Hello,

It's been a while since I posted, thought I'd share some of my news.

I was on the 8/1/1 for about 3 months, before that I was various stages of raw (50-80%), still low fat. Before that I was a non-dairy pescetarian (is that something I just made up??) with good eating habits.

I wasn't able to maintain the 8/1/1 for longer than 3 months. I was feeling amazing for the first, then it kept going downhill. I think for me it was too soon, and I was having blood sugar fluctuations (I don't think this is the norm for most people). So, having promised myself that I would listen to my body above all else, I decided to reincorporate some foods.

For the last few weeks I have a green blend for breakfast, lunch is some fruit or a fruit/veg smoothie, dinner is a huge salad with veggies (and even though it is bad for me, I still have pasta once a week eek!)

The outcome:

I had a full blood work up. I had several abnormal results. My good cholesterol was out of range, too high. My bad cholesterol was out of range, too low. My triglycerides were out of range, too low. My doc was flabbergasted..I'm a little overweight (I'm a tall girl!) and she was expecting bad results even though I told her I've been a healthy eater my whole life.

The one bad thing was low iron/anemia, but some iron supplements soon sorted it out, and it was likely due to my ignorance of healthful eating when I was a veggie for all my years, and not due to new eating habits.

My hair falling was due to low zinc, some natural multi vitamins sorted that out, my new hair is sprouting all over the place.

My thyroid:
I was on thyroxine 100mcg for almost 2 years. Suddenly I started getting a lot of anxiety and shaking (maybe why I was having probs on the 8/1/1). I tested my thyroid, it was too high. Lowered the meds, still too high..am now down to 50mcg, and still dropping. Seems like my thyroid has decided to spring back to life and I may not need meds soon.

In comparison to people on this board I would say my eating habits are nowhere as good, but it's a work in progress :-) I'm very thankful to everyone who tolerated my incessant questions re exercise and blood sugar etc. You were all a big help. I thought I would just share the amazing results of even a moderate improvement in diet.

Thats great news about the thyroid. Also its great that you are listening to what your body is asking for, and taking the transition more slowly. There certainly is no hurry to becoming all raw.

Hi Badawie,

Thanks for sharing this info. I'm dealing with some cholesterol issues and something in your post confused me a bit. Can "good" cholesterol really be too high? ...and "bad" cholesterol be too low? Did your doctor say what effect this ratio would have or were the results just unexpected?

I finally got my doctor to call me back and I'm getting copies of my blood tests. I'm starting on an intensive cleanse for the next 4 weeks and then I'll get tested again. I may start a diary in that forum to keep track of the process.

Thanks for keeping us posted,

Greg

Aloha Nui Loa,

Greg

A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices. - William James

There is no pill that can be swallowed,
There is no guru, that can be followed, - Michael Franti (Pray For Grace)

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. - Albert Camus

Hi Greg,

By too high and too low, I mean that there are always 'normal' values (taken by averaging out test results of the local population in the country where you live). My tests came back with little asterixses (sp?) next to the three results I mentioned. It doesn't mean they are bad, just that I tested beyond the set normal ranges for the population..

My doc basically asked if I was trying to live to be a 100, and said that the results were unexpected given that I am kind of, em, pudgy. Other than that, she asked me to add some fat to my diet (which I did anyway for other reasons). I used to be macrobiotic..I never got results like this (I just go ill!). My blood work was not great after macrobiotics, I was deficient in so very many things. This time everything came back normal (meaning that even though I tested out of range of the normal population, my results where abnormal in that they were so healthy).

I'm sorry, I just saw your thread..I feel a bit insensitive having posted this now..I think it's possible that the cholesterol is just on it's journey out of your body..I mean, it has to go somewhere right? I'm sure you're next tests will be great.

Bryan,

Thank you! It's a really exciting time for me...I was in too much of a hurry before. Now me and my thyroid are happy to enjoy the ride :-)

Hi Badawie,

Please don't be sorry at all. Your post wasn't insensitive in any way. I think it's great that you posted the results and it's very helpful to read of your experience...and i really mean that. No apology needed.

The man who is teaching my cleansing class said something interesting about cholesterol last night. Basically he said that no one has ever died of high cholesterol... high cholesterol is an indicator of a health condition, but not the cause. He was referring to the use of statin drugs (the ones my Dr is recommending).... saying that statin drugs just shoot the messenger (cholesterol). If you kill the postman because he's bringing you a letter from the IRS telling you that your being audited... you will still get audited! The underlying cause of the disease is still there if you haven't changed your health paradigm. I thought this was a cool way of describing it and it calmed me down a lot because i know I'm on the right track...always moving towards better health.

Thanks, Greg

Aloha Nui Loa,

Greg

A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices. - William James

There is no pill that can be swallowed,
There is no guru, that can be followed, - Michael Franti (Pray For Grace)

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion. - Albert Camus

Thanks Greg :-)

I totally agree with what your teacher said..I asked my doc what she thought of statins. She said that the trend in europe is to recommend diet changes. Then if it becomes apparent that the patient is not willing or able to stick to the dietary changes, only then are they prescribed. She said they are not significantly better than diet changes, and the side effects are unacceptably high when diet can have the same results..