Would love to hear how your plant based diet is working. Thanks

Thanks for the response Jane. I was overwhelmed by the interest shown in my diet!

Well I am on day 22 of a Plant Based Diet. I want to begin with a quote from the study I reproduced in the opening message of this thread:-

There are two types of diabetic neuropathy: [1] a relatively painless type characterized by numbness, tingling and pins-and-needles sensations and a second form,[2] which is painful with burning or aching sensations to the point of excruciating, lancinating or stabbing pain.

When I started out I was experiencing the second type of neuropathy, now and for over a week, maybe 10 days I get no shooting pains and my symptoms have moved to the first type of neuropathy. Please note I am not diabetic.

All of these improvements might have happened anyway without dietary changes. However I believe a dietary approach to self healing is cost effective and eliminates the need of expensive supplements. What does it matter if arginine improves oxygen transportation in the blood? Are you really going to pay out for that for the rest of your life when nitrate rich foods like green leafy vegetables or beetroot juice will do the same at a fraction of the cost and with all the other health benefits too? Food is the best medicine. Above all making myself the subject of an experiment has given me focus and purpose and has established a clear goal in my mind. That in itself feels good. The next step is the elimination of all symptoms.

Yes I agree Inflammation is the enemy and improved blood and blood flow is our friend. Does anyone have any thoughts on any of the issues I have raised?I have plenty more to say if anyone shows any interest.

My [idiopathic] neuropathy is 99% numbness, no trace of diabetes however.

It has been almost 10 years since the sudden onset of my PN, in that period there has been no change, good or bad. Since the PN has not gotten worse, I consider that a "win".

Atticus, I want to say thank you for posting those links/videos. I was telling my daughter about them and coincidentally she was reading Dr. Greger’s book - How Not To Die. It is sad how doctors are quick to prescribe a medication instead of addressing nutrition with a proper diet, something that is desperately lacking in so many parts of the world.
I too am not diabetic (idiopathic) but decided to give The Whole food plant based diet a try. If it didn’t help my neuropathy at least it might clear an artery or two. After about 3 weeks I have noticed some improvement. Neuropathy is such a fickle disease that I hesitate to even say there’s improvement but so far so good.
Hope you are having continued success. So happy I ran across your post.

Hey Jane 85

I saw a film last night on Netflix that I think you will enjoy. It’s called "What The Health." It promotes a Plant Based Diet and features Michael Gregor amongst others. It’s a film everone should see. As I say its on Netflix but this is a link to a YouTube Version.

What The Health Documentary 2017 HD English Subtitles - YouTube


Next is a hardcore breakdown of sections of the film with scientific evidence/papers to back it up.


Facts — WHAT THE HEALTH



For balance. Here is an article debunking the film:-

Debunking What the Health, the buzzy new documentary that wants you to be vegan - Vox


So glad to see a fellow Plant Based Dieter. I love it and its so easy in Lockdown. I'll post an update of my diet/PN experience soon.

Take care.

what a great cooincidence. I just ordered the book "how not to die" independently of your post as my cardiologist recommended it. I am also planning to start a plant based diet soon although this will be a big challenge for me.

the study you mentioned sounds promising but I am wondering why the did not make any nerve testing to see whether the improvements could be measured as well. for me that would be a even stronger proof of concept.

Do you have any recommendations where to find good recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner (books, websites etc) ?

You make a good point regarding nerve conduction testing.

Somebody asking my advice about recipes has caused much hilarity amongst friends!

I’m afraid I can only cook to village idiot standard! If I had a top tip it would be to make use of a nutri bullet or similar. I blend broccoli, spinach, kale, tomatoes and yellow peppers for example with mixed herbs, jalapeno peppers cayenne pepper, milled flax seed then combine it with a spicy mixed or Taco beans, from the supermarket. 2x 1.5 minutes in the microwave and its done. That ticks a lot of boxes of the daily dozen ( download the app) . I use this as a sauce over baked sweet potato with roast garlic (useful for social distancing) and roast mushrooms.

My typical breakfast is oats with mixed grains ( more box ticking on daily dozen) and stir in cinnamon, milled flax seed, milled chia seed, cacao, walnuts, mixed nuts, blueberries, strawberries and red or black grapes. Flax, chia is full of omega 3, but must be milled or ground to enhance bio availability. I also occasionally add hemp seed and spirulina. That should keep you going! You may need to build up your use of seeds ( and beans) if you are not used to them (see social distancing)

A very good online resource for plant based recipes is this :-


Plant Based Recipes, A Comprehensive Archive | Forks Over Knives


There are countless quick you tube recipes like this…

YouTube


The Documentary film Forks Over Knives is itself is available on Netflix or here.

Forks Over Knives Documentary - Now on Netflix

Another food source is LeafSide. You can order on their website. Each freeze dried meal has something like 9 of the 12 requirements in Dr. Greger’s checklist. All you do is add water. I just ordered a few - haven’t received them yet so can’t speak to their taste or how much they satisfy hunger but since I am going back to work, I thought I would give them a try. Will report back later.

Hi CMTMatt, Each to their own, but I have to say that it's absolutely possible to get enough protein eating a plant based diet. At first I was sceptical as well, but once I got into a different mindset with the groceries I was buying and the types of meals I was preparing and making sure I was getting enough variety, it becomes second nature.

An interesting situation happened to me over the past 6 weeks. I'm on a treatment for an illness and need to have extensive blood tests etc. contantly. For the past year I've been on this treatment I have not experienced any problems with my blood tests. Then I decided to add a protein powder to my daily intake. I wanted to see if that would make me feel a little stronger. 3 weeks after adding that protein powder to my diet twice a day my AST and ALT became raised. Having raised LFTs while on this treatment could be extremely dangerous and would mean I would have to stop and that's frankly just not an option right now. In searching PubMed for further information about protein powders I came across other instances where people had become ill from eating added protein even at quite minimal amounts.

Using process of elimination, my oncologist suggested I stop the protein powder and see what happens. So, back to the oncologist last Monday and all my tests were normal. We had a conversation about diet and protein and he said that if a diet is well balanced, there should never be any problem with getting enough protein whether a person is vegetarian like myself or if they're eating plant based only.

I can honestly say that every person I actually know personally who eats no animal protein seems extremely mindful of the extra nutrients they may need i.e. B12, Iron, Calcium, Zinc, and others.

Obviously there are situations when people should not change their diets and it's always a good idea to ask for professional guidance especially if they have certain illnesses. I didn't do that myself and I had no illness at the time I changed my diet. In more recent times I've always made my medical specialists aware.

Added: Main point for me just to clarify is that I was already getting more than enough protein from my vegetarian diet. I should not have added the powder supplement so please be aware.

My front of right thigh is about totally Numb, and occasional burn/tingle, but Inosine has helped in that regard a lot. My issue is from Anterior Hip replacement surgery in 2010. I rub it a lot thinking I can "wake up" the nerves that were damaged.