279: Staying Alive: Sherry Shrallow Talks Heart Disease, Food, and the Vegan Volunteer Corps

What if a life-threatening health crisis wasn’t just a tragedy — but an opportunity?

In this episode of Vedge Your Best, Michele talks with Sherry Shrallow, author of Staying ALive, plant-based educator, and longtime advocate for using food as a tool for prevention, healing, and service.

At 56, Sherry was an active, fit woman eating what she believed was a heart-healthy diet when she suffered a sudden heart attack while at work. What followed included emergency surgery, a complicated recovery, and a profound reckoning with what she had not been told about heart disease, lifestyle, and prevention.

Sherry shares how discovering whole-food, plant-based nutrition — including the early work of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn — changed the course of her health and her life. She also reflects honestly on depression after surgery, rebuilding strength and routine, navigating imperfection, and learning how to get back on track without shame.

This conversation goes beyond food. Sherry talks about meditation, yoga, purpose, and why helping others — including through the Vegan Volunteer Corps, where she helps provide plant-based meals to people experiencing homelessness — has become a central part of her healing and happiness.

If you’ve ever wondered whether change is still possible, whether it’s “too late,” or how to move forward without perfection, this episode offers clarity, realism, and hope.In this episode, we discuss:

• Sherry’s heart attack at age 56 and the long recovery that followed

• Why heart disease often develops quietly — even in people who think they’re healthy

• What she learned (and wasn’t told) about food, lifestyle, and prevention

• Discovering whole-food, plant-based eating as a powerful intervention

• Depression after major illness and the importance of routine and purpose

• Why this wasn’t a tragedy, but an opportunity

• Teaching cooking classes and making plant-based food accessible

• The Vegan Volunteer Corps and using food to serve others

• Letting go of perfection and learning how to get back on track

• Why it’s never too late to improve the quality of your life

 Sherry’s YouTube Channel — Chef Sherry’s Plant-Based Kitchen

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