90° TURN

/ MR

Anyone who’s known me for any length of time is aware that I have a Reluctant Gut – one reluctant to settle down quietly for any lengthy period, and one that insists on making its presence felt fairly often, as it has done since the mid-’90s. Then, it was so reluctant to be ignored as to be responsible for my being delivered to Emergency at RPAH and, after a fair bit of this and that, to see me relieved of my gall-bladder – which turned out not to’ve actually been the problem.   :\

Couple of years later it struck again and, there being no gall-bladder to blame, the gut saw me undergo an ERCP – not the last, btw; and the bile duct wasn’t the problem either.

Since then there have been Episodes of its reluctance to behave normally, leading eventually to my consulting that well-known oracle, Dr Google. He it was who led me to find out about LPR (when I was satisfying myself that GORD is definitely nothing to do with the problem/s) – laryngopharyngeal reflux. Seeing as how I have and exhibit every single symptom of this affliction I am perfectly convinced I am cursed with it; but alas, no GP in Geelong has ever heard of it, and is reluctant to read the highly informative paper I keep printing out and handing over. I have reached, I’m only too aware, a stalemate: I can’t get medical help for it until (if ever) I find a doctor who knows what’s going down.

So. I have found my own help, that of my younger sister down in Tasmania.

On the phone to her the other day, I was talking about my recent comprehensive blood tests (de rigueur at this stage of life !) and mentioned cholesterol results. This trigger sent her off into waves of rage – or maybe fits ? – anyway, it triggered her to tell me all about The Great Cholesterol Myth. Fascinating stuff !! – and here’s an Australian link to it that I remember caused a HUGE shit-storm at the time ..

Briefly, you can forget about your cholesterol levels forever.

From there one proceeds – OK, then: I proceeded – via both “The Big Fat Surprise” and “The Carnivore Code” – to learn of the things I’d been eating wrong. Or not eating wrong. If you get my drift.

I have ceased  being vegetarian.

It was never for health reasons that I took it up; but it’s most definitely for health reasons that I’ve given it up.  I have a strong feeling – based, I suppose, on hope – that I may overcome my persistently Reluctant Gut. No more adherence to a pulses and vegetables diet; no more total avoidance of anything fatty in any way.

I’m a carnivore again.

 

14 thoughts on “90° TURN”

  2. It was my bad luck that the surgeon on duty that day had recently fallen in love with laparoscopic cholycystectomy, and he was going to perform it where there was the faintest chance of doing so. Sighh .. 😀

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  4. The whole issue is a furphy, Amanda: there’s really no point wasting one’s time worrying about it in any regard.
    Far better to worry about insulin resistance – namely sugar intake.
    Have a perooz (!) of either of the links I’ve provided, yeah ?

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  5. I’ll read that cholesterol article M-R, because I have been feeling uncertain about it for sometime and been wondering if it is really the issue it’s been pushed to be – on its own anyhow. My cholesterol has been on the high side of average or just tipping over into high for many years – ie either just OK or just not OK, but my good cholesterol levels have always been good. So far, despite my rapidly advancing age, my lovely GP has not suggested cholesterol medication for which I bow to her as not being a *panic merchant”!

    BTW I do think it is sensible to go back to being a carnivore – let’s call it omnivore – again. We are omnivores. (We have canine teeth after all – haha!) I think we can(should) eat less meat than we used to but we should eat meat. My SIL is vegetarian and seems to be tired all the time. I do wonder whether it is diet related.

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  6. Do, Sue ! – yore li’l eyes will be opened. Better, really – were you an Audible user – to listen to “The Big Fat Surprise”, which can be listened to without paying for. Now that’s REALLY eye-opening; and the author has more degrees than you can shake a stick at ! 🙂
    Omnivore, you’re quite right.
    Your sister-in-law is indeed tired on account of the vegetarianism: but there, if I don’t watch out I’ll be spruiking omnivorism !!

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  7. It’s a good idea to reduce refined sugar in your diet for sure – & cream instead of milk in your coffee is nice! Vegetarian dishes mixed with meals containing small amounts of meat/fish works for me – and cheese! Also dark chocolate high in cocoa is good!
    It’ll be interesting to see how a change of diet affects the gut problem!

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    • Interesting’s right, Sue ! – especially with regard to a friend who’s been a vegetarian almost all her adult life .. she’s going to be really dark on me ! Hey ho ..

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    • I feel as if I’d like to fall face down on the ground .. I am in SUCH a state of confusion, Hannah ! :\
      Of course I’d like to lose weight: who wants to weight 100ks (thank all the gods I’m taller than the mean) ? But its purpose is to lower sugar intake, and honestly it’s a HUGE struggle.
      I don’t even have a sweet tooth – never have, and never been a chocoholic. But it’s the bloody carbs – oh, dem carbs !
      Bread has been my staple all my life – all goddam 77 years of it. And fruit. I’ve often said that my perfect meal is a good raw muesli with any chopped fruit you name and a large (very large) glop of Greek yoghourt, all mixed together without the need for milk. ‘Nuff said, eh ?
      Avoiding carbs is proving harder than I would’ve thought possible.
      [breaks down into greedy sobbing ..]

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Go on - you can say it. :)