I would first like to say that I have never blogged before. I'm sure there are tons of people out there who start their first blog that way.
This is some of my story. I couldn’t possibly tell you everything now. That wouldn’t leave much for me to say later on.
I’m a 51 year old woman who has had many health issues in her past.
I grew up eating lots of homemade foods. My mother made the traditional Mexican foods from scratch. Foods such as, homemade flour tortillas, pots of beans, fried potatoes, lots of enchiladas, tacos, burritos and other traditional foods. These were mainly high carbohydrate foods but not many of them were processed foods. She also made things like homemade chicken soups and included many organ meats in our meals.
I was very thin when I was growing up and was always teased about it. It didn’t bother me because I could eat whatever I wanted to and never gained a pound. I was very active, walking all over town, and got in enough exercise to keep my metabolism going. My metabolism stayed high until I reached the age of 30.
Then, I started experiencing gradual weight gain and several health issues. I developed cervical cancer and had a complete hysterectomy due to severe endometriosis. I started developing cysts in my lymph nodes, and so many other illnesses that I can’t list them all here. I was put on many medications to help with the hormone balances, the high cholesterol I had developed, the sleep disorders, etc.
During my 30’s and early 40’s I had adopted what the government claims is a healthy diet. I changed to eating wheat breads, pastas, grains, vegetables and lean meats. This helped with some of my weight issues but never really helped my exhaustion or other health related problems.
At about the age of 45, I started to experience severed intestinal problems. I had a syndrome, which I later found out was called Defecation Syncope. It is where a person has a tendency to pass out when they have a bowel movement. It was something that would happen unexpectedly and in inconvenient places.
One day, as I was going through the airport in Dallas, I came across a book titled Fit For Life, Not Fat For Life by Harvey Diamond. I read the book and it made sense to me. The idea of eating raw fruits and vegetables and nuts and seeds as my primary source of food just made sense to me. The very next week I saw Carol Alt on a television program promoting the raw food diet and sharing brownies with the audience. I thought, if I can have chocolate too, I’m in.
So, the following week, I switched over to a raw food diet. Not only did I switch over to a raw food diet, but I slowly started to wean myself off of all the medications that I had been on for the past 10 years. I knew that taking 5 prescriptions each day just couldn’t be good for me. I did all of this without a doctor’s approval, which I don’t recommend to anyone.
I went through some major detoxification symptoms from each of the medications. I felt like a junkie coming off of heroine or something, not that I know what that is like. It was just horrible. The headaches, the chills, the shakes, the sweats. Just horrible. But I persevered believing this would all come to an end.
What I didn’t expect was the major onslaught of the menopausal symptoms that my hormone replacement therapy had averted for so many years. I went through intense night sweats, hot and cold flashes and all the other symptoms women go through during menopause. It hit me all at once and lasted for 2 full years. I still have some hot flashes every now and then but nothing compared to what I went through those first two years off of the medication.
After about 6 months of being 100% raw vegan, I began to feel better. I felt I had more energy and continued on that path.
Then, about a year later I found several websites that had communities of raw foodists who ate similar to myself. I knew others out there had to be eating similar to myself, I just hadn’t connected to many of them. I was doing it on my own.
I soon discovered other discussion boards and a raw food school to learn how to prepare some of the more gourmet oriented raw food dishes. So, I added that. I became a bit more involved in raw foods, attending faires and festivals. I was enmeshed in being a raw vegan.
My health seemed to improve on raw foods but I never really had the type of energy that others spoke of. I still felt tired in the afternoons and not very energetic. I exercised regularly, took up running, and lived an overall healthy diet, I thought.
Then I ventured into fruitarianism. This was a major mistake for my body. I was so wired on all the sugar that I was eating that I slept very little and was consuming massive amounts of fruits all the time. I would eat a large meal of fruits or green vegetables, have a bloated stomach, and still feel as though I was hungry. I felt I was missing something.
Then, I had more blood tests and bone density tests done. I was shocked. I had begun to develop osteoporosis, I was becoming pre-diabetic (insulin resistant), my thyroid levels were increasing and my vitamin D levels were dangerously low just to name a few things. I was still always tired and felt horrible.
I decided to start adding in more animal products and to reduce the amount of carbohydrates in my diet. I wanted to keep things primarily raw since I still believe that foods closest to their natural state are more beneficial to our body’s health.
About 6 months ago I started reducing my carbohydrates. I started adding in fermented milks by making homemade yogurts and kefirs. But, the raw cow’s milks were causing congestion so I stopped consuming those. I found that goat’s milk feta cheese didn’t cause any issues for me so I used some of that on my salads.
I then ventured into raw fish. I’ve always enjoyed sashimi and added that back into my diet. Once I did this I felt like a different person. My brain fog started to lift, not right away, but at a gradual pace. I had begun to start to lose my memory while on the fruitarian diet. I also lost much of my short-term memory due to some mercury exposure while having some fillings removed. By adding the fish back into my diet, my brain was getting the fats that it needed. It was happy.
In the past six months I have made many changes in my diet. I am a chef at heart and would love to find more raw food recipes that incorporate lower carbohydrate foods into them. This would help me appease my desire to create food and help with my health. So, that is the direction I am going to go with this blog. I am hoping that I can create some recipes that others will enjoy and hopefully help them on their path to health too.
One note: I will be seeing a hypothyroid specialist in the coming weeks and will be put on a strict restriction diet to help my body to stop attacking the thyroid. Hopefully I can make some recipes throughout it that will help me accomplish this. I am not adverse to eating cooked meats so I may include some of those recipes in this blog too.
Please be aware that I am no longer a vegan. I am fully aware of all the issues surrounding factory farmed animals and try to buy meats and dairy from farmers who raise their animals ethically and how they should be raised, grass-fed.
I am not here to discuss the pros and cons of being a vegan. I am here to share ideas for raw low carbohydrate dishes and foods.
I hope that I am able to help someone else on their journey as I go through mine.
All I want is to be healthy. I don’t feel that health has been a part of my life for years.
