Going Pescavegan
After a surprise visit to the emergency room I’ve had to totally rethink my diet
I thought it would be way harder.
As of writing this I haven’t eaten red meat, poultry, dairy, eggs, or any animal product outside of seafood for the last five months. If you know me this is probably surprising because I love meat.
Steak was always my favorite food, my go to snack was salami and cheese, an ideal Sunday was spent by the grill. More than that I was skeptical of vegetarians on a philosophical level, it seemed at best unhealthy and at worst unmanly.
A year ago, however, things began to change.
Let’s start with vanity, people noticed I was blowing up like the Michelin man. It became painfully obvious when I arrived at a friend’s birthday dinner. He wasn’t one to hold back and immediately declared “you look thick”. I began to notice too, the scale was at record levels. I looked big in photos and was left wonder if the camera could, in fact, lie. In October of 2022 after a few months of cheese eating euro travel I topped out at 238 pounds.
To make it even worse, I was feeling sick. I felt a consistent pressure in my chest. Trying to do minimal stretching it was almost impossible to touch my toes. I had constant stomach aches. For a while I thought it was all mental, I even reached out to a friend for advice on meditation.
It all came to a head in January. After a day of intense pressure in my chest I found myself at Mount Sinai Hospital. When you go to the emergency with chest pain they don’t mess around. Immediately I was given an EKG to see if I was having a heart attack, fortunately I wasn’t. At the same time they took my blood pressure and the news was not good, a very high 180/120. For the next few hours I sat in a hospital bed, with a slight headache from Nitroglycerin, waiting for it to go down post medication.
How could this all be happening?
My life is not perfect but its also not the least healthy either. At the time I was playing tennis a couple times a week and going to the gym consistently. At thirty five these sorts of concerns seemed very far off in the future. I had even been making strides with my diet, eating less fried food and drinking less alcohol. A lot of meat and carbs had been replaced with dairy and eggs.
Finding a doctor these days is hard. Even with a referral from the emergency room I was unable to get an appointment at the hospital. Google searching and calls didn’t yield any more results, everyone was seriously booked solid.
Miami is a town formed around personal connections, so I decided to try my newly created network. A friend from an influential family got me in to see his physician, Dr. Levinson who has an office conveniently two blocks from my home. His website seemed a bit hippy to me at first. He focuses on “functional medicine” which is holistic and preventative, the type of guy who makes you take lots of supplements. Normally I would say no way, but I was desperate to see somebody, anybody, so I made the appointment and paid the fee.
“You definetly have a diary allergy” Dr. Levinson told me with the first minute of meeting him. This is not what I’d been expecting, in my mind there must be some true dysfunction going on deep within my heart. He began to tell me about food sensitivities and he administered a blood test.
The Dr.’s suspicions were right on, I had sensitivities to pretty much my entire diet. What made it worse was that I’d been eating extra cheese, eggs, and meat, all problematic foods, because I thought they were better than carbs! At first I was unsure, do I really want to make these sacrifices?
I made a deal with the doctor to try the new diet for six weeks, then he would do another sensitivity test and I would monitor my blood pressure. If nothing changed I could go back to my old ways.
On one hand I was relieved that the problem was potentially diet based, on the other hand I was intimidated by the rigor. This would be one of the most serious habit shifts of my life. Fortunately I had a supportive girlfriend who encourage me to give it a real go, promising to help me cook. All out of excuses, I decided to give it a try.
My blood pressure dropped back to normal levels almost immediately, my stomach felt better, and I lost weight. The most surprising things, however, were yet to come. It turns out being a pescavegan is not so bad after all.
Trying New Things
One of the biggest benefits, one I wasn’t expecting, is that this new lifestyle got me out of my rut.
For a long time my favorite foods had become static. I knew I liked steak, hamburgers, and salami pizza. The only thing better than these were french fries. If you asked, I could list all my favorite places to get these delicacies straight from memory.
On the other hand I was sort of sick of them. These foods were heavy, they weighed me down. It always felt like restaurants from the past weren’t as good as I remembered them. This disappointment led me to resent the past and question my memory. It also left me with a sinking feeling that I’d already found everything the world had to offer and it was mediocre.
Enter the new diet. By radically reshuffling what I ate I began to enjoy food again. I have always loved fresh vegetables, but now I really look forward to them. When I go to an old restaurant I try new dishes, but more often than not I’m exploring entirely different spots.
Fish has also entered my life in a bigger way. I have always loved seafood but now I crave it more than I ever hankered for steak. From Joe's Stone Crab, to fresh Wahoo I caught that morning, it has become a real interest. I find it light and refreshing, but also providing the sort of powerful protein I really need.
Cooking has become a much bigger part of my life. Previously I had always ordered takeaway, cheesy pizzas, big burgers, and shawarma. With my options now limited, and a very thoughtful and helpful girlfriend, I began to explore the kitchen. I’ve found workarounds for all my favorite foods and now I look forward to planning recipes. With the diet change I’ve gained a new hobby and interest, even going to local cooking classes.
Effect on Others
At first when I told friends about this lifestyle change they were skeptical. They thought I could never do it, and more importantly they couldn’t perceive why I would want to. They loved meat, pasta and pizza to the point where it was part of their personality.
Some of the criticism was harder to take than others. I expected people to call my Dr. A quack, even though he is a well respected MD. I also have been able to brush off people's belief that this diet is some sort of political statement. For the record I have no problem with eating animals or their products.
The worst issue has been how people have treated my girlfriend around it. They believe she somehow pushed me into this change. If I am being honest I'm the one who is pushing the diet on her by virtue of proximity.
I also am not evangelizing this diet. Just because this works for me doesn’t mean it works for others. For you it might not be effective at all. If you’re feeling great don’t change a thing. If, however, something is amiss, what's that harm in trying?
More Energy, More Focus
I am able to write this because of the new diet. My brain works better, I can concentrate more and my stress levels are down. There’s no longer that sense of pressure in my chest.
For the first time I can do yoga and I’m spending longer in the weight room. After meals I’m considerably less tired and my post lunch afternoons are more productive.
My recommendation is simple, if you’ have any health issues try a food allergy test. My mother was feeling a bit tired, just unwell. She attributed this to aging. After taking the test, however, she saw that she had gluten and dairy intolerances. Cutting both of these out has helped her feel significantly better.
Everything is tied together, and a better diet will lead to better mental function. It’s not as hard to give up your favorite foods as you might think, and you life might just make a change for the better.
Inspiring! I would love to be disciplined enough to follow your example.
As always, well written and fun to read. And an important topic! Like you, I have become lactose intolerant...in a big way. It caught me by surprise, and I also don't do well with gluten. In addition, I don't do well with ANYTHING processed. Restaurant meals often make me brain dead the next day, I suspect because of use of inferior cooking oils. I find cooking at home most helpful, but I have found a few restaurants that can work for me. So glad you are feeling better and have found the cause of your physical discomfort. Kudos to you and your lovely girlfriend...please say hi to her!