My journey toward veganism…and where I went wrong.

When I was about 27, I began a path toward becoming a vegetarian. I wasn’t sure how far I would take it, but I knew I wanted to be healthy. I watched my father living with metabolic syndrome for years, and develop diabetes as a result of not being able to change his eating pattern.

One day, I cut school to get my prom dress (an entire book by itself…) and ‘caught’ my dad at our local mall food court ordering a strawberry shortcake. My mom stopped providing sweets and desserts in an attempt to care for his health, and he had to get them somewhere. He just looked at me and said “I won’t tell if you don’t,” unaware my mom knew exactly where I was.

But I learned that day how difficult it was for him to change. So at about 22, I listened to someone I was dating at the time who was a vegetarian, and thought it sounded like a good idea. The plan…first to eliminate red meat and pork. Step two would be to cut back on chicken/poultry. I never really planned to take it past that point…but theoretically eggs, fish, and shellfish would be last to eliminate.

I never got past step one. For about six years, I did not eat any pork, beef, lamb, or other red meat. Intuitively, I could not take it beyond that point. There were times I was fatigued, and not sure why. I also used to wake up with minor pain and stiffness in my fingers with clawed hands that opened up after I began moving around.

Then…at 27 I began acupuncture school. I just KNEW I was on the right path. My first year, I worked for an acupuncturist. One day, he sent me to the doctor to get labs drawn because he said “you don’t look right.” We discovered I had megaloblastic anemia. Red blood cells begin large and shrink as they mature, before being released into circulation. My red blood cells were in such short supply, that they were entering my bloodstream early, in their large, and less effective stage.

Keeping in mind all I was learning about how bodies work and balance at the time, I decided to re-introduce red meat into my diet to good benefit. My cell count improved and I never required medical intervention. But I believe I did some significant damage to my system. To this day, if I try to donate blood, I am frequently turned away because my hematocrit is not high enough. Basically, I cannot afford to give any blood away.

The core concept of TCM can be summed up with one phrase…balance in all things. When I say that healthcare is personal, this story is a perfect example of what I mean. Vegan diets are touted as the cure all for disease and often promoted as healthy. What they are not, is balanced.

I only gave up red meat. I never stopped eating chicken, eggs, fish, etc. and STILL ended up with issues in the end. I should also say that objectively, I looked the picture of health. I was very lean, didn’t get sick much, physically active, etc. It took an experienced acupuncturist to identify my problem, by just looking at me, I might add. This is the value of acupuncture practice.

Today, I eat red meat medicinally. A few times monthly, especially before times when I know blood loss is eminent. Sometimes, I forget. What happens?!?!? I start to experience the following symptoms:

• headaches with no relief from medications

• exhaustion beyond fatigue

• increased aches and pains

• difficulty concentrating or making decisions

• nausea when getting up too fast, or if overheated

• heart palpitations

An anecdote for consideration. Not too long ago, I was at work with a headache. Normally, OTC headache medication will take care of any of my occasional headaches. But this day, medication wasn’t working. I went two days with no relief. This is not normal for me. I went to the cafeteria and could not decide what to eat. I wandered around, confused, before settling on a roast beef sandwich. Within 15 minutes of biting into the sandwich, my headache got 30% better. That’s when I realized how long it had been since I last ate red meat. That night, I went out and had steak for dinner which resolved the headache completely.

So…where did I go wrong? By not listening to my body. I was having many symptoms that indicated I should not have remained on the vegetarian path, but my brain over-rode the physical signs due to my lack of information about how to be healthy. Obviously, anecdotes are not science. None of my physician colleagues had an answer for what happened to me.

Vegan diets have many health benefits for a lot of people. But we need to pay attention to what our bodies tell us about when our changes have served their purpose and resume a balanced approach. For example, the typical SAD (standard American diet) diet consequences are seen as excess in EAM (East Asian Medicine). Acupuncturists often treat using the theory of opposites. So the cure for an excess is a deficiency. Eat less. Vegan diets serve that purpose very well. For this reason, I absolutely believe that vegan diets are capable of life-changing effects for a lot of people.

But eventually…when your body gets back to balance…remaining on a deficiency diet can only lead to one result. A deficiency. This is how EAM works. Staying on any one intervention too long, beyond it’s useful effect can cause more harm than good. It’s why re-evaluations are mandatory for herbal treatment. Once your body has corrected course, there is no need to continue treatment.

If any part of this story resonates with you, let’s talk to work out a plan to get you back to balance.