Why Paleo? Part 1

For those who know me, you know that I've had my fair share of health issues thanks to a terrible immune system. During college, one of my bosses at my on-campus job told me "You put your own spin on it [being sick]." In other words, I'd get sick, but I'd have multiple things going wrong at the same time. For example, not only would I have a cold, but also I would get barotrauma in my ears (a.k.a. small tears on my eardrum) thanks to flying, which resulted in vertigo in addition to a cold. Yes, it happened. I've have exercise-induced asthma since at least 1st grade, and I used to get tonsillitis every single year of my life (the doctors would never believe me and my parents when we guaranteed that it wasn't strep throat) until I got my tonsils removed at age 21 after having chronic tonsillitis for a period of 3 months. I never realized at the time, but I would have colds for months on end throughout grade school. My friends joked that I was always sick. At age 18, I got shingles (the flare up of the chicken-pox virus that supposedly only the elderly and those with terrible immune systems need to worry about - Thanks immune system!). Plus, I'd frequently get stomach pain, especially right after eating, which kind of makes life in general annoying.

I know two big factors in my health are stress and a lack of sleep. My migraines get worse when I'm stressed and when I haven't gotten enough sleep. I tend to get sick easily, and living at the office for 50 hours each week isn't exactly conducive to avoiding colds since so many of us come to work even if we are sick (we don't want to miss our numerous deadlines).

The Paleo diet can correct these issues as well as many others. It also reduces your risk factors for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and cancer. This diet/lifestyle helps to reduce and even reverse many different illnesses/symptoms because many diseases have root causes in common, such as inflammation, gut irritation, and insulin sensitivity.

In the past month and a half, I've had the beginnings of a cold a few times, but haven't actually gotten a full-blown cold, which is a miracle (just ask my co-workers). The frequency of my stomach pain has decreased significantly as well. I can't tell you if this is purely the result of going Paleo, or if my diet has worked with my increased exercising to improve my health, but the bottom line is I am healthier.