The Downsides to Plant Based

Due to the fact that I made my transition to a plant based diet so quickly and extremely (I was did not eliminate foods slowly or even make the switch from vegetarian to a vegan diet.  I literally went from omnivore to vegan overnight) I have been able to see the changes my diet has caused rather quickly as well.

I noticed that my asthma was gone and I had more energy than I had ever known.  This I noticed almost immediately.  I started this journey on January 1st, and on January 2nd I was back to work after Christmas holidays.  Everyone in the office was saying how how it was to come back after the time off and they were all so sleepy.  I was energised and raring to go. 

I did notice that my skin was not looking so great, which surprised me since all I had heard was how a person who adopts a whole foods plant based diet will have glowing skin.  I also noticed that I was moody and emotional.  Of course, I had just made a major change in my diet and I had read that there could be a detox period. 

This past week I have developed a bad eczema break out on my face (I really hate having red bumps all over my face).  At first I thought it was acne, but then recognised that it was actually eczema, as I had had it before.  Again, I was surprised at this.  Other times when I had an eczema outbreak I figured it was the foundation makeup I was using and just stopped using my make up for a week or so and used lots of moisturisers and it cleared up.  This time, I had not been using make up for a few weeks. 

I started googling causes of eczema.  Apparently one of the most common causes is wheat intolerance.  Hmmmmm, can you guess what I have been eating a lot more of since I stopped eating meat and dairy?  Can you guess what was totally easy to grab for a snack when I didn't feel like more fruit or vegetables?  You guessed it ... bagels, english muffins, toast.  I was eating a lot more wheat than I usually did. 

So, it seems I may have to restrict my diet further to test this theory and see if my eczema clears up.  I'm trying to see the positive in this.  Instead of looking at it as one more thing that I can't eat, this is going to be what forces me to eat more fruits and veggies and less of the bread, which isn't that great anyway. 

It's also an opportunity to experiment and explore further into alternative grains such as quinoa and coconut flour.