Good-bye SAD Diet, Hello WFPB
This post is dedicated to Dr John McDougall, who sadly passed away on June 22nd. He was one of the pioneers of the Whole food plant Based movement. He dedicated his life and career to educating people on the important connection between diet and health. His book, “The Starch Solution” and his Santa Rosa-based program changed the lives of so many. May we honor his memory by carrying his message forward.
I was jolted from my slumber by the mechanical roar of a leaf blower. I opened my eyes, threw off the covers and sat up in bed. Out my window, I saw nothing but white sky. It was still dark in my room so I knew the sun had just risen. As I sat up in bed, the view of the wall of the five-story AC Hotel filled my window as it had since the building’s construction two or so years ago. I leaned to the left and looked past the brick monstrosity to see Mount Tam’s forested peak. Adorned by rays of the sun, Marin’s tallest peak protruded proudly into the sky, barely outmatching the hotel’s height by what appeared from my perspective to be a few inches. Mt. Tam’s midsection was hidden by a dense ring of fog that also covered the peaks of the smaller hills in front of it. I looked at the little houses peeking out from the trees of the hillsides as the sun got higher in the sky. It looked like the start of a beautiful day…and I was already exhausted.
This pretty accurately describes the start of many of my days going back many years, especially if the day before was a busy one. Non-restorative sleep is just one of the symptoms of Chronic fatigue syndrome — one of two chronic conditions that I battle daily. I also deal with low stomach acid and possible IBS.
Hello, my name is Darla. I am the person behind Whole Food Plant Best. I thought by now, you might be wondering a little bit about who I am and why I’ve chosen to be a writer in this niche. I decided to start blogging for various reasons. Most importantly, I wanted to start an exchange of information that could help mine or someone else’s situation. Now, let me back up briefly and tell you more about where I’ve been so far.
Where it Began
I was finishing up my bachelor’s degree and I was quite a bit overweight at the time, having spent over four decades eating a standard American diet. I decided to remedy that with a Weight Watcher’s membership which proved beneficial, as I lost 90 pounds. I was looking and feeling pretty good for a while, but then something changed.
I started noticing how tired I would be when I woke up in the morning. I noticed that after a long day, it would take a couple of full days of sitting around and doing nothing more than sleeping and watching TV before I’d feel relatively normal again. I also started experiencing spells of dizziness.
I went to the clinic at my University and was put on iron supplements which made no discernible difference. I didn’t see a doctor for a while after that, and unfortunately I ended up gaining most of the weight back.
The next doctor’s visit, this time to a different clinic maybe two or three years later, was prompted by a dizzy spell that reached the point of my passing out in the shower. I left that appointment still without answers.
It’s Not in My Head
I finally made my way to yet a third clinic, where the physician promptly sent me to a psychologist, as he believed that it was a mental rather than a physical issue, despite my trying to convince him otherwise.
The psychologist agreed with me. It was a physical issue and that’s when the doctor that I had been seeing decided to pass me on to someone else. The next doctor concurred with the one before, saying that the psychologist wasn’t a doctor and couldn’t have known what she was talking about. He tried to put me on antidepressants, but I knew my body. What I was experiencing was a physical problem, not a mental one. That’s when I decided to put my well-being in my own hands, and I hit the internet.
Goodbye Meat! So Long Dairy!
I started to think I might have an issue with Candida and was going to follow a diet that might reverse it when I was hit with another problem. I discovered I couldn’t digest meat and dairy anymore. If I ate these foods I would be hit with significant lower abdominal pain hours after eating. It took a lot of food journals to figure out which foods were the culprit and it didn’t stop there. I discovered a list of other foods that triggered the symptoms as well — nut butters, oatmeal, soy, most beans and a few other random ingredients.
Plant Based? Maybe?
The premise of the Candida diet is to get nearly all carbs out of the diet and focus on eating veggies, meat and very limited fruit and grains. See the problem? If I couldn’t eat meat and I couldn’t eat grains or legumes, that didn’t leave much for me to eat. I couldn’t get full just eating veggies alone. This wasn’t going to work. That’s when I started researching plant-based eating and discovered the WFPB diet. I read several of the books but still questioned whether or not this type of diet could heal the gut. Most books spoke of the gut briefly, if at all. Then I practically did handsprings when I found “Fiber Fueled” by Will Bulsiewicz last year. This is a WFPB diet specifically designed to heal the gut.
My Plant-based Life
I’ve been eating WFPB for over a year now, as a follower of “The Starch Solution,” Although, I admittedly made a few tweaks. There are only a few forms of protein I can eat. Lentils, limited amounts of black beans and seitan and that’s pretty much it. So, I decided to keep eggs in my diet, because I’ve never had problems with eggs. I do try and stick to egg whites, though, since I still have higher cholesterol than I’d like.
Also, when I was on Weight Watchers, which is a very low-fat diet, I had constant issues with eczema, mainly on my hands. Truth be told, I’ve been dealing with skin issues pretty much my whole life. When I fell off the Weight Watchers wagon and started eating higher fat foods I noticed my eczema issues subsided. I realized that a little more fat in my diet was beneficial for my skin. To this end, I keep a little bit of the good oil in my diet while being very cognizant of how much I use.
Results?
What’s that you ask? Have I seen any benefits from the diet as of yet? Why, yes. When I started this way of eating my A1c was in the prediabetic range and my cholesterol was high. After six months on the plan, I had reversed my prediabetic status. My cholesterol is still a little higher than it should be, but I’m working on it. I’m going to see if I can cut my oil consumption down further without affecting my skin. My Cholesterol will be tested again in August. Wish me luck. And I dropped about 25 pounds.
As for my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and my gut issues, they haven’t changed a whole lot. I’ve concluded that the lower abdominal pain results from my lack of stomach acid. I tried treating this with Betaine HCL for quite some time but had to stop after a pretty significant bout of pain. I think I might have a small ulcer. I have switched to using enzymes when I feel like food isn’t digesting properly. My eating WFPB has had a couple of beneficial effects on my gut. I’ve been able to add tofu back to my diet to some degree and my IBS symptoms have improved.
And that’s where I am today. I, personally, think there is no healthier way to eat than WFPB. Plants are where it’s at and, hopefully, my continuing journey will eventually prove successful on all fronts.
Educational Background
I think I should be clear about one more thing. I am not a doctor. My bachelor’s degree is in Journalism. I do have an associate’s degree in medical assisting which gives me some knowledge of anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and pathology (the study of human disease).
The information I will be sharing comes from personal experience, reading and online research. Any dietary changes you intend to make should be run by your doctor and anything you read here should be taken with a grain of salt and not, in any way, used as medical advice. Use what you read here as a jumping-off point for your own research or to start a conversation with your personal physician.
Be smart and be safe and I wish you all the luck in the world on your journey to better health. Maybe we can learn from each other.
To follow my journey follow me here at wholefoodplantbest.medium.com and on www.pinterest.com/wholefoodplantbest.
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a medical professional. The information provided on the site is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making dietary changes or using any advice given here.