Kaiser, and I started the plant-based diet,” said Tu.

Tu said his trips to Costco used to involve buying 5 or 10 pounds of wagyu beef and 10 to 20 pounds of king crab. Those days are over.

“I’ve lost 20 pounds, and my waist size went from 34 to 28. I used to be tired in the morning, but now I feel like a young, energetic man,” Tu said.

The change was relatively easy. He was motivated to live longer, he loves to cook, and he already “was in love with tofu.”

A little more plant, a little less meat

For some however, the change can be more difficult.

Allison Collins, MD, who was part of a team that recommended Tu try the new diet, said it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

“A lot of times any movement in the right direction is going to be beneficial, even if you cut out meat once a week,” said Dr. Collins, director of Lifestyle and Culinary Medicine at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center. “It’s not only cutting out animal products, but it’s also what you add. Every additional serving of vegetables, for example, can reduce your risk.”

For those who want to know more, Collins said Kaiser Permanente offers an online class called Whole Food Plant-Based Eating that is open to the public.

Dr. Levy said getting sick patients to adopt a plant-based diet is rooted in behavioral psychology.

“We learn to recognize when patients are open to making changes in their lifestyles, whether it’s a plant-based-diet or anything else,” said Dr. Levy. “Then we set specific goals that are measurable. We have lots of people to support it: a fantastic nutrition department, very effective dietitians, and excellent health coaches.”

Dr. Levy said a plant-based diet is more powerful than preventive medications for such issues as heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. But when the 2 are used together, “we are talking about magnitudes of positive effect.”

“Heart disease is the number one cause of death in this country, and one third of heart attacks are fatal. They don’t even make it to the hospital,” said Dr. Levy. “So, this work is really important to changing people’s lives.”