Over the past several months, I’ve read numerous books about menopause. Back in the spring I was determined to discover ways to ease my symptoms: fatigue, hot flashes, dizziness, nausea when running, joint pain, headaches, cognitive issues etc. Then in the fall, after being hospitalized from pericarditis and faced with a myriad of unanswered questions, I began devouring articles on autoimmune disease, specifically, lupus. From there I was led to books about inflammation and gut health. It was then I realized there was an obvious common theme that kept popping up in everything I read, regardless of the specific illness or condition I was researching. Our body has the amazing power to heal itself if we assist it by reducing inflammation and improving and maintaining excellent gut health. It’s critical to control chronic inflammation because there has been an explosion of studies providing undeniable evidence that it is the underlying culprit in a multitude of illnesses.
Prior to being diagnosed with pericarditis (inflammation of the lining surrounding the heart and in my case, fluid buildup as well) it had been ages since I had any major blood work done. For the most part I’m very healthy, don’t get sick very often, and my cholesterol, iron, vitamin levels etc. have always been excellent. I wholeheartedly attribute that to being a runner and following a plant-based diet for the last 15 years. So when I examined the results for the battery of tests done in the hospital showing my inflammation markers to be off-the-wall, as well as countless other tests flagged in my chart, I obviously grew deeply concerned.
As I write this, I still don’t have a definitive answer from my doctors as to what triggered this chaos in my body, but it seems likely it’s related to covid since viruses are a known cause for pericarditis. My personal opinion — after talking to countless doctors from various specialties and doing my own research — is that after having covid my immune system went berserk, ultimately leading to inflammation throughout my body including the sac around my heart. Regardless of cause, all of my symptoms and tests show that my immune system did indeed go haywire and I need to extinguish the fire that’s wreaking havoc within my body. Prednisone is currently in charge of that task, but I have begun weaning off the steroid so it’s up to me to ensure the inflammation does not recur.
Throughout the 15 years of my family and I being vegan, I’ve read stacks and stacks of books about the significance of properly fueling our bodies. Excluding meat and dairy from our diet was our first step and we’ve never turned back. And over the last 15 years the scientific evidence has grown immensely, proving that animal products have a negative effect on our health and undeniably cause inflammation.
Someone joked to me when all of this happened, “You might as well go eat a steak now because you still ended up with a heart issue.” I admit I did question everything for a split second and was frustrated, but my doctors, as well as my latest investigations, confirmed that making those healthy choices for all those years has only helped me. But just because I’m vegan doesn’t mean I’m always making healthy choices. There are so many incredible alternatives to meat and dairy available to us: Ben and Jerry’s, Oreos, cheese and meat alternatives, whipped cream, pizza, buffalo wings… I could go on forever because we’ve tried them all. However, none of the above would win any prizes for being nutritious. Delicious — absolutely! Nutritious — unfortunately, no.
When I take an honest look at my diet, especially lately due to the holidays, it hasn’t been anything to brag about. It’s time for a transformation.
I vividly recall feeling like crap on several of my long runs this past summer, resolving throughout the run to clean up my act because I was tired of feeling like garbage. My resolve, however, never lasted more than a day or two, thanks to it being summer and the fact I was addicted to ice cream and eating out, and of course my lack of willpower.
Being confined to a bed in the cardiac unit of a hospital twice within a few weeks was my wake up call. Even if this was all caused by covid and the pericarditis never rears its ugly head again, the entire ordeal was alarming and really forced me to evaluate many things in my life. It’s fueled the desire to take even better care of my heart in order to prevent any lasting damage.
Over the years I’ve received a lot of flack for raising my kids vegan. People have actually said I’m depriving my kids of the joys of childhood, but it never bothered me because I was confident in our choices because of all the research I had done. As a family we have so many incredible travel adventures that include finding amazing vegan restaurants and it’s taken us to places we never would have visited otherwise. As I think about, and drool over the memories of the incredible desserts I’ve had, I am reminded by that “other” voice in my head that the momentary bliss is due to loads of sugar and usually a lot of oil and other ingredients that aren’t good for any of us. I don’t think anyone would argue that. So I have to ask myself, is the few minutes of pure pleasure for my taste buds worth the lasting negative effects it has once it’s going through my system? To be perfectly honest, on some days the answer is, “Yup! Totally worth it.” But really that’s just me forcing myself to ignore the voice telling me I’m going to regret it eventually.
Now I’m faced with a choice. Do I continue along my current path, knowing full well from 15 years of following the research that I can do much better for my body, and just keep my fingers crossed hoping for no negative consequences? Or do I seize this opportunity to rebuild my body and make it even stronger than before?
The answer seems pretty logical and clear, especially after learning about all the new breakthroughs in nutritional science regarding inflammation and gut health. Yes, it’s time for change. Watching a surgeon stick a giant needle under my sternum and into the sac around my heart to drain the fluid is no joke and that should be all the motivation I need. Sure, I could find out tomorrow that my pericarditis and unnerving blood work was caused by a virus and it may never return regardless of how I treat my body, but that’s not the point. I’ve done the research. I know the facts. If I want to prevent further inflammation, protect myself against future illness, and take excellent care of the body that God has given me, then I need to reevaluate and reset. I know first hand that when I focus on whole, plant-based foods and avoid sugar and processed “food”, I feel better. Always. It’s not going to be easy but I’m up for the challenge.
I realize that every time we eat is an opportunity to do better and move closer to better health. It is an exciting challenge for me to learn and grow. I want to be empowered by the choices I make. I want to be confident knowing that with everything I’m choosing to put into my body I’m fueling health instead of disease.
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“You could nourish your body with life-giving food and reap the rewards of better health. Or you can punish your body with poisons disguised as food that actually take health away with every bite.” (Fiber Fueled – Will Bulsiewicz, MD.)