Carlene Mcintyre, Mph, csfp, frn certified plant-based coach

Welcome! My name is Carlene McIntyre and I’m a Food Revolution Network Certified Plant-Based Health Coach, Certified Solution Focused Practitioner, and hold a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree. I began eating a whole food plant-based diet a few years ago and as a result, my health has greatly improved. I’ve lost more than 80 pounds without dieting or feeling deprived or going hungry. I eat real food, not special shakes or meal replacement supplements. I love the delicious whole foods I’m eating and the active lifestyle I’m living. I became a health coach because it brings me joy and happiness and a sense of purpose to my life to help other people experience the differences they want to happen in their lives.

Based on scientific evidence as well as on my personal and past experiences as a healthcare professional, I am strongly convinced that eating more healthy whole plant foods like vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and seeds provides our bodies with what they require to maintain health and wellness. Unhealthy foods that are highly processed or high in saturated fats and low in fiber can cause damage to our bodies and contribute to a state of poor health.

My background

I was a pharmacist for 40 years prior to retiring and becoming a health coach. During that 40 years, I saw many people who were diagnosed with chronic lifestyle diseases like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease. They would start on medications and show some improvement in symptoms but after a period of time, the improvement would start to decrease. When that happened, medical providers increased the medication doses or prescribed additional medications. I can’t think of a single person who was able to stop all their medications because they didn’t need them anymore. When people stopped a prescription it was usually because they were experiencing bad side effects, not because they had gotten better. Medications did improve some of the symptoms of chronic lifestyle diseases, but didn't seem to cure them. It didn't occur to me at the time that one big reason people might be having a hard time getting better was because they were continuing to eat a lot of the same unhealthy types of foods that contributed to them getting sick in the first place.

My pharmacy education and training taught me a lot about the disease model and using drugs to manage diseases and symptoms, but not about health and wellness. It wasn't until after I retired from pharmacy practice that I began learning about how the foods we eat really impact our health. I love using the new knowledge and skills I've learned to help empower people to take charge of their own health and wellness.