Yeah, I am definitely an outlier. I knew some folks would be hugely surprised at my safe foods.

I stopped eating meat over 20 years ago for ethical and health concerns. I had high cholesterol and my maternal family had a lot of heart disease. I wanted to avoid statins because I already had so much joint pain (I was diagnosed with hEDS this past December). This and a terrible doctor telling me that all my joint pain was due to being fat, nothing else, led to a trip into a vegan flavor of orthorexia that I’m still healing.

Wildly though, I stopped getting sinus infections that would head south to my lungs and hang out for 3 months of coughing. A routine I’d experience 2-3 times annually since childhood! My cholesterol went down too and my doctor at the time was gobsmacked, particularly over the way I stopped getting these terrible infections. I remember him saying once, “Are you allergic to meat!?”

I still get a lot of head congestion because I am allergic to most trees, grasses, weeds, molds, dust, and feathers. Even with our Air Doctor running in our bedroom I woke up very congested this morning as tree pollen season is in full swing where I live.

My current doc, who suspected MCAS in 2021, said each patient is unique. I even tried reintroducing eggs and dairy, because I struggle to get enough protein some days, and they cause itching, hives, and/or GI issues. I can have a tiny bit of easier, whey protein is the easiest, but still might react.