About me.

My name is Paul Hodgkinson. I’m in my mid forties and at the end of July 2020, I had a heart attack. This happened at a time when I was the fittest I had ever been, so you can imagine it was a massive shock to me, my family and friends. I had been vegan for 2 years and had been training for and competing in endurance events such as long distance triathlons, sometimes known as Ironman.

Over the months since the heart attack, I have been learning everything I can about heart disease, and trying to find out how I can get back to doing what I love – swimming, cycling and running long distances. One book in particular that had a big affect on me was written by Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr. M.D. called Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. Based on his 20 year study scientifically proving a no oil, low fat, plant based diet can prevent and reverse the some crippling effects of angina and heart disease. I was all in.

This has opened doors I didn’t expect and has ignited a love of cooking for the benefit of my heart and health in general. I have discovered a passion for following recipes and even experimenting with my own recipes, based on the principles of keeping a healthy heart through diet. Over a period of 2 months from December 2020 to February 2021, I managed to reduce my cholesterol from 160mg/dL (4.1 mmol/litre) to 109mg/dL (2.8 mmol/litre).

I want to share recipes, experiences good and bad of my experimentation along with my journey back to (hopefully) full fitness and back on the beach at Ironman Wales.

I have been married to Jeanette for 4 years, she saw how my passion for cooking for health had grown and had seen the benefits. She encouraged me to share my journey and maybe help one or two people in my situation along the way.

I have two sons Freddie and Jack and three older step sons, one of which lives with us, Nick.

I have always been fairly active, playing basketball all my life, and now coach juniors regularly. I also play drums in a wedding and party band, and am out performing many weekends.

However, through my late teens, twenties and thirties i smoked heavily as well as having a very poor diet. These along with family history of heart disease are the reasons behind my heart attack. Early in 2014 my father suffered a heart attack, he survived, but it was at this point i decided that i needed to make a change. In May 2014 Jeanette and I quit smoking and i started running and exercising much more, within a year i had done my first sprint triathlon along with the encouragement from my sister Ruth, and i was set on my dream to become an Ironman. Over the next 3 years the distances of my training and races increased and i finally finished Ironman Wales in September 2018. During this time i also made the transition slowly but surely, to become fully vegan, trying to improve my chances of not suffering the same fate as my father.

Unfortunately the damage was already done, and even though i was eating better, i was still putting oil and fats into my body much more than i should have, that i now know have artery clogging properties.

With heart disease being one of the biggest killers of men and women in the UK, and being totally preventable through diet, i want to do the best i can to spread the word. Hopefully i can help some people in the same situation as me, by making low fat, oil free, plant based diet easy and tasty.

If you know someone or are someone in this situation, please connect with me or point them in the direction of this website.