OUR STORY
Back in 1990, Jeff and Sabrina Nelson read a book called “Diet for a New America” by John Robbins. It prompted them to go vegetarian, for health and animal reasons.
One day in 1995, Sabrina’s ears became red, inflamed and extremely painful. After bouncing around to different doctors, she landed in the office of a noted rheumatologist. The rheumatologist diagnosed her with relapsying polychondritis (RP). RP is a painful, often-fatal autoimmune disease, where your body’s immune system attacks its own cartilage.
No one knows what causes RP, or how to stop it. The rheumatologist prescribed Sabrina medications and steroids. He said he could help her to live with the disease. Sabrina continued to suffer painful flair-ups and relapses. She learned, as well, that RP had a ten-year survival rate of 55% – meaning it was basically a coin toss whether she would be alive in 10 years.
About a year after her diagnosis, while experiencing a flare up, Sabrina read a book someone had given her a year earlier, called The McDougall Program, by John McDougall MD. In the book, Dr. McDougall discussed how a lowfat, 100% plant-based diet could be effective to stop autoimmune diseases like lupus.
CURE
This caught Sabrina’s full attention – because RP is in the lupus family. Sabrina decided she wanted to try the dairy-free low-fat diet advocated by Dr. McDougall.
Three weeks after starting the diet, Sabrina had her monthly appointment with the rheumatologist. He ran the usual tests – and told Sabrina that her SED rate was below 5 for the first time in a year. It had been above 50 since her diagnosis. He also noted that the anti-nuclear antibodies in her blood – an indirect measure of RP activity – weren’t present for the first time.
Sabrina returned to her rheumatologist for monthly appointments. He repeated the tests and each time got the same positive results. Meanwhile the RP flare-ups had stopped.
After the third monthly appointment with no sign of RP, the rheumatologist told her: “You’re in remission.” He also mentioned her cholesterol had plummeted. He said: “Your dietary strategy is working.”
That was about 30 years ago, and Sabrina has been free of RP since.
THRIVING
The Nelsons felt Sabrina had dodged a bullet. They were grateful to have found this diet information, wanted to give back, wanted to spread the word about the power of plant-based diets to restore health. They opened this website in 1996 – as their form of kitchen activism.
As part of their work, they sought out, befriended, and helped many of the top plant-based doctors, dietitians, organizations and vegan advocates – to have a web presence. They built and hosted for free many of the early websites for people like Dr. McDougall, Dr. Esselstyn, Dr. Klaper, Dr. Greger, PCRM, Farm Sanctuary, and many many others.
Jeff and Sabrina went on to produce dozens of events, documentaries, and travel programs. They started a nonprofit program called “Meals for Health” where they took the healthy low-fat plant-based diet into underserved communities – and got scores of people off medications as they reversed their own serious health problems.
Jeff and Sabrina put on an annual Healthy Lifestyle Expo, which began in 2001 – bringing together top medical and nutrition experts in the plant-based universe, and educating hundreds of thousands through the internet.
INNOVATORS
Sabrina also bought the url for name of the disease she beat and created – RelapsingPolychondritis.com – where she told her story of successfully arresting her RP through a whole food, low-fat plant-based diet. Since then, hundreds have written to her saying they found her site after getting their own RP diagnosis – changed their diet, and put their own disease into remission, or dramatically improved. One woman flew 4,000 miles to an event we put on in Hawaii “to meet the woman who saved my life” – after the woman had put her own RP into remission years earlier, from finding Sabrina’s website and story.
Many family members of Jeff and Sabrina ended up following suit and adopting plant-based eating over the years, reversing conditions like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, even prostate cancer. Jeff and Sabrina’s daughters, Nina and Randa, cleared devastating, severe cystic acne using Dr. McDougall’s diet advice. Today they teach others how to do the same thing.
Having raised three kids vegan, the Nelsons have learned – and shared – a great deal about plant-based family life.
Today Jeff provides commentary and investigative reporting on issues of potential interest to the plant-based community.
