Well, it's official. Meat is my arch nemesis. I seriously want to punch it in the face.
My Naturopathic Doctor told me in May that when women come to him with any hormonal imbalances, his first step is typically to recommend that they go vegetarian for six months and see what happens. Since I was already not eating dairy or eggs (because my body doesn't like them - eggs make me want to punch a wall and dairy makes my digestive system lash out irrationally), this meant that I became a vegan - except that I can eat seafood. Vegan means no animal products - no dairy, eggs, meat, seafood.
So I jumped full-on into vegan life, and I totally noticed changes. Many signs of hormonal imbalances went away.
Wellll...then came the holidays. And I got a little too loosy goosy about it all. And by a little, I really mean a lot. It's much easier to go full-on vegetarian and just never have meat. When you give in a time or two, it just makes it that much easier to keep giving in and eventually end up eating meat way too often. The thing is, being a vegetarian can be a pain in the butt. It's not ridiculously hard, but it does require discipline (in my case, because I love me some bacon - always have. Maybe I need to find a YouTube video about how bacon is made...I think that would probably do the trick.) And it can require planning at times, which can be obnoxious. Going to a summer bbq as a vegan means you have to bring your own food - hello, grilled portabello mushrooms (they're actually very good)! I was getting the hang of it, for sure, but it was just so easy to choose meat out at restaurants over the holidays instead of yet another salad without meat.
Last month I couldn't tell a huge difference when my period came (don't worry, any men out there, this is not going to get graphic). I had only fallen off the wagon for about a week at that point, so my body wasn't freaking out yet.
I was curious to see what would happen this cycle since it had been a full month of meatiness. I really did it up. I didn't eat meat every day or anything, but many days I did. I'm kindof bad at moderation sometimes. I ate bacon, both pork and turkey versions (and when I eat bacon, I eat bacon. Like five pieces). Sausage. Turkey. More turkey. I think there was some ham in there - yes, yes there was. And even a few little party sausages for good measure - hey, they were in my Mom's amazing "Mexican Wastebasket Soup" that I love. OH, and these amazing tasting - wait for it - venison and jalapeno bites wrapped in bacon and smoked (my brother makes them and they're bomb!). Yeah. Meat wrapped in meat.
Suffice it to say, this little 6-week detour DIDN'T GO WELL! My period this cycle has been atrocious. The most painful cramps I've had in over a year. Horrible PMS mood swings. Low back cramps that I had completely forgotten even existed. I used to get them every month, but haven't in forever. I feel like a truck ran me over and then realized it forgot something and backed up. Slowly. This is not a good thing when you have two little kids, both of whom happen to also be in bad moods for their own very special reasons.
I have a bad memory, and I don't always do what I know is best for my body (although I do work hard to at least try), so maybe this post will serve as a reminder to me to STAY AWAY FROM MEAT, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!
The reason I'm telling you this is two-fold. One, I'm pissed and PMSing, so I wanted to yell and vent. Two, if any of you ladies out there feel like your hormones are a little whacky, you might want to try going vegetarian for a while to see what happens. If you're going to do it, you have to really do it - I mean, don't just eat rice cakes and cereal all day like I did my first few weeks as a vegan. That won't really give you much of anything (obviously). Eat tons of fruits and vegetables. Take a B-12 supplement and a multi-vitamin and research it enough to make sure you're covered on your nutrients. This site has helpful information on key nutrients for vegans or vegetarians to be aware of.
The other day, I was talking to the manager at one of the health food stores I frequent. I was telling her about how meat just really messes with me hormonally. She said that in her 30's, she started going into very early pre-menopause and was having lots of hot flashes. She started buying and eating only organic meat, dairy, and eggs. Her hot flashes went away completely within a couple months. Recently (years later), she got laid off from her previous job at a health food store, so she couldn't afford organic anymore. Within a month, her hot flashes were back. They're gone again now that she's back to eating organic. Her hormonal imbalances were directly related to the hormones in non-organic meat, dairy, and eggs.
Before the past few days, I was planning to do another experiment soon, once I balance back out with my vegan diet. I was going to eat meat 1-2 times/week for a month- ONLY ORGANIC - and see what happened...see if my hormonal balance stayed intact. Now that I'm a hot mess, I'm thinking I'll wait a little while before throwing another experiment into the mix. But if you're someone who doesn't want to try going vegetarian but does want to experiment with this, then take a few months and choose organic meat, dairy, and eggs. Those three categories are huge sources of hormones.
You hear stories of this or that organic company who is cutting corners and still marketing their product as organic even when technically it's not. This is the exception, not the rule. There are many companies out there that are totally legit. And I think it's silly to hear those stories and think, "well, then I'll just never buy organic." Conventional dairy and meat and eggs are huge sources of unhealthy hormones and antibiotics as well as all kinds of other nasty additives. I really believe we would all greatly benefit from choosing organic in these areas if we can afford it. The store manager's story is not an isolated one - there are countless others just like it.
All I'm sayin' is this. I HATE MEAT! I mean, I love meat, but I HATE it! My body, for now, hates it. And maybe it just hates conventional, hormone-laced meat. I guess I'll find that out another month. But if my body hates it THIS much, I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm not the only one...maybe some of you readers' little bodies hate it, too. Let me know if you think that's you. We can be vegan buddies - or vegetarian buddies. I'll send you my recipe for Vegan Energy Bars - sounds disgusting, tastes amazing. I will not, however, send you the recipe for bacon-wrapped venison wads. You're welcome.
1 comment:
Thank you, it's good to know I'm not the only one. After almost 2 years of chest pain, stomach pain, weird feelings in my head, numbness in my arm, severe anxiety and agoraphobia I finally feel better and believe that meat was the cause. I tried giving up dairy but nothing changed so I was living on PPI tablets which helped a bit.
I stopped taking the contraceptive pill and stopped being so angry mid month. But the real miracle was when I started juicing. It was like it flushed my body of all its stores of chemicals or something and in 3 days my anxiety was gone. When I ate again though the same problems started again. Then one day for no reason I decided not to eat meat anymore and from that day on I did not have to take any tablets. Things went well for a couple of months until I was on holiday and I ate a littl e meat and still felt good so I ate meat again and again and then I came home and had fish and chips and that night and for almost a week I was back on tablet, suffering like I had done for those 2 years so now I am off meat again and feeling good again. I don't know why at 38 years of age my body suddenly decided it did not like meat but I believe that is the cause of my issues.
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