What a wonderful, family-filled day of love, warmth and great food! I certainly hope your day was as enjoyable as mine!
However, with that said, I’ve been awake since 4 a.m. not feeling so good. My head was screaming at me, I was itching, coughing, and my bowels were making uncomfortable, loud noises and making me feel somewhat nauseous. Clearly, I enjoyed myself way too much on Thanksgiving. And while it cost me, I’m learning to interpret and understand what happens when I indulge the way I did yesterday.
Let’s recap…
What happened to contribute to me feeling less than optimally this morning? To begin, I haven’t eaten that many carbs since our last family gathering on the 4th of July. You see, over the past three years I’ve been low carb, then keto, then very strict keto, and now zero carb (carnivore) – including intermittent fasting and some extended fasting in each of those regimes. In all that time, I’ve felt better and better, and most recently, I feel especially good. As a matter of fact, my blood work not only reflects improved blood markers, but also validates the way I feel: excellent lipid ratio panel (i.e., low triglycerides, high HDL (high density lipoprotein, aka the ‘good’ cholesterol), & good LDL (low density lipoprotein, aka the ‘bad’ cholesterol to the ill-informed); reduced inflammation score; and ideal A1c (blood sugar/diabetes marker); and my CAC (Coronary Artery Calcium) scan is 0 (the best you can score), and my visceral fat (fat accumulated in the abdominal cavity including the pancreas, intestines and liver) is at 4%. Other improvements: excellent dental health; alert, clearer thinking; silkier feeling skin (itching and skin tags - gone); joint pain - gone; & chronic sciatica pain - gone. In all, I’ve learned that it really is this simple: it’s all due to our diet – that what we put in our mouths does indeed impact our overall metabolic health from head to toe, including the way we feel and think.
To say these lifestyle choices have improved my quality of life would be an understatement. For many others these same eating choices (dietary guidelines based on high carb/low fat & minimal protein) have reversed ailments in many people, including Type II Diabetes, cancer, autoimmune conditions, mental & emotional health, heart health, and food addiction to name a few (Lots more to follow on each of these illnesses later).
At any rate, rest assured that I will be giving my overworked gut a much-needed rest by fasting all day, drinking lots of water, and maybe drinking some bone broth to assist my body from the ill effects of my carb coma.
So… would I do it all again? You bet!