I joke that the husband is a born-again vegan.

When he first started eating plant based he felt so good and had such dramatic weight loss and health improvements that he wanted to share the good news with everyone. He was quite shocked to find out that no one wanted to know.

I had to explain to him many times that he previously had also rejected everything I had ever tried to tell him about the links between diet and disease. He would listen to me and then pour several more cups of cheese over his dinner. (That’s not an exaggeration.)

I talk about diet all day long with pet owners. There are direct links between quality of diet and allergies especially. There are certain popular foods that my staff know automatically trigger a handout on choosing a diet if the person mentions that they are feeding them to their pets. I tell some people over and over for years that their dogs would need less medicine if they would just change the type of dog food they are eating. But people do not want to change. They don’t see the link between food and health. If they refuse to acknowledge it for their pets, how much more resistant will they be to changing their own habits?

The husband tried so hard. He sent copies of the book How Not To Die to people. They refused to read it. He’s horrified.

It is hard. You see people suffering with conditions that you know can be improved if they change. You want to tell them. But, people will make their own decisions. All you can do is live your life and let them see your results.

On the positive side, I saw a post on my Mastodon feed where someone was asking why vegan food is so processed. A person had replied and basically yelled at her for wanting to be vegan for her health instead of for animals. I replied and explained that processed vegan food like fake meats are generally a transition food. Once people learn to cook with vegetables they tend to move away from them. That started a conversation. I gave her info on some good websites to start looking for recipes. She messaged me triumphantly a week or so later to let me know she had made cauliflower tacos and loved them. Spreading the word can pay off sometimes!