Pharmacist Steve Gavrilos, who leads a Plant-Based Wellness Forum, promoting health through a plant- based diet, is pictured at his Eastown Pharmacy, Wednesday, Feb. 5. Dax Melmer / Windsor Star
Steve Gavrilos is hard core when it comes to healthy eating.
The 57-year-old pharmacist credits the trendy whole-foods, plant-based diet with saving him from a future full of medical intervention.
“I thank God that I found this,” Gavrilos said. “It’s a fountain of youth for me.”
Eschewing animal products and processed foods, Gavrilos took up an eating plan ripe with fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains shortly after failing a cardiac stress test three years ago.
He lost 40 pounds over 18 months and was given a clean bill of health by his doctors.
“I had no medical intervention, no stent, no bypass,” Gavrilos said. “Once I did that, I said, I want to tell my patients about it.”
Gavrilos’s vegan eating plan includes little to no oil to avoid fat and high calories and no added sugar. He doesn’t eat meat, chicken, fowl, dairy, eggs, cheese, fish or seafood — anything with a “face or a mother,” is how he describes it.
The whole foods diet lines up quite well with Canada’s updated Food Guide, said Heather Nadon, a registered dietician with the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit.
“Canada’s Food Guide (recommends) Canadians eat more whole foods such as vegetables and fruit, whole grains and protein foods most often,” Nadon said. “Not only to make healthy eating a habit but also to maintain health because there are a lot of benefits to eating this way.”
The guide suggests eating a variety of foods each day, replacing sugary drinks with water, limiting highly processed foods and choosing plant-based protein foods more often. A balanced meal now includes half a plate of vegetables, one-quarter protein and one-quarter whole grains.
Nadon said following the food guide or eating vegan means a diet full of fibre and less saturated fat that “can have a positive effect on health, which includes a lower risk of things like cancer and heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.”
She said the problem with highly processed foods and prepared foods or drinks is they tend to have too much sodium, sugar or saturated fat. And eating things like fast food, frozen entrees, baked goods, sugary drinks, sausages and deli meats on a regular basis “can increase the risk of chronic disease.”
Better health is just one of the reasons to avoid animal-based products. Environmentalists and animal activists point to the effects of global warming attributed to greenhouse gases produced by farm animals and animal welfare concerns based both on how animals are raised and how they are killed.
Beans and lentils are pictured at the Eastown Pharmacy where pharmacist Steve Gavrilos leads a Plant-Based Wellness Forum, promoting health through a plant-based diet.
Dax Melmer / Windsor Star
The whole food trend is growing in popularity as celebrities throw their star power behind the movement.
American actor, environmentalist and Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix called for social change on many levels during his recent acceptance speech at the recent Academy Awards.
“We’re talking about the fight against the belief that one nation, one race, one gender or one species has the right to dominate, control and use and exploit another with impunity,” he said, before imploring people to give up animal products for the good of the planet.
The Golden Globes awards served up a vegan meal to movie and TV star attendees who normally nosh on chicken. The animal-free menu included beet soup, a king oyster mushroom entree and a dessert made of chocolate, pralines and hazelnuts.
Actor Joaquin Phoenix spoke out at the Academy Awards Sunday, imploring people to give up animal products for the good of the planet.
JEAN-BAPTISTE LACROIX / AFP via Getty Images
And Canadian songstress and actor Jann Arden has spoken publicly about her move to an alcohol-free, plant-based diet for health reasons.
“I’m now plant-based, which is serving me well. I feel good,” she told eatnorth.com’s Katy Bond last year.
Gavrilos wants to share his experience and his extensive research on healthful eating through his newly founded Plant-Based Wellness Forum.
He hosts seminars at his Eastown Pharmacy twice a month to teach, to discuss and exchange views on whole food, plant-based nutrition and its role in overall health, including the prevention and reversal of diseases.
But Gavrilos understands not everyone is able or willing to go as hardline as him when it comes to avoiding less healthy food options.
“Use meat as a garnish. Don’t make it the main part of your meal,” he suggested. “If you can’t go 100 per cent but you want to improve your health, maybe take less medication, go 50 per cent.
“I love being a pharmacist but at the same time, I want to do something that’s actually going to help my patients get better,” he said. “We’re all reliant on a false sense of security on prescription drugs. The problem with that is … you never cure the problem.”
Plant-based Forum
The next Plant-Based Wellness Forum health talk is Feb. 19 at 7 p.m., at Eastown Pharmacy, 2050 Lauzon Rd. The topic is regeneration and longevity with some fasting featuring The Longevity Diet by Valter Longo. Call 519-974-7776 or email etpharmacy@hotmail.com to reserve a seat.
