Allan Savory: How to green the world's deserts...

... and reverse climate change:

Ouch!

I quit smoking last week. Up till Friday, that is, when the canker sore in my mouth was too unbearably painful. I had quit smoking before several years ago for three years total. I don't know how, but for some reason I had managed to forget the fact that the whole time I had quit smoking I was plagued by canker sores, one right after the other and usually several at one time. They never stopped until I started smoking again. It was the only good thing about starting smoking again, actually.

I really wanted to quit, and had no problems (with the help of some nicotine replacement aids), other than the canker sore. I have tried all the various remedies one can Google or ask friends about. Nothing has worked in all these years. I am going to do more research because my desire is to quit for good, but being in excruciating pain is not going to get it. Anyone have any ideas? Evidently it is not uncommon for people who quit smoking to get canker sores. Who knew? This sucks.

Choose Your Fate

Long time, no see. Sometimes life gets in the way of other pursuits. Like blogging.

This blog site was never intended to be all about my mother, even though it seems to have turned into that. Then again, this blog is really all about my mother, and countless others just like her who thought they were eating right and doing well by following everything (or most things) their doctor told them to do, only to discover down the line that they have a debilitating illness or condition that could have been prevented by not eating what is suggested by their doctor, nutritionist, or even the ADA.

The outward physical issues began to manifest nearly three years ago, when my mother was 66 years old, and things just seem to keep getting worse: a heart attack, double bypass, fem-fem bypasses, several other types of bypasses, and an amputation of a leg later, my mother lies, at this very moment, in a hospital bed, recovering from surgery to attempt to unblock one of her grafts. Her surgery was Sunday. It was only partially successful. She nearly bled to death on the operating table. Today marks a week since she was admitted.

She had difficulty breathing this morning and was whisked into x-ray and had blood drawn for diagnostic tests. The results came back with the following Dx: Pneumonia. You go to the hospital because you're sick and sometimes end up getting even more sick. Hospital borne infections are not uncommon. Hopefully it is the only one she winds up with during her stay; she has contracted MRSA before, and VRE. She's lucky to have lived through any of it, but even if she gets through this one she is sentenced to pain and suffering for her remaining days on this planet.

She lamented to me today, “I don't know why this has happened to me. I mean, I didn't eat badly anytime during my life.”

To which I replied, “I know you ate what you thought was good, what you were told was good, but it wasn't good for you. Doctors don't get nutrition training in med school. They told you the best they knew. You did the best you knew how to do.”

That's pretty much all I could tell her, because the damage is now done, and it's fairly likely it's too far gone to correct no matter what she eats now. She's diabetic and has horrible Neuropathy and vision issues. She's had several strokes including a brain stem stroke. She has Atherosclerosis and Heart Disease. Her left leg was amputated below the knee because no she had no circulation anymore in her lower limb and dry gangrene set in. She now has a spot of dry gangrene on her pinky toe of her right foot, and her foot is swollen and angry looking. If she lives long enough she will end up a double amputee.

The double heart bypass helped keep her heart beating, but the third artery leading to her heart is 90% blocked, and there isn't a damn thing they can do about that one without killing her.

She's tough, though. She has a will to live like no one else I've known. But that will only get her so far. None of us make it out of here alive. The difference, though, is that we have a choice whether to make our passing a long and painful one, or a quick and painless one. The choice is yours.

It doesn't matter whether you're fat or thin, if you are eating crap you are going to live out your last days in misery. I'd lay money on it, and I'm not a betting woman. But I don't want to do that. I don't want to see anyone suffer. I don't want to see you writhing in pain every time your pain meds wear off, like I see happen to my mother. I don't want your loved ones to feel helpless watching your suffering. Listen to me now, thank me later...

Quit eating grains (wheat, corn, rice, pasta, bread), legumes, starchy vegetables, and sugar (including high sugar fruits). Do not ingest vegetable oils, margarine, or hydrogenated fats. Do not eat at fast food restaurants. Ever.

Eat whole foods. Eat meat, foul, seafood, pork (if it's not against your religion), non-starchy vegetables, low sugar fruits on occasion, and good animal fats like butter, lard, tallow, and the only non-animal fats you should consume should be olive oil and coconut oil.

Get up and move, but if you can't bring yourself to do that, at least eat the way I've stated above. Eventually you will feel like moving again if you do that.

There is no better time to start than now. If you are living and breathing still, just do it. Below are links to help get you started on the path to a better, less painful life.

Mark's Daily Apple

George Stella

Robb Wolf

And check My Fave Reads in the right column.

Yes, Still Here!

I keep finding myself running short on time these days and not finding a moment to do a proper post. Hopefully this week will find me catching up with things at work and at home and I can get back to it.

My computer is still down and I am going to have to work out a way to buy a new one because I've resigned myself to that fact that it's just toast now.

My mother had another bypass surgery this past week (another one in her remaining leg). She's still in the hospital. They did find another issue with a blockage in her shoulder area, which means she will be going back under the knife at some point after she recovers from this last surgery.

Me, I'm still plugging away on the low carb/Paleo/Primal eating. I haven't had the time to create any new recipes lately, either. All in good time.

She Didn't Give a Fig!

As a young girl of 11 my mother married a man who was in the Navy. After her marriage we moved from my native State of Ohio to Pensacola, Florida, where my step-father was stationed. That summer of my 11th year my mother miscarried a pregnancy and I was sent to stay with my then step-father's sister and her daughter, Suzy, in Georgia for a little over a month while mother recuperated. Suzy was a couple years younger than I, but we became fast friends and enjoyed exploring our surroundings together.

It had not escaped me that the flora and fauna of the Deep South was much different than what I was used to in the Midwest. The warmer weather all year round meant that more tropical plants and trees could thrive. Still, it was odd to see so many plants and trees I was only use to seeing in photographs or on television or in an encyclopedia. Being the inquisitive young girl that I was, I asked questions and took it all in.

One day, after exhausting much of what there was to do around the grounds of her plantation-sized country home, Suzy suggested we take a walk around her very small town. As we were walking Suzy suddenly stopped and ventured into a yard and walked up to a tree with some sort of odd-looking fruit hanging from it. She plucked one of the fruits from a branch and handed it to me, then plucked one for herself. "What is it?" I asked. "It's a fig!" she replied, smiling at my not having a clue. We didn't have such things as fig trees in Ohio. I knew my grandmother ate "Fig Newtons" all the time, but I never thought they tasted very good. I was a little hesitant to eat a fig because of that, but I was also taught not to be afraid to try new things.

"Are we allowed to take these?" I asked. She went on to say that the lady who lived there let her eat the figs all the time. Suzy bit into the fruit, and I followed her lead. The light sweetness of the fleshy fruit was delightful, and was made even more-so by the warmth the sun had bestowed upon it. It was the best fresh fruit I had tasted up to that point in my life. I savored each bite, standing there in that strangers front yard.

About that moment the lady who owned the fig tree burst out of her front door yelling at us for stealing her figs. Suzy and I took off running full sprint as the lady chased us down the street. After tasting that one single, solitary fig I could understand why the woman wanted them all for herself. We had finally run far and fast enough that we lost her (or she had given up, satisfied that she put enough fear in us that we wouldn't do that again). When we were sure that the coast was clear, we finally stopped to catch our breath, and I looked at Suzy and said, "I thought you said that lady didn't care if you ate her figs?!" Suzy just smiled, cocked her head, and shrugged. It wasn't the last thing Suzy would fib to me about, but it sure made for an interesting summer.

That fresh fig would turn out to be the last one I would have for 35 years. Until yesterday. Oh, I have had dried figs a few times since then, but they just aren't the same as the fresh ones. But yesterday, as I made a trek to one of only two of our local grocery stores which specialize in the upscale and/or more exotic produce and meats, I happened upon a treasure that I had never before seen in my area (I am back in Ohio, by the way)...fresh figs!! As soon as I spotted them I made a bee line and picked up the container and nearly embraced it like a long lost lover, which was kind of embarrassing since my husband was standing right next to me.

I had already told my husband the fig story, so I didn't have to explain my reaction to him. I just said, "Look, Ray! Fresh FIGS! I'm getting them!"

"I have no doubt you are!" he replied, grinning.

I had often wondered if the fact that the one fresh fig I had tasted was thieved, and therefore magnified my memory of how wonderful it was. As soon as I got those babies in the car I plucked one from its resting place and bit into it. No, it wasn't that the forbidden fruit was illicit that made it so good...it was heavenly!

I have eaten about ten of them since yesterday. Even though I am low carb and rarely eat fruit, I must say that the next time fig season comes around I will be buying more. Our ancestors took full advantage of fruits in season, and as long as I don't make fruit a daily menu item, I am just fine.

Plus, as far as fruits go, I could do much worse. This link gives the nutritional information for figs.

Just having been taken back in those memories was well worth it, anyway. ;-)

There but for the grace of God, go I

It would be enough to be an Ancestral Diet advocate simply because it has helped me and many others shed excess pounds. And if you look around the Interwebz you don't have to go very far to find many people who have adjusted their eating habits to a more Ancestral way and have healed themselves of Diabetes, high blood pressure, high triglycerides...the list goes on. For myself, I didn't have any diagnosed maladies, other than being obese, when I began low carbing, but that doesn't mean I wasn't headed in that direction. All I need to do to keep myself on the straight and narrow is take a look at my mother; she, a woman in her late 60's who has had several strokes, a heart attack, diagnosed with Atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, Diabetes, and has had a double heart bypass, more than one abdominal and lower limb bypass, and has had a leg amputated below the knee. My mother, off and on throughout her adulthood, followed Atkins. It was, however, more off than on. She was never really very obese, but definitely had the top-heavy apple shape. She would use the low carb approach to shed some extra pounds and then go right back to eating whatever she wanted, until the cycle started all over again, never considering it a lifestyle change. She has paid for that, and dearly. Of course, I am sure that in the scheme of things she had never thought a low carb diet was anything more than a tool to lose some weight when needed, and until now there wasn't the evidence we have that cutting out sugar, grains, and processed carby junk was really good for you.

By the time my mother was the age I am now (47 next month!) she had already been diagnosed with malignant hypertension, and was on a host of medications. At the same time my grandmother, who was also an on again, off again Atkins follower, was also diabetic, had high blood pressure, and was obese. She just couldn't seem to give up her toast and margarine in the mornings. It didn't help that this was at the height of the low fat fad. Grandma's doctor, of course, recommended a low fat diet, and me (being the "cook" of the family) dutifully prepared low fat meals ahead and froze them for her so they would be at the ready for her to eat. I feel pretty guilty for that now, knowing I contributed to her death not long after when she had a massive coronary.

I have counseled with my mother as to what she should be eating, but unfortunately she still seems to think that eating sugar free cookies is okay because they are sugar free and she can always take some insulin to compensate for the way they make her blood glucose rise to dangerous levels. After all, the doctors and dietitians tell her that's what she should be eating. I am making headway with her, and she is allowing me to prepare healthier foods for her, up to and including cookies made from nut flours and coconut flours instead of wheat flour. Her 68th birthday was last week, and today I am baking her a chocolate cake with raspberry glaze, at her request...made from coconut flour, of course. Some would call that a bad thing, "smoking candy cigarettes," but I don't see it that way. At this point, she wants her damned cookies, and if I can provide her with a healthier option, why would anyone say it was a horrible exchange?

It may be too late for her to recover from all the damage that has already been done by eating crap her whole life. But I have to try, and if it prolongs her life even by a little, it's full of WIN. She doesn't want to die yet, she says she has more work to do. I am selfish and want her around for as long as I can have her, and knowing the pain and suffering she has already endured, if it makes the rest of her life a little more tolerable, it will be worth it.

If genetics plays any role in disease (and there is evidence for that in some cases), the deck is stacked against me. I will fight for my health until the end. The only thing I can hope for is that my diet and lifestyle will keep me healthy, and thus far I have seen nothing but positive things health-wise. On a positive genetic note, my great grandparents lived to be almost 100 years old. God love their saturated fat eating hearts!

Having seen all that my mother has been through, it is my motivation for staying the course in this lifestyle. It is also the reason why I continue to champion an Ancestral way of eating, and try to get the word out to other family members, friends, and virtual strangers through this blog. I do care. I would hope we can all live the happiest, healthiest lives possible, and I believe an Ancestral approach to eating is the best and easiest way to do that.

My beautiful mother, in better days.

Low Carb and Zits

The Low Carb Conversations with Jimmy Moore and Friends that I participated in is up, and if you get the opportunity, please take a listen.

Since we only had a half an hour for the podcast I didn't have the opportunity to elaborate on the topic of acne as much as I would have liked, and I really didn't delve too much into my own "Low Carb Story", only enough to tell how I got started down this road to renewed health and vitality. It was probably a good thing Jimmy knows how to keep control of his topics, and rein in the guests should they start to go astray of the main conversation (not that that happened...I kept control of myself, ha ha!). Plus, it gives me material for a blog post. A win-win situation all around!

If you listen to the podcast you know that I stated I had never really had an issue with acne. It's true, I have been blessed with pretty much blemish-free skin, except for a few eruptions here and there since adolescence. Everything I have ever read from people who have had acne and gone on a low carb eating plan has indicated to me that it does indeed help with acne, and many other skin issues. But what happens if you are low carbing, or following a Paleo or Primal lifestyle and you get zits anyway? Could the diet be to blame?

A few months ago, a friend of mine, who had then recently started a Primal lifestyle, messaged me, telling me that she was experiencing acne outbreaks on her forehead, nose and chin, and asked if I thought she should cut back on the copious amounts of saturated fats she had been consuming. My gut instinct told me that it wasn't the fat, but I knew she was worried because one of the things conventional wisdom has beat into our heads over the years is that eating a fatty diet can cause acne.

I replied to her asking how much dairy she had been eating and if she had been eating any fruits that may have caused an allergic reaction. Sometimes allergies manifest themselves by way of skin outbreaks. She replied telling me she wasn't having a whole lot of dairy all the time, and that she hadn't eaten any unusual fruits that she hadn't been eating before her lifestyle change. But I had also remembered that she had mentioned in earlier conversations that she was supplementing with B vitamins, and that made me remember that sometimes when one over-supplements with B12 and/or B6 it can cause acne outbreaks of the tiny little whitehead looking bumps my friend experienced. I messaged her with the information and she also said that in addition to her B vitamin pills, she had been drinking a popular beverage that was also loaded with B vitamins. Like magic, after she stopped the supplementation, the acne disappeared.

As for the rest of my low carb story that I didn't talk about...I am thankful to have started my journey on Atkins. It lead me down the path to discover what was really good for my body, mind, and soul. I don't "do Atkins" anymore. I have discovered that a more Paleo template of eating works best for me, gravitating more toward Primal on most days. I keep experimenting all the time with what foods make me feel the best and how I react to them. Since we're all different self-experimentation is the only way to know for sure what you will thrive on. Perhaps in my next post I will explain why this lifestyle change is so important to me personally, and why I want to help spread the word that conventional wisdom about food and health needs a major overhaul.