I dumped meat, dairy after chemo

The Bee article, “Farms in a beef over cattle gas,” gave the impression that the 5.5 million cows that cause half the pollution in the Valley are necessary. I had cancer at age 60 and after chemo, my wife and I watched “Forks over Knives” by two doctors who had grown up on farms.

My wife got rid of all meat and dairy the next day. After reading “Comfortable Unaware,” and seeing the documentary “Cowspiracy,” I learned how many of our common killers come from diet and how the Food and Drug Administration supports the dairy industry. We don’t subsidize fruits and veggies.

My research at nutritionfacts.org taught me how wrong my professors were about protein in my exercise physiology classes. I taught others the same misinformation as a personal trainer. Today, I am correcting that mistake.

At the gym, some men ask how I can be so strong from a vegan diet.

“Where do you get your protein?” I say I get it from the same place Kendrick Farris, a vegan, and the only American weightlifter to make it to the Olympics, gets his. Plus, we don’t kill any animals that were suffering and living horrible lives in the process.

This story was originally published August 24, 2016 at 12:17 PM with the headline "I dumped meat, dairy after chemo."