General Health Benefits

Often, the focus around here centers on fat loss and lean gain, which is only natural since that's the chief problem for most people. But I'll also blog substantially about other health gains from this sort of Life Way.

If you're new here, you may not be aware of my own experience in this area. I have been a seasonal allergy sufferer all my life, since my teenage years. This was debilitating in the spring and summer, and eventually, I found it was just best to take the prescriptions year round it was so bad. Same with acid reflux. I get nuclear heartburn.

As of the first of the year (2008) and about 3 months of a consistent Paleo-like diet, with emphasis on grain free, I have been off all medications. I've just sailed through spring and summer never once needing to take my medication. I still get mild heartburn from time to time, but I know what's causing that: alcohol. If I go a few days without any, heartburn drops to nil.

It's well known that a Type II diabetic can usually cure themselves by adopting a ketogenic diet, but how about a Type I? Not as common, but it happens, as Robb Wolf demonstrates.

It is well understood that Type 1 Diabetes is a failure of the beta cells of the pancreas to produce insulin. This is generally acknowledged to be the result of an autoimmune response, usually attributed to a viral infection or some kind of trauma. What is less known is the role of grain lectins in this process. Many people benefit not only from reducing the recommended American Diabetes Association 60% carb diet (higher even than the diet that causes most of the type 2 diabetes we see) because of a more fat fueled metabolism but also, occasionally, we see a return of normal pancreatic function with the removal of the neo-lithic foods. The inflammation and immune response that has been beating down the beta cells cease, some repair occurs and things come back to normal. This is not the norm unfortunately, but it does happen. Even without the full return of pancreatic function, the reduced carb, higher fat paleo diet greatly mitigates the accelerated aging and systemic inflammation inherent in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.


WHAT IT'S ABOUT AND HOW IT WORKS

Free The Animal is an eclectic writing project about everything since November 2003. 23 years, 5,500 posts, 5 million words.

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