Vegan author to talk food in Tampa

Rip Esselstyn is an advocate of flapjacks, sloppy joes and pizza — just hold the eggs, beef and cheese. He’s coming to Whole Foods Market in South Tampa tonight to talk about it.

The 48-year-old vegan triathlete, former firefighter and author of “The Engine 2 Diet” credits his high muscle mass and low cholesterol to a plant-based, whole-food diet (yes vegetables, no vegetable oils) based on his father’s work reversing heart disease.

“I think people are absolutely clueless as far as the connection between what you put in your mouth and disease,” said Esselstyn, an eight-time winner of the Capital of Texas Triathlon, on a recent call from Austin, Texas.

Esselstyn’s father, physician Caldwell Esselstyn, is among a league of dietary rock stars — doctors John McDougall, Dean Ornish, Neal Barnard and scientist T. Colin Campbell — who say getting your greens and grains is the path to preventing and even reversing major ailments.

“We’re trying to get the message out there and let people know that the science is pretty crystal clear that meat, dairy, processed and refined foods aren’t doing anybody any good,” Esselstyn said.

“I think that we’re fortunate in a lot of ways in that we’re living in the information age. You’ll find that the truth will float to the surface.”

Esselstyn, who will speak and sign books at his in-store appearance, has developed 28-day programs at Whole Foods across the United States and Canada, led by the stores’ healthy eating specialists, such as Tampa’s Curtis Whitwam.

In the classes, Whitwam, 38, offers tips for cooking, eating out and lessons on nutrition. Another round of free classes begins in January.

Whitwam believes in the vegan diet because he’s seen it work. His dad dropped 30 pounds and 94 points in his cholesterol through plates full of whole grains, vegetables and fruits.

“I don’t like to say that anything’s for life, because you never know what new information we’re going to learn as time goes on,” said Whitwam. “But I definitely feel like this is a long-term lifestyle that can be maintained.”

Esselstyn’s in-store appearance begins at 6 p.m. at Whole Foods, 1548 N. Dale Mabry Highway. Call (813) 874-9435 for more information.

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