Debbie Langley - Delicious Nutritious

It was whilst my mom and I were in Clarens on holiday a couple of months ago that we ran into a woman called Debbie Langley, whose children I had gone to school with, and her husband, who were staying at the same lodge as us. We started chatting, and soon the topic turned to health and nutrition. It was then that Debbie told us about her aspiration to start a website that taught people about healthy, plant-based eating, and after listening to her thoughts on the subject, I immediately told her that I would like to interview her for my blog. Healthy living is a concept that many people struggle with, and practical solutions to this problem are hard to come by. Debbie’s website is quite a pioneer in its field in a South African context, being one of the first to venture into the reversal and prevention of chronic disease purely by adjusting the nutrition and lifestyle of her clients to a wholefood, plant-based diet.

Debbie Langley has had a passion for helping people from a very young age. When she was 16, she started reading books about nutrition and healthy eating. “One day, I was just in a bookshop, and a book about food nutrition just grabbed my interest. One of the first books that I read was Mary Anne Shearer’s ‘The Natural Way’.” After school, she studied Pharmacy at the University of Pretoria, thinking that in this way, she could make an impact in people’s lives. But it was also in this way, that Debbie came to the important realisation that she wasn’t making the impact that she wanted to. “When you work in a pharmacy, you start to realise that no one ever gets better. They just keep taking more and more pills for their different illnesses.” So began her journey to making a real impact, but in quite a different way…

The more that Debbie researched natural health and nutrition, the more she became convinced that the most efficient way to prevent illnesses was in fact not through medication, but instead by looking at what we nourish ourselves with on a daily basis. “People can make a difference and actually see results, and how people’s illnesses get better. The plant-based programme that I’ve put together is backed by a lot of medical and scientific research.” She goes on to tell me about her major influences, one being Dr Caldwell Esselstyn, a fellow of the American College of Cardiology who conducted a ground breaking study into the reversal of coronary artery disease purely based on nutrition, without the aid of drugs or medication. When Debbie told me about some of the scientific studies being done in the field of nutrition as an alternative to some mainstream drugs, I felt compelled to do some more research about it, and I was fascinated by the results that I came up with. Dr Caldwell Esselstyn had conducted a 20-year medical trial study on how effectively coronary artery disease can be reversed when a full lifestyle change is made, and the results are astounding. This left me wondering about an important question – if there are changes that every person is capable of making to improve their quality of life and minimise their risk of chronic diseases, then why are we not even willing to look at making these changes?

One of the reasons is because the concept of wholefood, plant-based eating is relatively new, so eating out can sometimes be difficult. “It is challenging for people,” Debbie says, “is because society does not promote it. Sometimes it feels like you’re swimming upstream by yourself.” This is exactly where Debbie comes in. There is a variety of different ways man in which she can help people make the change towards a healthier lifestyle: from grocery tours to help you stock your pantry and fridge correctly to nutritional assessments. Another service offered is wellness coaching and disease prevention and reversal programmes, where Debbie helps to work out ways ways in which you as an individual can discuss the best approach in which you can make a difference in your life. What Debbie is doing is a very bold step in the right direction, and she is not only accessible, but also affordable. Her programmes are all scientifically backed, and she is raising awareness about a promising way of life that many South Africans know little about.

In addition, if people aren’t willing to make the full transition to a plant-based diet, there are many other ways in which you can still reduce your risk of chronic diseases, the most effective way being (not a big surprise) exercise. “Another very important method is cutting down on dairy products. All of the hormones and fat that it contains is one of the worst things for chronic diseases. Cutting down on animal protein at least once or twice a week will make a world of difference.”

“I’ve also realised that it’s not something that you can’t force other people into doing. It’s a very personal decision, and you need to do it for a reason. It was so frustrating standing in the pharmacy where you are trying to help people, and there is no improvement, but by doing this, I really feel like I’m helping people more.” Debbie is now not only working with a topic about which she is hugely passionate about, but she is also committed to achieving her childhood goal of helping other people, only now she has discovered a long-term solution that is helping people more than she ever did when she was working as a pharmacist. Whether you want to go the ‘full Monty’ and completely transition onto her recommended diet, or even just if you are just interested in introducing a few adjustments into your life to become healthier, her website (www.debralangley.com) is definitely worth having a look at.

As the saying goes, to eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art. As the saying goes, to eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art. Since we ran into each other in Clarens, Debbie has built her company Plant Based 2 Go, and started on her path to realising her vision – to aid and to transform people to be the healthiest versions of themselves. She is making huge strides to popularise plant-based nutrition in Pretoria, and I cannot wait to see the how her company will grow and inspire in the future.