No beef, buffalo, duck, eggs or dairy?!? :( :( :( SAD CAVEGIRL. page 2

[zoebird]

I think the diet would be do-able. It would mostly be fish, vegetables, and fruit. There's actually a lot that you *can* eat, even though it would be an adjustment.

[serenity]

The insomnia got MUCH worse for awhile right after I went primal, but has now subsided to where it's not too much worse than before. And by that I mean, I can follow every rule for good sleep that's out there, but I still rarely get more than 6 hours and almost always wake up already feeling tired and crappy. I was really hoping primal would help these symptoms, because they really detract from my quality of life. It just didn't though.

Are you sure it's diet-related and that you don't just have some kind of sleep disorder? Not getting sufficient high quality sleep could be causing your other problems--fatigue and headaches. Have you tried seeing a neuropsychiatrist who specializes in sleep disorders?

[ChocoTaco369]

It's been pretty much the same. The bloating/gas got noticeably better with primal, but is still around enough to be annoying about 1/3 of the time. The insomnia got MUCH worse for awhile right after I went primal, but has now subsided to where it's not too much worse than before. And by that I mean, I can follow every rule for good sleep that's out there, but I still rarely get more than 6 hours and almost always wake up already feeling tired and crappy. I was really hoping primal would help these symptoms, because they really detract from my quality of life. It just didn't though.

Have you gotten your magnesium checked? If you're the typical muscle meat and vegetable Primal eater, grains were probably your only (poor) source of magnesium. Look into magnesium supplementation or start consuming more cocoa powder, brazil nuts, molasses and sunflower/pumpkin seeds. Magnesium deficiency is often linked with poor sleep. You can find supplements for dirt cheap. Take with dinner.

[sbhikes]

Looks like you can eat frogs and snails.

[Barefoot Gentile]

Probably the best news you can get, go vegetarian. This primal diet is slowly killing people and damaging their health. Eating meat, eggs, high fat all day, every day is a suicide diet. You have been rescued.

[jkr]

I'm in school for natural medicine and the ALCAT is not reliable. There is ONE food sensitivity test at ONE lab that is accurate that just came out in the last year but I cannot for the life of me remember the name.

I would highly recommend the GAPS diet for you, or at least elements of it like organs, tons of broth and plenty of fermented foods. It will help heal those food sensitivities and likely the headaches and bloating. It is not a quick fix but it will help heal you.

The bloating (and possibly headaches) tell me you probably need to raise your stomach acid levels. To do this, you can add a little apple cider vinegar in water to drink just before a meal and/or use bitters to stimulate them. You might want to do a hydrochloric acid challenge. Take one pill, and if you feel a little burning, your stomach acid is fine. If not, at the next meal take two. Hopefully, you get results otherwise you've got some work to do to get those levels up.

Are you on any adaptagenic hebs, like ashwaganda, licorice, rhodiola, etc? These could probably help you but I cannot say you should definitely take them because I have no clue about your health history. Consider taking this quiz about adrenal fatigue: Could I Be Experiencing Adrenal Fatigue?. Adrenal fatigue isn't the whole story but it is an indication of overall metabolic health. Also, look into SIBO: SIBO- Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth - Welcome

Are you on probiotics? I found it was helpful to do a probiotic bomb, like high levels for three months, and then stick with fermented foods.

Due to the ALCAT test, I assume you are working with an ND. Don't be afraid to find another one. An even better option would be an ND, LAc.

I had a lot of weird symptoms a few years ago and fixed myself about 80% with GAPS and array of neutraceuticals and an adaptagenic formula. I finally found an excellent Chinese medicine doctor that specialized in herbs and he got me to about 95%.

[Silvergirl]

I did the E95 basic food panel and it pretty much confirmed all the things that I was strongly suspecting. It is considered an allergy test, not intolerance. Casein, dairy at diff. degrees whether it be goat or terrible for cow. Eggs whites off the charts. Egg yolks moderate. Almonds also off the charts (I suspect all tree nuts,but didn't test for all) Those were the strongest, good for all meat. Even gluten and wheat ok.(think that is more an intolerance). Everything else mentioned that is more moderate I will test for individually. It at least gives me a start. My naturopath has found that to be the case with the testing. It is controversial but he found that for his patients that it confirmed their suspects. So really hard eating out, no dairy, no eggs, no grains........ I am sad too.

In your case given the amount of things they mention. Beef would be the biggest prob. for me ackkks!! I think I would start only eliminating the strongest first and go from there. Particularly the things that you really feel are a problem. My test really only confirmed my suspects. Added a few more for me to test, but even then had an inkling. When there are a lot of intolerances it can be really hard to figure it all out because you feel bad all the time. Hopefully removing the worst will give you some positives to work on.

[snowflakes]

Oh my god, I don't think I can live without those

[anna5]

I am no expert and I know anything about this diet, but I have a question: Did you check you thyroids?

[anna5]

Again, she must check thyroids.
What I like about this primal thing is flexibility. There are some great minds in the movement (unlike idiotic veganism) who respond to problems and make adjustments.
Yes, there is a problem with VLC diet and I am glad that this problem has been noticed. I thought I wasn't low carbs (I didn't want to be VLC), but the familiar problem with T3 (and headaches and bad sleep and fatigue) forced me to start counting and more importantly eating more carbs.
Jaminet has a series of articles on the topic with contributions of many.