I changed my diet to mainly low fat raw vegan foods. Earlier this year I had so much energy that I didn't know what to do with it! I started training and going mad on doing upper body conditioning, press-ups, sit-ups, scissors, crunches, etc. I really did feel great and nothing I did seemed to wear me out... or so I thought!
I developed a lump above my groan area, it didn't hurt at all. I was advised that I needed a hernia operation! A word of warning to anyone else who has such a dramatic change in energy levels, go gently at first! If you need to burn off some energy and feed that enthusiasm then do something like cycling, walking or slow jogging.
There were a few delays, cancellations and re-appointments because I thought that I may be able to get away without an operation (and I had too much work on at home to take time out to recover). I finally had my hernia operation this morning and I'm currently laying on my bed at home recovering as I type!
After hearing Dr Doug Graham 9 months ago, I cut out fat from my already raw diet and overcame major digestive issues, chronic fatigue and occasional depression (as well as some other niggling things). For 10 days, prior to my hernia operation this morning, I ate NO fat foods at all (no nuts, seeds, oil, durian, avocado etc). I was very strict on eating low fat raw foods with plenty of fruit and tender greens. Incredibly I feel fantastic! You're not supposed to feel this good after general anaesthetics! On waking, over a 1 hour period, I drank 1.5 litres of distilled water, ate 1 grapefruit, 2 bananas & 4 large oranges.
I was expecting to feel awful for a week, but on the contrary, even on day one I think the raw diet has helped me cope with the general anaesthetic. I was given three bumper packs of different pain killers, but I haven't needed any so far. Tomorrow is supposed to be worse than today but I'll hopefully not need them. From many things I've read, one of the biggest causes of pain is lack of hydration. Keep hydrated to keep pain at bay!
I remember being woken up from a very peaceful sleep in the room next to the operating theatre. I'm interested in knowing how the body responds to my diet, and the very first words I said were, "what were my heart rate and blood pressure like?"! They were both normal. Previously I explained my diet to the anaesthetist, this was to avoid any complications from possibly being too sensitive to the anaesthetics. The anaesthetist came to see me afterwards and explained that I needed a normal amount (i.e. my body responded normally to the anaesthetics).
My blood pressure was 105/70 before the operation. The nurse commented that I must be fit. My blood pressure was very slightly lower after the operation and still within the fit range.
A nice gentleman in a bed next to me was struggling, he was very pale and the nurses were concerned that he had very high pain levels and he'd already reached the limit on what could be given to help him. Food was mentioned, I overheard part of a conversation. It went like this: (nurse) "would you like some toast and a cup of tea?". (gentleman) "would you perhaps have a banana?". (nurse) "no I'm sorry we can only get toast and tea". (me) "I have a couple of bananas that you may have! They are quite ripe though, with brown bits on them". The nurse repeated my banana offer to him. (gentleman) Yes please that's very kind.
I gave him a couple of my spotty brown ripe bananas which he devoured along with a cup of hospital water. He seemed to very quickly recover and we had a good old chat about life the universe and everything, including the answer to my prayers - raw food!
I have a few other observations and comments on my experience:
I asked prior to my admittance to hospital if they had any fruit and salad on offer. Unfortunately they don't but they said that I could bring my own. Toast, although very tasty, is usually laden with fat to make it palatable. It is a very dead, nutrient deficient and dehydrating food. On the contrary, fruit is alive. It's packed with nutrients, it's hydrating and very tasty without having to add anything. Surely fruit should be on offer in hospitals round the clock. I think it would even save money by helping people to recover more quickly.
Tea does have some beneficial properties, however it is very dehydrating. For every cup of tea that you drink it will make your body attempt to urinate two cups of fluid. Tea is also a stimulant, which is not good if you want to see if your body is recovering properly. Another chap next to me drank tea on waking. He was discharged before me because he had a wee before me! In actual fact I was very thirsty on waking (I normally have a litre of water for breakfast), so I drank my own distilled water. My body hung onto the water as I needed it! If I had drunk tea then not only would I have had a wee much sooner but I would have had the shakes from caffeine stimulation! I was given a plastic cupful of hospital water, which was a nice consolation. I opted to drink my own distilled water instead. I drank over 1.5 litres, more than 10 times what was brought to me!
The nurses and doctors and everyone I met today were lovely. I had an excellent (albeit short) stay!
The biggest challenge for me over the next 8 weeks is avoiding the temptation to lift anything, and no mad intensive training either!
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