Achieving Balance

Never fully realized what a sensitive piece of machinery the human body actually is. Day in, day out the body tries to right itself in the face of environmental and dietary onslaught. It's most deployed defense is inflammation. A rush of fluid and white blood cells to affected areas in an effort to stave off attack.

The result is often pain, heat, redness and swelling and can affect everything from joints to internal organs, from skin to bone.

Since eating a whole-food plant-based diet I have been able to reduce pain from arthritis (inflammation of the joints) in my hands, hips and knees to the point where I can now walk all day long and play the piano to my heart's content. Pain from NASH has all but disappeared.

However, in a weak moment and a desire to see exactly what has lead to this change I cheated a little. For two days in a row I ate a small serving of McDonald's french fries (high fat), put a little sugar back in my tea, ate no ginger and had two drinks containing sucralose and acesulfame-K (Ace-K). I still avoided meat and animal products.

Within hours the arthritic pain returned in my hands and the familiar nagging stitch in my right side from liver inflammation. Nothing as bad a before, mind you, but still uncomfortable. I also developed a skin rash and spots of eczema. Because so many elements were re-introduced to my diet fat, sugar and artificial sweeteners) I can't tell exactly what triggered the return of the symptoms.

Hardly scientific but enough evidence for me to commit to a life of real food grown in the ground and not a lab or raised in a barn.

Here's a real great alternative to chicken or tuna salad sandwich filling. It's not vegan unless you substitute the mayo with a vegan variety but full of anti-inflammatory goodness. I'm eating some right now!

 Vegetarian Chickpea Sandwich Filling

Dialing It Back

Been finding that most vegan recipe books rely heavily on oils and sugars for flavour. Even the "good" oils and sweeteners (maple sugar/syrup, agave etc.) can aggravate arthritis, diabetes and liver conditions.

Dialing it back to raw foods/whole foods, eliminating oil and minimizing sugars. Would love to hear others opinions on this. Please comment.

Chop, Chop!

“Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what’s for lunch.”
― Orson Welles

The experiment continues as I reach the end of three weeks of veganism or at least near-veganism. So far the food has been fantastic. There's something about eating knowing you are do the best thing possible for your body.  The food is delicious and nutrient-dense and you can eat all you want.

Since embracing the juicer I can pack away more vegetables and fruit in a single glass than I could possibly find the time to eat and because a pound of veggies produces a cup of juice I'm getting more nutrients into me now than I ever have. 

And the benefits are immediate. Upon drinking 8 ounces or so of veg juice I feel energized and even lighter on my feet. I cannot recommend this highly enough folks.

OK, so what's the downside? Prep time. Maybe.

Chopping, chopping and more chopping. Even before juicing there's a lot of food to wash and chop into juice-able bits.But is this more effort than a non-vegan puts into a typical "meat and two veg" dinner? Not to my mind. It just kind of feels like it is at first until I begin to think of the similar efforts that go into buying and preparing meat, using the oven and stove top with 3 or 4 pots or pans on the go and then the clean-up. 

Clean-up of meat based meals is a lot tougher. Scrubbing grease and cooked-on meat residue (ugh. the thought of it) from the broiler, BBQ or frying pan takes much longer and is not as pleasant or gratifying as slicing and dicing beautiful aromatic fruits and veg. Bonus: the clean-up requires no more than clear water and a paper towel.

Here's a typical green juice:

1 serving

1 cucumber (English or otherwise)

4 stalks of celery

2 apples, cored with peel on (any variety. I often mix 'em up)

6 - 8 leaves of kale (again, any variety)

1/2 lemon, peeled 

some fresh gingerroot

You can substitute all over this recipe and I recommend that you do.There is no wrong way to eat when fresh whole food is your choice.

The Vegan Experiment

I have decided to delete all former posts and begin anew with my thoughts and feelings on food and the role it plays in our daily lives. I welcome any comments and input you might have.

“One of the very best things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.”
― Luciano Pavarotti

Bravo, Luciano! The enjoyment of food is central to our family life, our social interactions and our health. No one topic has had so much written out it, been the focus of films, conversation or argument. A Google search of "Food" yields 15,550,000,000 results! So, we're interested, right?

I've been a long-time member of Netflix and never miss out on a documentary of interest especially if it's about food. Recently, I came across a documentary called "Forks Over Knives". In this documentary two American physicians, one clinical, one a researcher, come independently to the conclusion that plant-based whole food diets will counteract the epidemic of cancer, obesity and diabetes that has beset the modern, developed world. Conversely a diet high in animal products, (meat, dairy, eggs and fish) will aggravate and add to this  epidemic scourge.

This drew my attention because I suffer from metabolic syndrome (High blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and diabetes) and NASH,(non-alcoholic steatohepatitis) or fatty liver. Throw in a healthy dose of arthritis, varicose veins and patches of eczema and that's me.

The film purports that much of my woe is caused by imbalance in my diet. I'm not a nutritionist or scientist but I have a strong layman's background in these matters. I'm not saying the film's science is good or bad. I am saying that it contains the sort of common sense that is hard to argue against. Individuals will have to view the film and draw their own conclusions.

However, having watched the movie and several others like it (which I will discuss in future posts) I decided to try a plant-based, near vegan diet.

Within days of eliminating meat, eggs, dairy and fish from my diet my arthritis pain disappeared. I still take Diclofenac SR 75mg twice a day but up to this point it wasn't working. Once I focused on eating a whole-food diet the inflammation in my body reduced to a point the the medication could do it's work. I'm hoping this will continue to the point where I can stop the medication.

A week later my blood pressure dropped from 144/85 to 128/72 and my blood glucose plummeted. My varicose veins are no longer swollen and my eczema is showing signs of abating. I have more energy during the day and I'm able to sleep through the nights. I've lost 7 pounds in the first week.

Good or bad, right or wrong you can't argue with these kind of changes.

Check out the film at Netflix or perhaps find it at your library. Let me know what you think and what your experiences have been.