Living Vegan, Heart Healthy, Low Sodium, Gluten free

portiadedman6600
portiadedman6600 Posts: 3 Member
in Recipes
My journey started earlier this year. I was traveling a lot eating fancy meals on the company’s dime. Salmon, steak, wings, smothered in every delicious thing you can think of and every day. Suddenly, I started to become nauseous and didn’t want to eat meat anymore. I slowly weeded it out to see if I could stop wanting to vomit at the sight of all of my favorite foods. But no luck.
To get by I ate a lot of French fries, protein bars and peanut butter. I immediately noticed how under the weather I felt I was getting headaches and dizziness. I determined I may have a nutrient deficiency, and the doctor confirmed several. I started taking vitamins (I’m happy to share the details soon). Then I had my blood retested. I still had some deficiencies.
I was such a meat eater. I mean I’d take the bread off the sandwhich and eat layers of meat. I always craved it. So why didn’t I expect the transition to be foreign for my body?

Replies

  • portiadedman6600
    portiadedman6600 Posts: 3 Member
    I had so many issues with my body these past few months. I cut out gluten or eat it in the smallest amount. I tracked my food journal and stomach pain to pinpoint why I suddenly have severe digestive issues.
    I finally put 2 and 2 and 2^100 together and realized my reaction to some of the ONLY foods I can eat now are because of their high glycemic index because I have a glucose intolerance.
    Chips caused indigestion, French fries, baked potato’s caused indigestion, I’ll get severe pain if I eat a Texas sized portion. Naked drinks cause an me an onset of pain and nausea. I sat back after several fails and not finding a connection between the foods then realized, they are all very high on the glycemic index - high in sugar. EVEN IF I order vegan pizza on cauliflower crust I’ll get sick as a dog…. From the tomato sauce.

    Gluten might not be the issue. It might be the sugar. I hate to break it to ya. Bc I love sugar. 😭


    There are tests to have it diagnosed if you can’t narrow down your intolerances. I suggest you don’t continue to suffer.
  • portiadedman6600
    portiadedman6600 Posts: 3 Member
    Now that I’m realizing my intolerance is to sugar I can focus back on having a more fulfilling diet plan. (When your always in pain you don’t want to eat)
    First of all let me say this has been one of the most stressful experiences for me. Please get your blood work done after going vegan. Please buy supplements and take care of your body’s needs as quickly as possible so you can get to the fun part of being a very limited eater.
    Poor word choice :)
    The food is better organic, it is better vegan. If you like to cook you will experience your cooking on another level after trying some vegan recipes. Don’t get me started on the vegan baked goods. Nora cooks has some great ones.
    I’m watching my sugar so I have to let you enjoy that alone haha.
  • Ska_fan2021
    Ska_fan2021 Posts: 11 Member
    This is a plant based diet and not a healthy one at that so no wonder you feel awful. Incorporate lots of veggies, fruit, pulses and beans, whole grains and tofu if you are going down this route and you will feel better. There are lots of great cookbooks and online recipes for plant based living.
  • mjbnj0001
    mjbnj0001 Posts: 1,266 Member
    edited November 11
    i can really empathize with your story. i am 70yo now, but in my 20s, for many good-seeming reasons at that time, i decided to go vegan, cold turkey (pun intended). unfortunately for me, i followed wacky advice and my health deteriorated fairly fast. i was fortunate to get proper advice and monitoring and straightened out my approach. i was vegan for about 10yrs before career pressures in a corporate setting pushed me back into an omnivorous lifestyle. for the last decade of my career, i was often on the road, and travel food didnt help my health or bmi. Now that i am retired, i am trending back towards a lowered-meat, plant-forward, whole foods/minimalized consumption of "highly processed" foods, lower glycemic index/load, added sugars avoidance, etc., all while pursuing gradual weight loss through diet moderation and exercising, generally cycling and swimming. i lost a bunch of weight and got healthier.

    1. check out the youtube videos on the "zoe" channel. they are a british dietary and health management organization, doing lots of research. i havent actually signed up for their monitoring/management program, but do find their material quite educational. maybe i will signup one day, maybe not.
    2. check out the books and programs describi the "blue zone" diets around the world. they have healthy longevity through traditional diets. one of the books is a recipe volume.
    3. i cook nearly every day, hand prep most food, and bake about 80% of the bread products in the house. this last is important to us; i am in the camp that says the plastic wrapped "bread" in the grocery isnt good for you, and what we tend to call "gluten intolerance" can more often be an intolerance to that stuff (of course, celiac disease is a real thing as is gluten allergy). my bread might have only 4 ingredients (flour, water, yeast, salt), or other herbs or flavoring as i choose for effect. it is't a chem lab. the fermentation process is also good and healthy. i also bake in batches, freezing them; it appears that freezing bread changes some of the carbs to resistant starch, lowering the glycemic index.
    4. all this work does take time, daily, but as a retiree, i think of it as an investment in continuing health. my blood tests are quite good - my wife thinks my "mutant x" superpower is low cholesterol, etc., lol. of course, i have some age-related physical problems otherwise, some caused by the years of bad eating, but following a good program is keeping things manageable and improving. it took years to get to a bad state, and it will take a while to reach my goals. it ain't easy or quick.
    5. here on mfp, in this "recipes" board, the "show me what you meals look like" thread has some of us showing our attempts as good eating ranging from quality restaurant cuisine to some plain wholesome cooking. work backwards from the latest postings and youll see some of my latest experiments.

    good luck on your journey!

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