Years ago one of my patients, Penelope, embarked on a healing journey for her chronic back issues and other bodily maladies. She received some simple but powerful advice. She was told to simply eat only vegetables for six months with the addition of a few ounces of fish a couple times a week.
That’s it! No complex shopping lists. No exotic foods to try to find. No weighing, measuring, or fancy cooking methods. Just eat vegetables and occasionally fish for six months. Is that an easy set of directions or what?
Some of you may be thinking “How can that be a balanced diet?” But the reality is eating vegetables and occasionally fish is very balanced. Vegetables average 10% protein by calorie count. If your goal is to lose weight as part of your concerns, then just leave out the starchy vegetables. There is no limitation on how many vegetables you can eat. And by buying organic and if possible local vegetables, it is the cleanest diet you could possibly have. An important distinction – anything with seeds in it is really a fruit, not a vegetable. Fruit is not part of the veggie cure, so if there are seeds in it then don’t eat it.
I emailed Penelope to ask her if I could use her story in the newsletter, and she emailed back the following reply:
“Hi Dr. D,
Yes. It is a good story to share. Whatever I was allergic to that caused the muscle spasms, that made my back go out and caused intense lower back pain, was never identified. The protocol was to eliminate all possible allergens. It must be said that I had to have a little tantrum (if I can’t eat the foods I enjoy, what’s the use of being alive!) before agreeing both inwardly and outwardly. Once that shift occurred, it was easy to follow the diet. A little salt could be used for seasoning, but no oils, butters, sauces, etc. Only fresh or steamed green vegetables and fish. I even was part of my son’s wedding and avoided the cakes and champagnes and other foods not on the diet. The only beverage was water (preferable warm); fresh lemon could be added for variety. I stayed on the diet for 6 months. Then my body started wanting additional foods, which I gradually added. Whatever caused the allergic reaction never bothered me again. I guess the protocol gave my body time to rest, clean out and reset. I think that is also part of the message, unless it’s something serious like an autoimmune or celiac disease, the diet doesn’t have to be forever. But it is needed to learn to listen to what our body’s telling us and pay attention.
Please share a hug with Ellen and say “hi” for me.”
Interestingly, when I look at the common features of all the sophisticated diet protocols I have been reading the last couple years for dealing with autoimmune conditions, brain degeneration, diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, and so on, they all are basically this same diet with a few additions or modifications. So, if you are looking to fight
most any degenerative condition, this vegetable cure is the way to go. This is also the most effective way for anyone to lose weight. It is low carb, low fat, moderate protein, and high fiber. This is perfect for optimizing the microbiome in your gut. Vegetables feed the good guy bacteria instead of the bad guys. Sugar/carbs, bad fats, and excess proteins all feed the inflammatory bad guy bacteria. If you are your perfect weight or even underweight and need to address chronic health issues, then you would want to add additional calories from monounsaturated fats like avocado oil or olive oil, or by eating certain nuts like macadamias, pecans, and pistachios.
I would like to modify Penelope’s protocol by suggesting you avoid eating squash family vegetables and nightshade vegetables including potatoes. These veggies are actually fruit and cause symptoms for lots of folks. Actually any seeds are an issue, other than the few nuts I mentioned before.
Think greens, cabbage family veggies, bulbs, roots other than potatoes, stalks, sprouts, and mushrooms.
Seeds, grains, and legumes are not vegetables. They are some of the biggest offenders and causes of degenerative conditions in the body. Avoid them completely.
As I said before, fruit are not vegetables – no fruit. Fruit has some benefits, but they are outweighed by the abundance of sugar. All the benefits from fruit can also be gained from vegetables. Fruits are for gaining weight just before winter, so we can live off our fat when food is scarce.
A patient asked me today why our meat protein should only come from fish. This is because very few people are allergic to fish, particularly the SMASH fish (wild salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, and herring) and they don’t have a lot of issues with antibiotics or GMO feed. Tuna and other predator fish are all high in mercury and other toxic chemicals. We want fish that eat plants, instead of other fish. If you really can’t stand fish, you might be OK with buffalo, pastured turkey, or pasture raised beef. Eggs and dairy, unfortunately, are in the 5 top most common food allergies. Chicken is also commonly a problem. Basically any protein you have eaten frequently in your past has a good chance of having triggered your immune system into a reactive state.
Herbs and non-seed spices would be considered vegetables, and make a nice addition to your preparations. The other addition is real salt – not just sea salt, but real salt – the kind that is pink or gray or even black. We want the 70 plus trace minerals found in real salt that are removed from normal white salt.
One other addition to this protocol I would make is the addition of organic bone broth to use as desired when cooking your vegetables. It makes a nice replacement for the fats and oils you are leaving out.
This is not a diet. This is a cure. It is not designed to be something that you live on forever. It is a specific health intervention for a specific period of time. That period might be six weeks, six months, or as long as a year, it just depends on how serious or stubborn your conditions are. There are some interesting stem cell rejuvenation things you can do by cycling the proteins in specific ways, but that is a subject for a different newsletter.
So if you have reached the end of your rope with all the other diets and whatnot, then this is the bottom line rubber meets the road ultimate food intervention for your life. It might seem extreme, but that is because it is. The appeal is its simplicity and powerful impact. It can be amped up even further with specific supplements, but the basics are simply to eat only vegetables. A little clean protein added every few days rounds it out nicely, and you are set to go.
Give it a shot if your health needs a boost.