Potentially bad advice for reluctant omnivores to focus on eggs

[beachchica]

What I'm about to say may be controversial and generate some negative comments, but I feel I have to say something. As a recovering vegetarian, I was reluctant to eat so much animal protein while on a Whole30. More than one moderator told me not to pick and choose between proteins on the standard and vegetarian shopping lists. I was even told that if I'm willing to eat eggs and no other meat, then I should eat eggs as my only protein for the Whole30 (and I saw this advice given to many other people in the forums as well). I didn't know it at the time, but that advice was not only bad, but disastrous. 

 

Here's a little backstory. I have completed a couple of Whole30s, with eggs, some fish and chicken as my protein sources. I have never in my life had any issues related to eating eggs, until recently. I began to suffer some digestive issues, and also broke out in a total-body rash. I went to my doctor, who saw some skin issues on my knees and ankles, and piecing it together with my anecdotal evidence of digestive distress, informed me I have psoriasis. After doing much research on this condition, and the associated leaky gut, I am convinced that over-consuming eggs is one of the main culprits. It's not completely understood how or why people get autoimmune conditions, but many believe that a genetic predisposition needs to be turned on by some environmental trigger, like stress or allergens. I believe that over-consuming eggs made me allergic to them, and the continued over-consumption of them "turned on" my psoriasis.

 

Unfortunately, there is no cure for autoimmune disease. The body cannot unlearn attacking itself. The symptoms can be treated, but I will always have to be extra careful with what I eat. Sometimes I wish I had never done a Whole30, other times I just wish I had done the vegetarian version.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm so grateful for everything the Whole30 has taught me, and I will continue to eat following those guidelines. But I hope that other reluctant omnivores out there will hold off on doing a Whole30 until you know whether or not you are comfortable with eating meat. Because relying on eggs as your protein source is not a good idea, and in my case was detrimental to my health. Or go ahead and pick and choose between shopping lists, just don't call it a Whole30. They don't like when you mess with their program

[MeadowLily]

Can you eat fish?

[AuntJane]

I am so sorry this happened to you.  I can sort-of relate because I am suffering some terrible health issues as a result of my former daily diet Coke habit (among other bad habits, I'm sure), and that is upsetting enough.  I would never expect to suffer ill health from eating too many eggs.  

[kirkor]

My vote has always been the veg version shouldn't exist, and the half-measures to accommodate the reluctant ones only serve to water down the message and cause other issues.

[missmary]

I'm sorry this happened, but I also think we need to be very clear on one thing: eating more eggs than usual for a few weeks did not cause an irreversible autoimmune disease. It can not and it did not. Did eating more eggs than usual reveal that your body has a sensitivity to too many eggs? Possibly.

 

Luckily, the body is also capable of healing. Time and patience are required, but I feel confident that you could eventually heal your gut enough to tolerate smaller quantities of eggs again, should you decide you want to include them.

[beachchica]

MissMary, I agree with you. That's not what I said or implied, so hopefully that's not what others are interpreting. The psoriasis gene/condition was already there, but it was only turned on (ie symptoms occurred) after over-consuming eggs. I'm glad I have the information I need to tackle this. Just wanted to save others like me from making the same mistake.

[Beets]

As someone who has suffered body-covering guttate psoriasis triggered by strep throat I sympathize. I had psoriasis in a very mild form since college but it only got bad after my second pregnancy (apparently this is common). Still, it wasn't nearly as bad as after that exposure to strep. From what I have read, psoriasis can be triggered by a sudden assult on the immune system.

I will say that what helped me most was narrow UVB light therapy. I know Paleo Mom relieve herself of the symptoms of psoriasis by following strict AIP protocol. I was determined to do the same. My derm told me that guttate isn't affected by diet. I didn't believe her but the light therapy helped whereas changes to my only made things very marginally better. I do think that healing the gut helps over time but the light therapy gets things jump started.