Why I failed at being Vegetarian, Vegan & Raw-Vegan

Why I failed at being Vegetarian, Vegan & Raw-Vegan

I was 9yrs old when I became a vegetarian (when I realised where meat came from). My Mum thought it was a faze, so just let it happen, that faze ended up lasting over 33 yrs (I was always a bit stubborn ha).

After about 15 years of being vegetarian I went vegan. I did not want to support the dairy industry, but I also found out I was dairy intolerant too, so that worked for me in both regards. I was really into food by then and was making sure I had all the right things to make up for not having any animal produce. I was eating lots of plant proteins and fats and loads of superfoods and supplements. Initially I felt amazing but over time my digestive system didn’t feel right, so I became raw vegan then. Again, I felt amazing initially but then again not so much longer term.

I followed all the big raw-vegan names, did what they said, remembered it may take time to get used to eating this way and didn’t eat any processed vegan junk food, but started to feel worse. I fasted, I tried all sort of other ‘upgrades’, but never felt right.

I was at this point in the later stages of recovering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and I realised if my digestive system stayed screwed up like this I wasn’t going to be able to recover. So, I started eating more cooked foods again and eggs and occasionally fish too.

I stayed eating a very nutrient dense, superfood, pescatarian (but no dairy) diet through my recovery and for the last 11/12years of being fully recovered from CFS too.

However, about 3.5yrs ago, I out of the blue I started collapsing. I was rushed through loads of tests at the hospital, and they found out I had three heart conditions, an autoimmune condition and my thyroid was completely screwed.

I was so shocked by this as I ate and looked after myself better than anyone I knew. I was trained in nutrition, general health and so much more, how and where did this come from? I was told by the specialists that I would have to be on medications for the rest of my life and would eventually have to have some operations too.

I had been told very unhelpful and untrue information like this about CFS when I had it too, so I knew that what they were saying was probably just guessing and so I set about researching others who has recovered from similar concerns.

I found out that many long-term vegetarians end up with random illnesses (&/or loads of hormonal issues) like this as the body eventually runs out of reserves, even when you are eating all the right things, none of the junk foods and taking all the fancy supplements.

So, with a heavy heart I started eating organ meats a few times a week. I figured if I was going to do this, I was going to do it properly and get as many nutrients in as possible in one go. I stopped collapsing quickly and after a year I was retested for everything. Without taking any of their medications all the heart conditions were gone, and the autoimmune condition has decreased greatly.

Then, perimenopause started! I was getting intense hot flushes, where I had to lay down as I was so dizzy, and I wanted to ‘dispatch’ of the people around me on a monthly basis as my hormones completely took over! I decided to eat animal protein with every single meal then (as I had read a lot about women needing this at this time of their lives – or any time of needing to balance hormones). Within about 5 weeks all perimenopausal symptoms were gone and have not come back since.

I was still researching how to heal the root cause of my thyroid concerns and came across Sally Norton’s research about high oxalate diets. I realised I was having a diet about 20 – 25 x the amount of recommend oxalates in my ‘healthy’ diet every day. It seems many people who have been long term veggie/vegan end up with some sort of oxalate poisoning. I decided straight away to cut all the high offending oxalates food out. Within a week my energy was through the roof (even though it was already pretty good anyway with how active I was during the day). My mind felt way more switched on and my hands and feet definitely felt less cold (cold hands and feet is one of the thyroid symptoms).

What I have noticed once going low oxalate is that I started slowly going off other food even with a lesser amount of oxalates in. Maybe my body was just feeling so good it didn’t want any of them, who knows? But quickly I realised I was eating almost completely animal protein and feeling amazing for it.

I’m binged watched all of Dr Anthony Chaffee videos on his YouTube channel to understand what was happening in my body. I am convinced when I get my thyroid blood tests done again it will be completely healed too, just from cutting out the remaining carbohydrates and oxalate high foods.

During this journey I also came across people like Lierre Keith who was a vegan activist for 20 years and also found herself eventually becoming very unwell and on top of that found out that her beloved veganism wasn’t not helping animals at all, but potentially destroying the planet more so than meat eaters. She is still an activist but she helps the environment by promoting good animal farming and eating to help the planet regenerate. She has a book The Vegetarian Myth which explains this in more details and is so interesting.

So, in summary, I thought I was doing all the right things for my health and the health of the planet, only to realise I was doing the exact opposite.

I now find myself promoting small traditional and ancestral farming (and living) techniques and realise this is the healthiest thing we can do for ourselves and this planet. Not needing to ship foods, fertilizers, and ‘superfoods’ all around the planet and eating in a way that our body needs, in the season it needs it and in a way that it can uptake it, oh and making sure that nothing goes to waste (ever)!

I have realised the simpler and more traditionally we eat and in fact live, the happier and healthier we become.

Sally Norton: https://sallyknorton.com/

Lierre Keith: https://lierrekeith.com/

Dr Anthony Chaffee: www.thecarnivorelife.com