Doctor’s Visit
A couple of weeks ago I had my first appointment with a Gastroenterologist. I had been feeling for a while that what I am experiencing has some connection to the gut but I had never followed up on it until now. I am happy to say that it was a very pleasant experience and I really felt like my doctor is committed to helping me get back to a new normal. My doctor went through and documented a history of the symptoms I was experiencing. It was interesting because I told my doctor that after eating certain foods I would experience heart palpitations and they responded by saying that food does not usually cause heart palpitations, are you stressed while eating. I have read a lot of books that talk about how stress can trigger multiple things within the body even inflammation. This made me think “Is it the anticipation of what may happen when I eat the food causing my body to be in a heightened state which leads to palpitations after the food is consumed (kind of similar to a self fulfilling prophecy).” I can’t say I know the answer to that question just yet but I will say that I have not been experiencing heart palpitations as a symptom recently. So, maybe stress was causing it. Another thing my doctor said that stood out to me was that I may be experiencing these symptoms because the food may be raising the acidity in my stomach which could be triggering the head tingles. The doctor told me to take Pepcid thirty minutes before eating lunch and dinner. I would recommend reading up on acidic foods, alkaline foods, and food combining to see if it may be useful for improving your health. I was also told to take a plant based protein shake between breakfast and lunch and lunch in dinner to help with getting my weight back up.
Plant Based Protein Shakes
My doctor recommended I take a plant-based protein supplement as it is usually absorbed better by the body. I was also told to not eat any dairy products at this time. At first I was drinking the Compleat peptide 1.5 fruit and vegetable medley and the Compleat peptide 1.4 vanilla. I’m going to be honest they both tasted like I was drinking oil texture wise. Of the two I preferred the vanilla flavor as it tasted like cereal milk to me. However, the fruit and vegetable medley flavor was the one did not give me any head pains whereas the vanilla flavor gave pretty intense head pains that lingered for a little bit. Unfortunately, I ran out of the compleat nutrition shakes because I only had a couple of samples from the doctor’s office. I did some research and switched over to the OWYN complete nutrition chocolate and vanilla flavor. I will say that the vanilla flavor tastes exactly like the Compleat but without the oily texture. The only problem being like the Compleat vanilla it gave me head tingles. The chocolate flavor was better; the tingles were milder but still present. I also tried the Kachava Chai flavor which hands down is the best testing protein drink but the issue being it still gives me head tingles. I am not sure if it is actually being caused by the Kachava powder or the water that I am mixing it with. If you don’t know about my situation with water check out my blog post entitled The Water Crisis. I am still searching for a similar protein drink to the Compleat peptide 1.5 fruit and vegetable medley that does not taste like flavored oil. I have been chugging along with the head tingles thus far but because I know there is something out there that does not cause me distress and will be more pleasurable to consume. Pain is not my story and it should not be yours either. Believe that whatever you are in need of is already waiting on you.
Stay tuned for next week’s post because I will be giving a month update of how those two doctor’s recommendations have worked for me thus far.
In the meantime, if you have any suggestions on a plant based protein shake I can try please leave a comment below.