Between November and February, I got covid twice. I hadn’t had it in the preceding 2+ years and frankly, I did not like it (surprise!!!). Not just because it was deeply unpleasant, but because I thought of myself as someone who lived in such a healthy way, that I might be able to sidestep covid altogether. I don’t drink, use drugs, eat wheat or use caffeine. I eat whole foods and I manage stress well. But apparently, the terrain was still vulnerable. I got covid twice in a few months.
I had a teacher who used to talk about “germ theory” and emphasized that the presence of a “germ” was just one part of the equation. The germ had to engage with the “terrain” of your particular body and immune system (particularly, she’d say, the tube between nose/mouth and anus). So last February, I got to thinking about what was really going on in my wellness practices. I wasn’t exercising that much and when I did, it was inconsistent. I was "clinically" overweight and there was one thing I believed was driving that realities...sugar.
Sugar was the last of my addictive substances. I got sober from alcohol almost 19 years ago, but sugar still had its claws in me. I’d use it to numb, despite the fact that it made me feel hungover and was driving my weight gains. Where covid is concerned, sugar had shown itself to run down my immune system. I could see that over and over in my own direct experience. Sugar was addictive and had negative health effects. Over the decades, I’ve watched myself go through countless cycles of stopping sugar consumption, feeling better within a few days, losing some weight.Then, in time beginning to dabble again, and watching the cycle play out. One day became three, became a week, became a month and eventually I’d start to feel like I was getting sick, I’d get a cold sore (an indicator that my immune system was down) and think I was getting a cold.
So after my second covid experience, I did a few things.
1. I quit sugar completely. I mean, I quit eating all processed sweeteners, sugar, maple syrup, high fructose corn syrup, honey (which my teacher used to say was “processed, just by bees”.)
I embraced a largely carnivore diet minimizing grains and carbohydrates in general, especially simple ones. Corn and rice are the only grains I use.
I start d hiking almost every day. Sometimes 25 miles a week.
I started working out at the gym I’d been paying for but not ever going to.
I’ve been off sugar completely for many months now. I’ve lost 30 lbs on the scale (while also gaining muscle). I lost something else… a persistent cough. For years I had an annoying cough, which I’d always attributed to having bad genes since my mother had always claimed she had asthma. Turns out, quitting sugar took care of my “bad genes”. I no longer cough when I laugh or (and this should have been a clue) eat sweet things.
I rarely feel depression anymore. I had noticed, a few years ago, a moderate, consistent depression which was hiding under the dominant anxiety that took years to get under control. The anxiety is rarer too! Turns out a lot of our anxiety is tied to the gut. I have to think my gut is healthier sans sugar.
I feel like I’ve somehow arrived at a place I’ve been aiming at since I got sober, 18+ years ago. My diet could not be more dialed in. I cook almost all my meals. I exercise 6 days a week. My body feels as healthy as I’ve ever felt.
It’s amazing that sugar was the thing that took the longest to overcome. Sugar is a drug. It’s a powerful one. Everyone is doing it. It causes obesity, heart disease, cancer and metabolic problems. It ages you, physically and mentally. Some think it's tied to dementia. It drives anxiety and depression in some people. It’s bad shit. It’s in everything! I think this is not only worth looking at, but very seriously considering putting out of your life.
Wanna know something else? All these changes didn’t stop me from getting covid a 3rd time a few weeks ago.
Womp wommmp !!!