Ep. 150: Paul Young - This Firefighter Responded to His Own 911 Alarm Call with Plants

Paul Young is a hero. He's a husband, father of three, and has been a firefighter in Southern California for 17 years. He LOVES his life and his job. Imagine his surprise when he had his annual firefighting physical and received results that frightened him: 243 total cholesterol, 173 LDL, and a heart calcium score of 104, which put him in the 90th percentile in his age for a cardiac event. As Paul says, he thought he was healthy and had dabbled with whole-food plant-based nutrition but, after thoughtful consideration, realized he was still consuming too many processed foods, cheese, and seafood, and wasn't "all-in." Earlier this year, Paul went ALL IN and, in just a few short weeks, the results astonished even his Doctor. It inspired Paul to reach out to Rip. Paul graciously shares his story with Rip, his "why" wanting to improve his health, his doctor’s reaction when those follow-up tests came back, and what this means for his life and his family now. I can promise you - there’s no turning back for this firefighting brother who ditched the meat-and-potato firehouse culture for tofu and broccoli! Episode Timestamps 6:00 Rip introduces Paul 11:14 Almost 90% of his calls are medical calls and not fires! 13:10 What happened at his annual fire department physical? 15:07 Why he didn't want to take statins 16:21 The pitfalls of moderation 17:30 The results speak for themselves! 21:30 Feeling empowered and in control, despite a family history 22:50 A day in the life of Paul's diet 25:00 Reactions from the firehouse and the family 28:45 What happened when he found out his white blood cell count was low 31:15 What's next for this firefighting athlete? 35:40 Paul's advice for fellow firefighters Episode Resources Episode Webpage Watch the Episode on YouTube PLANTSTRONG Sedona Retreat - October 10th-15th, 2022 - Dr. Doug Lisle - the esteemed evolutionary psychologist and co-author of The Pleasure Trap - is attending our upcoming Sedona Retreat to give three of his paradigm-shifting lectures that help us understand all the forces working against us in our quest to live plantstrong. Once you SEE the system we live in - you can’t UNSEE it. And Dr. Lisle is a master in giving us language and tools to set ourselves on a permanent path to success. And great news! Our Sedona retreat has been approved for 21.5 CME credits for physicians and physician assistants. And 21.5 Nursing Contact Hours for nurses…. And 2.2 CEUs for other healthcare professionals as part of the registration fee for our PLANTSTRONG Retreat. PLANTSTRONG Foods - shop our official unsalted broths- and our growing assortment of other delicious products made without oil, added sugar, or excessive sodium. PLANTSTRONG Meal Planner Visit plantstrong.com for all PLANTSTRONG Resources, including books, recipes, foods and the PLANTSTRONG Coaching Programs Join the Free PLANTSTRONG Community with over 26,000 members Theme Music for Episode Promo Music: Your Love by Atch License: Creative Commons License - Attribution 3.0