Heads Up ✔

been confined to a wheelchair for 39 years, ever since being diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy (MD). So when she was given the additional diagnosis of type 2 diabetes—difficult for anyone, but devastating for someone confined to a chair—Wheelock felt, which spoke to the necessity of adopting a whole foods, plant-based diet. Jennifer joined Norma on this quest, and—as a last resort before the disease took a stranglehold on her beloved mother—the two of them went vegan together. A year later, Norma’s weight was down, her ankle swelling was gone, her hemoglobin was normal, her chronic sinus infections were greatly improved, and her blood glucose levels and fatty liver enzymes were average again. Whereas before, a simple infection could be life-threatening—due to uncontrolled sugar levels’ effect on the body’s ability to heal wounds—Norma now heals from them quickly and easily. “I know it is because of the strong foundation of health gained by my vegan diet,” she says. And whereas before, she was unable to hold her head up, now she holds it higher than ever—proud of the fact that her diet is in alignment with her fundamental needs. “For someone like me—unable to walk, confined to a wheelchair—the ability to regain my health simply with food as medicine is miraculous.”