Health Update

It's been a while since I've written in this space but I've made some discoveries, or one major one, rather, and I'd like to share my experience in the case that someone out there may be reading. Perhaps this might provide some information that they've been looking for.

In previous health updates, I shared my frustrations with hair shedding, spotty skin and painful menstrual cycles. I'm happy to report that after a lot of trial and error, I've figured out the reasons for the spotty skin and painful periods. The culprit? Soy.

This discovery both thrilled me and saddened me. I love soy. I love tempeh and I love tofu and they were a big part of my diet. Which is probably why they were wreaking so much havoc-- I had a lot of the stuff. There is a lot of conflicting research out there, soy has a positive effect on hormones, soy has a negative effect on hormones. It never occurred to me to eliminate it.

Since the summer, I experienced a lot of breakouts on my lower back, breakouts that wouldn't really pop or go away as well as a lot of breakouts on my neck. It eventually became something that I was extremely self conscious of. In addition, I was having periods so painful that I had to take off work. I was bed bound and nothing helped. No amount of hot water bottles would relieve the cramps. Periods like these are highly unusual for me. I had ultrasounds done, blood tests. Everything came up clean. I was stumped.

I had taken to eating my grape nuts with soy milk, every day pretty much, and one day, I had this epiphany. What if it was the soy? I started doing some research and as mentioned, I came up with lots of different opinions. I asked my gynecologist if it could be a cause, and he had no comment on the issue. I decided I would try it. I eliminated the soy milk and stopped consuming tofu. I have to say, my skin started clearing up immediately. My lower back and neck, while scarred are now completely smooth and the best part is, the last two periods have been really really smooth and I must say, normal. It might be too soon to tell, but I'm going to keep laying off the soy and see how things continue. It's hard to keep eliminating things from my already vegan diet, first nightshades, now soy, but I think I'm getting closer and closer to understanding what works and what doesn't work for my body.

As for my hair.... This is the last piece in this very complex puzzle of mine. It has been frustrating and depressing me for nearly two years. I have lost pretty much half of my hair. Not only is it thinning but it is visibly thinning. I can not express how sad this makes me. I no longer think it is due to a vitamin deficiency. The last six months have been stressful for me, it might have caused more damage, but that can't be the initial cause. The latest step that I've been taking is to two fold. Firstly, Im tracking all of my calories on cronometer, to make sure that I am getting enough calories. Sometimes it feels like Im eating a lot but really, I barely hit the 2000 calorie goal on a daily basis. I go most days without eating a proper dinner. I might very well have been starving my body without even knowing it. That has to change. Secondly, I'm going to focus more on getting a good balance of macros- not just carbohydrates but fats and proteins. I've been on the McDougall plan for a long time and being an all or nothing person, it's hard for me to eat fat at this point as it makes me thing I'm doing things wrong or that I'll regain weight. On the other hand, I believe that all of our bodies are different, and no two bodies run the same. I may need more protein and/or fat to thrive than other people. And that is just going to have to be fine. I'm going to keep the oil at bay but I will incorporate more avocados and such and see how things go from there.

To health!

Breaking Up (With Potatoes) Is Hard to Do: A Health Update

How's this for a revelation?

About ten months ago, I transitioned from a raw food diet to The Starch Solution/McDougall way of eating. I was thrilled to be able to eat starches and potatoes and have it help me be healthy and manage my weight. And yet, ever since I made the transition, I noticed that the great moods and energy that I had exerienced while on raw seemed to have been fading away. I couldn't comprehend how I was eating so well and yet was experiencing poor moods and brain fog and lack of energy. I loved what I was eating but I was just feeling down. All the time. Reading post after post about people experiencing renewed energy on this WOE confused me-- how was this not me? I knew intuitively that something wasn't right, I just had no idea what my body was trying to tell  me.

Fast forward until about a month or two ago when I began having digestional distress- really bad flatulence and gas, and I started taking probiotics, thinking they would help my problem. I put my finger on the fact that potatoes were the culprit. A friend of my sister's confirmed they are a source of discomfort for her as well. It's funny- some Fridays, I would have potatoes and ketchup or salsa as a meal. I wouldn't eat anything else and I would still experience distress. It never even dawned on me that the potatoes were the reason why. I didn't want to give them up but when probiotics weren't helping all that much I knew that letting them go was inevitable. I did some research about sensitivity to nightshades and it would seem that I am indeed sensitive to them. Further reading indicated that some side effects of the nightshades are depression and mood swings. Suddenly, things began to make sense. I had been eating them every.single.day for almost a year, it's no wonder I felt the way I did. And this whole time, the humble potato was responsible. Who would have thought? I know that there isn't scientific research or studies to back this up and there is no way to know for sure but my body doesn't lie. I hope this is the key to a happier future.Thankfully, after really giving them up, I feel great and my moods are much better. It was sad for me to part with my best friend the potato but I've given rice and quinoa and sweet potatoes top billing in my diet and you know what? They don't hurt me. True friends never do. 

UP4 Women Probiotics Review

In recent weeks, I've been suffering from lots of bloating and flatulence (not the harmless kind!). Although I've been eating the McDougall way for about nine months, this was pretty new to me. I was able to pinpoint the discomfort to beginning after lunch, which usually consisted of baked potatoes. My first instinct was to start taking a probiotic in the hopes that it would balance my gut flora and help with the after effects of digestion. I knew potatoes were the guilty party but I really couldn't bear the thought of giving them up! Everything here in Israel is significantly more expensive so I did what anyone would do if their parents were coming to visit on holiday- I ordered some to the states to be brought here.

I searched on Vitacost for a kosher and vegan probiotic and UP4 turned up. UP4 is a company founded in 1979 that focuses on probiotics. They have a few different products that are tailored to your specific needs, including one for children, one for women (the one I tried), one for seniors, etc, so they get points for having a nice selection.

All of the supplements aid in digestion, some just have some extra perks thrown in to the mix. The women's supplement has organic cranberry in it to help with urinary tract infections. I personally don't suffer from these and thought I made a mistake by ordering this one first but after emailing the company, I was reassured that this would serve my digestive needs just as well. I think the packaging is well designed-- I like the color they chose, and while this might seem strange to say about a bottle of pills, I felt like it was kind of down-to-earth and inviting, not like the typical blah, sterile looking bottle of pills. I also think the tagline they chose (A Happier Inside) is spot on!

A box of this probiotic contains a jar with a one month supply of capsules, meant to be taken twice a day, before meals or with food. Once opened, it needs to be refrigerated. Thankfully, the pills aren't horse pills (in my opinion), and I had no problem getting them down with food.

On the very first day of taking them, I had the slightest, barely even detectable discomfort, so perhaps that's just me. But the effects of the probiotics were immediate. Not almost immediate but immediate. Even after eating potatoes, the amount of flatulence and the nature of it was much different. A lot more tolerable, I'd say. I was pretty much sold on these right off the bat and continued to enjoy their benefits throughout the month. I haven't gone through the whole bottle yet, but I made sure to order another bottle to have around when it's finished so that I don't get stuck without. A I mentioned above, their tagline is pretty on the nose-- these really do make for a happier inside! That said, I think I have pinpointed the nightshades to be problematic for me so I am trying to cut back.

In any case, I highly highly recommend this company/brand of probiotics. If you're looking for one, this might be the way to go for you and they are often on sale, at the Vitacost site at least.

What I'm Eating This Passover and a Health Update

In short, lots of matza!

Passover is almost over and I don't feel like it's gone by quickly at all. I was concerned about what I'd have to eat this holiday but I'm making it through just fine if not eating as healthfully as I'd like.

For the first part of the holiday, my sister made roasted sweet potatoes and beets and quinoa. Along with matza, that made up my meal. It wasn't plant perfect as she cooks with oil but I felt like under the circumstances that was fine. I had more of the same the next day. I think I was the only one who left the table satisfied and not in a food coma.

When I got home the next day, I had some rice and chickpeas and I tell you that held me over for a LONG time. I had leftover the next day and I'm telling you, I was not hungry for a long time. For the rest of the time, I was travelling back and forth and I mostly had matzah and jelly.

I did spend 164 shekels at the grocery store this week on food that I thought I would get around to eating but didn't. Which is quite alright considering I need some of the things anyway for Sunday's dinner and I was able to shave a whole lot off the grocery list. I bought peppers, carrots, corn, dried chickpeas, 5 kilos of rice (for twenty shekels!! I gotta stock up on more bags at that price- more on that shortly), four jars of no sugar added jelly (my favorite brand at the cheapest price I've ever seen), matza, sweet potatoes and some mushrooms.

Tonight begins the second half of the holiday and I know that being on plan with the oil is inevitably unlikely and I'm looking forward to getting back to my routine and cooking.

Just a word about the rice. Potatoes (my favorite food!) were my starch of choice until very recently. I've been noticing in the last couple of weeks that I've had extremely bad flatulence and didn't know what it was from. I started taking probiotics to help and while they have been helping, I knew that I hadn't eliminated the issue. While I suspected that it was probably the potatoes, I was hoping it was the corn. Eliminating the corn didn't help. A friend of my sister's confirmed that potatoes had the same effect on her and so I knew that potatoes were out. I'm hoping it'll help my skin as well. I've realized that my body has been trying to tell me that something's been wrong for a while and I hadn't been listening until now. Looking back, it's kind of obvious what the issue was. I know that everything is because of the food and I'm happy to be able to pinpoint the bothersome foods although I'm kind of devastated to see the potatoes go. Yes, devastated. In the past few days without potatoes I have noticed significant improvement. That being said, I needed a new mainstay starch to take the place of potatoes. I'm a big fan of rice and I think that that's what it's going to be (along with sweet potatoes) so I'm happy to have found 5 kilo bags of rice for dirt cheap. As I said I'm going to be stocking up on some more.

That's it for now.
Remember to be healthy and listen to your body!

Quick Health Update

And the diagnosis is..........

Turns out, the tests that the doctors and endocrinologist ordered have all come up clean. Which is a relief, but perhaps also a bit frustrating.

Perhaps it was just a coincidence that my hair started falling out once I went 100% vegan. I suppose I'll never really know.

In any case, I will keep taking my iron and Vitamin D and hopefully will see renewed growth and thickness in the coming months. A girl can hope :)

To health!

Health Update

So this morning I had my long awaited appointment with the endocrinologist. I specifically chose him because he is an English speaking doctor and I wanted to be able to understand everything.

He took an extensive medical history and did some basic examinations, including weight (eek! I had been avoiding that one!) and blood pressure which was excellent. I described the hair loss and at first he didn't believe me. When I took down my hair to show him the crown, he understood what I meant.

Basically, he thinks that the hair loss coinciding with me going full vegan might be just that, a coincidence. He is sending me for some hormone testing so we'll see what that comes up. It'll be awhile before I can get those results and see him again though.

I'm hoping that there will be a solution at least. One more step towards solving the mystery!

My doctor is close to some health food stores only one of which carries vital wheat gluten. Although it's not in the menu plan for the next couple of weeks, I picked some up anyway because I don't know when I'll be in the area next.

To health!

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I would by lying if I said that everything on this way of eating (a starch based diet) is all sunshine and roses. While I love eating this way, and I truly do, I am experiencing some annoying effects as well. A couple are a direct result of this drastic change but the big ones... I dont know if they are just coincidental.

To what am I referring?
For one, after cutting out overt fats and oil, my skin and scalp are DRY! No amount of moisturizer seems to fix that.
Next up..Almost immediately after I switched from an 80/10/10 diet to a starch based diet, my hair began to fall out. Six months later, it still hasnt stopped. By way of a miracle, there is still hair left on my head, and because my curls give it the impression of fullness, it looks like I have far more than I do. What can I say? It's depressing. At first, I thought I could attribute it to detox but how long could that really last? At around the same time, my skin had started breaking out and that too has not righted itself.

I decided to have some blood work done to see what was going on. In July, my results indicated that my ferritin and iron levels were very low as was my D. Right away, I started supplementing. Everything else seemed to be fine. I also noticed that my cholesterol levels were pretty high for someone who is trying to prevent heart disease. Going full throttle WFPB corrected that. About four or five months later, I had my blood tested again to see that everything was okay. My iron levels were improving but still had a ways to go. On other hand, my bloodwork indicated that I had heart disease proofed myself! Woo hoo! All my cholesterol numbers were amazing, to say the least. It felt great.

Still, no indication of what could be behind the hair loss. I went to a dermatologist who didnt think I had a problem, told me it was probably just genetic (this doesnt run in my family!) and suggested I use some sprays to help the situation. Im pretty sure that it is internal and that sprays arent going to help much. Sadly, an email to Dr. McDougall himself didnt yield anything helpful.

A visit to the gynecologist (my recent periods have been inexplicably painful!) resulted in a referral to an endocrinologist to make sure that my hormones are working properly. I was very grateful that he thought to point me in that direction because I am starting to think that the hair loss isnt due to a nutritional deficiency but rather something else. My moods have been rather off lately- I was in funk for quite a few weeks, so I'm thinking they're connected. I've also been suggested to try iodine, so Im going to investigate that route as well. In addition I'm starting to add back some overt fats such as avocado to help restore a healthy sheen to my skin and scalp.

To sum up, I'm loving my eating life except for the hair and skin issues. I refuse to believe that it's because I stopped eating meat. For me, taking the steps back into a meat eating diet is just not an option. Fingers crossed.