basketcase

I finally found a new doctor and made an appointment after saying I would for a few months now. I found out from a friend from climbing that her mom is a Naturopathic Doctor and gave me her number. I went in on Thursday and I think I'll actually stick with this woman. Although I'll have to get used to her personality, she actually listens, she knows her stuff, and graduated with a doctorate in naturopathic medicine from Bastyr in '94. She tested me for just a few food allergies or intolerances during my first appointment (the rest will come next time) and turns out my body isn't so happy with soy, corn, wheat, spelt, cow's milk yogurt, and more importantly, whey. Good thing I've already cut dairy out of my diet. She said that people that test negatively for the yogurt don't always test negatively for whey, so I really, really shouldn't be doing dairy at all.

Now, for the other stuff... oh boy.
Soy: being a vegan, soy is in so much that I eat as a replacement for dairy and a source of protein. Great.
Wheat and spelt: bread, pasta, etc. I eat wheat probably at least once a day, most days.
Corn: is in everything! Corn syrup, glucose, fructose, corn starch, xanthan gum, condiments, everything. The most obvious that I actually eat at least semi-regularly is, of course, corn, and chips. I guess I'll have to find chips made out of rice, since I'm ok with rice apparently, cause I've been eating chip and homemade guacamole quite often lately and I'm not ready to give it up yet!

So I have a choice, I can either avoid these foods altogether and just take the leap into going at least mostly raw (I tested the waters a bit a few weeks ago and think I could do it), or she suggested rotating when I eat them every 4+ days, no more often than that.

Now I have to figure out what to do about my protein. I've been thinking about going back to eggs for a few weeks now. My reason for going vegan was always for my health. I cut out dairy cause I knew my body didn't tolerate it and it's just unhealthy and unnatural to drink the milk of another species. I cut out meat because all the crap that is pumped into the animals and I don't want that in my body, and most meat are just not very good for you in the first place. But for eggs, my reason was that I've always gone back and forth with eggs, it was the vegan thing to do, and the also the crap that is pumped into the chickens is therefore in the eggs too. But if I buy organic eggs and eat them moderately, they have several health benefits that I am/will be missing (like my protein), plus I tested fine for eggs when she tested my allergies/intolerances. I'm still on the fence about eating eggs, but I think it's more likely than not that I will reintroduce them into my diet soon.

I'm kind of worried to find out what else my body doesn't like when I go back to the doc on the 17th. And I need to find the time to get my blood drawn by Wednesday so that she can get the results back before my next appointment.


I'll have to post about the California trip next time cause there were several incidences of synchronicity that were just kind of ridiculous!

Anyways, ciao ciao!