Woman sings the praises of eating a plant-based diet

Dear Annie: I’m a 62-yearold woman. Twelve months ago, at my check up, my doctor recommended that I eliminate animal products from my diet due to high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

Now a year has passed without any meat, dairy, cheese, fish or eggs. My cholesterol dropped 160 points, my blood pressure is normal. I’m off all medications. My energy is through the roof, and I just signed up for a marathon! I want to be a positive influence on my friends and family members who suffer the same ailments. But they absolutely don’t want to hear about it. They seem to think my diet is crazy.

So, I quietly continue to eat my beautiful and delicious plants, grains and fruits, and try to be a good example to my friends. What can I do to positively impact my family’s health without coming off like an overbearing fanatic?

Pass Me the Veggies

Dear Veggies: Until your family is ready to hear it, the more you try to talk this up, the less they’ll listen. Rest assured that there’s no better advertisement for your new lifestyle than you: Your exuberant example will attract others to the diet.

Dear Annie: Can people who pass away from a drug overdose donate their organs? I read an obituary for someone who died of a drug overdose. The family was proud to announce that the deceased was donating MANY of his organs. Do doctors think these organs are safe, especially if the person was using for at least 10 years?

Wondering

Dear Wondering: A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that “overdose-death donors accounted for 1.1% of donors in 2000 and 13.4% in 2017.” This same study found that receiving an organ from someone who had died of an overdose was not associated with worse health outcomes.

If a donor’s organs are considered to be at higher risk for HIV, doctors are required to disclose this information to would-be recipients. Doctors must also disclose if organs came from an older person and might not last as long. I encourage anyone awaiting a transplant who is concerned about this issue to speak with their doctor.