I have made a new blog as my old blog is not working. The following is what I wrote as an success story in hope to help other stroke warriors on a LCHF website I follow and love. I thought it could be a good first blog. Sadly I had to remove the "c" word parts as it could not be published the way it was. I was sad at first but I understand as the "c" word is still very sensitive and very much illegal in places around the world. I strongly feel that the LCHF alone can help other stroke survivors so was willing to remove it in hope my story could help others no matter where they are in the world. LCHF/Keto is a very powerful tool in healing your damaged brain.I believe it has played a huge part of where I am now.
Trying to Heal My Broken Brain
In 2016 aged 36 I started a journey in what I
believed was healthy. I was unfit, obese, having fecal incontinence issues. So
I took up running and thought I had cut sugar out of my diet e.g no lollies, cakes,
no sugar in my tea etc. I chose low fat, sugar free options, lots of whole
grains. Normal standard advice that’s been ingrained in our modern society. I
now know I was still consuming 40-60 teaspoons of sugar a day in my food, they
were hidden in the “healthy” foods. I began running 2km-5km almost every day.
In 6 months I felt great, well so I thought. Didn’t fix my issues however but
I’d lost 15kgs. I looked healthier but I was still inflamed. I’d hate to think
exactly how much sugar I ate on a daily bases before I started running.
On October 30st 2016 my world turned
upside down. I had a stroke. I had
another stroke the next day, which left me with locked in syndrome, totally paralyzed, unable to
move nor breathe. I was put into a coma, on life support. I had a brainstem
stroke.
I spent the next 2 months in hospital learning how
to move, talk, eat, toilet, write, pretty much everything again. Turns out I
had a hole in my heart which I had no idea until the strokes.
I was tube feed for a month. Though I couldn’t move
I could hear the medical staff in the hospital crack open a can of soft drink
which made me crave for the sweet sugary fizzy drink. I’d watch the lolly
trolley go past my ward in the mornings. As soon as I was able to eat and use a
wheelchair, I’d make my way to the vending machines to buy sugar loaded drink
or food in the hospital. I was somewhat angry at the world thinking I was
‘healthy” but ended up in hospital anyway. So I ate a lot of junk food. Feeling
deflated, ‘why me?’ I was comfort eating.
Once I left hospital I was left with left sided
weakness, fatigue and a whole lot of mental issues, mainly depression, anxiety,
brain fog, slow processing and horrible fatigue. It was the mental issues that
was the worst.
Every time I had a stroke check up, one of the
first things they would say to me was if they need to adjust my cholesterol
lowering drugs. I was never put on them in the first place and feel like I have
dodged a massive bullet. The side effects from statins going by the stories of
other stroke survivors is horrible. It’s so common for stroke survivors to be
put on statins. We need healthy fat to heal or brains.
I’d made a pretty good recovery, considering. But
December 2017 I started to go backwards. My muscles began to harden on my weak
side. My left hand became like a claw. It was a constant battle to control what
was going on inside my head.
I was supposed to lose another 10kgs for my medical
team but I was putting on weight because I continued to eat sugary foods. On the
advice of my medical team I started going to the gym more, using two apps to
count my calories. I was to eat no more than 1500 calories a day. I lost a
couple of kgs in a couple of months but I was miserable and hungry all the time.
I was eating often only 1000-1200 calories per day. Desperate to achieve a goal
set by my medical team. The food I’d choose weren’t often what I would consider
“healthy” calories. I’d reached for a biscuit or something similar because I
was under my daily calorie count. I believed back then all calories were equal.
I ended up putting on 14kg. I was doomed to fail. Pretty much all the weight
I’d lost through running had piled back on. I was blaming myself because I
could no longer exercise like I used to, to why I could not shift weight.
Feb 2018 a fellow stroke survivor put me onto hemp
seed oil for pain relief. It helped a lot as well as for other things including my fecal incontinence issues. I was
thinking more clearly, I think it was all the healthy fats contained in the oil
that my poor brain was crying out for. Not long after that I watched Dr Hyman’s
Broken Brain series. I learned about neurogenesis, how sugar inhibits this. It
gave me hope that I could possibly heal my brain. I learned about ketogenic
diet and how I actually need fat to heal my brain. Learning that calories are
not all equal. The calorie in minus calorie out did not equal weight loss.
My calorie counters would go into the red because
of all the healthy fat I was consuming but I was easily losing weight. Best of
all, I was never hungry and never miserable.
My stroke was caused by a “plumbing” issue but I
can’t help but think that all the sugar I was eating contribute to my body not
dissolving my blood clots naturally. Sugar inhibits so many natural processes
in the human body.
I would love to see medical cannabis legalised here in New Zealand, after
experiencing the powers for me personally from just hemp seed oil then CBD oil,
which is still illegal here unless you have a prescription.
I find it amusing
and interesting my friends and family are very accepting of me smoking a joint,
(which I don’t) for my issues but for me to give up bread and sugar, eat
ketogenically or low carb healthy fat, I’m suddenly endangering my health. I’m
crazy. I’m going to become sick. Have a heart attack. I’ve read enough modern
independent studies now to realise I’m going to be ok. It’s just eating real
natural food. How can natural unprocessed food be dangerous?!
Cannabis and the food industry have a lot in
common. Both been demonized by bad science and corporate greed.
That has to be the biggest challenge for me doing
LCHF, others opinions. For me following the "status quo" was not working. Doing the complete opposite was working. I choose not to listen to opinions, govt guidelines and go against the "grain". Quite literally.
I’m fairly certain I must be insulin resistant. A
few years ago we had a scare with one of our children that she was a type 1
diabetic. We had to measure her blood glucose before and after meals for a few
weeks. I’d always prick my finger first to try and make it easier for my then 4
year old. Occasionally my blood glucose was 9mmol/l or 11mmol/l. It should of
always been between 4-8mmol/l. I never investigated back then but I believe now
I was probably heading towards prediabetes.
Thanks to cannabis and keto I’ve got a somewhat
working left hand again, my muscles are soft, fairly pain free, my mental
health is so much better. I think clearer, process faster, depression and anxiety
no longer runs riot in my head. I no longer need to take daily naps. I can handle
loud noises, crowds of people.
Not that weight was the main reason to try keto, (I
actually didn’t know at the start) but I’ve lost 21kgs (46lbs) in 8months with
little exercise, just by trying to heal my brain with healthy natural food and
limiting sugars whether they are natural or not. I can no longer run but maybe
one day I can again. I can amazingly ride a bike now!
People that ask me about how do I find out about
LCHF I always refer them to Diet Doctor. I like the fact it has input from real
life doctors from all around the world. Has the science behind LCHF. The many
real life success stories.
Not that I can prove that my recovery has been
because of eating real food and cutting out grains and sugar, I’ve got youth on
my side, I may have been just lucky with time. I’m 38 now but I truly believe I
would not be where I am had I continued the “food pyramid” diet.
LCHF is my way
of life now. I feel amazing.
People who know me see that I have lost a lot of
weight ask me what my secret is. When I tell them, they tend to automatically
place it in the too hard box.
The few that have also tried are amazed with how
easy it actually is. Yes the first month can be rough but the energy they gain and the positive mental side effects
such as thinking clearer is well worth it. They have all lost weight as well. Some quite a bit
of weight like myself.
We all love the fact we are no longer hungry. Food
no longer runs our lives.
I’m currently trying intermittent fasting next to
see if I can heal more of my brain and get new networks forming.
I started this journey 16months post strokes and
may of lost 21kgs but the fact I feel like I’ve got my mind back and can once
again contribute back to society, is so much more important to me.
