Eight days ago, I started a new eating plan based on Dr. Steven Gundry’s book, The Plant Paradox. After reading the first several chapters that explain plant biology and how plants with seeds produce a type of poison called “lectin” to protect their seeds, I decided to try his suggested eating program. In each chapter he shares stories about patients with multiple chronic illnesses who sought him out after trying other options with the traditional medical doctors. Gundry is a thoracic heart surgeon and medical researcher who kept seeing the same types of illnesses in his patients and started wondering if there was an alternative to treating their illnesses. Through his years of research, he developed the Plant Paradox program and switched to treating patients by monitoring their health while they switched their diets. According to what he shares in his book, the patients reversed and even eliminated all the health issues they previously had simply by letting the body heal itself. It starts in the gut biome.
This is something I’ve mentioned before when I tried the Restore3 program. I didn’t alter my diet quite as much as I have on this program, so I wasn’t seeing quite the results that I have seen already just in 8 days.
Three-day cleanse
I started with his 3-day cleanse to jump start the curing of my gut biome. This consists of eliminating all grains, sugar, alcohol, dairy, legumes, and animal protein, except wild-caught salmon or white fish and pasture-raised chicken. You start the day with his “Green Smoothie” and have only 4 oz of animal protein at lunch and dinner, along with 1-2 cups of romaine and spinach salad or broccoli and Brussels Spouts cooked in avocado or olive oil with onions and sea salt. I added slices of fennel and spices to make it more flavorful.
My body started eliminating daily and I began dropping weight. Some was water weight, but the rest has been from inflammation and a bit of bloating from the other foods I had been eating. As of this morning, 8 days later, I am down 13 pounds and feeling healthy. Do I still have some pain? Yes, in my arms and low back from pinched nerves caused by arthritis in several cervical discs. I’m hoping this will dissipate as I continue the program and my body continues to eliminate the inflammation caused by this pinching. I see a neurosurgeon in another 3-4 weeks, and I hope the diagnosis will be that I can resolve the neck issues, where the arthritis is most severe, with PRP or other injections rather than surgery.
No more squash
The other vegies I am growing include cress, broccoli, red leaf lettuce, and kale, all approved vegetables for the Plant Paradox program. I plan to share the squash with my neighbors and friends, but I will have to eat at least one. The meat is so sweet and delicious, like eating candy, especially when oven-roasted with olive oil and salt, and letting the skin get a little crispy.
This program has changed my views on what plants are actually “healthy” to eat. Squash and cucumbers top the list of plants NOT to eat because of their seeds. These are the plant’s “babies” and the lectins it produces are how it protects itself from being eaten, thus preventing the plant from procreating. Of course, I started this program after I had already planted a raised-bed garden which has produced 5 Kouri squash plants.
Besides plants, I’m also adhering to eating only wild-caught salmon and white fish, mostly frozen or canned, and occasionally grass-fed beef. I’ve yet to have pastured chicken, but I am buying pastured eggs which I eat once or twice a week.