I’ve been on a health and weight loss jouney since January 2023. The primary goal has been to rid my body of the inflammation causing all the joint and muscle pain. The side effect has been significant weight loss without taking special supplements or eating pre-packaged meals. I started at 249 pounds. Today I’m 181 and headed toward my goal weight of 165.
If you’ve read parts of my blog, I started by focusing on eating a gluten-free diet heavy on vegetables and wild-caught fish, organic chicken and grassfed meat. I also include getting at least 30 minutes of aerobic and strength-building exercise daily or at least 3-5 times a week. You’ll find me switching gears a bit in this blog update.
Doctors have not found the root cause
During this time, I’ve been to countless medical doctors seeking hep for a wide variety of pain. I’ve had so many vials of blood taken I can’t count and every test under the sun for all the major diseases. I’ve had CAT scans, brain scans, X-Rays, and physical therapy. Now we think I have severe stenosis in several upper cervical discs causing pinching and pain on the nerves running down my arms. Stretching my arms out to the side to reach for something feels like the tissues are tearing. My left arm is worse than my right.
And before you start thinking it’s heart-related, it’s not. My heart has been tested and is fine. My carotids are clean with no blockage. My neck hurts and I have regular shoulder pain that extends down the left arm in particular, although lately I’m noticing the right being affected.
There’s also moderate stenosis in the lumbar area causing low back pain and possible muscle weakness. But no medical solutions have emerged, because nothing points to a disease for which they can prescribe medication, just physical therapy.
The Plant Paradox solution
I’ve continued to seek ways the help my body work its own magic. From embarking on the New Wave program in 2023 which worked to kickstart my weight loss and eliminated the inflammation causing my pain, to trying the Restore3 supplements and diet to again cleanse the gut and remove the inflammation. That wasn’t so effective, and although I’ve been mainly following the meal recommendations from the New Wave program, I have had sudden bouts of muscle weakness, increased balance issues, and more neuropathy in my feet. Something wasn’t working.
A few years ago, I started the book The Plant Paradox, By Dr. Steven Gundry. I don’t k
now why I decided not to pursue the eating plan then, but I didn’t and just forgot about it. Then, three weeks ago I read through all the chapters leading up to his Plant Paradox eating plan, starting with a 3-day cleanse. This time, I decided to do it.
I’m in the middle of week 2 of Phase 2, and after the 3-day cleanse, I already feel a difference. During the cleanse, my body went through a cleansing several times a day. Yes, I’m talking about poop, black, sticky, smelly, runny poop. Now, as I am approaching the end of week 2 of this Phase, I’m having fewer bouts of runny bowels, and not daily or several times a day,
The other thing I noticed almost instantly starting the 3-day cleanse, was that my chronic sinus congestion was pretty much gone. According to Dr. Grundy, this is the body’s first line of defense to attack the bacteria that is invading the gut.
I thought I was eating a healthy diet
I thought I had been eating a healthy diet. It turns out, I was eating a lot of the “bad” foods that the bad bacteria in the gut love and thrive on, causing the pain, inflammation, muscle weakness, and more. These are any and all fruits and vegetables with seeds, according to Gundry, as well as nightshade vegetables.
This has made me re-think my whole diet. No more snacking on cucumbers or adding them to salads. No more zucchini, grilled or sauteed. No more squash or melons of any kind. And definitely no more beans and legumes, especially not canned beans. And no more quinoa, a grain that has been touted as the gluten-free alternative to wheat and rice. No more brown rice either. This was a shock. I love the nutty flavor. But it’s the hull that creates brown rice and that’s where the culprits are, as well as in the seeds of all the fruits and vegetables.
While this eating plan has been an adjustment for me, it hasn’t been too bad. I already cook from scratch and have been doing so for years, avoiding pre-packaged foods with all those nasty additives and flavor enhancers.
Now, I’m concentrating primarily on lots of leafy greens like romaine, kale, spinach and cabbage, along with only wild-caught white fish, salmon, and shell fish. We have already started buying grassfed beef burgers, but the cost of grassfed steaks is a bit high as is the cost of wild-caught shellfish. Consequently, I don’t eat the meat and now, not even organic free range, chicken, since they are all fed corn, soybeans, and other grains, which travel into our bodies when we eat them. Those grains are among the most toxic, according to the book. Pasture raised chicken, eggs, and beef, or at least grassfed and grass-finished beef, pork, and lamb, are the better meats.
Another tip he provides is to only use dairy products like butter and yogurt from cows raised in southern Europe. They are typically grassfed, pasture-raised, and produce Casein A2 amino acid which doesn’t adhere to the gut and feed the bad bacteria. All cows in the US produce the Casein A1 amino acid, which causes digestive issues in many people and invades the gut. See this link for information from the National Library of Medicine on the distinction between the two.
Push back from the medical profession
I know there’s a lot of controversy and push back from the food industry and medical establishment about his program. He’s also doing a huge amount of marketing and is all over the internet. And like other medical doctors, he’s created his own supplements to go with his plan paradox eating plan. He’s also written a cookbook, and other books related to improving your health. I’m just sharing what is happening in my own body while I’m on this program. It’s up to you what you do with this information.
Besides the elimination of my sinus congestion, I’m beginning to have less muscle weakness. I’ve had bouts of muscle weakness making it challenging to walk with some support and recently have had to use a rollator again. I was scooting around the house on a rolling desk chair, preparing meals, doing the wash, and other tasks, all from a seated position. It has made me better understand the challenges of disabled folks and I have much more sympathy for their plight.
Since starting this, however, my body is getting stronger. I’m back to rising the stationary bike for 20-25 minutes almost daily, I’ve been walking independently and even went shopping with my husband recently to both Costco and Sprouts without using the rollator and just pushing the shopping cart. My leg muscles have felt less tired and weak. The other plus, is that I have effortlessly dropped 12 pounds. I was hovering around 192-195 when I started and today I’m 181. The goal is within site, and I may reach that by mid-November.
Pain is lessening
I’m also noticing that the pain down my arms is less. Some days, like this morning, my right arm has had severe pain when lifting objects or stretching it out. I rolled my shoulders a few times and did some stretches which eased it a bit. I don’t expect the diet to cure the pinching since that seems to be a physical issue, but it may be lessening the inflammation around the area and in the nerves. I’m doing the arm exercises I learned in physical therapy along with others I’ve known over the years every other day to strengthen my arms and shoulders, which is also helping.
My balance is still an issue, however. None of the medical doctors have an answer for that, except perhaps it’s also due to the arthritis in my neck area. And I have a little neuropathy in my toes, but no longer throughout the feet, so it’s lessening. I’m not diabetic so doctors couldn’t point to that as the culprit, but it’s another symptom mentioned in The Plant Paradox book, along with a host of others.
About Dr. Gundry
Dr. Gundry is a cardiac thoracic heart surgeon and medical researcher, specializing in heart transplants. He has authored numerous articles, performed countless transplant surgeries, and registered several patents for medical devices during his career as a cardiothoracic surgeon. In his book, he said he kept seeing patients with the same diseases and issues, and wondered if there wasn’t another way to help them rather than through surgery, which led to his research, the plant paradox program, and his other books. He now runs the Center for Restorative Medicine and the International Heart & Lung Institute Palm Springs, CA. This Wikipedia article is not very flattering and includes references to other medical professionals who call is work “ quackery”. Accept it or not. Much of what I’ve learned over the years in trying to help my body heal itself would also be considered “quakery” by the medical profession because it goes against all their training and what the American Heart Association tells us is the proper diet according to the food industry pyramid.
This Mayo Clinic article also contradicts what I’ve read in Gundry’s book saying that most foods containing lectins (beans, legumes, squash for example) are recommended as part of a healthy well-balanced diet. It also recommends working with a nutritionist or dietician to monitor your eating and help determine what may be causing your discomfort if you’re having food reactions.
I’m not surprised because again, the author is quoting current and past research and what is popularly known as a well-balanced diet. But eating a well-balanced diet that included all those lectin-producing foods has not helped with weight loss, reduced inflammation in my body, or sudden bouts of muscle weakness. So call me a “doubting Thomasina”. I’ll try this plant paradox plan for the next 6 weeks and see how I do.
His plant biology research makes sense
The research Dr. Gundry explains and the plant biology makes sense to me. Plants are living things and have feelings just like animals. Their first line of defense against being attacked by predators whether human or otherwise, is to secrete a poison which our bodies don’t like in order to protect their offspring, the seeds. This poison, which the bad bacteria thrive on, is lectin. Eliminating all foods from your diet that contain lectins is the most important thing, according to Gundry.
There’s more to the eating plan, but I’ll get into that in future blogs as I write about my experience and what’s happening in my body. For the most part, I feel so much better and am increasing my muscle strength again.
That’s huge for me.