10/31/13 Eating Like a Horse, or maybe a cow

26 days ago I started a vegan diet.  To be clear, it's not for ethical purposes or animal treatment issues or the USDA being funded by the meat and dairy associations.  I know that exists and though I have an opinion on it, that isn't consistent with the purpose of my blog.  The purpose of this blog is to report on my condition, and share things that are working and things that aren't.  It's also to hold me accountable and keep a running tally of how this is all going.

A few weeks ago, I learned that the inner lining of the arterial and venous walls (known as the endothelium) can be damaged in some people who eat a meat and dairy rich diet.  I also found out that it can be repaired in some people by a plant-based diet.  Furthermore, I learned that living on a plant based diet can reduce inflammation and improve overall vascular health for some people.  Therefore, I surmised, if MS is rooted in a hypoxic or blood-depleted environment in the microveins inside the brain where the MS lesions exist (which is indeed what I believe), then the vegan or plant-based diet may be the answer.

So now I probably sound like a believer in Roy Swank, or perhaps a follower of some version of the Gerson theory.  I guess if it looks, sounds, and feels like a duck, it's probably a duck.

I have gone through various phases of dieting throughout my life.  I've never eaten an entirely garbage diet like fast foods all day every day, and I've also never eaten an entirely perfect diet (whatever that is), like apples and carrots.  I have noticed, though, whether I was eating generally well or eating generally poorly, I've never removed meat, eggs, milk, and cheese from the equation.  So now that I am isolating that, if there is indeed a link between vascular health, inflammation, and blood perfusion to the consumption of animal products or lack thereof, I will find out.

I have been coached and encouraged for awhile on doing this by a few people, but the problem has always been consistent motivation.   Who wants to eat flavorless grass all day?  And as the 16 year old son of my business partner put it, "I've come to realize that everything that tastes good is bad for you and everything that is healthy takes like crap."  The other problem is when you get right down to it, people who don't have any medical problems such as MS have all the answers, usually found on the latest Today show or a google article.

I've had about 90 meals since starting this out.  Of those 90, I had chicken wings the second day and some turkey lunchmeat the 4th day, and I went to a board meeting on the 8th day and ate a pile of Cheeseits and Kit Kats because it was there.  Otherwise, 0% animal products (unless it's in some ingredient I don't know about in something).  Finding places to eat and get a variety of plant based foods is not an easy chore.  Sure I downloaded some vegan apps, but for the most part I eat berry smoothies with fax seed and almond milk, sometimes Kashi cereal, for breakfast, a giant salad and soup from Whole Foods for lunch and late afternoon snack, and something at home like another salad for dinner.  I've found some Thai restaurants and a place called Veggie House that does some cool things to tofu, mushrooms, and veggies to trick me into thinking I'm eating meat.

Results so far?  Not what I'd expected.  I'm actually pleasantly surprised.
1) I am not craving meat, eggs, milk, cheese.  This one is strange.
2) I am gorging myself on veggies all day so I'm not hungry, thus finding my blood sugar doesn't seem to be spiking, causing that late afternoon sugar binge.  I feel satisfied most of the day.
3) Hummus farts have been spectacular.  Just amazing.  Length, volume, odor, office reaction.  All of these have been at least an 8.  Night time dutch oven with my wife has been a 10 a couple of times.
4) Energy has been pretty good and quite stable throughout the day.  Even riding the quad has been more enjoyable as I'm not so exhausted at the end.
5) And, yes, you knew this was coming, the poops have been legendary.  Regular as can be, too.
6) Last, it's delicious.  There are a lot of combinations to really make this a tasty deal.  That was a nice surprise too.

I think this is tying nicely into the hydration I reported earlier this month.  My wife reports I look smaller in the gut, which was seconded by another person last night.  I haven't weighed myself yet.  Waiting for some change in my pants and shorts as I've been pretty disappointed in my scale these days.  Hoping that thing will smarten up with all this......

The cooler weather has made walking a tad easier, so I've had a tendency to get up from my desk more often and take the dog for a walk around the shop.

Hopefully this plant life is going to help.  If nothing else it will tell me if I'm going to improve my vascular health and lose some weight.  Seems it probably isn't going to hurt.