Health Update

It's been a while since I blogged about my health or food. Sorry about that! I know I'm pretty inconsistent about when I blog here. But I had a really good appointment at my Endocrinologist last week, and wanted to share here about what changes I've made and the results.

Changes to my diet:
I have quit eating beef, been eating at least 5 green smoothies a week, and am still enjoying Meat Free Mondays almost every week (sometimes I forget it's Monday and then I do meat free Tuesday or what have you) Some weeks  I eat meat free several days a week, and when doing so I try to remember to eat whole protein sources. The dietary changes I have made have sometimes been sudden, such as quitting eating all the foods that came up on allergy and intolerance blood tests, and some have been more gradual such as reducing meat fat from my diet, and learning about healthy ways to eat more vegetables. Eating fruit has never been a problem for me. I love fruit, and if anything, I have to be careful not to eat too much fruit. I keep a close eye on my blood sugar when trying new things. I quit eating beef almost 2 weeks ago. So far, so good. Sometimes I have almost slipped up because I was not thinking about it and a burger seemed easy and sounded delicious, but then I remembered that beef is on my  list of things not to eat at all for at least one month. I had previously reduced beef to only being eaten every once in a while if I'm out at a restaurant, so remembering not to order beef when out is my new challenge. This week I started asking myself before eating cheese, do I really want this right now or is there a healthier replacement I could eat instead. Especially when I reach for an apple and cheese which I was eating every day for a while. Now I often eat an apple and peanut butter instead. Increased intake of cinnamon and sunflower seeds at the recommendation of a Natural medicine doc.

Changes medically:
I am no longer taking Lopid as it did not seem to be working. I also no longer take Glyburide as it lowered my blood sugar dangerously and was not helping anything. All with my Endocrinologists support. I am however taking Simvastatin (or something like that) and for a while had me on a 2nd cholesterol med as well but recently took me off that. I still take Metformin for my diabetes. He says it has also been shown to prevent some kinds of cancer, and since I have lumps on my thyroid, it's not good to lower those doses. I have been trying to do yoga every other day and cardio the other days, with Sundays off. I've started not working on orders on Sundays and only making orders 5 days a week, also. This means that on Sundays I still make something creative, but it's more enjoyable. I'm trying to figure out the best schedule for my health mentally, emotionally and physically. Time will tell, but full time work is still too much for me, that much is clear.

Results:
A1C is down to 5.6
Fasting Blood Glucose is usually 90 to 110 these days tho sometimes creeps up to 118 if I haven't chosen a proper "healthy snack" before bed
Cholesterol was so much better my doctor practically did a dance of joy and he took me off one of my cholesterol medicines to see what happens. I am hoping since I have been eating so well it will still be good.
Down from 245 to 229 since my last appointment
Down from a size 54 to 42 pants
Down from a 3x to 2x and sometimes 1x shirt

People have asked me why I am changing what I eat, "is it for health reasons or conscience reasons?" Really it is for both. Primarily, it is for health which has been my long time answer, but I am also very aware of the toll we take on the world around us, and believe that "every drop raises the ocean" or in other words, every baby step counts. So I have some reasons of conscience as well.  For example, by not eating beef and choosing to eat meat which comes from reputable sources, I am taking less of a toll on the world around me. I also am increasing the amount of attention I give to what I put into my body, and to me, this is an important part of improving my health and mind. Beef has been known to increase inflammatory response, and my body has a lot of problems related to inflammation, so I decided to try eating no beef for a month or two and see how my body feels. I suspect I will keep it up, or maybe I will only eat beef when it is a special cut of meat from a healthy, well treated animal or something. We will see. If I see health benefits, it will be worth changing for sure.

I have been watching the 2nd Forks Over Knives movie which is a bunch of interviews of experts which are about the health reasons to go meat free and which did not make it into the original Forks Over Knives movie, and it helped me solidify my decision to quit drinking milk and also reduce my cheese and yogurt intake. I watched the first movie some time ago, and have been gradually moving towards a diet free of meats and dairy since, but for me it is a slow change, not overnight. The second movie also made it clear that only 10% of my diet needs to be protein all of which can be found in plant sources which was a relief since I have been trying to figure out how much is enough. I highly recommend the movie, and their website has some delicious looking recipes I am looking forward to trying as well: http://www.forksoverknives.com/category/recipes/

I am really happy with the results of my choices so far. I will continue eating meat at this point, but may switch to being on only fish, fruits and vegetables in the not too distant future. Time will tell.

Gluten-Free Not the Answer for Me?

Good news? I tested negative for celiac. Bad news? Still no answers...although my allergist agreed with Dr Heather, I have immunity issues. She says this is why I get hives, my body is overreacting to minor allergens. She recommended my PCP give me a Pneumovax 23 to boost my immune system because apparently my pneumococal titers are way off. She also agreed that my Epstein Barr Virus had recently re-initiated itself which is why I felt exhausted and constantly droopy/fatigued recently. But I must say, the high dose of vitamins B12, D and now consistent vitamin A and B Complex that Dr Heather kicked it's butt! She has me on has me back to feeling energetic, so that has been a blessing this week as I had 2 to 3 doctor visits daily!

Daily doc visits every day this week except today that is, today is my day of rest. Well, supposedly it is so. I have a list of things to do. Doctors to call, addresses to find, things to ask people...it will be a busy day of rest but at least I'm not running around getting poked and prodded and made dizzy. Not today anyway.

So I feel a bit dejected. Is that strange? I should be celebrating not being a Celiac right? But I thought I'd found the answers. When I was eating 100% gluten-free I did feel better. I was however able to eat some really yummy mac n cheese on regular noodles last night. And I must admit, I am looking forward to trying out this new pasta bar in Phoenix. But I am still feeling disappointed. I think this is because I thought I had found the answer.

Now for my friends who are gluten-free and read this blog, never fear there will still be the occasional (probably more than occasional) gluten-free recipe. This is because I have found that many things we make are accidentally gluten-free and pretty much anything vegan I make or easily can be. And I will still be preparing vegan and/or vegetarian foods and writing about them here. So whenever I eat or prepare something I enjoy and I find it worthy of sharing with others, I'll post it here. Especially if I find it makes me feel healthier. I will add a gluten-free label to make it simpler to find my posts which have gluten-free recipes or when I post about restaurants that serve gluten-free food. Speaking of restaurants, we went out to celebrate a recent victory with some friends the other night, and they had a gluten-free menu at Pei Wei.

I am not going back to eating all gluten-filled foods all the time over night, heck probably never, but I did have pasta last night. It doesn't seem to have negatively affected me. I'm still feeling sick, but I still felt sick when I was off gluten. It just doesn't seem to be the fix for me. Unless the toothpaste I use has gluten. That's possible, I hadn't gotten around to checking that out. But again, I ate regular pasta last night and felt fine. A little gassy, my eyes and nose are itchy, but the gas was probably the cheese I put on it, and the itchy eyes and nose are most likely from sitting outside so much yesterday around all that ragweed. I think I will try going back to occasionally eating things that have gluten in them, and see how I feel. If I start feeling worse, I'll go back off the gluten and see if that fixes it. Because heck, if I feel better off the stuff, it's worth giving up. Or if I feel best on a low gluten diet, same thing.

Maybe today I will eat some oatmeal. Not a ton of gluten in oatmeal. In fact some people would say there's none...depends on if the oats were dusted with wheat flour. But I miss my morning hot cereal. Never did bother putting gluten-free hot cereal in the pantry. Maybe now I won't bother. Shopping gluten-free was a bit more expensive. Mostly because I hadn't mastered low cost shopping while gluten-free. If I end up not going 100% off gluten, maybe I'll never master that...but I do think I will try making some delicious low cost meals and writing about them. I made a really yummy one on the day before yesterday and it was even better when I pumped it up with some lime juice for lunch yesterday. That entry coming soon.

Enough rambling... catch you soon, and wish me luck in finding the culprit for my health problems, because I STILL have no concrete answers and that my friends, is the worst feeling ever. I'd have felt better being told I was a Celiac than being told there is still no clear answer. Although my allergist insists I will feel tons better once my immune system is sorted out and my allergies are treated, I have my doubts. All I can hope, is that she is right. And I can revel in some glutenous pasta and not feel any sicker than usual, while I wait for the new doctors I've been referred to. Plus I can continue seeing the miracle workers at Bodhi Body Integrative Medical Centers who have me feeling better than I have in 20 years. And THAT is something to celebrate!