style diet that for all practical purposes was a conventional vegan diet. I.e., in addition to the most strict interpretation of natural hygiene, I was eating not just fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds during this second period, but also cooked whole grains, whole-grain (mostly sprouted) breads, legumes, potatoes and yams, and occasional squash.
During this period my health was somewhat better than during the 95-100% raw-food period, which had lasted 6-9 months. (Which was about all I could take considering the diminished endurance, lassitude, unspirited moods, inability to sleep well, loss of sex drive, continual hunger, poor ability to handle stresses of any kind, etc.). However, I remained hungry most of the day during this subsequent period as well (just not as much as before--or more accurately, I got hungry again after meals quickly within a couple of hours or less), still could not sleep well, and continued not to respond well to stress in spite of a very laid-back lifestyle and very little work during this time (20 hours per week or less).
Although I felt somewhat better during the period initially (that is, I noticed the difference right after the change), the overall trend once the change had been made was at best stagnant, if not itself somewhat downward after a time. After close to two years of the conventional vegan regime and not even minimal signs of an upward trend toward improvement, despite different modifications (see below), I finally gave up.
Below are additional points about things I've experimented with in recent years in the interest of health improvement that should help round out the story here and wrap things up.
- From the 1991 to 1995 period (the first 2-1/2 years of which I was eating a raw-food and then conventional vegan diet; the last 1-1/2 of which I had transitioned to including fish in the diet) I was also doing one long water fast roughly once a year. After the initial 42-day fast to kick off my new lifestyle, I did fasts of 11, 20, and 14 days, which included about 2-3 months to recover and regain weight and energy after each fast except the last one.
Though I have done no fasts since (and do not plan to as of this writing), I belatedly discovered on the last fast (after which I was able to regain close to full energy in just 10 days) that eating concentrated foods higher in fat and protein immediately after breaking the fast (within digestive capacity, of course)--such as poached eggs, fish, etc.--was a vast improvement compared to breaking fasts on fruits according to the "party line." (At least for me.)
That it took four fasts to realize this shows how deep the conditioning can be to follow the party line in Natural Hygiene that says to break fasts on fruits as the "purest" or "easiest" food for the body to handle. What happened to me instead, when I tried breaking fasts on fruits, was that each time, I nearly went into panic attacks again from the sugar overload. This didn't happen when breaking the fast on concentrated foods, and in fact very much seemed to preclude these symptoms.
- I now believe, given the minimal improvements I experienced with subsequent fasts after the first one, that fasting is considerably overemphasized by people into raw foods, many of whom seem to regard it as a holy grail tantamount to a panacea. (Also, it may be that the improvements experienced during the first fast--cessation of the panic attacks and improvement in blood sugar--were due as much to having ceased caffeine and soft drink consumption, as to the fast itself. There is no way to really know at this point.)
Furthermore, fasting is difficult for most people (although there is certainly a minority contingent who do find it fairly easy), and can be hell, even when you are resting most of the time, as I did on my last three fasts. Especially for people who are naturally thin (as I am, as a distance running-type), it seems a possibility that lengthy fasting may stress one's reserves too much. For me, the most noticeable improvements--much more noticeable than any improvement I ever received from fasting--came as I paid more and more attention to robust nutrition in my diet and ceased to obsess about dietary purity as the be-all end-all.
- During the raw phase and beyond (when I was eating conventional vegan-style), I also tried including different approaches such as:
- Juicing: Fresh vegetable juices--with no real results other than my skin turned yellow from too much carrot juice, and which at times negatively affected my blood sugar, sending me into hypoglycemic reactions if I drank too much at the wrong time.
- Sprouting: of a few different kinds of sprouts I grew in the kitchen in trays. Lentil, buckwheat, pea, alfalfa, and short sunflower seed sprouts were the biggies and easiest to grow. Again, nothing much happened that I could tell, at least subjectively.
- The biggest improvement I noticed during the conventional-vegan period was after adding grains to the diet, in terms of energy level. But I still didn't feel that great most of the time (still got stressed-out easily and didn't sleep well) unless my job workload was down around 20 hours a week and I could rest up all the time. One problem during this time was that unless my carb intake was balanced by increased exercise, my blood sugar would react unfavorably from all the complex carbs, which would make me more tired instead of more energetic.
- Finally I added animal foods (fish at the time). Within 2-3 weeks I started feeling better and things have been better ever since. (As mentioned in the interview, improvements were gradual up till about the 4 to 6-month mark, then began leveling off for the most part.) But of course, as usual, I was still looking for more, so at various times, I further tried:
- A daily multivitamin/mineral supplement. This was one thing besides just natural diet manipulations that seemed to help out some. I slept a little more soundly, and felt somewhat more resilient to stress. This is something I currently cycle in and out of, out of concern for possible toxicity in the long run, and the effects during "on" cycles now do not seem as noticeable as initially. It may be that the initial trial period helped remedy some kind of more longstanding but marginal deficiency of nutrient stores, with diminishing returns since. It is difficult to evaluate, however.
- I tried calcium/magnesium supplementation because a client of mine said it really helped her sleep great. No additional results for me, though.
- A cousin pestered my mother into becoming a Cell Tech, Inc. SBGA (Super Blue-Green Algae) distributor for awhile when it was the "big thing" everybody was raving about some years back. She and I both tried the full program including the SBGA, the food enzymes, and acidophilus. Unfortunately, there were no results either positive or negative for either one of us that we could see, except that my mom was out a couple of hundred dollars. (I had been given the product for free to try.)
- I have also tried eating more red meat instead of fish or fowl. After I located a nearby Mennonite butcher shop, I tried eating mostly that in place of fish in my diet for several months. While I enjoyed the variety and have continued to include it in my diet for that reason, again, there was not much difference in how I felt, perhaps a little bit.
- Since my blood sugar is still sensitive from all the previous years of cola-drinking, it has been important to find better ways to get it under control. (I trust those who have struggled with this problem, and particularly the increased risk of debilitating panic attacks that it can make a few individuals prone to, if sugar or carbs are overdone, will know what I mean.)
The last year or so, after having looked into the research on lower-carb, higher-protein diets in a bit more depth, and getting an idea of how much higher the protein intake likely was in evolutionary times, I decided to jettison the worries about higher protein coming from the high-carb/low-fat camp, and have been eating whatever amount of food from higher-protein sources my body seems to desire, which has changed the balance of my diet quite a bit. This basically includes more liberal amounts of meat and nuts than previously, whenever I want them--or eggs when there is no meat immediately available--though I try not to overdo the eggs.
I have also cut back grain consumption to more minimal levels to be more in line with what is now known about evolutionary nutrition. This approach has worked better than anything I have ever tried for evening out and giving me sustained energy levels throughout the day, and I have been less prone to colds when stressed or when the seasons change than at any time in my mid-life. I haven't targeted any sort of disciplined or strict low-carb/high-protein regimen with this newer approach, however: I just eat less carbs and more protein than before without trying to achieve any specific numbers. I'm sure it's nowhere near the level of low-carb/high-protein intake those on the Atkin's diet or other low-carb or ketogenic diets shoot for.
I should also note, though, that I am doing less volume of aerobic exercise (running) these days, while substituting a little bit of stretching (yoga) and a bit of strength-type exercise (pushups, so far), plus walking on my off-days from running, for a more rounded program. Were I to increase the running again, it may be I would find the lower-carb regime I am on now somewhat difficult; I really do not know. Perhaps I'll eventually test this out at some point to see.)
- More recently I also tried "food enzyme" supplements that another health enthusiast I met on the net recommended and swore by, but with no discernible results.
