I like my doctor because he once told me that his goal was for me to enjoy a healthy retirement. However, it turns out that we have very different methods for accomplishing that goal. His method is medication plus intermittent fasting and mine is the food plus intermittent fasting. It turns out that the kinds of food I consume, the amount I consume, and when I consume it is the key in addition to exercise and good sleep. I wonder if my centering on food and rejection of new medications challenges his thinking.
I recall an observation I made many years ago when I became aware that there were people starving in other parts of the world. I was bothered by the images of emaciated bodies and thought it strange that our country had such an abundance of food that we turned perfectly nutritious food into junk food loaded with fats, salt, and sugar. On the one hand, I was compelled to donate to hunger relief organizations who provided the stables to make bread and porridge, but on the other, I was compelled to consume greater amounts of the junk food being pushed by savvy corporations. As a seventeen-year-old, I once had French fries and a milkshake for lunch. At one point, I had to use a napkin and scrape the congealed grease from the roof of my mouth. It was gross, but it didn’t stop me from consuming either. I realize now that whether it is the abundance of junk food in wealthy countries or the scarcity of basic food in poor countries, we humans are slowly dying because of food.
My over-consumption of food and my addiction to processed and junk food eventually took its toll. It took me a long time to realize than my consistency with exercise, my basic alcohol abstinence, and my avoidance of cigarette smoke were not enough to compensate for my overeating and poor food choices.
My doctor’s answer to my high blood pressure is medication. His answer to my high LDL cholesterol is medication. His answer to my low HLD is medication. His answer to my progressive weight gain was intermittent fasting since I already exercise an hour in the mornings. I do aerobics, stretching, and weight training. But despite all this, I continued to put on the pounds and my metabolic numbers grew worse, not better. Six months ago, I was pre-diabetic and very close to being labeled a type two diabetic. Despite this, my doctor never addressed my food choices.
The issue of healthy eating is very complicated in the United States. Over the years, I’ve tried making many dietary lifestyle changes. The first was a switch to a low-fat diet. The first items to be substituted out for healthier options were whole milk, shortening, cheeses, and lard. I switched to low-fat everything and used smoked turkey instead of pork fat in southern cooking. Then there was the low carb diet where white breads, white pastas, white rice and white sugar were the culprits and brown whole grains became the substitute for everything. I curtailed candy and desserts. I eliminated bacon and lunchmeats that contained nitrates. Eggs were bad and then they were good. Coffee was good, then bad, then good again. Everything in moderation became the thing. Then eating five small meals a day was the answer. Then gut health and getting enough probiotics and calcium became the thing, so plain yogurt became a staple. Then we tried the Paleo diet that glorified animal proteins and made beans, diary (including my yogurt), nightshade vegetables and wheat products the culprits. Then we returned to moderation with hormone free meats and only organic fruits and vegetables. Nothing worked. We only became fatter and sicker.
It wasn’t until my husband was fighting a recurrence of lung cancer, that I started to really look at food for its healing properties. I wanted to support his healing process with the foods he was consuming. I did some research, met with the nutritionists a couple of times and did some more research. I eventually landed on a plant-based diet for us.
At my quarterly doctor’s appointment in May, we had only been on the plant-based diet for about a week. My doctor was concerned about my higher blood pressure and protecting my kidneys. In addition, I was heavier, and my blood sugar numbers were at the edge of type two diabetes. He prescribed yet another blood pressure medication which proved to be intolerable to my system and I had to stop. On the phone, when I told him I had to stop that new medication, I explained to him that I had switched to a plant-based diet and was determined to try that before doing anything more. He gave three months to improve my numbers. At the beginning of July, I added an additional four hours to my intermittent fasting. So, I eat a plant-bases organic diet eight hours a day and fast for 16 hours. And I got results. At my doctor’s appointment last week, I had accomplished the loss of seven pounds while also pushing my blood sugar back into the normal range.
However, my blood pressure is still elevated and my HDL still too low. My triglycerides that had been normal, were now high as fat stores enter my blood stream on their way out. I asked my doctor for another three months to address these issues with the diet and lifestyle changes that I had initiated. I added breathing exercises, a daily walk outside in nature as opposed to the treadmill and bike, and a sharp reduction in my salt intake as well as morning green tea while I am still fasting. Sleep has always been a big problem for me, but I’ve noticed a near miraculous improvement in it. I’m now sleeping an average of six and a half to seven hours a night. I can only attribute this change to my new dietary change where I stop eating by 6pm. I’ve tried everything else that was recommended to no avail.
The temptation to eat foods that harm rather than improve health is everywhere. I now view food for what it is: fuel and body repair or poison. But for me, the greatest motivation is my visit to the doctor’s office every three months. I ‘m excited to see how eating well and less often can restore health to my body. I’m hopeful these changes that improve my health will also provide a case study for my doctor to pass along to his other patients.