Katherine Lawrence was just 27 years old when she found out she had Stage 4 endometriosis,
an advanced reproductive disease presenting with painful ovarian and uterine cysts.
This explained why she had been in excruciating pain for the last 6 months however there was
no treatment for the disease only a hysterectomy, which meant she would not be able to have
children.
Let’s hear from Dr Neal Barnard as he shares what happened next…There’s a woman named
Katherine Lawrence her story is very striking she was in the Air Force, an Aerospace engineer,
she was one of the first people going into Iraq.
Her tour of duty comes to an end and she goes back home to Louisiana and all her friends
say “ Katherine, let’s eat, you’re home!” and what does she love the most?
Cheese, Mac and Cheese, cheetos all that stuff.
She had a friend who knew she loved Mac and cheese and they gave her a case of 48 mac
and cheese boxes.
For 48 days straight Katherine ate mac and cheese out of a box, anyway she gained weight
and she also started having these pains in her abdomen, as the months went by it got
worse and worse and worse and her doctor diagnosed endometriosis which is a condition where cells
that are supposed to be inside your uterus migrate out and they seed around your abdomen
and they start swelling with your cycle and the pain is terrible and it also causes infertility
and the treatment is a hysterectomy, in a lot of cases.
She said to her doctor “I’d rather not have a hysterectomy Id like to have a family”
and this was the treatment and she was not getting better so they scheduled it.
Anyway a friend said to her “why don’t you try a plant based diet because there’s
a lot of evidence that that will affect your hormones, your hormone balance and what you’ve
got is a hormonal issue” and she was really half hearted about it but she thought like
what’s my choice.
So she went 100% vegan, no dairy, no cheese and no animal products at all and she started
feeing better, she started losing weight, week after week she was losing weight and
as time went on all of these abdominal symptoms started to just go away.
So she went back to her doctor who did a laparoscopy, you look into the abdomen with a scope.
He looks all around, the doctor is looking all around, and then sends her into the recovery
room.
The doctor goes into the waiting room to talk to her husband and he said “her endometriosis
is practically gone!”
Her husband said “you know she changed her diet she went 100% vegan and she’s been
feeling better week by week and her pain has been going away” and the doctor said “No,
no no, no, foods do not cause endometriosis and there is no way that a diet change is
going to heal it.
There’s only one explanation for this, this is a miracle!!!”
But anyway she never had the operation, she didn’t have the hysterectomy, her endometriosis
is gone, she’s got two kids and in fact her third child is on the way and she has
now become a food for life instructor working with PCRM to tell other women and men about
how foods affect your body.
Katherine said the reason why she tried the plant based diet was really so she could tell
her mother she’d had tried everything while waiting for the hysterectomy.
When she changed her diet, to start with she ate pretty much just brown rice, broccoli
and beans for 6 weeks straight.
Then she discovered the book The China Study, amongst other resources.
She said that after about six months of eating whole, plant foods she saw some dramatic changes.
Not only had her reproductive problems almost disappeared her cholesterol dropped from 178
to 128, she lost over 50 pounds and saw new hair growth.
Her reproductive problems never returned but she also realized that the fibrotic cysts
she had in her breasts since puberty were completely gone.
This was something her mother, grandmother and cousin had and yet Katherine’s had completely
dissolved.
Her children are plant based and were conceived naturally and benefited greatly from her vegan
pregnancies.
A regular breakfast for Katherine and her family is quinoa, sweet potatoes & beans,
or grits, greens and tofu.
Green smoothies are also a big feature in their household.
Katherine now teaches cooking & nutrition classes and shares the power of a plant-based
diet.
Katherine says quote” I’ve witnessed the reversal of dozens of debilitating ailments:
Type 2 diabetes, arthritis, IBS, colitis, breast cancer, gout, obesity, heart disease,
high blood pressure, Crohn’s disease, osteoporosis, and many others.
My favorite topic to explain is the importance of dietary fiber, I believe it is the root
of most healing.”