While I was travelling, it was difficult to stay on my usual diet. Mexico in particular was difficult for me as I couldn’t find the foods I was used to, and Romania just had too many temptations for me. Now that I’m back in Vancouver, where I can get everything I like, I’ve gone back onto my usual diet, which is heavily influenced by Dr. Gundry’s ideas published in “The Plant Paradox.” When I read this book many years ago for the first time, I learned that plants are not that innocent and all good and healthful as I’d believed. I also learned about eliminating other toxins from my life, and overall I’ve done quite well on the Gundry diet before I left Vancouver. But – I tended to be borderline anemic with low iron levels, and I’ve always had some health issues, including minor heart issues, thyroid issues, and skin problems including acne, rosacea, and even fungal issues in recent years. Nothing major, granted, but—it could be better.
I’ve been listening to my favourite podcast (Patreon subscriber), The Minimalists Private Podcast, for years now, and one of the hosts has been struggling with health issues, including autoimmune disease, and been discussing different ways of living and eating healthfully for a long time. He’s invited different expert guests to speak about their diet, including vegans and carnivores, and each one of them agreed on the same foods that should be avoided, namely processed foods and seed oils among others. I’ve been doing that anyway on the Gundry diet, so I felt pretty good about myself. No problem.
Yet, I just know that I could be healthier, a quest I’ve followed for as long as I can remember in my adult life. A recent podcast episode inspired me to look into the carnivore diet, and I borrowed a book about it from the library. I’m still reading (and waiting for a second book to become available), but I’ve already decided to give this crazy diet a try and experiment with it.
Some of you know that I’ve been a vegetarian for three years when I was younger, and that was mainly because I was an animal lover. I had to give up the vegetarian diet, because my body demands meat; yet I’ve always tried to keep my meat consumption low, and I’m sourcing my meat carefully from farms that raise the animals on pasture, slowly and with species-appropriate diets (i.e. cows get to eat grass). At least, these farm animals have had a fairly good life before they meet their inevitable fate of becoming food.
Now, I have to reckon with my conscience if I want to go on an all-meat diet. Instead of having meat a few times a week, the carnivore diet requires to eat only meat (mainly red meat). Some dairy products are allowed but should be limited, eggs and fish are okay, and only animal fats are permitted (no plant oils). I’m curious how that is going to work out. How will I like eating only meat? How will my body react? It seems crazy, especially after being told all my life that vegetables and fruits are healthy and after eating bread (even gluten-free bread) and starches regularly. My dad just became a vegan who eats fish—what do you call that? A fishy vegan? Pesca-vegan? He enjoys his meatless diet and thrives on it. Again, I’m going against the grain (no pun intended), against what “everyone” else is promoting and claiming as “the only truth.”
We shall see how this experiment goes, but if my body reacts well to it, I’m willing to be unconcerned with my sympathy to animals. I’ve always been an advocate for being and living as natural as possible in our modern times, and if meat consumption turns out to be good for me, I would see that as a confirmation that it’s the natural way for me. I will start transitioning with a few meat-only days, so I don’t go into carb withdrawal too badly, and then reduce everything else over time. I will report in future blog posts.
At the same time, completely contradicting my experiment above, I got excited about fermenting foods. Well, Dr. Sean O’Mara is a carnivore who eats meat, dairy and fermented vegetables, so I guess it could fit in okay. Dr. Paul Saladino, on the other hand, eats meat, honey and fruits… while Dr. Shawn Baker advocates strictly only meat. There’s never a completely right way that works for everyone; I think it’s okay to experiment with what works for me. Anyway, I want to try and ferment some vegetables and see how that goes. I guess, it’s not easy to let go of the idea that vegetables are healthy. My plan is to make some Sauerkraut, and also ferment Kohlrabi, carrots and beets to start with. I’m tempted to make beet kvass (so curious!), although I’ve decided to avoid kombucha because of the added sugar. I guess that also includes ginger beer… too bad—I would’ve loved that. If dairy is okay, I could make kefir, though, and even yogurt. We’ll see how it all goes; I’m still all open to experimentation and learning. Wish me luck, and stay tuned on the outcomes.
ein spannendes Experiment