Eating Eggs and Autoimmune Conditions

I’ve read it in many places. Eggs trigger autoimmune conditions. I’ve avoided eggs and my autoimmune conditions persisted. I’ve eaten eggs and my autoimmunity persisted. It’s tough to avoid something without seeing much improvement. At the beginning of April, I avoided eggs and ate an Autoimmune Paleo-type ketogenic diet. 

It didn’t prevent the seizure that I had on April 19. I was bummed out about that. But continued to avoid the eggs until today. 

Right before deciding to go autoimmune paleo, I had purchased some pastured chicken eggs and some grocery store eggs. I have had about 2 dozen eggs in my fridge all month. They didn’t really tempt me until today. Today I caved and had some scrambled eggs. 

They were okay. I think the nice thing was mentally using some of them up and getting them out of the fridge. I don’t actually love eggs. I like some of the variety that they provide in a meat-heavy paleo-ketogenic diet. 

I think that I may just boil a bunch of them up and take them for lunch with me or eat them when I need a snack. That will get them out of sight and out of mind. I can get back on track and not worry about it for a while. 

Do I feel like I completely ruined my progress on the Paleo Ketogenic diet? No. Eventually, you are able to add the eggs back into the diet. For me, it is super tough to stick with a diet for four months before seeing improvement. I do think that is what I need to do. 

I listened to Mary Ruddick talk about her healing journey with the GAPS diet and she had seizures that didn’t seem to improve until month four of the GAPS diet. Yikes! I usually have given up around month two. I’m pretty good at staying strict with a diet when I need to be. A self-imposed diet is more challenging when I don’t need to lose weight and I’m looking for healing and health improvements. 

One of the big improvements that I am noticing lately is that my teeth feel smooth. There isn’t a lot of fuzziness that I need to brush off of them after a day of eating meat like there was with eating carbohydrates. 

Testing My Blood Glucose…Again

Since I restarted the paleo ketogenic diet, I felt that maybe I should find out where my blood glucose was. I assumed that it was in the normal range. I was right. But it wasn’t as low as I thought it would be. 

Dr. Zsofia Clemens wanted the blood glucose to be under 80. When you aren’t eating carbohydrates, your blood glucose often falls under 80. My expectation this morning was to have blood glucose around or below 80. I hadn’t eaten for almost 12 hours. That seemed reasonable. 

It was 103!!!

Now, 103 is normal for a diabetic. My sister would try to get her blood sugars to be between 80 and 100. I feel comfortable functioning with a blood sugar of 103, but how did it get that high? The low carbohydrate veggies that I had the previous day equaled about 6 grams of carbohydrates. 6! I had also eaten them 24 hours earlier. Why would my blood sugars be that high?

I know that my sister had told me that her menstrual cycle changes her blood sugars. While I had that seizure on Sunday, we’re 5 days out. I did experience some weird gas that indicated to me my hormones may be fluctuating with my cycle. I never expected it to change the blood glucose by 20 points when I was essentially fasting. 

My ketones were 2.6. They are nice and high. So, even though I don’t believe the ketones are preventing any seizures, I can tell that I have them in my system. My body is burning fats. 

Other symptoms

While I don’t plan on monitoring my blood glucose forever, it was nice to discover where it is at. I don’t think I’m at risk of becoming diabetic. I think if it naturally goes down in the next few days, I have nothing to worry about. 

The symptoms that are a major concern to me right now due to COVID and mask-wearing are my seasonal allergies. I sneeze up a storm at times. Actually, it is probably a total of ten sneezes a day, but it is super duper annoying. 

I have floaters in my eyes. I know some people on the carnivore diet rave about the floaters going away after starting the carnivore diet. Two months in for the second attempt at it and they are still there. 

My alopecia universalis is going strong. I wish I could say that I was seeing some improvement. Even Dr. Zsofia Clemens has stated that it is unlikely to go away. But I feel that I need to give it six to eight months. I don’t think this is something that retreats quickly. 

Other than that, I feel pretty great. Of course, I felt great before I started the paleo ketogenic diet. I do hope that I can gain some weight and fill out a bit more. I think I’m too skinny as it is. 

The Paleo Ketogenic Diet Fail

I would love to promote the paleo ketogenic diet. I started it with Dr. Zsofia Clemens and was strict about following the guidelines. I was a bit skeptical, but I followed them. I warned Natalie Daniels, her assistant, that my seizures are not that frequent. In fact, I didn’t think I would have a seizure during the two-week follow-up. I was right. I had one seven weeks into the diet and then again at nine weeks. Was this an improvement in my seizure pattern? Not really. 

So, I took a break during the holidays. I indulged and then had a difficult time getting back on the diet. In the end, when my cousin announced he was doing whole30, I jumped on board. It was a great way to ease my way back to the Paleo Ketogenic diet. Dr. Zsofia Clemens speculated that I needed more time on the diet. That could be, but it was extremely difficult to get through the social pressures of the holidays when the diet hadn’t prevented any seizures. 

So, now I’m kind of back on it. Did it prevent my last seizure? No. But I’m in peri-menopause. My seizures are showing up at regular intervals around the time of my menstrual cycle or the mid-point of my menstrual cycle when the progesterone drops and the estrogen increases. I can tell because I get gas and it can’t be from eating any beans. All I eat is meat. 

Staying Positive

It is difficult for me to read about the successes of carnivore or paleo ketogenic diet sometimes. I didn’t feel terrible going into the diet and after almost two months this go-round, I haven’t really seen any health improvements so to speak. I know that Kelly Hogan got rid of her boils on a carnivore diet, but I had one appear on my gum this month. 

I am doing all that I can to stay positive and stick with it. I think that if I can get a full six months into the diet, I may be able to achieve some results. I’m just hoping that I don’t thin out too much in the process. 

Supporting Local Farms

One of the great things about doing this diet is supporting the local farms. I have started buying high-quality meats from a local farmer. She gave me some free fatback because I had raved about it and it wasn’t a big seller for them. It has been really fun to get to know local farmers and to support their operations. I don’t like to buy things from Amazon so much now that they are becoming this giant behemoth. 

Eating More Fat

Part of the paleo ketogenic diet is eating more fat. This is incredibly satiating and delicious. It does take some getting used to at first especially when you aren’t using butter and dairy to increase your fat intake. For me, I buy pastured pork fatback and slice it into pieces to add to my meals. I sautee it until it starts to turn a little translucent around the edges. It tastes better than bacon and complements the random low-carb veggie very well! 

I tend to eat the same foods each day, so I find it a bit challenging to think of things that I can write for my website. The same foods every day do get a bit mundane, but they are oh-so-delicious! I will try to keep this website update with how my health is improving. Peri-menopause really changed my hormones and gave me more seizures, which was disappointing. They do seem to be milder and easier to recover from on this paleo ketogenic diet. I’m hoping that they go away and the hair regrows in the next four months. I’ll keep you posted! 

I’m Back on the Paleo-Ketogenic Diet

After much debating and reading about different diets, I decided to go back to the Paleo-Ketogenic diet. I had been considering doing the GAPS diet for the month of March, but in the end the paleo-ketogenic diet was so similar to the GAPS introduction and so much less complicated. 

My fear with the GAPS diet is that I won’t wait long enough for healing to be completed before moving on to the next stage. Then my only indication that it isn’t working is a transient seizure, which is a horrible thing. In reviewing the paleo-ketogenic diet materials, I think I have identified why it didn’t work for me. I think I had not been eating enough offal. I had been consuming the required pound of liver per week, but I had been taking bone marrow capsules instead of bone marrow. When I tried it the first few times, I hated it. It was also difficult to obtain and expensive. I figured that bone broth and some dehydrated capsules would work. It may just be that I didn’t spend enough time to reap the rewards of the diet. 

After completing the Whole30 diet and having a seizure on day 30 right after I told my friends that I didn’t have any, I went and got my blood tested. I was a bit shocked. My vitamin D level had dropped despite taking a bit more cod liver oil. My TSH had also gone up. 

So, I evaluated what I had been eating. While I had avoided dairy and grains, I had been enjoying potatoes and apples. I hadn’t been worried about being in ketosis. While my fruit consumption was only at 1 per day, combined with a weekly serving of potatoes could have increased my need for magnesium. That in turn would throw off my calcium channels and cause instability in the brain. 

How do I feel on the Paleo Ketogenic Diet this time?

Today is March 5, so I have been doing the Paleo-Ketogenic diet for 5 days straight. I’m not testing my blood levels just yet or eliminating eggs like you are supposed to in the initial phases. I’m easing my way into this restrictive, yet delicious, eating pattern. 

I have noticed that my bowel movements are smaller, more comfortable, and I don’t need nearly as much toilet paper. I am noticing that I have more energy and need less sleep. This could be the excitement of starting something new or the slightly longer days as we head into spring. Time will tell. 

One negative symptom that I have noticed is that I have a boil in an uncomfortable place. It popped up last night. I’m hoping that it will go away quickly. It is not something that I normally get. I have read about people like Kelly Hogan doing the carnivore diet and having symptoms of boils go away. Not sure why it popped up just as I started the diet. Another negative symptom that I feel is weak when I’m hungry. Almost shaky like my sister describes her feeling of being “low.” 

What am I eating?

Since I had done this diet before, I knew which foods were allowed. I have been having ground beef and eggs for breakfast. Luckily, my brother gifted me with some pastured eggs for my birthday and I have been eating high-quality eggs. 

I have been cutting up some fatback to increase my fat intake. It is so wonderful. It is just like bacon, but without the chemical seasonings. I have found a way to love eating fat. 

Finally, I have been eating beef liver each morning. This is more of a habit that I got into because it is supposed to be so very healthy for you. Due to the fact that my vitamin D levels were low after doing this diet last fall, I decided to add in some cod liver oil and maybe a weekly dose of salmon or sardines. 

What’s next?

I’m going to increase my dosage of bone marrow. I found a great source for it. I think I can eat the required 250 grams per week. I’ve also discovered that I can stomach it when I mix it in with my ground beef. 

I may increase my intake of offal by adding some cod livers each week. This will ensure that I’m getting adequate vitamin D and hopefully raising my levels. I don’t want to take synthetic vitamins because they can just create another imbalance with the magnesium or calcium. 

Finally, it is my goal to get the nitrates and nitrites out of my diet. Oh, but I do love bacon. My plan is to get the uncured stuff from the local farmer on March 27. I’ll taper down how much I eat until then. 

The Alopecia Universalis Causes

In order to cure a disease, you need to address the causes that created the disorder. Not much is known about the Alopecia Universalis causes because a very small percentage of the population even has it. It is somewhere around 1% of the population.

As I research the causes of Alopecia Universalis, I have taken into consideration the causes of Alopecia Areata as well. Alopecia Areata is the milder form of Alopecia Universalis and is often how the disease presents itself in the initial phases.

Hopefully, understanding the causes of Alopecia Universalis will help me achieve my goal to treat alopecia universalis naturally.

An unknown cause

Alopecia universalis is the advanced form of alopecia areata. Alopecia areata starts with round patches of hair loss. The most commonly accepted cause is an autoimmune condition. This means that a person’s immune system is attacking the follicles, but it doesn’t explain why.

Genetic studies have discovered that Alopecia Universalis and Alopecia Areata are associated with several immune-related genes. This makes perfect sense to me. My sister and I both have multiple autoimmune conditions. The presentation of AU and AA are ultimately a combination of multiple genetic and environmental factors. Genes create a predisposition to the condition, but it doesn’t mean that it will develop.

In my case, my alopecia did not even show up until my thirties. Some factors that may contribute to the onset of hair loss include a viral infection, changing hormones, and emotional stress.

Vitamin D deficiency

Some studies have found that there is a correlation between Alopecia Areata and vitamin D deficiency. Whether dietary intake of vitamin D will alleviate the symptoms of alopecia is still relatively unknown.

I have read some patients who report online that they were able to regrow their hair within a short amount of time by adding vitamin D to their diets. While this is difficult to confirm, it is something to take into consideration as there are many publications associating vitamin D deficiency with hair loss. My own blood tests have indicated a vitamin D deficiency and I’m working on correcting it.

Biotin deficiency

Biotin is an important coenzyme for carboxylation reactions. In some very rare cases of deficiency, patients may develop hair loss. Genetic abnormalities or malabsorption caused by excessive intake of avidin, which is rich in raw eggs, can result in a biotin deficiency.

Biotin supplementation has been helpful in the treatment of brittle nails, or onychoschisis. A study including biotin supplementation administered zinc, topical clobetasol, and 20 mg of biotin a day showed more complete regrowth in the treatment group (33.3% of patients) compared to the control group over a year-long period.

Unfortunately, combination therapy prevents any conclusions about the efficacy of supplementing just biotin.

A zinc deficiency

Zinc is a trace element that has an integral role in the hair growth cycle. Hair follicles must have zinc to produce new hair shafts during the growth phase of the cycle. When a person’s zinc intake is low, it can cause poor immune function and hormone imbalances including hair loss.

This type of deficiency triggers the temporary hair loss Telogen Effluvium. This hair loss presents as shedding all over the scalp compared to the circular patches of alopecia areata. An Egyptian study shows that zinc levels may also influence Alopecia Areata.

The study examined fifty patients compared to healthy control subjects. Twenty-five of the test subjects were newly diagnosed with alopecia areata. They measured the serum zinc levels and compared the mean results with the control groups. The study found correlations between zinc level and the extent of AA in all patients.

Patients with AA had significantly lower zinc levels than the control group. The patients with resistant alopecia areata showed significantly lower zinc levels than the newly diagnosed patients.

My conclusion

After reading up on the causes of alopecia universalis and alopecia areata, I realize that it may not simply be a vitamin D deficiency that is causing my disease. I probably have a few different micronutrient deficiencies that I need to correct. I don’t wish to add more supplements to my diet. I prefer to eat whole foods, so I will look for some whole food sources of zinc and biotin to add to my diet.

Should You Use Emu Oil for Hair Loss?

First, let me put it out there that I am at the beginning of experimenting with emu oil for curing my alopecia universalis. I have inconsistently applied it to my scalp for about 5 days. This is not a solid endorsement of emu oil for hair loss, but rather an exploration of how and why it may work for hair loss.

I will report in a month whether or not my alopecia universalis saw any benefit from applications of emu oil. In the meantime, I will examine what all the hype is about with emu oil.

Emu oil for hair loss

The idea of topically applying emu oil for hair loss came to me when I was reading the Nourishing World blog post about not using butter oil for vitamin K anymore. It talked about how emu oil was a better source for both vitamin K and vitamin D. That was interesting, but I still had Green Pasture’s Fermented Cod Liver Oil and Butter Oil to finish up. I wasn’t interested in changing up my supplement game. I read more about emu oil and someone had topically applied it to a wound. To me that was interesting. I know that you can absorb vitamins through your skin. Perhaps applying it to my scalp would get the vitamin D to the hair follicle faster.

I started to look up information on emu oil and of course, it is promoted for hair loss among other things! It sounds like one of those magical cures when you read about it, so when I ordered a bottle, I just got the smallest one on Amazon.

Picture of person who used emu oil for hair loss
Alopecia areata treated by emu oil.

This is a photo of a person who reportedly used emu oil to treat alopecia areata. Source: Stylecraze.com

Vitamin D and autoimmune hair loss

As I researched vitamin D deficiency and the health conditions that I had, I discovered that most of them were associated with a vitamin D deficiency, which I also had. Most of the studies are done with people who have alopecia areata, which is the milder form of alopecia universalis.

Emu oil has some vitamin D and lots of vitamin K. Applying it topically may be helpful. Your body does absorb the things that are applied topically and the hair follicles are close to the surface of the skin.

Below is some research on the association between vitamin D and hair loss.

 

Professor Hollick on Emu Oil

Professor Michael Hollick, Ph.D., from the Boston University School of Medicine, led research into emu oil’s ability to restore hair follicle activity. He found that treating skin with emu oil resulted in a 20% increase in hair growth activity compared to skin treated with corn oil. (Yikes! Who puts corn oil on their head, but they did need to have a control group.)

After examining the hairs, Hollick discovered they were much more robust and skin thickness had increased. This suggests that using emu oil for hair loss can stimulate both skin growth and hair growth.

He also discovered that the emu oil awakened over 80% of hair follicles that had been dormant and triggered hair regrowth.

Hollick stated, “We found that there was an enhancement in the growth activity of hair follicles.”

Researchers believe that the abundance of essential fatty acids may have had an impact on hair growth. Oleic acid may be the secret behind using emu oil for hair loss. It has the ability to penetrate deeply into the skin.

 

Separating emu oil fact from fiction

The blog post, Emu Oil Benefits Separating Fact from Fiction by  Cleure.com, provided this statistic that sounds promising. Unfortunately, I couldn’t verify the statistic because they hadn’t linked it to the source.

English studies indicate that there is an average of 8% growth per month using emu oil. Participants saw an average of 48% hair regrowth after six months. The participants applied emu oil on their scalp and were instructed to leave it on for 30 minutes. The hair growth was evident after 30 days.

 

My conclusion on emu oil for hair loss

I think it is worth giving it a try! I know that one of the most difficult things for me will be to actually remember to apply something to my skin on a daily basis. For some reason, I just don’t like using lotions and potions on my skin, but emu oil is a natural product and can provide my body with the extra vitamin K and vitamin D that may correct the deficiency that I have. If that is the case, it could be the key to my hair regrowth. That would be amazing! I have suffered from alopecia universalis for ten years!

My Goal: Cure Alopecia Universalis Naturally

I’m on day 28 of the Whole30 diet. No, it did not produce any Alopecia Universalis regrowth. Nothing substantial. I do have some clear eyelashes, but I have seen those come and go over the years. There is a patch of vellus hairs on my head that never get longer than 1/16 of an inch. It is super disappointing.

I have tried a variety of diets. I usually last about 3 months on a diet before I throw in the towel. I usually give up when I have had a seizure or there is a major holiday or social event. I haven’t given up on diets healing my body, I just haven’t really stuck with them long enough to see results.

My hair does grow back with drug therapy. I did it once with progesterone. The problem with adding that hormone was that it lowered my thyroid hormone. To test my thyroid hormone levels, I had to come off of it for two weeks and then everything that grew back just fell out. It was unnatural and wouldn’t last.

The autoimmune paleo diet

I lasted three months on this diet. I did not see any regrowth. It was difficult, but not impossible. The thing that I don’t like about AIP is giving up eggs and dairy. It does allow for sweet potatoes and olive oil, which can be quite tasty.

I have read about people who had Alopecia Universalis having success after about eight months on this type of diet. Eight months is a long time because you have to get through multiple holidays to be successful.

 

Picture of sweet potato fries.
Sweet potato fries are allowed on the AIP diet.

The paleo-ketogenic diet

I lasted three months on this diet. I even tried it twice. My biggest problem with this diet is that it doesn’t improve my vitamin D levels. I had two seizures on the diet the last time I tried it. Dr. Zsofia Clemens had me get blood levels tested. I started out with only a vitamin D deficiency. I ended three months later with a slightly lower level.

While the diet is super restrictive, I didn’t feel terrible while I was on the diet. But I didn’t see any alopecia Universalis regrowth. I think the biggest benefit of doing that diet with the Paleomedicina group is clueing me into the vitamin D deficiency. I think that may have been my problem all along.

Picture of a steak.
Steaks are a staple on the paleo-ketogenic diet.

The GAPS diet

This is the most complicated diet with the most promises for healing autoimmune and neurological conditions. It has so many steps and requires supplements. One of the recommended supplements that I took inconsistently the first time I tried the diet was cod liver oil. I think that this is the supplement that has actually helped me the most in the last three months. I think had I taken the recommended dosage consistently the first time I tried the diet, I would have been successful.

The GAPS diet is complicated. You are encouraged to take probiotics and start with an introductory diet that consists of boiled meats and meat stock. Then you add in certain vegetables in stages. It is mentally challenging to figure it all out. I know that hair grows so slowly that it will be difficult to test out foods to see exactly what is causing the hair to fall out or regrow.

Picture of a pot of soup
Soups are a staple for the GAPS diet

Topical remedies

I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I did buy an expensive topical cream online. It was a few hundred dollars. I spent that about 2-3 years into my hair loss. It produced no results.

I have tried rubbing onions on my head. That was supposed to trigger something in the hair follicle and make it grow. It didn’t. I gave up on it quickly.

Right now, the topical remedy that I am trying out is Emu oil. Why? Because it has vitamin D and K in it. I know that I have been deficient in vitamin D for many years. Most of my symptoms are correlated with a vitamin D deficiency. I have raised the levels to about 49 ng/ml and feel so much better than when it was at 29. I think this will be the key to curing Alopecia Universalis naturally.

I must be honest, I haven’t been consistent in applying emu oil to my head. I have been able to get an application a day in for almost a week. I need to make it a habit for it to actually produce results.

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Conclusion

The Whole30 diet will not cure Alopecia Universalis in a month. You may need about 8 months of an elimination diet AND vitamin D to cure your autoimmune condition. I will be doing a version of GAPS/AIP in March to try to cure my autoimmune condition, Alopecia Universalis.

This will be a tiny bit different than the Whole30 diet. I will need to give up potatoes. I may need to eliminate all nightshades as they are triggering to people with autoimmune conditions. That stinks. I was hoping to grow tomatoes this summer, but we’ll see what happens.

3 Things You Should Eat Every Day

After much experimentation with elimination diets and studying nutrition. I have come up with a few things that you should eat everyday for good health. These are foods that are nutrient-dense and provide you with the vitamins and minerals that sustain life.

I understand if you don’t have access to some of these ingredients or if you have to settle for lower-quality products from the grocery store. These are just some ideas of how to get the best possible nutrition for your body.

Cod liver oil

This is probably the supplement that has created the best results for me. It not only raised my vitamin D levels, but also decreased the number, severity, and intensity of the few seizures that I was having. Studies on the effect of vitamin D have linked vitamin D deficiency to autoimmune conditions, epilepsy, skin breakouts, hair loss, and even MS.

  • High in vitamins A – 90% of the RDI of vitamin A
  • High in vitamin D – 113% of the RDA of vitamin D in a teaspoon
  • Reduces inflammation – the omega-3 fatty acids in the cod liver oil help to suppress proteins promoting chronic inflammation.
  • Improves bone health – the vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium
  • Cod liver oil has been shown to reduce joint pain.
  • Improve eye health – vitamin A protects against eye disease.

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Grassfed Beef

Beef is a powerhouse of nutrition. There is more nutrition in beef that has been pasture-raised on the grass. If you have a budget and a source for great grass-fed beef, include it as one of the things you should eat every day.

Some of the health benefits that grass-fed beef promotes:

  • Supports healthy blood sugar levels
  • Contains electrolytes including sodium, potassium, and magnesium
  • Fights cancer with twice the amounts of conjugated linoleic acid.
  • Six times more omega-3 fatty acids than grain-fed beef.
  • Helps to alleviate rheumatoid arthritis and depression.
  • Decreases your risk of heart disease with the increased consumption of CLA.

Pasture-Raised Eggs

Farm fresh eggs are the highest quality eggs that you can get. Don’t feel bad about substituting the store-bought eggs if that is what you can afford. You can still see some of the great health benefits from them. Unfortunately, you may be supporting big agriculture and bad farming practices.

Eggs are very convenient for breakfast or a snack. There are many ways to cook eggs. You can even mix them with olive oil and vinegar to create mayonnaise and consume them raw.

The following health benefits can be achieved with eggs:

  • Eggs contain vitamin D, vitamin E, vitamin K, vitamin B6, calcium, and zinc.
  • Eggs provide your body with 6 grams of protein.
  • Eggs give you 5 grams of healthy fats.
  • Eggs raise the HDL or “good” cholesterol.
  • Eggs are a source of choline which is used to build cell membranes.
  • May reduce the risk of heart disease.
  • They contain lutein and zeaxanthin which benefit eye health.

 

Consistency is key

Eating highly nutrient-dense foods every day will lead to overall better health. I was very inconsistent for many years taking cod liver oil. I saw inconsistent results. It wasn’t until I committed to taking it every day and had my blood levels tested that I was able to observe a good improvement in my overall health and well-being. Not only did the number in my lab result reflect a healthier body, but I felt better.

These are foods that can easily be incorporated into your daily diet. You can have eggs for breakfast and a hamburger patty for dinner with a cod liver oil supplement at lunchtime. Ground beef is one of the most versatile foods and can be made into a patty or used in a casserole. These are nutrient foods that you should eat every day for great health.

 

Day 26 of the Whole30 Diet Plan

I am in the home stretch with the Whole30 diet plan. I have made it past the initial food cravings that happened in week one. I conquered to side effects from detoxing in week two. I feel pretty great and I am looking at only four more days of avoiding butter, grains, sugar, and dairy.

Honestly, I will probably keep going with this diet but there is half a pound of high-quality butter from a local dairy in my freezer. I froze it in order to start this diet. I also have some grocery store bacon to use up. But after consuming those things, I will probably return to the Whole30 way of eating. It is pretty good.

My Whole30 Best Recipes

I think the best whole30 recipe that I created on this diet was a breakfast hash that included butternut squash, fatback, and hamburger. I seasoned it up with onion and garlic powder. It was amazing. I may even like it more than bacon. Not to mention, it didn’t stick to my cast-iron skillet as eggs do in the morning.

The second best recipe that I had on this way of eating was salmon patties. I took canned salmon and mixed it with pork rinds and an egg. Then I fried it up in lard. Oh my! It was flavorful.

Finally, the third-best recipe that I made on Whole30 was a simple hamburger. It was easy enough to cook up at the drop of a hat since I keep frozen patties in my freezer. It paired well with any vegetables that I wanted. And my Foreman grill always cooked it perfectly.

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Whole30 Pitfalls

It was fairly easy for me to get in the habit of only eating whole foods. The biggest whole30 pitfall that I faced was eating foods that I didn’t think had added ingredients. I forgot to check the ingredients of the pastured raised bacon and the olives. Turns out, they did have some of the preservatives in them that I was supposed to avoid.

If you are starting out with the Whole30 diet, remember to check the labels! Making the assumption that there are no additives in your food is dangerous. I still feel pretty successful at managing to stick to this diet 95%.

My Whole30 Supplements

I know you aren’t supposed to take supplements on Whole30. They are not whole foods. However, I strongly felt that the cod liver oil that I had been taking had raised my vitamin D levels to the point of preventing seizures. My levels were over 50 and I could tell that my brain was functioning better. I also didn’t have seizures, so I felt that it wasn’t worth it to risk having one and break my streak just to try out the Whole30 diet.

I continued to take Carlson’s cod liver oil and the ion biome supplement (once called Restore) that Zac Bush created to combat glyphosate in our food supply. Both I had on hand. I will continue on with the cod liver oil for certain. I don’t know about the ion biome supplement. Neither of them produced any hair regrowth in the last three months. But I digress…

Whole30 Weight Loss

The Whole30 diet plan encourages you to avoid looking at the scale. I have no idea if I lost weight during this diet or not. I can say for certain that I stopped bloating. When I started the diet, my PMS had kicked in and I was rather bloated.

During this menstrual cycle, I did not experience the same amount of bloating that I did at the outset of the whole30 diet. Whether it is a coincidence or not, I can’t say for sure.

My pants do fit perfectly now. Only the high-rise ones seem a bit tight, but I’m not used to wearing high-rise jeans. They are cut a bit differently. My regular jeans don’t seem too loose or too tight, so I’m pretty content. I’m unconcerned about whether I gained or lost weight.

Conclusion

The Whole30 diet rocks! I’m so glad that I have done it. I still want to tweak it a bit more to see if I can’t cure my alopecia universalis (whole body hair loss).

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Best Electric Vegetable Steamer

In my mind, the best electric vegetable steamer will always be the[easyazon_link identifier=”B0002YSVEQ” locale=”US” tag=”mcurle08-20″ cart=”n”]Black and Decker HS800 Steamer and Rice Cooker[/easyazon_link]. I purchased two of them and they both lasted over 5 years. Unfortunately, it is no longer being produced. You can still buy it for $250 on Amazon. But I’m not going to consider it the best electric vegetable steamer at that price.

Instead, I decided to research and test some other steamers to recommend. I looked for simplicity in design, ease of use, low price, and functionality. I wanted to find something that mimicked the convenience of my lovely Black and Decker Steamer and Rice Cooker.

Name: Oster 2 Tiered 5 Quart Food Steamer Review

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Website: Available at Amazon

Price: $23.06

Owners: Oster

Overall Rank: 88 out of 100

Oster Double Tiered 5 Quart Food Steamer, Product Overview

This is a food steamer that can be used for meat, fish, eggs, and poultry. The steaming retains nutrients. It eliminates the need to cook in oil. Oster’s double-tiered designs enables you to cook multiple dishes separately. You can cook your salmon and broccoli at the same time.

The transparent steaming bowls allow you to see the cooking progress of your foods. You can watch as your asparagus softens with the steam.

The Oster food steamer has a 5-quart capacity with two transparent steaming containers. It also features a 60-minute timer to ensure that you don’t forget to turn the food off. It will automatically shut off when the water is empty or the cycle is complete.

 

The Good & the Bad

The Good:

 

  • Automated timer
  • Dishwasher safe
  • 5-quart capacity
  • Lightweight
  • Easy to use
  • 2 tiered system for cooking multiple dishes at once

The Bad:

  • Thin plastic
  • Some customers reported leakage
  • Baskets are small

I love using a steamer to cook my eggs. Since I didn’t have complaints, I referred to the negative reviews on Amazon to find the bad aspects of the Oster double-tiered electric vegetable steamer.

Who is Oster Vegetable Steamer for?

This is for the busy person who doesn’t like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. A vegetable steamer is much less expensive than the other popular kitchen gadgets like a pressure cooker or an air fryer. It provides you with a healthy method of cooking with the convenience of a timer to shut the food off when it is done cooking.

An electric vegetable steamer is perfect for people who are starting the GAPS diet, the Whole30, and the paleo diets. Many of those foods should be cooked at home instead of in vegetable oils that are often used in restaurants.

Oster Vegetable Steamer Tools & Training

There isn’t much training or support needed. It does come with an instruction manual. But you basically fill up the water reserve, put the vegetables into the basket, and turn the timer to the time that you want.

Oster Vegetable Steamer Support

If you need it, you can visit the Oster website to register your vegetable steamer and access their support department.

Their experts are available Mon-Fri, 9AM – 5PM ET. You can Call 1-800-334-0759 for Oster Appliances.

Oster Vegetable Steamer Price

At $23.06, this vegetable steamer is a steal. I find myself steaming vegetables in the summer when I don’t want to stand over a hot stove. I also steam my eggs instead of boiling them to have snacks of hard-boiled eggs on hand. It is one kitchen appliance that is inexpensive, but it will save you plenty of time. I find that I use it often.

My Final Opinion of Oster Vegetable Steamer

The Oster vegetable steamer is one of the few kitchen appliances that I actually recommend and use. I find that it is easy to use, the parts go into the dishwasher, but I often just hand wash the steamer.

Oster is a trusted brand. It has received over 5,000 global ratings on Amazon with a 4.4/5 star rating. There are a lot of people who like this product.

[easyazon_cta align=”right” cart=”n” identifier=”B00519EDIA” key=”small-light” locale=”US” tag=”mcurle08-20″]at a Glance…

Name: Oster two-tiered 5 quart vegetable steamer

Website: Oster.com

Owners: Oster

Price: $23.06

Overall Scam Rank: 88 out of 100

VERDICT: Legit! I recommend it!