Re: The Methuselah Factors - most long lived peoplespartly or completely ve

[Guest guest]

Hi Leann,

I would love to know more about your pre-meat diet. Were you eating

whole grains or refined? When did you start to see the ND who

encouraged you to eat meat? I was semi-vegetarian for a while, eating

lots of soy meats. I felt SO much better when I started to eat meat

again. I didn't suffer as badly as you did without meat, but it was

still a big difference for me. I felt calmer with I added the meat. I

had already added CLO and upped saturated fat (in the form of dairy

foods and coconut oil) but when I added the meat I noticed a more

dramatic improvement.

~

> My symptoms worsened, until my ND suggested I eat meat. Within 30

> days, 90% of my symptoms " magically " dissappeared. Within 9 months

> of consuming shark/fish oils my tendonitis *dissappeared*! (The

> tendonitis had been painful enough that I had to stop gardening,

> could not cook my own meals from scratch as the prep time caused

> more pain, had to sleep with braces on every night...)

>

> I haven't taken a formal survey or anything, but I know 2 other

> women in our community who had the same exact experiences--one is

> the local chapter head of the WPF, and another is a parent from my

> daughter's school.

>

> I am sure if you were to talk to other folks on this list who

> attempted vegetarianism/veganism you might find similar stories.

>

> Leann who believes that sometimes real life is more relevant than

> studies

>

>

[Guest guest]

Let's see, I am 36 now, and I stopped being vegetarian when I was

about 28, so this was in the late 80's-early 90's...just good to

have that time reference, because at that time all the ballyhoo was

that coconut oils were going to kill us all, and oat bran was the

cure. I also remember that as early as the early 80's the

mainstream garble was that meats were going to kill us all. I have

distinct memories as a teen of my mother attempting to feed us less

meat and I was extremely thin at that time already, living in

Alaska, and freezing cold! (I was 5'8 " and weighed 110, a size 7.)

I had grown up eating plenty of desserts at home, but no sodas or

koolaids, and unfortunately a ton of hydrogenated oils, packaged

refined rice mixs (remember rice-a-roni?), Uncle Ben's rice, that

kind of thing. My mom is Mexican American, so we also had a steady

stream of corn tortillas, frijoles too.

As a vegetarian I went through long spells (years or more) consuming

no sweeteners except the alternative kind, and not in excess, whole

grain products (especially brown rice), and a fair deal of raw

vegetables. I used soy milk in the morning in my organic locally

produced granola, ate soy margarine on my locally baked whole wheat

bread, usually with brewer's yeast sprinkled on it, would have a

veggie sandwich for lunch or leftover brown rice and something

soyish or another legume (good ol' beans & rice!), and for dinner I

often had brown rice and tofu or tempeh. Toward the end I ate a lot

of eggs attempting to get more protein, because everyone told me my

problem was not enough protein. Although initially I ate dairy, I

became asthmatic while I was vegetarian and eliminated dairy, and

eventually wheat.

I would get these fantastic cravings for greasy foods, and would fry

large batches of home fries for myself--these were often dripping

with olive oil or canola or saffola, or whatever people said was

the " good " oil of the day. I remember once consuming a massive

dinner of greasy home fries & 3 fried eggs--the next morning I went

in for a blood check and they happened to check my cholesterol. The

doctor was shocked at how *low* the level was, wanting to know what

my diet was. I proudly announced I was a vegetarian--but darn, even

that doctor couldn't figure out why my body hurt all the time, my

menses were irregular, etc. With that low cholesterol level you'd

think I would have been the picture of perfect health, right?

I was 25 or 26 when I started seeing the ND, who was also into TCM

and a licensed acupuncturist, so he got to see the decline over a

period of years. He tried everything he knew to try, and at the end

suggested eating meat. That seemed to do the trick.

Anyway, hope that answers your questions.

>

>

> > My symptoms worsened, until my ND suggested I eat meat. Within

30

> > days, 90% of my symptoms " magically " dissappeared. Within 9

months

> > of consuming shark/fish oils my tendonitis *dissappeared*! (The

> > tendonitis had been painful enough that I had to stop gardening,

> > could not cook my own meals from scratch as the prep time caused

> > more pain, had to sleep with braces on every night...)

> >

> > I haven't taken a formal survey or anything, but I know 2 other

> > women in our community who had the same exact experiences--one

is

> > the local chapter head of the WPF, and another is a parent from

my

> > daughter's school.

> >

> > I am sure if you were to talk to other folks on this list who

> > attempted vegetarianism/veganism you might find similar stories.

> >

> > Leann who believes that sometimes real life is more relevant

than

> > studies

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

> As a vegetarian I went through long spells (years or more) consuming

> no sweeteners except the alternative kind, and not in excess, whole

> grain products (especially brown rice), and a fair deal of raw

> vegetables. I used soy milk in the morning in my organic locally

> produced granola, ate soy margarine on my locally baked whole wheat

> bread, usually with brewer's yeast sprinkled on it, would have a

> veggie sandwich for lunch or leftover brown rice and something

> soyish or another legume (good ol' beans & rice!), and for dinner I

> often had brown rice and tofu or tempeh. Toward the end I ate a lot

> of eggs attempting to get more protein, because everyone told me my

> problem was not enough protein. Although initially I ate dairy, I

> became asthmatic while I was vegetarian and eliminated dairy, and

> eventually wheat.

>

> I would get these fantastic cravings for greasy foods, and would fry

> large batches of home fries for myself--these were often dripping

> with olive oil or canola or saffola, or whatever people said was

> the " good " oil of the day. I remember once consuming a massive

> dinner of greasy home fries & 3 fried eggs--the next morning I went

> in for a blood check and they happened to check my cholesterol. The

> doctor was shocked at how *low* the level was, wanting to know what

> my diet was. I proudly announced I was a vegetarian--but darn, even

> that doctor couldn't figure out why my body hurt all the time, my

> menses were irregular, etc. With that low cholesterol level you'd

> think I would have been the picture of perfect health, right?

>

> I was 25 or 26 when I started seeing the ND, who was also into TCM

> and a licensed acupuncturist, so he got to see the decline over a

> period of years. He tried everything he knew to try, and at the end

> suggested eating meat. That seemed to do the trick.

>

> Anyway, hope that answers your questions.

>

Thanks so much! Yes, it definitely answers my questions! I have a

friend who was vegan for 6 years and now he's ovo-vegetarian (but only

organic, free-range eggs he buys himself). With my advice, he has

removed soy from his diet and added coconut oil. He may add dairy

soon. Your post will be of great interest to him! Me, too. I always

like to know about what people have done to improve their diet, etc.

I'm so glad that you added the meat. You definitely tried a lot of

things, making your story a good one to share with people. You were

really suffering. Awful!