Saturday, November 3, 2012

My Story

My Story: My journey (back) into the Paleo (the name given to those that attempt to eat a primal or ancestrally balanced diet) began after some rather dire consequences encountered living a Vegan lifestyle.
Twenty years ago I was told during a routine physical I would probably have my first heart attack by the time I reached forty, a number that was only a few years away. How the physician reached this conclusion was the fact I smoked (heavily), high LDL cholesterol, low HDL, and of coarse high triglycerides (caused by excess alcohol).
Now although I could be considered (at least back in the day) a self medicator, I resisted the prescription advice I was given (no smoking, no drinking, statins, and blood pressure meds), instead opting for a more natural approach.
And down the rabbit hole I went.
My first stop was vegetarianism, high carb, low fat, where protein was a subject most of the so called experts disagreed on (I should also mention I was salt restrictive).
So far so good, I certainly THOUGHT I was on the right track, but the numbers just weren't cutting it, blood pressure didn't seem to stabilize as all the so called vegetarian experts predicted. 
Next stop Vegan, unlike vegetarianism where I found a little wiggle worm with diary and fish, vegan avoided all forms food that had a mother. My weight which I never had a problem with began to decrease, and of coarse the blood pressure went down with it, but so did my energy. It was here in the world of the Vegan my health seemed to decline at the same rate as my weight. The first odd health issue to rise its ugly head was a bout of Iritis, an inflammation of the iris of both eyes. I was told at the time that this condition was a precursor to Lupus, MS, of RA, all autoimmune, all diseases I wouldn't look forward to battling. The specialist recommended I have some type of bone arrow test to predict which disease was in my future. I refused the test and dug my heals into perfecting my diet.
Next came candida, an over growth of yeast, usually found in infants, not adults. WTF, how could this be possible, I was at a loss. I did the old swish and spit went Macrobiotic (the ultimate vegan diet).
I now began to live on brown rice, sea vegetables, land vegetables I never heard of, and all sorts of tofu. 
It was at this time I began to experience dental and gum problems, little did I know at the time I was in the beginning phase of periodontal disease. At the same time I came down with my first case of diverticulitis, a painful condition where your digestive tract becomes infected and inflamed. Back then this was usually blamed on a lack of fiber, a problem I certainly didn't have WTF!
Yet I persevered, not only was the ultimate vegan, I found the ultimate religion that would justify my decision not to eat meat, Buddhism.
Upon reflection here I was embracing a new found religion that embraces our interconnection with nature and everything in it when I was actually attempting to deny and suppress my primal roots (here we find the spiritual side of food choice).
So here I was doing everything the so called experts told me to do, Ornish, Weil, McDougall, Campbell, and I was just getting sicker, so sick I wasn't to find out till years later I did in fact have that predicted heart attack, I just didn't know it (as I'm writing this my right coronary artery is completely shoot). 
Even though I was going down the tubes, I persisted. That is until one day while checking out at the local health food store my eyes noticed something they had not seen before. The clerk, whom I had talked to on numerous occasions, now suddenly appeared gaunt, pale, and sickly. I knew she was vegan, a diehard like myself, but that day was the first time I really noticed how bad she fallen.
I left knowing then and there I was done with the vegetarian, vegan, macrobiotic path, I had seen the results and decided I didn't want to go THERE.
Sure I had to reeducate myself, and a very big part of that was learning to live in harmony with nature (and my nature), and this is my journey.

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