Hi, I'm Karen Schriefer. 

To help you understand my story, I first need to share some background information. By the time I reached my mid 50’s, I had lost 3 immediate family members to heart disease: my father at age 61, my mother at age 81 (after suffering 3 strokes), and my brother at age 57. All three of them were taking blood pressure medication for the majority of their adult lives. 

I truly believed that I was destined to follow in their footsteps. I had suffered from high blood pressure most of my adult life and was also taking medication. My job as a middle school teacher had become more and more stressful over the years, and I turned to alcohol and antidepressants to help me cope. As a result, my doctor had to keep increasing the dosage of my medications to keep my symptoms under control. I just figured that’s the way it had to be, at least until I was able to retire. 

It wasn’t until I started experiencing symptoms from an entirely different disease that I discovered the healing power of nutrient-rich plant foods. That disease was liver cirrhosis, and the symptoms were more obvious and physically uncomfortable than a high reading on a blood pressure monitor. I was put on two additional medications to relieve the fluid that was building up in my abdomen and was told that if I didn’t make some serious lifestyle changes, I would soon be headed for a liver transplant. This was the wake-up call that saved my life; I just didn’t realize it at the time. 

As soon as I received the liver diagnosis, I quit drinking alcohol completely and began researching ways to change my diet to help me lose weight (I had ballooned to 214 pounds) and to heal the damage I had done to my body. It was through this research that I discovered the Nutritarian Diet, developed by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. 

The Nutritarian Diet is centered around the 6 most disease-fighting, immune-boosting foods on the planet. In fact, Dr. Fuhrman created an acronym to help his followers remember them: G-BOMBS. Once I started incorporating these 6 foods into my diet on a daily basis, and cutting out other disease-promoting foods, I began to see immediate results. Within a few short weeks, I was losing weight, my liver enzyme numbers were improving, and I was able to completely stop taking the fluid pills and blood pressure medication. A couple of months later, my doctor called me with the results of my most recent liver tests and told me that my enzyme levels were completely NORMAL! I was ecstatic to say the least. 

I continued following the Nutritarian Diet over the next several months, and was even able to stop taking my antidepressant medication since the nutrient-dense foods I was eating lifted my mood and cleared my brain fog. Another welcome side effect of restoring my health was that I lost a total of 70 pounds and had to buy all new clothes. It’s amazing how, when you focus on changing your diet with the goal of getting healthier instead of getting skinnier, weight loss happens naturally and automatically. 

I have since retired from teaching, and have develped a lifelong habit of flooding my body with nutrient-dense plant foods to maintain my disease-free status and weight loss. In my free time, I enjoy sharing my passion for healthy eating with people just like you in the hopes that it can help you prevent or even reverse chronic disease and live a longer, healthier, happier, life.

If my story inspires you to want to make changes to your own eating style, I encourage you to set up a free 1:1 Wellness Call so we can discuss your health concerns and see how I may be able to assist you.