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The Paleo Diet, By David Csonka Part One
This is a guest post by David Csonka, part of a multi-post segment about the Paleo Diet and David’s experiences with adopting a more natural lifestyle and diet.
If you follow the latest news for diet and nutrition trends, you might have heard the rumors of a new “fad” in the diet world. It has been referred to as the “caveman diet” or the “stone age diet” and is the newest thing that people are trying in order to lose weight. In fact, the Paleo Diet (as it is more appropriately called) is the oldest diet in existence, by more than 10,000 years!
Not a fad or a weight loss gimmick, this is a serious diet in the most traditional sense of the word: the usual food or drink consumed by an organism. The main premise of the Paleo Diet centers around the idea that the average human body has not yet sufficiently adapted to eating foods that have become available since the invention of agriculture 10,000 years ago. This includes seemingly benign foods like grains and beans, to the more obvious culprits like industrially processed junk food. Due to eating foods that exist outside of our evolutionary metabolic milieu (as Dr. Kurt Harris would say), people now deal with chronic “diseases of civilization” like heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.
Isn’t 10,000 years a long time though?
“Paleo” is a shortening of the term paleolithic, referring to the period of human history that lasted from approximately two and a half million years ago to 10,000 BC. Evolutionarily speaking 10,000 years is just a blink of the eye, especially considering that humans have existed in their modern form for 200,000 years and as a closely related group of species for much longer than that. During this time, humans ate varying amounts of meat, seafood, vegetables, fruit, and nuts. If it weren’t for the harshness of living in the wilderness, the primitive human would probably have expected to live a long healthy life eating this kind of diet.
Foods that humans have typically eaten:
- meat
- seafood
- vegetables
- fruit
- nuts
If somebody asked you to explain why eating anything on that list is bad for you, the best you could probably come up with would be some of the vegetarian arguments against meat consumption, or some potential issues with pesticides or chemicals in the environment. I won’t get into the untenable argument for the vegetarian diet today other than to say that the historical consumption of meat by humans and the benefits it provides to their nutrition is well founded.
What sets the Paleo Diet apart from other gimmicky diets is that it does not focus on outlining what you can eat. Instead it identifies foods that you should avoid. Just like a hunter-gatherer in the wild should avoid the strange looking berries that caused the rest of his tribe to get sick, so should modern humans avoid foods that lead to chronic illness.
Foods that humans should avoid:
- refined or processed sugars
- gluten grains
- legumes
- grain and seed cooking oils
- processed food in general
So why are these foods bad for us? Well most importantly, refined sugars like you see in so many manufactured foods these days have a dramatic effect on insulin and blood glucose levels. Naturally occurring sugars (like in fruit) typically have their glycemic effect blunted somewhat by the presence of fiber, which slows the rate of digestion. Products like soft drinks, sodas, candy, etc. usually contain industrial sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup. They’re metabolized into the bloodstream quickly and send your insulin levels on a roller coaster ride. In the short term they’ll cause weight gain and insulin resistance, in the long term type 2 diabetes.
Gluten grains are bad because of the various proteins and anti-nutrients they contain. Most of us have probably heard of or at least know a person who has Celiac disease, a severe autoimmune disorder related to gluten. The percent of prevalence among Western populations is estimated at roughly 1%, but probably up to 30% – 40% of the population still suffers from a low level of gluten intolerance.
Chronic gluten exposure has been shown to cause increased intestinal permeability (or leaky gut) even in the absence of Celiac disease. Other compounds like lectins (also found in legumes) and phytates further exacerbate autoimmune issues and serve to make many useful nutrients bio-unavailable. Generally speaking, grains probably adapted the use of these chemicals to keep animals from digesting what are essentially their reproductive parts. Considering the poor amount of nutrition they provide, gluten grains aren’t worth having to deal with all of the side effects they cause.
Are all grains bad?
Corn and rice aren’t as bad as gluten based grains, but as a food source they aren’t particularly nutrient dense. As well, the highly refined and processed versions of these grains are certainly problematic because they typically induce a high glycemic response coupled with a significant starch-based carbohydrate load. When compared to more nutrient rich vegetables which don’t wreak havoc with your blood sugar or intestinal track, these other grains just don’t seem very worthwhile either.
What about eggs?
Eggs are a great source of fat and protein, although there are compounds within the egg whites which could pose problems for some people with a sensitive gut. According to Dr. Loren Cordain, it’s the second most common food allergy. Just be mindful of this, as a food source becomes less useful if it causes chronic inflammation. Some may point to the high cholesterol content as another reason for caution, but there is a growing body of evidence illustrating that earlier studies vilifying cholesterol were severely flawed.
Can I at least have dairy?!
Dairy products present a sort of gray area and point of contention when it comes to the Paleo Diet. It has been established that there are certain dairy foods like whole cream and butter that are beneficial despite the fact that they are the result of farming. The high amounts of saturated fat usually give people caution, but newer research is now indicating that it isn’t the cause of heart disease like we have been lead to believe.
It should also be kept in mind that grass-fed and pastured cows produce milk that has less pathogens and contains a more favorable omega 3 fatty-acid ratio. There are however some obviously problematic compounds found in dairy products. Lactose intolerance (leading to gut irritation) is well known and there is also the protein casein which operates in a similar fashion to gluten.
How do we move forward from here?
As you can see, some aspects of the Paleo Diet are very cut and dry, while others are still dependent on a person’s specific genetics or health issues. Armed with some basic information about the various foods we encounter on a daily basis, we can now devise a plan for optimizing our health through eating a more evolutionarily appropriate diet. In my next post, I’ll talk about:
- methods for implementing the Paleo Diet
- the importance of medical guidance
- the importance of self experimentation
- my personal experience and results
—
David Csonka writes about natural health and fitness at his blog, Naturally Engineered. Subscribe here to follow all of his latest posts on attaining optimal health. Or follow him on Twitter at @thrivenaturally to join in on the conversation!
Tags: David Csonka, guest blogger, health advocate, improving thyroid function via nutrition, Paleo diet benefits, Paleo diet expert, Paleo foods autoimmune benefits, paleo nutrition and thyroid disorders, the paleo diet
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42 Responses to “The Paleo Diet, By David Csonka Part One”
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I was introduced to Paleo about 6 months ago & LOVED LOVED LOVED it…felt great, tonnes of energy & I even lost weight, although at that time my Hypo was not being treated properly so I was unable to lose weight like a friend of mine did…but I felt amazing, half the battle for us with Hypo would be solved if we all just ate like this. Try it for a week, you’ll be hooked.
Hi, Stacy! It occurred to me that how you were feeling was probably just as or more important than any potential weight loss. It’s hard to quantify, in terms of illness recovery or remission, how beneficial it is to just feel good all of the time, but I have to think that it makes a big difference.
Paleo is the way to go…I joke with my doc that “eating like a cavegirl” has made me feel so much better, even while dealing with the ups-and-downs of Hashimoto’s. I need to work on eliminating the legumes and cutting down on sugar, but have already realized the leg-up on my health that eating this way has given me.
Dave.
yes, feeling great is … great.
I do have a question for you though. I was on Paleo for about two months, very strict but not restrictive in terms of the foods “allowed”. However around that time I started feeling STARVING, I would eat an entire meal & be starving again in 10 minutes…I assume it was a deficiency of something but no idea what…I was diagnosed with anemia about 4 months later so that might have something to do with it.
any ideas>?
Been eating Paleo for almost three months. Love it. Less weight and more energy. Heartburn and headaches have become things of the past.
My doc put me on a “yeast-free” diet with the tagline “eat like a caveman”. It was very similar to this, but allowed NO grains or sugars, no dairy, no soy or anything fermented and no high-glycemic fruits/veggies like carrots, grapes etc. I wish I could say it improved my energy, but that really hasn’t happened. 🙁 On the other hand, my gastro symptoms resolved and I dropped 50 pounds almost in the blink of an eye. I’m on a gluten-free diet now, but when I overdo the sugar or dairy, my gastro symptoms come back. I would still recommend trying Paleo to anyone.
As far as legumes go, their individual lectin (a harmful protein) profiles are about as varied as the number of bean varieties. The greener more immature beans tend to be OK raw compared to the dry mature ones like kidney beans which are quite toxic. Just always be sure to cook them adequately. Peanut oil lectin (peanuts are legumes) also has some significant artery clogging properties.
Coffeedog, how much fat would you say was in your diet when you followed your doctors plan? Some people have problems when they start cutting out big carb energy sources (sugars,dairy) from their diet, but don’t replace them with fat. Vegetables are very important, but you would have to eat a metric ton of broccoli each day to keep you going, which would be tough to do considering all of the fiber.
Raw carrots have a glycemic index (GI) of 16, which is quite low. You have to consider the preparation of food, since that will effect how quickly it will be digested. Example: peeled, diced, and boiled carrots have a GI of 49. So, in my book, raw carrots are fine to eat, but even 49 is low compared to stuff like poptarts.
Stacey, your description of post meal hunger makes me wonder a few things: how much fat was in your diet, and how raw was the food you ate? Fat plays a big role in making you feel satiated, and overly cooked or pureed food is digested much faster.
A lot of new paleo diet adopters sometimes run into this problem because they are familiar with the popular low-fat trend. Low fat meals leave you hungry though because our bodies crave it. Fat is the default fuel that humans run on.
The plan they put me on said to keep things relatively low-fat; lean cuts of meat, white meat chicken only, no sausage or bacon, that kind of thing… deli meat was ok if you got it at the meat counter, but bologna or prepackaged stuff stuff was not. I admit I totally cheated on the chicken thing, roasting thighs w/ the skin on regularly. Most of my protein came from that, eggs, venison, and fish, plus nuts & nut butters. The plan did emphasize the importance of “good” fats and pushed olive oil and especially coconut oil, so I got into the habit of using the latter.
You’re allowed to use butter after 2 weeks tho.
You also have to wait 2 weeks before eating fruit, so the beginning of the diet is ROUGH. Lol. They didn’t really address how GI can change with cooking method- that’s very interesting info! One frustrating bit was how the most readily available veggies (fresh or frozen) just happen to be the ones I couldn’t eat.
Stacey – Incredible. Did you notice that your antibodies for Hashimoto’s/hypothyroidism were reduced after being on the Paleo diet for a period of time?
JoyceAnn, how fantastic! Would you mind going into more detail: Would love to know the impact on your disease. I understand that you’re still dealing with symptoms. But, how many symptoms would you say are ‘at bay’, and what are they, if you don’t mind sharing?
Also, the same antibodies question I posed to Stacey, I’d love to ask you, too.
Aaron, that is absolutely incredible! The Paleo diet has totally changed your quality of life, improved it! I love it.
Coffee Dog – To your first comment – What you describe in terms of gastro symptoms and weight loss, is pretty remarkable. What else did the diet do to improve your quality of life, if you don’t mind me asking. How do you prefer the gluten free diet now? What benefits are you experiencing?
Love this – You know why? Nothing is a one-size fits all. Educating ourselves about new nutritional programs, such as the one David wrote about, the Paleo diet, empowers us, I think.
Do you agree?
David – Thank YOU SO MUCH for this outstanding and educational post. I’m learning from you, and from the community. This rocks.
You’re a peach.
There is definitely a lot of room for trying different things in regard to eating paleo. There is no one size fits all package, rather a set of guidelines in which certain foods are more likely to be detrimental to everyone’s health.
Being willing and dedicated enough to remove a specific food type from your diet for several weeks (without cheating) is a great way to identify the real problem foods.
Joining in to say that WHEN I have eaten this way it has been tremendously helpful to many things – like yeast overgrowth and other auto-immune disorders seen to “settle down and “unflare”… And when I don’t I generally feel more cranky and unhappy and get more “neurotic”.
And -a thank you- I was “guilted”/”helped” into shopping more carefully today. 🙂
I find it ridiculous that the MOST delicious and addictive of foods are the most detrimental and LEAST beneficial to our health (hello wee tell tale empty baggie of peanutbutter M&M’s from 2 months ago from when I was attempting to “cope” with stress)… the empty sugar seemed to literally act like a DRUG on my system to “calm” me down… I’m not an addict man… I can stop anytime.
Dave, Very well said. Speaking for myself, that’s where I want to get to. Eliminating the foods I need to, to achieve maximum benefits/results.
Melissa – So happy you joined this conversation. I have a few questions for you, if you don’t mind.
1) When you eat this way, you notice a reduction in symptoms, both mentally and physically? That’s incredible.
2) Love, love, love this point I find it ridiculous that the MOST delicious and addictive of foods are the most detrimental and LEAST beneficial to our health
And your last sentence cracked me up!
You go, girl.
David
Thank you for such an informative posting. So much for me to learn, I am still fumbling my way through the nutritional “what is good for me” dark. Trying to figure out what will work for me and help me get me back. From little metabolism (hashi’s, hypo, multi nodular) to thyroid cancer/thyroidectomy, back to extreme hypo – and now in the hyper neighborhood…
Right now, after a colonoscopy (yesterday) – several polyps (biopsied), diverticulitis, inflammation and infection (also biopsied) I am on a “low residue” diet for the next 3 weeks. UGH and UGH again.
I have found, that the less sugar that is in my diet, the better I felt, I’ve had a general problem with gluten “leaky gut” in the absence of “celiac disease”. What a GI number it puts me through…
Waiting to see what the biopsy says… before I figure out what the hell to eat next….
I eagerly await your next post/information.
Truly, Thank you for shedding some light on this subject. It helps more than you know
Melissa,
I think one of the things that has happened with these addictive foods, is that corporations have spent a lot of money to figure out what people like to eat and what makes us hungry. They’ve got it down to a science. They’ve essentially dialed in the biological triggers that make us want to eat.
By their nature humans will crave fat, sugar, and salt, because they are crucial for our survival. Unfortunately for us, we evolved in an environment where those three things were scarce, and now live in one where they are readily available 24/7.
Christine – You have been through SO MUCH. Promise us that you will please let us know how the colonoscopy goes. I so relate to the concept of WANTING TO FEEL LIKE ME AGAIN. What’s so interesting, is the benefits the Paleo diet seems to have for patients with autoimmune conditions.
I think David will have some wonderful input.
As for you, my sweet. Please take care of your gorgeous, loving, adorable self.
xo
Christine, I think applying some of the concepts behind the Paleo diet would be very beneficial for you by reducing the amount of gastrointestinal inflammation you have going on. For most of the main antagonistic foods that we seek to remove, their primary “mode of attack” is to cause irritation or gut permeability in the intestines.
For people who are in relatively good health, the constant immune response to resolve that irritation mainly just makes their body work harder to stay healthy. For somebody who already has some significant issues going on there, it would be even more important to limit the amount of inflammation that is caused by your diet.
I think that eliminating gluten from grains, casein/lactose from dairy, and concentrated lectins from legumes and such as soon as possible would be a good idea. Not everybody has blatant physical symptoms from these compounds, but they are almost certain to be causing problems to some degree.
To be safe though, any significant dietary change should probably be coordinated in accordance with your doctor’s guidance and prescribed post-op nutrition.
Melissa – you have inspired me to put down the jellybeans. i just gave them to my son [to his delight!] & told him not to put them anywhere near my ‘puter. i just happen to be going grocery shopping tomorrow & i will be shifting my eating habits as of right now. that last glass of milk i had 30 minutes ago was tasty & i think i will miss the occasional glass but if it will help me with my thyissues it will be worth it!!!
Jeane,
Milk is an interesting case and even for me is a tough one to give up. There is plenty of evidence of pastoral type cultures doing well on diets full of dairy and meat, but it seems that in some ways the ability to digest certain sugars or proteins can be lost if it isn’t part of the diet for several generations (or even during a life span).
Milk has a lot of beneficial aspects to it, but these are tempered by the problems from lactose and casein, and lots of sugar. While less of a pure “Paleo” solution, isolated whey protein is very healthy, and butter is a good source of dairy fat without the lactose/casein issue.
Go Jeanne!!
I have definitely found that when *I* make the choice to simply eat more fruits and veggies and fewer “poptarts” as Dave C has stated I simply feel better.
I definitely believe that many of my lupus flares are helped to heal or harmed through stress reduction and linked nutritionally.
(Though guiltily — I am a lover of “survival foods” like salt, sugar, and fat… and my body reflects that. Meanwhile – my moods have ironed out significantly and my bloodsugar went from “woah – hey diabetes yo” to “hrmm – I guess you’re managing that on your own” when I simply stopped eating as many processed foods and started steaming broccoli and eating more proteins and cutting out more of the processed foods) I’m a huge fan of paleo ways of eating.
GOOD LUCK with your paleo eating everyone. I keep thinking that every right step and choice I make is better than the packages of M&M’s that make me feel like moody unable to ward off many kinds of illness and mind and body funk. Cheers!
PS Dave C –
Thank you for your permission to have the diary occasionally… 😉 I have gotten to the point where I have the occasion pat of butter, some local made yogurt with the happy probiotics, and it seems to do the trick for me… once in a while when my body screams for it I will have a glass of milk with my broccoli and protein and it “feels good.” It is usually when I haven’t gotten enough “fat” that day and I’m craving the fats. But – since I grew up in the mid-west, I seem loath to give up the dairy entirely. 😉
Just remember, the Paleo Diet is merely a set of guidelines about food that are most likely to increase your health. Some people may be able to get away with some things, more than others, but if your body feels good and you aren’t becoming ill, then you’re probably OK.
David and Dear Thyroid
Thank you, I have had “gut issues” for so long now, almost as long as I had been fighting with my thyroid.
I am eager to learn what I can about what can be… I meant what I said about fumbling around in the dark as to what to eat… how to eat…
While I wait for the biopsy results, my next GI appt is 3 weeks, endo is in August. However, I am beginning to put together questions and ideas about what I can do to alleviate symptoms – to be more proactive in my health in this regard. SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE…
I am doing more research on the glycemic index as well.
Much of what you indicated in your response to my original post, are the very things that cause me the most distress – I went back through my food diary and journals to see what that pattern is…. you hit the nail on the head!! BINGO! Why I didn’t put two and two together sooner… It is worth it to me to find out more about you are saying… I am listening…
Yes, I will keep you posted with the biopsy results and such – will admit to being done in… but trying to keep a positive face on things…
Now, I am going back to my pillow, heating pad and gonna curl up into the fetal position for awhile 😉 and wish this pain away…
Christine, you sound like a real fighter, I wish you the best and hope the results of the test are good. Please feel free to contact me if you have some more specific questions or concerns. You can reach me through my website contact form: http://naturallyengineered.com/contact
Jeanne – HOW EXCITING. GOOD FOR YOU!!! Please let us know how it goes. You will be fabulous. We will all be rooting for you.
Oh, oh, oh, another thought… If you’re up for it, you can do a ‘Patient Perspective Piece’ for Dear Thyroid and submit it after doing the Paleo diet for a few weeks? Or a few pieces… Email me, let me know what you think.
YOU WILL BE GREAT. SO EXCITED! YAY.
katie@dearthyroid.org
Melissa – Love the changes you’ve made, and how evident the benefit is. It sounds like you feel/see the difference asssapppy.
Very inspiring points, too.
I’m feeling so nutritionally excited right now.
K
Christine – So proud of you, love. I know this isn’t an easy time for you.
PS: We’re all here for you.
xo
K
Christine – don’t forget the movies! when i am not feeling well i snuggle up on the couch with a cat [or two, depends on who gets my lap first ;-}] & watch one of my favorite movies.
hang in there girl!
jmk
Hmm… I’m afraid the weight loss and gastro improvement are pretty much all it’s done for me. Still, that’s nothing to sneeze at, because it meant being able to come off the acid reducer I was taking- one less prescription, yay0rs! Now I can regulate it with diet and DGL. I just think there’s more to the story of my fatigue that we haven’t quite sussed out yet.
My new doc had me continue a very similar diet, until I finally decided I couldn’t handle it anymore. I had/have some big stress, and living with people who eat whatever they want finally got to be too much- I was miserable, and made sure everybody knew it, which made them miserable. \o/ The final straw was that my energy, by far the biggest problem, wasn’t substantially better. Losing 50 lbs rocks, but if I still feel too crappy go shopping for new clothes (never mind that I have no money left after not being able to work for a year), what’s the frickin’ point? So the new doc let me come off the diet, but strongly suggested that I avoid gluten. Obviously it’s much less restrictive than Paleo, but I’m still finding places where gluten has snuck under the radar- it’s in everything! I’ve lost a little more weight, but I really have to watch the sugar- too many m&ms and I’ll have heartburn, increased hunger, & hypoglycemic symptoms later.
Coffee Dog (Dear Thyroid/Katie here) – Thank you so much for your explanation/sharing more. I super appreesh. I agree with you, if you lose a shit load of weight, but you feel horrible, it’s not for you.
Please, gluten is in so many things, it’s kind of shocking, isn’t it?!
What I am so fascinated by with respect to nutrition, is, and I’ve said it before, we aren’t a one-size fits all. Not a single one of us. Sure there’s crossover. We are as unique as patients, as we are as people (too many as’s?!)
Thanks to Liz, and her column HOW TO KICK YOUR THYROID’S ASS, I became Vegan/GF and very interested in nutrition as it pertained to my wellness. I thought, for the first time what if I can use nutrition to my healing advantage and truly achieve wellness?! Wow. Wouldn’t that be amazing.
The woman, Liz, is BRILLIANT. Every column she writes on Dear Thyroid, is another “NO WAY, FOR REALS”?! moment.
I was drawn to the Paleo diet after, thanks to Liz, I went vegan/GF. I don’t think that interest would have been ignited had I not been educated and enthusiastic about nutrition.
David – wonderful fellah that he is, has been an equally educational resource about wellness through food, and with respect to the Paleo diet. I also appreciate his willingness to brainstorm – his receptivity to a million questions – and his kindness. Again, like Liz.
We’ll see how it goes. I find it super restrictive. I have more energy. I’m also a serious newbie. I want to stick with it and see where it takes me.
Oh, I think I just wrote a novel. Sorry!
xo
Katie
Am trying to work out how to cut out grains and still eat bread.
compounds like lectins found in legumes and phytates further exacerbate autoimmune issues
the Paleo Diet centers around the idea that the average human body has not yet sufficiently adapted to eating foods that have become available since the invention of agriculture 10,000 years ago.
This means cutting out grains and beans,
* refined or processed sugars
* gluten grains
* legumes
* grain and seed cooking oils
* processed food in general
Some people experiment with making their own bread or baked products from stuff like almond flour. It’s a bit pricey compared to standard flour, but it won’t have gluten.
Personally, I just stopped eating bread. Nutritionally, it is basically worthless. What it really comes down to is taste and fondness for the meals it is a part of. I will choose health over taste every time, but I certainly wouldn’t expect others to eat so stoically.
Okay so I’m a little behind on this but I still wanted to chime in….
When my adrenals crashed (while Hashi’s flared up after pregnancy) I basically ate this very diet without knowing it. I cut out all sugar, caffeine & anything processed immediately and started eating protien..lots of it. Along with all veggies…very little carbs because I was so scared of anything being stimulating to the adrenals & crashing again.
I am now still on this diet somewhat due to healing a leaky gut…getting to the root of my autoimmune issues! (I hope!)
I had already given up gluten while pregnant & many of my digestive issues went away, but I got very lazy after baby & being so stressed. Sad, because that’s when you need to eat healthy the most. I completely tanked and was left bed ridden for months(until I found the right doc who would diagnose & treat me!!! I was told by conventional docs it was all in my head!!!)…missing out on so much in my children’s lives. I thought I was dying..literally.
Anyway…I definitely believe in this diet!! I have lost almost 30 lbs (some was due to adrenal insuff)& even though I am still trying to balance out the hormones, I haven’t gained any weight. Even when I am feeling much better, I will still basically follow this way of eating. For me it works.
Hi Everyone,
I initially read the Paleo diet article when it was posted but no one had responded yet. I needed to pull the article up again this morning b/c my fiance, Jon, (the chef in our house) is going grocery shopping and is going to do this with me but he needed more guidance than me just saying, “think like a caveman!” I grunted, “meat. fish. raw veggies. nuts. berries” but i stil wanted him to have this article in his email for his shopping today.
I’m not doing this for weight loss because I’m thin and gorgeous. okay, totally kidding. I had undiagnosed hashi’s prior to thyroid cancer and then when they removed my thyroid d/t cancer that’s when they found the hashi’s. apparently one was masking the other?
I don’t know, anyway, in 1/2006 when the thyroid was removed I promptly gained 100 lbs. about a year after all treatments were done I lost about 80 lbs. then with re-treatment I regained it all back.
could go on and on but I have come to the realization that in order to stay alive, i can’t control my metabolism or my weight really. So I’m okay with that. if I lose no weight from this, well, I will probably lose it from being too hyperthyroid anyway. that isn’t my reason for doing this.
I am sick still and this is my reason for doing this. My weight is going to do what it wants to with me. I would like less diarrhea, less farting, less nausea and vomiting, less insomnia or hypersomnia depending on which way my TSH has swung, better mood stabilization, and a Ferrari. So, I don’t think I’m asking for a lot. I’m excited to try this and SO excited about being able to have butter. I love butter more than cake. Alright, going to go eat some medium rare steak I have sliced in the fridge to snack on. I’m wierd and have always eaten cold, leftover steak as a snack. thanks for the article and sorry I wrote a novel. Maybe this diet will cure my hyperverbosity. 🙂
Amy
Amy,
You are hilarious! Your sense of humor is a gift!
I am planning on trying this diet again. the last time I did it I did it rice…right not I am off the band wagon!
Wow, I can’t type…I mean last time I did eat rice…then I started cheating more and more…eating things to cope with stress…I want to feel well again. I hope this might help eliminate my gastro intestinal issues as well as joint pain… maybe even anxiety?