Last night I was devastated to realize that despite my dietary changes and increased vitamins, my hair loss problem has obviously not let up. No more wishful thingking- I'll have to get serious about the medical side of things. I think the main reasons I have delayed doing this is that, in addition to being a poor college student who can't afford a bunch of medical tests, I'm really afraid of being told that a raw diet is not good for me. My fear is well-founded because my raw diet is the only thing that has taken away my compulsive overeating and out-of-control bingeing and given me more of a life.
This might actually be a good time for me to tackle this problem, however, since my weight basically stalled (I've lost70 lbs, but since then have hovered between 65 and 70 lbs lost). If I were steadily losing weight, I'd be less willing to change my diet for fear of regaining. Since I'm not losing weight the way I was earlier on, I can let the weight issue be less of a distraction and focus more on the other aspects of my health.
In the end I have to remember that overall health is my real goal, not just weight loss. It doesn't make sense to lose weight at the expense of other areas of health - that would be crazy! But I live in a crazy society that values weight loss over everything so I have to remind myself to have common sense sometimes. Not only am I going to make a better effort to see a doctor and nutritionist, but starting today I'm going back to Sparkpeople.com to record my food intake. The Raw Odyssey continues!
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Do I Take Thee, Raw, in Sickness and in Health?
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4 comments:
I'm so sorry to hear that the hair-loss is such an issue. I'm really sorry that you're going to a doctor to look into it. Not because you shouldn't look into it - you definitely should, but because I have yet to meet a Western doctor who didn't poo-poo the raw diet as an unhealthy fad. Also, aside from doing tests, they will probably try to ply you with all sorts of medications to resolve the problem without regard for solving the underlying issues. I have read several times that Americans are not only dealing with an obesity problem, but they're also dealing with nutrition problems. Our overladen bodies can't deal with getting rid of all of our waste fast enough and one problem stemming form this is that we also don't absorb enough nutrients - even though we certainly aren't starving. Definitely look into your hairloss - without a doubt - but don't drop the raw diet without some serious thought. Have you considered the possibility that your body will renew itself when it finally catches up with cleaning out all of the garbage? (i.e. when you reach your natural, healthy weight and your body can begin rebuilding again?). I definitely wouldn't stop raw just because a doctor tells you to, but maybe you can find a happy medium between what the doctor suggests and keeping on with your new diet.
Good luck!
Hi there,
Hubby and I are both in academia and know that it can make you lose your hair! It is stressful. In fact, we both went through a hairloss period. Mine largely turned out to be my thyroid (and stress). http://greenfertility.blogspot.com/2006/05/roid-rage-thyroid-is-key-player-in.html
(just got a great review on the thyroid About.com site...I guess my problem exemplifies a LOT of women's silent problems with thyroid, check it out. It might not be the diet at all.
Hubby's hairloss was just stress and this great Dr. Hauschka product fixed it right up. It's a little $$$ but you only use a little, so it's per-day cost is actually quite cheap.
http://greenfertility.blogspot.com/2006/05/man-fertility-fix-thinning-hair-by.html
p.s. am going to start foolin' around with raw food myself (plus recipes!). Please stop by and add your expertise. I have NO idea what I'm doing!
greenfertility.blogspot.com
Hi, Pineapplesun and Marie- yes, I have considered these things. It could be what pineapplesun is saying; people seem to refer to that as a sort of detox, where the body is healthy enough to start ridding itself of garbage and then can renew itself. And then again it could be a thyroid issue. When I get a nutritionist I will definitely make sure that person is open to a raw food diet because I believe I need to maintain this lifestyle; I just may need to modify it. I plan to see a doctor today!
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