
Plants vs. diabetes: Toledo man reverses diagnosis by adopting vegetarian diet
Plants vs. diabetes: Toledo man reverses diagnosis by adopting vegetarian diet
Norm Baird inspects a chair rung in his Toledo-area workshop. An avid woodworker, Baird has been able to spend longer hours pursuing his hobby after reversing his Type II diabetes diagnosis.
TOLEDO As a former Type II diabetic, Norm Baird admits that he used to abuse dairy. For years, the retired engineer enjoyed eggs and loved yogurt. He used to cut off little pieces of cheese to nibble on as he passed through his kitchen. His diet resembled a typical Americans: high in sugar, processed foods, meat and scant on vegetables.
But the silver-haired Toledo resident and cancer survivor no longer looks like a dairy abuser, having shed about 65 pounds and his diabetes diagnosis after adopting a plants-based diet in February 2016.
The 72-year-old is one of a small but growing number of people who have opted to go vegan or near-vegan as a first-line treatment for chronic weight- and diet-related illnesses such diabetes.
With more than two-thirds of American adults considered to be overweight or obese, diabetes is one of the leading causes of death in the country. The number of people with Type II diabetes is expected to double by 2030, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In Washington, Cowlitz County ranks 10th among the states 39 counties in prevalence of the disease. About 13 percent of Cowlitz residents are living with the condition, according to a chronic disease report by the Washington State Department of Health. Thats more than a third higher than the statewide ave
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