Vedge Your Best, Vegan Ideas for Everyone At Any Age 265: Absolutely Fabulous: Terri Chrisman, Lifestyle Medicine and Fabulous Health
Sep 30, 2025
Terri Chrisman, a board-certified lifestyle medicine professional and author of Fabulous Health, shares a passionate stance against the myth of moderation in diet. She argues it's ineffective against ultra-processed foods and emphasizes the need for a whole food, plant-based lifestyle to combat chronic diseases like heart disease. With personal stories and practical strategies, Terri discusses overcoming dietary traditions, the growth of lifestyle medicine among physicians, and the importance of focusing on whole foods over vegan junk food for real health improvements.
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Why Moderation No Longer Works
- Modern ultra-processed foods broke the usefulness of 'moderation' because small amounts still poison health over time.
- Terri Chrisman argues purposeful elimination of harmful foods is required to reverse population-level disease trends.
Personal Loss That Shaped Her Mission
- Terri shares a personal photo and memory of her father who died of an unexpected heart attack.
- She links that loss to diet and uses it to explain her mission to prevent similar deaths.
Swap Rituals, Preserve Memories
- Swap rituals, not memories: keep the symbolic aspects of foods while changing ingredients for health.
- Terri suggests using sparkling mineral water with a splash of juice to replace sugary soda rituals.
