My Paleo Journey
Time flies, I have been on partial Paleo diet for 9 months, and I am now ready to pen down my journey.
In an attempt to reverse my autoimmune condition, borderline high blood pressure (HBP) and possibly a leaky gut, I resort to looking into the food I eat and water I drink. The modern medical treatment/remedies/tests failed to address my condition. Despite heeding the advice of the doctors to cut down salt, my decade-old borderline HBP remained borderline, there was no sign of decreasing. My stomach remained bloated and my body parts continued to experience unexplained swell.
To be fair, I abused my body when I was young, vibrant and energetic then. My sugar intake was high and I loved preserved stuff. I exercised well though. At that time, the body was operating in optimal condition as it was still new, there was no signs that my diet could be wrong.
It was until recent years, when the body began to show signs of wear and tear (and abuse), that I realised the painful mistakes that I have made in my younger days. There's a Chinese saying, "祸从口出，病从口入", our tongue a ruthless weapon, our food a silent killer.
After some months of reading up, I settled on Paleo diet, a diet that is based on meat, fish, eggs, nuts, vegetables, fruit, and root vegetables. Primal/paleo diets reduced carb intake, increased protein intake, increased monounsaturated fat intake, reduced omega-6 intake and increased omega-3 intake. How evil can this kind of diet be? Not at all!
Putting myself on Paleo diet also means eliminating (or reducing) processed food, sugar, wheat, soy, beans and peanuts (peanuts are not nuts!).
It wasn't a smooth journey though. For more than half of my life, I had been eating sugar, beans and wheat, so to withdraw these completely from me was difficult. I went into 'cold turkey' and experienced slight depression in the initial stage. Then I relooked into my way of eating and decided not to be too harsh on myself. So I went into semi Paleo, to get myself transiting into this eating habit smoothly. Now, 9 months on, I am still on this eating habit and I can safely say it will be so for the rest of my life. I cannot imagine myself eating a whole bowl of noodles/pasta all by myself any more (though I would still eat a few strands). I have not touched soda water or sugared water for the longest time I can recall.
I am happy with my progress. My borderline HBP has become normal blood pressure, my stomach less bloated and my swelling episodes reduce in intensity and frequency, all these, without medication.
I try to prepare my meals at home as much as possible, of course, there will be times I need to eat out. Here are some food I eat when I am out:
Besides the better health I am experiencing now, I have also shed 3 kilos. It is the by-product of this diet. By the way, I am also drinking ionised, alkalised, high-antioxidant water produced by Enagic machine (Kangen Water) because I believe a combination of quality food, quality water, quality sleep, moderate exercise and lesser stress is the way to better health.
I am also trying to steer the diet of the 2 boys at home towards Paleo. For a start, they are eating less bread and noodles. My husband does not take soda or sugared water and AJ has been kept away from these too.
If you are facing some health issues, may I also urge you to look into your diet to address the root of the problem(s). These are some websites I visit regularly:
General Health
Dr. Axe
Mercola
Mark's Daily Apple
Robb Wolf
Food
Nom Nom Paleo
Paleo Leap
The Paleo Diet
The Paleo Mom
In an attempt to reverse my autoimmune condition, borderline high blood pressure (HBP) and possibly a leaky gut, I resort to looking into the food I eat and water I drink. The modern medical treatment/remedies/tests failed to address my condition. Despite heeding the advice of the doctors to cut down salt, my decade-old borderline HBP remained borderline, there was no sign of decreasing. My stomach remained bloated and my body parts continued to experience unexplained swell.
To be fair, I abused my body when I was young, vibrant and energetic then. My sugar intake was high and I loved preserved stuff. I exercised well though. At that time, the body was operating in optimal condition as it was still new, there was no signs that my diet could be wrong.
It was until recent years, when the body began to show signs of wear and tear (and abuse), that I realised the painful mistakes that I have made in my younger days. There's a Chinese saying, "祸从口出，病从口入", our tongue a ruthless weapon, our food a silent killer.
After some months of reading up, I settled on Paleo diet, a diet that is based on meat, fish, eggs, nuts, vegetables, fruit, and root vegetables. Primal/paleo diets reduced carb intake, increased protein intake, increased monounsaturated fat intake, reduced omega-6 intake and increased omega-3 intake. How evil can this kind of diet be? Not at all!
Putting myself on Paleo diet also means eliminating (or reducing) processed food, sugar, wheat, soy, beans and peanuts (peanuts are not nuts!).
It wasn't a smooth journey though. For more than half of my life, I had been eating sugar, beans and wheat, so to withdraw these completely from me was difficult. I went into 'cold turkey' and experienced slight depression in the initial stage. Then I relooked into my way of eating and decided not to be too harsh on myself. So I went into semi Paleo, to get myself transiting into this eating habit smoothly. Now, 9 months on, I am still on this eating habit and I can safely say it will be so for the rest of my life. I cannot imagine myself eating a whole bowl of noodles/pasta all by myself any more (though I would still eat a few strands). I have not touched soda water or sugared water for the longest time I can recall.
I am happy with my progress. My borderline HBP has become normal blood pressure, my stomach less bloated and my swelling episodes reduce in intensity and frequency, all these, without medication.
I try to prepare my meals at home as much as possible, of course, there will be times I need to eat out. Here are some food I eat when I am out:
 |
| Popiah - I skipped the peanuts |
 |
| Vietnamese or Thai Salad. Do note that the hidden sugar is in the dressing |
 |
| Chicken Rice set meal without the rice |
 |
| Roasted pork with lots of cumcumber |
 |
| Satay without the peanut sauce and rice dumpling. Add more cucumber. Do note there is hidden sugar in the marinade. |
 |
| Fish slice soup with bitter gourd |
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| Pig's organ soup. The organs of the animal are very nutritious |
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| Beef or Mutton soup without the meatballs |
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| Western food! Grilled any meat, preferably no sauce and beans, and with lots of green |
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| Subway/Mcdonald/Burger King Salad without dressing. At Subway, you could add avocado for good fats too! |
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| MOS bunless burger - Natsumi Fish without dressing. Carl Jr's has bunless burger too! |
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| MOS bunless burger - Natsumi Beef |
Besides the better health I am experiencing now, I have also shed 3 kilos. It is the by-product of this diet. By the way, I am also drinking ionised, alkalised, high-antioxidant water produced by Enagic machine (Kangen Water) because I believe a combination of quality food, quality water, quality sleep, moderate exercise and lesser stress is the way to better health.
I am also trying to steer the diet of the 2 boys at home towards Paleo. For a start, they are eating less bread and noodles. My husband does not take soda or sugared water and AJ has been kept away from these too.
If you are facing some health issues, may I also urge you to look into your diet to address the root of the problem(s). These are some websites I visit regularly:
General Health
Dr. Axe
Mercola
Mark's Daily Apple
Robb Wolf
Food
Nom Nom Paleo
Paleo Leap
The Paleo Diet
The Paleo Mom
Good to read that you are doing so much better health wise when you are on this diet.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dom!
DeleteThis is an interesting read. I am not a rice person but it is hard to avoid noodles and rice but I do try not to eat too much of it though. Interestingly most of the food items you have listed above I am already on it! I don't take soda water but just water, coconut water, kopi and home prepared herbal drinks. I still need to cut down on more sugar though. Hmmmm... Happy that your BP is now better managed! :D
ReplyDeleteIt's good to know friends around me are attempting to eat well! My BP is normal now. It only takes 2 weeks to get it back to normal on this switch of diet. Reducing salt actually does not help in reducing BP, I have learnt after having 10 years of borderline HBP.
DeleteThis is interesting. Will be sharing these tips with hubby as we were advised to cut down on our carbs too. Do your kids share the same diet?
ReplyDeleteHi Agatha! There are, in fact, many interesting replacement out in the web. Try google Cauliflower Rice to replace conventional rice. You can use coconut or almond flour to bake cakes or bread. Pasta replacement:
Deletehttp://greatist.com/eat/alternative-noodle-recipes
AJ is reducing his rice, bread & noodles intake. I replace them with more mushrooms, root veg, & eggs.
Good on you for keeping up with the diet and congrats on your health improvement, Jenn!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michelle!
Delete