Dr. Kevin Jenkins is the host of the Global Vegan Podcast Magazine: The Cool.

I became a vegan in February 2015 after hearing a strong inner voice telling me it was time to stop eating dairy and other animal related products. This was the culmination of a forty year vegetarian journey. Initially, I gave up meat products decades ago after a co-worker who looked twenty years younger than his age told me his secret was not eating meat.

I immediately adopted this practice and became a lacto-ovo vegetarian. I was always blessed to have health and energy and I continued this path until my primary physician told me I had high cholesterol. How could this be, I wondered? I began to think and I arrived at the conclusion that my love for eggs and cheese might be the problem.

So on February 2015, after listening to my inner voice, I transitioned to a vegan lifestyle. The next time I got my cholesterol numbers checked they were significantly lower. I knew that going vegan was the key that made the difference. If this worked for me, it can work for others; therefore, my mission was to educate the masses to become vegan.

Since then I received a certification as a vegan lifestyle coach and educator from the Main Street Vegan Academy and a T. Colin Campbell Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition from ECornell.

I believe going whole food plant based is part of the liberation movement for the African American community because of the huge impact of lifestyle diseases. Going vegan can help avert the dietary holocaust in not only the black community, but in the world. Save the word, save the environment! Go Vegan!