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Roots to Health with Dr. Craig Keever
Welcome to Roots to Health—where we dig deep into the foundation of lifelong wellness! Hosted by Dr. Craig Keever, Northwest Arkansas’ first and only plant-based pediatrician, this podcast unearths the power of nutrition, lifestyle, and holistic health to help kids, families, and adults thrive.
What can you expect?
Dr. Keever breaks down the science of nutrition and disease prevention in a way that’s simple, practical, and life-changing. From raising healthy kids to optimizing adult wellness, each episode delivers key insights that challenge conventional wisdom and empower you to take control of your health.
Whether he’s debunking nutrition myths, explaining how food shapes long-term well-being, or sharing actionable tips for disease prevention, Roots to Health is your go-to guide for vibrant living—one bite, one step, and one conversation at a time.
Get ready to rethink everything you thought you knew about health—and discover just how powerful roots can be!
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Roots to Health with Dr. Craig Keever
Plant-Based Beginnings: Finding Your Why
What drives someone to completely transform their eating habits? For Dr. Craig Keever, it was a health crisis – pushing 300 pounds with five medications for metabolic disorders that weren't improving his condition. His plant-based journey led to remarkable results: nearly 100 pounds lost and freedom from all medications. But health is just one of three powerful motivators explored in this foundational episode.
The hosts dive deep into the three compelling "whys" behind plant-based eating. While health transformation drives many, animal ethics provides another profound motivation. Factory farming conditions in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) create suffering that many find impossible to support once they understand the reality. Environmental concerns form the third pillar – with half of America's waterways unable to support aquatic life due largely to agricultural runoff.
Understanding your personal "why" creates the foundation for success, whether you choose to dive in completely or take gradual steps. The mindset shift proves crucial – moving from focusing on foods you "can't" eat to discovering an abundance of delicious new options. Dr. Keever shares practical strategies for beginners, including batch cooking, kitchen tool upgrades, and finding community support through resources like their "Keever's Plant-Based Tribe" Facebook group.
This episode provides an ideal starting point for anyone curious about plant-based eating. Whether health concerns, ethical considerations, or environmental awareness moves you, the hosts offer non-judgmental guidance and practical wisdom from their own journey. Visit ozarkpediatrics.org for a comprehensive collection of resources to support your plant-based exploration.
Thanks for listening to Roots To Health!
The information provided in this video is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have seen or heard in this video. Dr. Craig Keever is a licensed pediatrician, but the content shared here is general in nature and may not be applicable to your individual health needs.
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All right, I'd like to welcome everybody to another episode on Roots to Health. I'm Dr Craig Kiever and here to talk about our plant-based journey and all things centered around kind of lifestyle choices. We're creating this podcast, I think, primarily as a hopefully as a resource for people and just to kind of document the journey that we've had and, you know, passing along helpful things that you know we probably wish we would have known at a different time. You know we probably wish we would have known at a different time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I didn't know when my kids were growing up and myself how preventative care makes such a big difference in being able to avoid so many things that we're just kind of, you know, everybody's just told, oh, that's just normal aging.
Speaker 1:That's just normal, precisely. Yeah, in talking about adding to the whys of why we're doing this, the health benefits really was my story, I think in the first episode of our podcast. But you know, I was pushing 300 pounds and five medicines and several metabolic disorders high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea and it just wasn't getting any better and none of the medicines I was taking was what taking was actually making things better. You know, I've I've heard an analogy, um, not too long ago, um, about, um, uh, you know, throwing a medicine at problems like this, for instance, high cholesterol. Um, it's like knowing that your house has termites and all of a sudden, um, you have a hole in the wall related to the termites, and so what do you decide to do? Well, you get a picture and hang it up over the hole and say isn't it great my hole is gone.
Speaker 2:And we're taught that if we're taking the medicine we're good. Yeah, we've seen people that have taken medicine all their life and they have an early. You know it's not so good.
Speaker 1:Taking a medicine like that may give you proper numbers for cholesterol, but it's not doing anything to kill the termites. You know, the problems are still happening and I really loved that analogy. It was a I think it was a physician with his own YouTube channel that I saw that on. It was a great analogy. So, you know, in terms of what we're doing here today, this episode is going to be kind of about how to get started, you know, and so what I want to start with discussing is, you know, it's very important, if you're trying to figure out how to get started, to understand your why, right, your why is going to be the biggest thing that keeps you on track.
Speaker 2:Because the biggest thing about this is the mindset. It really isn't about food at that point.
Speaker 1:Exactly, it's a huge mindset change. You know, prior to going plant-based and prior to being as health conscious as I am, you know, eating the standard American diet, I guess I was kind of like an ostrich with his head in the sand. You know, I didn't want to know. There was a part of me that knew what I'm eating is not healthy and not particularly good for me. I tried often, um to make the healthier choices, but I didn't have much of a background to really figure out what those healthier choices were and what that actually looked like.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that biggest problem, I think, is what is the healthiest choice? What does health mean?
Speaker 1:because we've got so much information in the world now of like, and that's what I love about the plant-based side it's all science-based and you can trust, you know the information that you're getting from it very much, very much and and in reference to figuring out your why, um again, which is like the first question, I would encourage anybody thinking about this way of life to answer, because you just got to know those answers.
Speaker 1:So for me it was completely about my health. That's the only thing that I was worried about. I knew when I turned 50 and I was obese and all those health problems that I was a heart attack waiting to happen and that, very quickly, when the light bulb turned on, that was my why, and you knew it was only going to get worse. I knew it was only going to get worse. That's exactly right, and I and I also had some kind of a gut feeling, pun intended, that it really was a lifestyle issue and I could, I had. It was empowering to know and learn that I had ultimate control over an awful lot of what was going on in my body. Absolutely, that's incredibly empowering.
Speaker 2:My mom always said whether you have physicians in your life or not, you have to be your own advocate. You know you have to advocate for your own health because no one can really sit down and know everything about what your lifestyle is. It's really not talked about a lot in most typical medical practices. That's very true.
Speaker 1:What's your lifestyle? You might realize, you know, as I'm talking to my kids and their checkups as they're getting older, you know about lifestyle choices. You know what do we eat. You know I talk to them a lot about let's eat your fruits and vegetables. I always joke with them. You know I always tell my older kids, you know, particularly as they get up to around five and older than that, I say I got five words. I always want you to remember Just five, all year long till your next checkup. Five words eat your fruits and vegetables.
Speaker 1:And they look at me like with their eyes lighting up when I say fruits and then when I say vegetables, it's like so anyway. So that's the biggest why for me. Now, having said that, you know, for these kids, and most of whom don't have metabolic disease, although that's sadly changing as well we're getting a lot more obese children, as obesity is becoming a more accepted condition, and cholesterol getting up there and cholesterol and all that. That's crazy. But there's two other reasons to choose this way of eating and this lifestyle that are not talked about greatly, but I think it is apropos to talk about right now.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's true, because we're talking about finding our why and if you don't have particular urgent needs on the health care front, there are two other whys that are very valid, and the first of those is animal ethics. You know, and when I I don't talk about that often in my clinic, but when I do, when I do bring that topic up, my favorite thing to say is one look at a chicken truck on these highways of northwest arkansas, which we see quite a bit, and that'll give you your answer and you know that, like I didn't necessarily have the the blood work that you had, but the thing that really helped me stay put on this was the animal ethics.
Speaker 1:It really was a game changer exactly you know, and the biggest issue with animal ethics, of course, is related to these CAFOs, concentrating animal feeding organizations. That are operations that cram so many animals into a small amount of space and the conditions of the animals are terrible. The conditions of the animals are terrible. They're pumping them full of antibiotics and chemicals and hormones to maximize production and you know they're growing these chickens that can't walk because they're so big. They break their legs and you know it's a hideous industry.
Speaker 2:It's something to take a look at it really is.
Speaker 1:It can be a big motivator. There are many people that choose to eat a plant-based lifestyle strictly because of animal ethics, right, and so it's a very real thing and there's a lot of very good documentaries about that out there. And then the third thing that could be a why. And again, like you, you know, as I've gone down this journey. Well, I'm kind of fond of saying you know, if you would have mentioned any of these issues five to 10 years ago to me, I would have just said you know and what I? That affects all of us. That affects all of us. And I'll say I was really astounded two years ago when I took my plant based nutrition course through Cornell University.
Speaker 1:It's still a fact that just floors me 50 percent of all the waterways in this country and this is a verified research fact 50% of all the waterways, to include streams, ponds, reservoirs, lakes, name it 50% of all the waterways in this country do not support aquatic life. And why is that? Well, maybe not completely, but in large part related to some of these large animal feeding operations, dairy operations, you know all kinds of things. Well, you get run off from all these operations that get into your water table. What happens then? It creates an algae bloom We've all seen them, you know. Bloom, we've all seen them, you know. And then what happens? Well, the algae dies and sinks to the bottom, and then the bacteria take over. And then the next step, and the key step, is when the bacteria take over. They eat up all the oxygen in the water.
Speaker 2:No oxygen in the water no aquatic life and the oceans really are struggling, and the oceans are struggling, and this is totally evidenced.
Speaker 1:There's actually a dead zone at the mouth of the Mississippi River that's growing regularly every year, in large part due to all the runoff that's happening from all these big farm organizations. And then you throw on top of that the other thing that helps with the algae blooms too, is you get the feed that's needed to feed all these animals, and the fertilizer from that also runs off, you know, and so anyway, those can be the land, the trees that are cut down just to be a grass space for all those.
Speaker 1:Exactly so. Those are the three main whys. Exactly so, those are the three main whys. And, like I said, for me when I first got into this, the last two that I just discussed really didn't make a difference to me. But as I've gotten into this and looked at the reality of what's going on, I started to wake up to the cognitive dissonance that is out there in today's society and I was fully part of it and probably still am on some days today. You know it just doesn't register, but you know I'm trying to make a difference, as small as my difference makes.
Speaker 2:One of my favorite pastors says you have to kind of cross pollinate, you have to get out of your own area and once you get close enough to it you'll really it will impact you. I mean I can't watch the graphic things, but the sanctuaries where you see these are living, say shant beings that you know that want to be okay, mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:All right. So step one is just to kind of rehash a little bit that you know, because we've done several podcast episodes now and I think I've talked a little bit about these issues, but just to reaffirm what is plant-based eating? Okay, what are we talking about here? And that's basically a diet that focuses primarily on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. Now, true enough, I also talk a lot in my well-child checks at the office.
Speaker 1:You know the fact that while I choose to eat this way, with no meat, no dairy, no processed food, no sugar, no oil, okay, being plant-based doesn't necessarily require all of that. You know, I have to do that because of my health issues. All right, you know, I'm also fond of saying that I'm nobody's food police, right, and I do think that this lifestyle that I'm living with, complete reliance on plant-based diet, is the healthiest way, and I have evidence that's behind that. But there's probably and it's well recognized 80 to 90% of the world will never go completely plant-based. That doesn't mean you can't be partially plant-based, okay, you know. And to that end, the Mediterranean diet is a very good alternative for those that can't go completely plant-based for whatever reason.
Speaker 2:To the degree we've Americanized it a little bit. Well, I'm going to get to that. I know I'm probably getting ahead.
Speaker 1:No, that's absolutely right, Because I mentioned that. You know, the Americanized version of the Mediterranean diet is probably not the greatest idea, because our idea here in this country is okay, what is the Mediterranean diet? An emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables with a little bit of meat and oil. But in America then we douse everything with olive oil. You've kind of defeated the purpose and then you defeat the purpose. Yeah, so too much oil is, and we've talked about this in one of our other episodes about fats.
Speaker 2:It's just a processed food that's inflammatory and generally not very good for the problem is americans really don't like to be limited on much, but it there is something that you really just have to kind of monitor what you know, because sometimes we're not honest about what we're really taking in. You know like, oh, I eat vegetables, but it's like if it's doused in butter, and you know a lot of different things then.
Speaker 1:Exactly so.
Speaker 2:Maybe measure.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So just the point with all of that to me is is just stating that you know, an emphasis on plants is always going to be better for us, but Unless you have metabolic problems like I do, to be 100% strict about it and compliant with it may not be necessary. It's all about the proper ratios of macronutrients and how they're used.
Speaker 2:And I always say everybody goes about this differently, but if you don't go 100%, just don't blame the diet, don't blame that way of eating, exactly Because you're not going to get there. If you're, if you're trying to get cholesterol down and things and you're just kind of dipping your toe in it, that's OK, but that you can't blame.
Speaker 1:That is completely correct. Yeah, so it is a bit more of a challenge, I think it's. How should I say this? It's a slower process to allow your body to heal using a plant-based diet than it is. You know, as Americans we're used to a pill for every ill and you take the pill and it's gone. Well, it's not really gone. That's our perception, Okay, but to actually heal the body through nutrition does take more time. Some people can get very quick results in some areas. My blood sugar has been a bit stubborn at times, you know, and whether that's due to I didn't get compliant enough with the degree of fat in my diet, I don't know yet, but I have a suspicion that you know there's sometimes fats that encroach in my diet that I don't realize, and so that's the hardest thing is, I don't think people are really monitoring or want to long term monitor what they're actually taking in.
Speaker 1:So if you don't know.
Speaker 2:You can't really assess if you're not.
Speaker 1:That's right, you're not trying. So the next phase of this discussion today, just to briefly touch on. You know what are the benefits of plant based eating and we've kind of hinted at a few of them here already today. You know the health benefits. You know, as those of you that have heard my story and I mentioned earlier. You know, based on based on turning plant-based, I've lost nearly a hundred pounds. I no longer need to take five of them, any medicines, the only things I take are supplements.
Speaker 2:Right now, After having been on five different medicines. That's right, that's amazing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and and so chronic disease is treated using a plant based diet, if it's done long term and and done in a compliant fashion. You know other things. You know improve digestion. You know that's just a byproduct of getting enough and the right kinds of fiber. That's such a huge deal. And we I don't think we've done an episode for the podcast yet on fiber, but I've released a short I think that's either on my website or soon to be on my pediatric website about fiber. Just a hugely important topic that you know I never used to think about. You know, uh, didn't realize it, didn't even dawn on me to ask does meat have fiber?
Speaker 2:Right, you know, and that's another thing that people don't understand if you, they have interviewed people on the street and they'll say what has fiber in it? Oh, meat, you know. So it's like we kind of need to know where it is, I mean meat has no fiber.
Speaker 1:Yeah, period the end, you know, while it does have some as well. Is that right? Or that's correct too? Dairy animal-based products don't have fiber.
Speaker 2:You know um and and so um and really it's not saying that we're not saying we're not saying that protein's not important. Right of the two, if you're going to worry about how high your protein is versus if you're getting any fiber, fiber really is the more of the priority right.
Speaker 1:Right, very much so Well, and the issue here is really for our bodies to function properly digestion wise and a whole lot of other reasons wise we need a minimum of 30 grams of fiber a day. It's a huge thing for mental health, huge. It affects brain function, immune function, just our whole body hormone function. So, yeah, the amount of fiber that we get and the kinds of fiber we get are very important. And while it is important to get the proper amounts of protein, as I mentioned in the podcast on protein, it's really easy to get the right amount of protein. It just has to be monitored a little bit, you know, and not even over-monitored. It's just you know you eat enough beans and tofu and and it's protein without you know.
Speaker 2:People will say, oh, this is hormone-free meat. It's never hormone-free because it's another animal, it's got antibiotics in it and all this other stuff that's right. Bad stuff in the protein.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right. All right, and then other benefits of plant-based eating that we've kind of touched on, you know. The environment, um, you know, I don't remember the specific numbers, but in order to raise a cow takes I don't know how many thousands of gallons of water and to get a similar amount of food from plants, probably, if I remember correctly, was like a tenth of that. Oh gosh, yes, yeah, no sure. So that's just our water resource that you know, having so many cows, it, it will tap us out eventually, you know, in terms of resources. All right, so how to get started? We've spent 20 minutes on talking about the whys, how to get started.
Speaker 2:Well, I will say, you know, for me, but I think if the why is there, you're downhill from there.
Speaker 1:The why is really important. It's huge. So how did I get started? Well, the first time that it ever occurred to me that I might want to be plant-based was after I saw a documentary called Forks Over Knives, and I was a single guy at the time and I tried it as best as I could. I didn't have any particular resources that I dove into. I didn't think about looking on YouTube. I didn't really do YouTube much at that point and I didn't have a community. I didn't have friends that were plant-based, and so I just did the limited that I could, and I was relatively successful for about a month, maybe two. It wasn't a particular-.
Speaker 2:You're a creature of habit. You could eat the same meal.
Speaker 1:I can Every week. I need variety. But the problem was I didn't have community was the biggest problem and I didn't have anybody to talk with about other ways to approach this, and so I only lasted about a month or two and I did notice, as I vaguely recall some labs that I had done during that time that did improve, of my friends doing this, and you know, being the social creature that I can be, sometimes then, uh, you know it was just a deal, it's, it was unsustainable. Yeah, you know, um and so, um, I've talked about this with a number of people and you know there's there's no one way to get started. That's a correct way, right you?
Speaker 2:know you have to. It's good for your personnel.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you've got to figure out. Once you've figured out your why, then you kind of now one of the things that I did do initially, that I did maintain in terms of making a lifestyle change because I absolutely abhor the words I'm going on a diet, right, that just implies I'm going to eat one way for a while, get to my goals and then I'll go back. And that's why we yo-yo Okay, yeah, I'm not yo-yoing, yeah, it's a lifestyle change, it's not going on a diet. So once I made that commitment, that changed everything and the one commitment that I made early on, I stopped drinking soda, right, okay, and I like to tell my kids there are zero nutritional benefits to drinking soda. It's all chemicals and water and sugar and and if you're drinking diet, it's all chemicals and none of it's good for you.
Speaker 1:So I was able to, and have been able to, maintain that, and so for some people, getting started may include, you know, baby steps like that Taking one thing because I knew about myself if I were to eat, be eating the standard American diet one day and try to make an about face and eat a completely different healthy lifestyle quote, unquote healthy lifestyle that would last maybe, maybe three or four days and I'd get tired of it and overwhelmed, and so part of the thing that I did was take those baby steps and make lifestyle changes that were consistent, and eventually I did have to dive in. But to your point that you mentioned earlier, I could not expect a the changes that I really wanted to see to be happening until I was able to be fully compliant. Ok, but having said that, I did notice when I stopped drinking soda, you know, some things got a little better. I did lose a little bit of weight, you know.
Speaker 2:It's been my experience and this is just my experience, and maybe this is just my experience, but it feels like people that dive in and commit to it do actually end up doing better because they kind of again the mindset. They kind of like get their house rid of all the junk, they get all the stuff. It's not an option, and so it's really hard with the food addictions. We have to dip our toe in it. Yeah, it is, it is. I mean, I love cheese like nobody's business, and if you gave me an ounce of it it's gonna be a problem, you know.
Speaker 1:So it's like I feel like that really does seem to go well yeah, well, another alternative um to this, you know, is maybe picking one day a week and say, on this day, this is all plant-based for sure, and that's a great way if you're not sure if you want to do this or not just give it a try, just give it a try yeah, and then you don't tell yourself there's all these no's just like.
Speaker 2:That's right. This is a choice I'm making.
Speaker 1:Well, that's right, and and and. To that end, I do think that it's kind of a big deal. Um, you know, at first for me it really was on one level, about everything that I can't eat.
Speaker 2:And that's hard going in like that Right, it was for me too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so you'll notice, and I can rip this off pretty quick Okay, I eat no meat, no dairy, no processed food, no sugar, no oil.
Speaker 2:What yeah?
Speaker 1:Now, that's just about everything I used to eat, yeah Right, just about everything I used to eat, yeah Right. So what it? What happened as I changed was my eyes started to open and I realized how many more new foods I was getting, for sure. Ok. And so then, instead of became, instead of the game of what I can't eat, it started to become, oh, a recognition of what I can and am eating and what you're gaining your life by losing that oh my goodness to be able to know.
Speaker 2:I mean, I had a lot of concern about the. I had all those fibromyalgia symptoms and really weird symptoms at night, not sleeping, you know, to kind of rest my mind was and does. Actually, inflammation happens in the brain too, and so when you have inflammation all over your body, you're going to have more anxiety in general, because of it Very much so.
Speaker 1:So you know, and in terms of getting started, then, like we've, I think, alluded to a little bit here, you know one of the really fun things about to a little bit here, you know, one of the really fun things about, especially at first, is experimenting with new recipes.
Speaker 2:We just had our brownie on the way over here, yeah, a completely plant-based brownie that's compliant with everything for me.
Speaker 1:There's no sugar added, yeah. So, yeah, all kinds of different things. And Amy has, so graciously since we've started this journey, made it her mission in life to create all of our favorite comfort foods from the standard American diet into plant-based, compliant foods. Because I will tell you right here and now, if I was not enjoying what I was eating four and a half years later into this, I would not be doing it. Yeah, I love the way we eat. Yeah, and it's very tasty, very satisfying and very fulfilling. These are those spices.
Speaker 2:You know people think that it's going to be bland and it's like and when you read off all that we can eat, it's like okay, that seems. You know you don't think about the flavors that you can add to that, so spices are a huge part of that yeah to be able to cut down your salt intake as well, if you can spice something up oh yeah miso is a good salty flavoring, but it does not affect your blood blood pressure at all.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's very so. Another thing in terms of getting started she alluded to um, you know kind of um stocking your pantry, kind of thing. I think a few minutes ago, um, I found for me, um, it was really important to get rid of the garbage Once. I really did commit to this. This. It's hard. If it's there, I tell you. If it's in my, even today, yeah, very often not always I'm better about it, but if it's in my house and it's probably.
Speaker 2:We have animal products in our house, but you are like referencing, like maybe some bread that's maybe not top of the list, bread that's not so compliant or sweets of some sort.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, I mean those are my weaknesses, you know. So yeah, I mean, fortunately there is an Ezekiel bread that is compliant and works very well for me and I even now like the taste. And you know it may take a little getting used to but some people don't and may never, but I actually like it.
Speaker 1:He means me, I'm not as crazy about it, but you know the other thing that we did, because this is a big change in lifestyle and a big change in like you mentioned earlier a thought process, a mindset. We don't go out to eat nearly like we used to, and that's kind of a big social gap. It's a big thing, okay. So one of the things that we've done from time to time is, you know, we add new things to our kitchen, new toys to play with. Yeah, you know, because we're not spending all that money on going out to eat anymore. We've got a little more money we can put into having some new tools in our kitchen free, free platters, yeah, keeping things stocked in that way from the tools that allow us to do more fun things with our food, and so the time that we historically spent eating out may be sometimes spent now doing things in the kitchen.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's like depends on who you are. Dr McDougall was all no nonsense, but I like to even put like little you know, parchment paper down and make it look like it would be plated. Even so, it's like you know, if you miss it, then make it special at home. So absolutely.
Speaker 1:And then, uh, you know, the other thing that's, I think, really important to recognize in in this is that, because we don't go out to eat so much, food prep is a big deal, yeah, and it does take more time. It does, you know. And to that end, one thing that can really help is batch cooking, you know. So you know, if you're going to make one meal, it's almost just as easy to make five, and then you've got those in your fridge right to just put in the microwave and bam, you know I think, especially in the beginning, it doesn't.
Speaker 2:If you don't like the idea of that, that's fine, but I do think it's really it's. It's like if it's there you'll eat it and if, if something else you know, then you're going to go get takeout. If not, and so it really does, it's all that preparation know, meets opportunity, kind of thing, yeah.
Speaker 1:So bottom line is in terms of getting started, I think, especially if you're very new to this process, I think a couple of buzzwords. Patience is the number one, I mean and and be gracious to yourself, yeah, ok, I mean. Even four and a half years into this, I'm not 100% compliant, you know I've been compliant enough to lose some weight and gain some health back. There are still issues I'm working on, you know. So patience, although the flip side of that coin is you don't want to give yourself so much grace.
Speaker 2:That grace can go both ways. Yeah, you don't want to give yourself so much grace.
Speaker 1:That grace can go both ways. Yeah, you don't want to give yourself so much grace that you never get started.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, so there's a balance to be had with that but make promises to yourself, because the best thing, it's the hardest thing when you want, when you break a promise to yourself. So if you've set a goal, just do your best to try to stay with it.
Speaker 1:It'll feel good and some, some but, but some amount of flexibility is really important in this.
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah this is hard, this is one of the hardest things. I mean, I don't want to make people feel like, oh, I can't do it, but it's hard, you know in the beginning. Well, and especially in this culture you have to be a maverick, that's right. The reason?
Speaker 1:yeah, the reason that it's difficult is because of the culture we live in. Sure, you know where junk food is so readily available and the convenience factor is a big deal, and that's why batch cooking can be a really helpful thing. Yeah, so sure. So at this point you know resources and any other final tips. I think you know we have a resource page on Ozarkpediatricsorg. When you log into that website, one of the tabs at the top of the page says plant-based resources. That'll give you links to multiple documentaries, youtube videos, websites, books and cookbooks. We enjoy sharing those. That's a free service for anybody that wants to log into my website.
Speaker 2:Well, and they don't have to log in, they don't have to give any kind of email information. You know, so they can go, come and go, don't have to log in, they don't have to give any kind of email information. Right, you know. So they can go, come and go as they want to.
Speaker 2:As far as that's concerned, so that's one quick place to start as a just kind of a general resource page, and you know there's all kinds of good books out there from our plant-based network that there is in this country and our Facebook page is on there keevers plant-based tribe, and so that's a community in itself where everybody kind of comes together and because you know, in the beginning you're like, oh, I tried so many recipes like with ranch dressing and stuff that I just didn't like. So if you can kind of cut that down for someone and say, ah, I love this one, this one's great, yeah, if you don't like it, don't think that that means there's not a good one out there, for you just got to find what's good for you, you bet, yeah.
Speaker 1:So yeah, don't forget that one, the keepers plant based tribe, where we administrate that, just because we don't want trolls on our facebook page. So, um, you know, as long as, you're nice.
Speaker 2:most of the plant-based pages, yeah, most of the plant based pages we liked, but they're pretty rigid for beginners, yeah. So we wanted a more flexible page where everybody can kind of feel comfortable, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so that Facebook page is really about asking questions and being in a place that you're you know you're not going to get attacked, right? You know, some of those straight vegan pages are, like she said, pretty rigid.
Speaker 2:And my first post on our page is we don't do that here.
Speaker 1:Yeah exactly.
Speaker 1:All right. So I think we pretty well summarized. I think getting started is a mindset change and you can approach that in different ways, from taking baby steps to just jumping right in. I do think it's easier to jump in if you've got a community. We're just huge on this. It is. It's a really big deal and, to that end, one of the beautiful things that we've got going on in this area. My favorite lifestyle medicine doctor her name is Dr Cynthia Morgan. Yes, you, my favorite lifestyle medicine doctor her name is Dr Cynthia Morgan. She has a monthly plant-based evening potluck where people bring their special recipes. They're all compliant and we have a nice social evening to that effect. We have tried that and just found the pace of our lives at the moment that is difficult for us to be maintaining right now, but we may still have more of those in the future and we need to try to put that on our website so that, if anybody's interested in that, they can contact Dr Morgan and get on her email address for sure.
Speaker 2:so alright, I'll have that on there by the time this is released Very good.
Speaker 1:Well, I'd like to thank you all for tuning in and hopefully this provided a few points for getting started on your own plant based journey. However, that's going to look for you. Thank you, thank you.
