Looking for Inspiration?

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

Every once in a while I love to share experiences from others that may lead to inspiring you to create change in your life. The story listed below is from a client that I have not seen in years. I reached out to him recently to simply check in to see how he was doing and his response simply left me speechless.

I really do not want to take much credit here as I only played a role at the onset of his journey, reviewing adrenal function, recommending a gluten free diet, Nutritional ID and focusing on his fundamentals of health.

Well, this gentleman took his health choices to a whole other level and as I mentioned, this is truly inspiring for us all.

Hello Glen,

I am doing well.  In the last 1-1/2 years I lost 140 pounds through healthy eating and exercise.  I went off Insulin injections, Insulin pills, Blood Pressure pills, Cholesterol (Statin) pills + most of my other medications 100% and my blood work is better than it ever has been in the past 15 years.  My last A1C was 5.7 without any insulin medication which is within a normal non-diabetic range.  1-1/2 years ago I was taking 34 units of insulin per day + 2 x 10mg pills with each meal.  I no longer eat any processed food, no sugar, no artificial sweeteners, no wheat or grains of any kind, no dairy (except for cage free organic eggs occasionally), no carbohydrates other than complex carbohydrates (primarily non-starchy vegetables), no bad fats (only coconut oil, avocado oil, olive oil), no corn, no soy, no peanuts, no genetically modified products of any kind, and no fruit other than berries, and an occasional apple.  I no longer miss any of the foods that I used to love including fried food, french bread and butter, pasta, pizza, ice cream, desserts etc.

I try to eat everything organic as much as possible including grass fed and grass finished beef on occasion, cage free non corn and non soy fed organic poultry, some low mercury wild caught fish, a limited amount of beans, a controlled portion of nuts and berries every day, and lots and lots of non starchy organic vegetables of all kinds, but primarily green in color.  For a special treat I eat several squares of 70-80% dark chocolate.  I limit my meat/fish intake to no more than 3-4 oz. per meal. I drink 4-5 quarts of alkaline water every day.  I also eat seeds every day (chia, hemp hearts, pumpkin, etc.).  I eat naturally fermented sauerkraut every day too, so with these three things added to my diet I get lot and lots of good natural probiotic antioxidants daily. 

I walk one mile each day, ride my stationary bike 5 miles/day, and go to the gym for an hour every day.  I also do Yoga, Tai Chi and stretching exercises on occasion.  1-1/2 years ago I was so out of shape, because I had neuropathy so bad I couldn't walk one block.  My traditional medical doctors told me nothing could be done for the neuropathy other than taking pain medication, but they were wrong.  I still have some large nerve damage from my stroke 18 years ago but my neuropathy has been completely gone since October 2013.  

I have learned so much in the past 1-1/2 years I feel I could write a book why we spend so much more than any other nation on medical care, and we just keep getting sicker and sicker.  The U.S. ranks #38 by the World Health Organization for the quality of health care and Cuba ranks #39.  What does that say about all of the money we spend on medical care in the United States compared to a third world nation like Cuba?  I am not totally against everything that our medical profession does; but I do think they grossly over prescribe prescription drugs, and recklessly perform surgeries when they are not necessary.  I believe in what ever works and now believe that drugs and surgery should only be taken as a last resort.  I also believe that there is a lot wrong with a lot of so called "health foods", but as long as a cure is natural and non invasive at least it is less likely to hurt you.  Every person needs to take responsibility for and control of their own health and do whatever works for them.

I am not a fanatic on any one specific type of diet either, and I believe that every person is different and what might work best today may not work best tomorrow even with the same person.  As long as you follow a natural whole food diet free of chemical additives that is what I feel is important.  I have gone from the SAD diet 1-1/2 years ago to a vegetarian diet,  to a vegan diet, to a whole food diet including limited amounts of organic meats and fish with nuts and berries for snacks and lots and lots of steamed or raw vegetables.  I seldom eat out at restaurants any more, and 1-1/2 years ago I probably ate half of my meals at restaurants or take out food,  with a majority of the other half of my meals some combination of different processed foods. 

Since you asked all is good on my end.  Thanks for thinking of me.

Jerry

I trust that you found this story as inspiring as I have and will use this as a platform to move forward into your desired state of health and happiness. As Jerry shared "all is good on my end."

If you have any comments and questions regarding this article, please leave a post below and we will address this personally.