Brother Simpleton

I have already mentioned how my new diet managed, just in three months, to dramatically improve my “lipid profile” (cholesterol and triglyceride counts) and my liver. However, I am always skeptical about one-time results. Obviously, one needs at least two data points to draw conclusions.

So I was quite curious to get the results of my 6-month blood test, and here they are:

Quite satisfactory, in my opinion. No substantial changes, so the diet is working. HDL is a bit higher than before; ideally it should be above 60. Let’s see if I can get it there.

I was so busy lately (with the Fast Experiment) and otherwise, that almost forgot to report probably the most striking improvement in my health.

It has to do with my spring allergy, called hay fever (or pollinosis). Basically, it’s an allergy to the tree pollen, which for last 25 year was making my life quite miserable for a few Spring months (typically, in Boston, from March till June). I was finally prescribed three medications: claritin, a nasal spray, and some eye drops, and together they made my life more tolerable, though still challenging (I would try to avoid going outside, or at least stay away from parks and woods).

Well, after the quarter century of suffering, I was in for a surprise this year: the allergy was gone. Vanished. Disappeared. I didn’t take any single dose of medicine this year (neither allergy-related, not otherwise). For a very few days, I felt somewhat uncomfortable (but still better than the previous years with all these drugs); all the other time I was just fine! I was spending a lot of time outdoors, including visiting the local arboretum, and didn’t have any problems.

I am really shocked by this development: on one hand, ecstatic that my probably most serious health problem has just evaporated; on the other hand, really angry with all the doctors, who treated me all these years, instead of just telling me to eat properly. Of course, they were no evil, just ignorant.

Still, consider this. The most effective treatment for hay fever is allergy shots. The course takes a few years to complete, and typically makes the symptoms milder, but doesn’t completely cure the disease. In the contrast, in my case, it took just a few months of proper nutrition to get rid of it completely, for all practical purposes.

In real life, I am not eager at all to talk about my health problems. The only reason I am doing it here is to send a message to other people: you, my readers. Hay fever affects one in every five Americans. Over one billion dollars are spent each year in this country to treat this disorder. Hey, Americans! Just eat better.

As I have written already, in January I was diagnosed with a mysterious disease called “fatty liver”. It is mysterious because its causes are not known, and there is no treatment.

There are no medical or surgical treatments for fatty liver
American Liver Foundation

Well, guess what. Today I finally received the new ultrasound resuts, and there is no fatty liver whatsoever. Gone. Disappeared.

This adds to my list of ills and diseases just evaporated with extra pounds. I am going to write about this separately, but important point is this: if you ever get (non-alcoholic) fatty liver, know that it can be reversed with proper diet / weight loss.