After fasting all day I would also run 5kms, i.e. burning fat rather than carbs so ==> must have had high levels of ketones in blood? A naturopath said my body was acidic and I was retaining a lot of extra-cellular water to sequester the excess acid (as I was meant to be short of enough fat by 4kilos, to hold the “toxins”).

Diet was partly inspired by the “paleo” and “calorie restriction” ideas - breakfast was grapefruit, berries, spinach, avocado, tomato with fish/eggs; fasted all day on green tea, then dinner was celery and nuts followed by meat/fish and cooked veg/salad; fats were mostly butter; sometimes had dairy (e.g. berries and yoghurt for dessert).

It seemed the diet caused it, as nothing of this sort runs in my family (I come fom a VERY health and long-lived family), but that’s when it started. The only suggestion I’ve ever had of HOW my diet may have been deficient is possibly in magnesium, of which there is quite a lot in the outer layer of whole-grains.

Added some grains to diet (Essene ryebread for lunch, flax after dinner) with some improvement, but neuropathy still persisted, then pre-menopause symptoms started to confuse the issue, followed by palpitations and hypertension. The latter improved with addition of brown rice/sweetcorn to dinner and eating plenty of celery and drinking hawthorn and hibiscus tea, but neuropathy still hangs around. It’s possibly worse after even gentle jogging (3X/week) which is still quite tiring for me (even after doing it for years!) so perhaps my body just cant cope with the deficits/toxins that are produced by vigorous exercise. It makes me feel good and doesn’t make sense, so I havent yet tried just stopping all exercise for awhile - maybe will have to test that out.

Recently tried a magnesium supplement with some good results - residual palpitations stopped immediately on taking the first tablet, neuropathy improved somewhat, and there was a dramatic reduction in the need to keep eating grains, flax & bananas frequently between meals in order to feel halfway normal and be able to sleep without being woken up by palpitations and a numb left arm.

Am not sure if magnesium is all of the answer and I’ve only tried it for a few days so its too ealry to see if it will gradually cur e the neuropathy if I continue it (needless to say, an ordinary analysis of my diet using FoodWorks, show no magnesium deficiency); can we ever have the perfect healthy diet just from foods, or do many of us need supplements regardless of diet, due to impoverished modern genes and/or pollution? I had to cut down even on the recommended 100mg of Mg-amino-acid-chelate 3X/day due to diarrhea - am currently trying 50mg 2X/day to see if that will work without inducing diarrhea. I’ve had IBS for many years, which improved a lot on the no-grain diet (stomach-aches improved but diarrhea still hung around somewhat) and also running induces a major increase in this activity (I often have to stop to go to the toilet, so have to jog in a gym rather than outside) and can make me feel quite drained afterwards.

Maybe it’s the diarrhea/IBS, combined with sweating and electrolyte loss, that’s depleting me and causing the neuropathy, because I DID start jogging at the same time as the no-grain diet!

Am confused between the no-grain versus high-grain diet ideas! Reintroducing wholegrains to my diet has certainly been necessary! Tried rawfood diet twice, even with lots of sprouted grains the neuropathy and palpitations got a LOT worse by day 4/5 forcing me to stop at once! Reading the health problems that start to emerge after a few years on the raw vegan diet, I’m completely unconvinced about that diet as a long-term option , even though it seems to be the only one that has cured cancer for many people!

The only things I havent really tried diet-wise are (1) to replace the breakfast fish and veg with wholegrains (but that’s what I used to eat - conventional ‘healthy’ breakfast - before changing to the no-grain diet, and it made me tired and unmotivated), or (2) stop exercise fo awhile and see if I improve.

Any thoughts or observations would be greatly welcome - thank you!

Any time I hear the word neuropathy I think vitamin B12 deficiency. Maybe you should talk your doc into a B12 shot to see what happens. If you’re not deficient the shot won’t hurt you - if you are, it will work miracles.

Live long or live well? Clearly spelled out in this post!

Looks like Jack LaLanne has managed both.

Hi Chris–

MRE

But another poster here made a comment that he probably stopped following his own diet in order to live to 100. Perhaps that so.

I’m quite sure you’re right.

MRE

Finally an M.D. who is on track and not against what is good for you. Congrats.

Didn’t know that about LaLane’s dad. Thanks for the info.

MRE

Discussions of longevity need to reaffirm the importance of creating “good thoughts”, ones that makes us “feel good”, regardless of any presumed rationality we encounter. It’s rather obvious that there are acknowledged intellects ably arguing almost every conceivable diet. If one is open and smart then one has a chance to sort out what makes the best sense for ones own life. But even if we lack the patience or power to figure out things ourselves there is something we can and should do: We need to feel good about ourselves and our world. Stress now seems to be widely recognized as a contributing, maybe even an initiating factor in the development of numerous ailments. So be happy and control your own feelings…for they are yours…they belong to you, so create good and happy ones. I know Jack La Lanne does. I met him during the seventies in one of his gyms and have seen him numerous times. Beyond being so positive, he had the added benefit of being highly regarded by those around him…people who gave him a lot of adoring supportive energy. And that continuous uplifting interaction does wonders for ones health. And each of us has similar power to feel good and show this with the world, and thereby benefit in the interactions.
Lastly, the extremely variable nature of every conceivalbe example/facet/dimension of “life” suggests that “change” is normal. If so then diets can and probably should change as well. Perhaps that is why fasting is so widely referenced. “There is a time for every season…”.

Hi bill–

MRE

I remember Jack from when I was a kid in the 70’s and he looked old to me then and he still looks the same.

Here is another low fat advocate at the age of 70, Clarence Bass.
http://cbass.com/PICTORAL.HTM#More

He is in great shape and like Jack he has been doing it all his life. I’m glad I never bought his RIPPED series of diets. They are very strict low-fat / low-calorie diets. I almost did years ago when I was sill a devout member of the low-fat dogma. I worked out hard and often but could never get rid of the love handles. When I tried to shed the fat, I tried a semi vegan diet (i.e. more carbs), lost 20 pound but the love handles were still there and I basically lost a lot of hard earned muscle.

Thanks, this brought back memories.

Dan

Hey Dan–

MRE