Maneuvering Men's Aging Challenges with Dr. Eric Fong (vegan), Part 2 of 2

In Part 1, Dr. Fong discussed common men’s health challenges associated with the decline of certain hormones as they age and highlighted the importance of embracing a healthy lifestyle. Today, Dr. Fong will delve deeper into considerations when transitioning to a vegan dietary regime, one of the practices he recommends to his patients to positively adjust their way of life.

“It’s a common misconception to think that you just need to get protein from meat, which is definitely not true. The protein that comes from plants is much cleaner of a process to obtain. Because when you consume meat, you have to spend many calories breaking down the actual meat itself into amino acids. There’re enzymes called protease in the stomach that do that, which take a lot of energy, and it’s actually not good for the body, and people feel that too. Usually, after a big steak or a big meal of chicken, they feel sluggish, and they feel heavy. And that protein, you only absorb about 30 or 40% of that protein as well. And it causes inflammation within the body. So that’s probably another reason why people feel sluggish, or the energy levels can go down.

Living a healthy vegan lifestyle is very important. It’s definitely the best diet as far as prevention of any cardiovascular events in the future and overall health and well-being in general. It reduces inflammation, which can help your energy levels. It definitely helps with digestive issues as well. Many disease processes stem from eating meat, such as colon cancers and other cancers associated with meat as well throughout the body. So this is something I try to incorporate into my practice, spending the time to talk to them about the importance of these type of lifestyle changes that people can make for longevity purposes.”

Before our pause, Dr. Fong discussed his shock on discovering that a study’s findings that a vegan diet could reverse hardening of the arteries were not discussed in medical school and have not been embraced by the medical profession. “I think a lot of it has to do with the special interest groups too, having influence. And the meat industry is a billion dollar industry that can influence many different parts of politics.”