I was diagnosed with a life-altering, autoimmune disease in 2017, severe Rheumatoid arthritis. (A chronic inflammatory disease that affects the joints. This results in painful joints, swelling, and stiffness in the joints.)
Not knowing what to do, I went the pharmaceutical route. My doctor put me on the "Rheumatoid arthritis protocol", trying medications for months at a time until we found one that eased my pain. Unfortunately, being in less pain always came at a cost. The side effects ranged from hair loss to sleeplessness, to "pumpkin face" to suppression of immune function.
None of my doctors could tell me why I was sick, where this disease came from, why none of my family members suffered from this... To this day, doctors claim the cause of RA is unknown. Eventually, in 2018, we found a drug that helped, I was prescribed a Biologique medication that suppressed my immune system, making me more vulnerable to any germ, bacteria, or virus that might get into my body. It is also incredibly expensive!
After about two years of injecting myself every two weeks, I came upon several books that discussed the explosion of autoimmune disease, the effects of the food we eat, and the relationship to our bodies. I was able to get some relief by eliminating the main culprits; gluten, corn, and sugar: and I went off my medication. To my delight, I felt about the same as I did while I was on my medication. I would wake up in the morning feeling stiff in my joints, but not too bad. I wasn't swollen and after moving around, the severity of the pain would lessen and I went about my day as usual. At that time, I ate a "healthy" diet, mostly vegetables, a lot of nuts, and occasionally lean meat. I felt I always was hungry, even though I was full, but I believed that was a mental trick because obviously, my stomach was full, so I must be just suffering from cravings. Maybe I would eat more nuts, or carrots and hummus, eventually being stuffed, and then I would stop eating...
Fast forward to 2022. I started to feel the pain just like I did at the onset of my disease. My elbows and wrists were always aching, then my shoulders and hips. I was having difficulty sleeping because my body ached and it would keep me awake at night. During the day, even after moving around, I would still ache all over. I made an appointment with my RA doctor, but the earliest appointment was three months away! I was getting worse, even though I was eating "right" and 3 months was a long time to wait.
I revisited my books on autoimmune disease and started looking into functional medicine, to see if a doctor with a different approach could help me find a real solution. Shortly after my search began, I came across a TED talk with Mikaela Peterson and her complete elimination diet of only ruminant meat, (Ruminant animals eat plants and then ferment and filter the plants through four stomach compartments in their digestive process) water, and salt. Next, I started researching the carnivore diet, eliminating everything but animal meat. It was a drastic change for me, but I didn't want to be on medication for the rest of my life. I told myself I had (about) three months before my RA appointment, so in the meantime, what could it hurt to give it a try?
In May of 2022, I decided to go on Ketovore (a meat-heavy diet with some vegetables). After two weeks of not noticing any changes, I eliminated all vegetables and was doing a Carnivore diet. A month passed and I felt some relief, but I wasn't "beating" the RA. I took the final step to do the "Lion DIet", only ruminant meat. It was difficult to take that last step, My body went through changes, not all of them were awesome, but I noticed progress! A little bit at a time, I was in less pain, I was sleeping without waking, and I could put pressure on joints that I previously couldn't! I wasn't totally out of the woods, but with the improvements I was experiencing, I canceled my RA appointment and just kept going with the "beef" diet I had been doing.
I have noticed many more benefits in the last (almost) year and I just keep getting better. As of February 2023, I am negative for RA. I have spent many hours of research looking for information and finding answers to questions I didn't know I had. Finding answers for my friends and people I care about. From that, this newsletter was born. My passion is to spread the information I have found and help other people who are looking for a way to improve how they feel.
