Recently I embarked on the Paleolithic diet. I came to this decision after following a few different vegan/vegetarian diets over the past few months and just feeling..off. By off, I mean light headed upon standing, moody, spacey, and just not at my optimal level. I nearly buckled to the ground one day when I allowed my salivating-self to splurge on a rotisserie chicken at the Valley Natural Food store. I had been vegan for nearly 5 months at that point. I quickly continued my shopping and checked out.
I didn't make it home with that steaming hot chicken.
Instead, I took it to the store's cafe, and with out a plate or utensils, began ripping the bird apart with my bare hands. I felt so barbaric. And guilty. Guilty because I have been told time after time that the way to heal cancer is by vegan diet. I felt that I deliberately threw that out the window, so that meant that I didn't care. After more debate in my head and physically feeling superior post-barbaric session, I decided to listen to the "experts" close, and my body closer. I studied briefly the "blood type diet" and "metabolic diets". They all seemed to have a connection. Being a type O, according to the diet, I should be eating meat. That I metabolize animal flesh much easier than type A or B, and definitely better than AB. So based on my new research and my pure love of meat, I slowly added clean animal protein back into my diet. First in the form of bone broths..then salmon...a little chicken.. and before I even recognized it, I wasn't experiencing my light headedness anymore. My mood improved. My er...bathroom happenings..improved... Although I was still reluctant to let go of all of my previous knowledge, I began to understand that different people require different foods! So enters Paleo....
What is Paleo? The short answer is no dairy. No grains..not even beans. Not even GREEN BEANS.
Oh boy I love my beans! Raw cheese! Cream in my coffee! And my healthy organic sprouted bread! How could this POSSIBLY be unhealthy!? I was eating so clean, but clean food that the body wasn't designed to eat is still toxic, according to paleo. So on 10/22/12 I began my month long challenge to eat the food my great Type-O ancestors ate. So if I was feeling good, why change anything, right? Well, I am a believer (now) that the body is a messenger... While I felt I was improving on the health front, there was still something bothering me...my acne. At first I thought it was a detoxing mechanism .. and perhaps it was, because it greatly increased when I started everything in April. (Juicing and whole foods diet after the Standard American Diet of pizza and fast food several times a week) But months later, it persisted...and when I added dairy, it became painful and ugly.Time to change something. Our skin is the window to our digestion...so something needs to be fixed in there.
I am now 10 days into my new path. Pretty strict with the exception of Halloween. I am not even kidding, I have already noticed improvements in the skin department. The painful bumps are healing, and if I get a new one- which isn't as common anymore- they are a different 'type' of zit. A type that isn't painful and heals quickly. I am excited to see what I will look like this time next week. I am going to take a picture and compare! haha
A few people have asked me what I eat... so here is a sample menu.
Breakfast: Sauteed veggies-(anything and everything) with scrambled eggs, salsa, and avocado
Lunch: Salad with home made dressing.
Snack: Green Smoothie
Dinner: Nuts, Homemade Jerky, Apple, Etc...quick eats on the run since I work nights.
It has been the most satisfying diet BY FAR that I have succumbed to. So easy, ANYBODY (even a caveman) can do it.
So if you have gluten sensitivity, colitis, celiac, digestive issues, tummy aches, acne, vertigo... maybe you should try paleo with me! The trick is to not think about what you can't have, but what you can have. There is a world of whole-food paleo recipes out there.
I have a ways to go yet before I get preachy, though ;)
I'll let you know how it goes!
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