Some bad news, need some help

So sorry to hear about your cousin. I am actually a vegetarian these last 5 years. There are tons of great veggie choices in the freezer sections and fresh sections pre-made. Great sausage and burgers. Morningstar is the traditional go to. Smart start sausage is awesome. Mushrooms portabella or regular great on the grill or smoker. Done some great zucchini as well. If he is new I would go with pre-fab food choices but cooked on a smoker. Veggie bacon is awful IMO. Have him Watch forks over knives for motivation. There are great meat alternatives. I know this won't be the most popular response on the brethren but if he wants to give it a shot it can include plenty of tasty choices. Best of luck. Vegan is much tougher because of the no egg or cheese choices. But try a veggie burger. Delicious. My prayers and thoughts will be with him. We cook every weekend and I still love being involved. I just have side dishes or meat alternatives. You can do chicken alternative for taco's and you can just throw them on the grill and put in tacos. I just started eating some fish this year because it makes it more fun to cook. Lots of healthy omega 3 fats but be smart if not farmed choices for the carcinogenics and dangerous antibiotics. We all should be smart to eat organic if it is meat or veggies to avoid dangerous chemicals. PIZZA is easy to make vegan but delicious, use lots of different flavors. We use Jalapeno olive oil on shiitake mushrooms with kalmata olives and veggies and grill it and it is amazing. Put Avocado on everything, healthy fats, and don't be afraid of balsamic or balsamic reductions for crazy taste. Best of luck. If you have any questions I might be able to help I would be honored to respond in a PM.

About 10 years ago I became a charter member of the the zipper club, after my 4 way bypass, except for sodium and carbs I was never told to change my diet. Had a semi annual check up just yesterday, and ask the doc about this she laughed and did not encourage such a change. By the way my exam went great, better then expected , even thought I have stopped taking Staten's, and reduced down from 14 prescriptions to just 4, three of which are for my diabetes. My cholesterol was just a little high, as were my triglycerides, in fact the doc told me to cut back on some of the meds, I did not have the hart , no pun intended, to tell her I have not taken them for a long time not. Blood pressure 119/68, so get another opinion, would seem to be in order here. My A1C was 6.4.
Dave

This showed up in my email, for whats it's worth.
20 Grilled Vegetarian Entrees
http://www.myrecipes.com/special-di...meatless-main-dish-recipes?iid=news-ws-061916

Whaaatttt????

dadsr4 said:

This showed up in my email, for whats it's worth.
20 Grilled Vegetarian Entrees
http://www.myrecipes.com/special-di...meatless-main-dish-recipes?iid=news-ws-061916

Click to expand...

You may have changed my life forever. Great post thank you so much. I love it. :grin::grin::grin: That is a great link.

and fish on the smoker is also good and healthy

T&S BBQ said:

My cousin, the other half of T&S BBQ, had to have open heart surgery last week. Seems he was a little plugged up, a quint able bypass repaired the problem, but now the doc is saying he needs to go Vegan. OMG, what a shocker, he loves bbq and every thing about it. He's the one that got me started. So I was wondering if anyone out there had any veggie or something Vegan that could be smoked. He might not go full Vegan forever, but for now he needs to be careful. So any recopies or such would be great. I would love to take him a meal that was smoked that he could eat. Thanks for any help you can give.

Click to expand...

I didn't read all the replies, sorry, but I do feel qualified to answer this.

I had quadruple bypass surgery in 1992. I was 37 years old at the time. I remember just about all of it, including waking up briefly in the middle of the surgery (more common than you think, but that's a story for another time).

After the surgery, right before rehab, I was told that I would have to change my diet. I would have to be vegetarian, and more: not just meat, but fish, eggs, cheese, milk, everything. All my starches had to be brown: brown bread, brown rice, brown pasta, and sweet potatoes instead of potatoes. And in addition to that, no oils either; not even olive oil. I would eat vegetables, beans, fruits, grains, and legumes.

At the beginning of this, after surgery but before rehab, I weighed 260 and my LDL was 180; kind of high. For one year, I exercised daily, and ate not one gram of dietary fat. I was one sick food nazi.

At the end of one year, I weighed 221, and my LDL was 201.

So, I started taking Zocor (simvastatin) and I started eating meat, and all the other stuff that makes life wonderful.

Notice one thing: I had my bypass surgery in 1992, and it is 2016. I don't want to tempt fate, but here I am typing this. I had my last blood work done in April, and all the numbers are right in line. I don't weigh 221 any more, but life happens, and dieting is a completely different subject anyhow.

I'm not a doctor. But I suggest your cousin get a second opinion. There is life post-bypass that includes meat.

Since this isn't the place to dispense medical advice I will simply suggest he find another doctor. There are many out there who would likely advocate a low carb paleo approach to improve his health.

Hope all is well with your cousin and that he recovers quickly. It's rough that he had to go through that, but at least it was caught in time!