I was vegan for six years, raw vegan for two of those years, before beginning a paleo diet. It was then that I found out I have a digestive disorder called fructose malabsorption, which was found after I'd been diagnosed with IBS. Eliminating all fiber has given me back my life.
Given my health background and that of my deceased mother, who died of cancer at the age of 41, I'm extremely interested in all the science and research behind health, nutrition and the human body. I'm also a nursing student, due to graduate in less than a year!
Being that I was vegan for six years, I guess that goes to show that I'm a hippie at heart. I love people, animals, the earth and consider myself a "conscientious carnivore." I try to pay forward the selflessness of the animals' lives that have been sacrificed in order to give me a life, and I am grateful for every one of those lives, every day. I am as eco-friendly as I can possibly be and find the most sustainable ways to practice the way of eating that I do. I also love yoga!
More importantly than all of that, I am a Christian, a mother, a wife, a future hospice nurse, a lover of life, people, and every living thing. These are what define me. What I eat does not define me, but it does support the life I want to lead by keeping me balanced, healthy, happy and energetic. Nothing is better than sleeping deeply and waking up early and feeling refreshed. Even better is waking up with a happy mind and heart, full of energy to spend raising the precious little life God put in my hands, teaching him, playing with him, having fun, and, of course, loving God, my husband and helping people through my chosen career path.
For a longer explanation with some more detail, here's a blog I wrote after deciding to no longer be a raw vegan. I had been making YouTube videos on my journey while it was still going well, starting with this conversation with a raw vegan on YouTube, and culminating in my own channel.
I’ve done some pretty controversial, shocking things in my
day, but this has to take the cake! Not eating vegetables? Unheard of!
I
always had a pretty healthy diet, by most people’s standards. I was never a fan
of sweets, probably because I never really got a chance to develop a taste for
them. I ate whole grains very occasionally with a sandwich, but as a child, I
didn’t like pasta, oatmeal or rice. I also didn’t like meat and preferred
vegetables and fruit. My mother was a cancer survivor, and when we could afford
it, chose to eat very healthily. I ate a lot of fresh, baked or grilled fish,
baked poultry and steaks/filets, mostly because my mom wouldn’t allow me to go
vegetarian. Emphasis, however, was always placed on vegetables. We never had
iceberg lettuce in our house – not a single time. I would have baby spring
salad mixes or spinach salads. We also ate every other vegetable you can think
of, and always fresh from the produce section. I was never hungry for
breakfast, so I usually ate twice a day. Sometimes I would snack on apples,
carrots or celery when I was home. The least healthy snack for me was Ritz
crackers and cream cheese. I was basically paleo, before that was even a thing.
As time
went on, my mom and I fell into some financial trouble and found ourselves
without a home at times. During these periods, we started eating mostly
potatoes, fast food and cheap diner food. My mom started to get sicker and
sicker as time went on, and I was still very young, so we often just ordered
pizza because she didn’t feel well enough to cook anything, I didn’t know how
to, and without a car, it was rare that we would get to a grocery store. Her
health continued to deteriorate, and mine began to also. Always a healthy kid,
I began to get colds all the time, chronic sinus infections, tonsillitis,
bronchitis and pneumonia. I got sick at least six times per year, at one point.
I knew it was our lifestyle, but there was little I could do about it.
By the
time I was old enough to do something about it, my mom was dying. The cancer
was back, and this time, the doctors said they couldn’t do anything about it.
So I took matters into my own hands, did my research and found tons of supposed
cancer cures. We tried several crazy things and she kept getting sicker. One
day, while on a bus to go visit her in the hospital, a man saw me crying. He
asked me where I was going and who I was visiting. When I explained my
situation, he said he was a cancer researcher at the university medical
hospital my mom was in, and that he found that cancer could not live without
animal protein. He told me to read the China Study and Green For Life. I did,
and I went vegetarian. Then vegan. My mom didn’t make it, despite all my
efforts, but I was determined not to suffer the same fate.
Around that time, I spotted a book
called The Hallelujah Diet in Walmart. That book is based on a passage in the
Bible that says got made plant matter for us to eat, before we began eating
meat. As a Christian and a vegan, it was perfect for me. I took it as gospel
and became a raw vegan.
Traditional raw veganism was
extremely difficult, mostly because of the preparation time involved.
Additionally, it was expensive because it required exotic ingredients and
eating a LOT of food in order to meet caloric needs. Despite that, I was always
hungry. I didn’t experience any amazing health benefits compared to just being
vegan, so after a year, I went back to just being vegan.
As a vegan, I found myself plagued
by bloating, I lost muscle tone, developed cellulite (despite my extremely thin
physique and small frame), became “soft” (what I call skinny-fat), had a
bloated face, occasional break outs, and still had constant colds. I was eating
so much processed junk – lots of pasta and tofu. I tried to stay away from all
the fake meat and cheese because I knew processed stuff was bad for you, but
being vegan without items like pasta and tofu is hard.
Several years after being
regular-cooked vegan, I found another raw vegan diet. It sounded like it might
be the answer. It was called 80/10/10 and was basically fruitarianism. It
required no exotic ingredients or food prep. Basically, you eat one fruit per
meal, and lots of it. Then, once per day, you eat a huge salad. It sounded
easy, so I followed it. I did it for about nine months. At first, I felt a lot
better, but then that dwindled and I developed other problems. My bloating got
a lot worse. I developed cystic acne. My hair got frizzy and I started going
gray. These are only a few of the issues. I stopped, the issues went away. My
face cleared up within days. I was told my issues were detox, however, and to
continue, so I did. My bloating got worse, acne came back, my periods stopped,
and the doctor made me start taking B12 injections and massive amounts of vitamin
D to cover deficiencies.
After this, I started researching
the paleo diet, which is something I hadn’t done before. I only researched one
side of the story: veganism. I began eating paleo after six years of veganism
and reversed almost all of my problems. I followed the Whole30 version of
paleo, which is a palm-sized portion of meat and unlimited vegetables. I was
more comfortable with the emphasis on vegetables because I was eating meat for
the first time in years. I felt pretty good, but I still had horrible bloating.
I’d been seeing a doctor about the
bloating on and off for three years. I was tested for celiac, it came up
negative. I was tested for all kinds of bowel problems. No one could figure me
out, so I was just diagnosed with IBS repeatedly because they didn’t know what
else to tell me. Eventually, I started researching IBS and came across the low
FODMAP diet. FODMAPS are defined as “short chain carbohydrates and
monosaccharides that are poorly absorbed in the small intestine, including
fructans, galactans, fructose and polyols. The term is an acronym, deriving
from ‘Fermentable, Oligo-, Di-, Mono-saccharides And Polyols’.” It’s been found
to reduce symptoms in those with IBS and other digestive disorders.
My bloating disappeared. After
years. Years of issues, years of trying to be healthy. My bloating went away.
My acne went away. My fatigue went away. I started noticing that some
vegetables would make symptoms come back, and all vegetables in quantities
greater than ¼ cup caused symptoms. I realized I was “allergic” to everything
that those with fructose malabsorption are, which I only found because those
with fructose malabsorption also follow the low FODMAP diet. I went to get
tested and the test came back positive for it.
I began trying to figure out what
bothered me and what didn’t. I ended up with a short list: Meat, eggs, butter,
green beans, carrots, white potatoes and white rice. The latter four could only
be tolerated in amounts smaller than ¼ cup, and had to be eaten about six hours
apart. I became worried about the lack of fiber I was getting, and wondered if
I’d be ok without vegetables. This is where my zero carb journey really began.
I found a group of people who didn’t eat vegetables at all, and a HUGE body of
scientific evidence that said fiber actually CAUSES problems like IBS. In fact,
for certain digestive problems, like Crohn’s disease, diverticulitis, ostomies,
ulcerative colitis and IBS, doctors put patients on a low fiber, low residue
diet. This is because fiber aggravates all of these problems and is widely
recognized to sometimes cause them. Very confusing when you take into
consideration how much we’re told to eat our fiber.
I decided to go without vegetables
for a day. I felt better than I have since I was a little girl. One day turned
into two, two became a week… and here I am. I have tried a small amount of
vegetables I know I can handle, and I immediately feel horrible. Not horrible
compared to the intense bloating and pain I used to be in, but horrible
compared to how I feel without it.
The only times in my life that I’ve
been ill are when I was eating a processed standard American diet devoid of
anything anyone would consider nutritious and when I was vegan/vegetarian/fruitarian.
Prior to veganism, I never had bloating, but really, prior to 80/10/10, I NEVER
had digestive issues, such extreme bloating, acne issues (which turned out to
be a symptom of fructose malabsorption – NOT detox, as I was told), etc. Some
say fiber causes these issues and I wonder if veganism/80/10/10 caused these
problems for me.
I am now healthy, happy, glowing,
thin, toned, fit, energetic and NOT obsessed with food. NOT consumed with
recipes, wondering when I’ll eat next, hunger, constant eating, etc. I have
zero cravings EVER. I get hungry a couple times a day, then I eat. I think
about food maybe a total of 30 minutes a day while I eat it and prepare it. I
am ALWAYS beach-ready. I NEVER have to think about how my body will look if I
wear such-and-such or have such-and-such an event. I NEVER have to wear makeup.
I sleep deeply, wake up with tons of energy, have great muscle tone with zero
effort, have normal bowel movements… I just can’t praise this way of eating
enough. I can’t even call it a lifestyle, because my lifestyle is everything I
have that diets were getting in the way of before. My lifestyle is being a
nurse, being a mom, being a wife and living my life day by day. The way that I
eat crosses my mind for a few minutes each day, then I go on with my life. If
your diet is your lifestyle, it’s consuming TOO much time! Health shouldn’t be
your life, health should just be what you are so you can live out all the other
parts of your life! Health should be freedom, not an obsession or chains.
