It would be easier to list the things Paleo hasn’t done for me than what it has. It hasn’t provided me with the ability to surf, a gold medal or the elusive dragon glass dagger I’ve really wanted since winter is coming and all. But other than that, my life has been completely changed.
Four years ago I met the woman that would be my wife. Just prior to meeting Sarah I had spent the past seven years of my life working in the restaurant industry in one capacity or another. Mostly as a chef or bartending. Now this didn’t lead me down a path of very many healthy habits. Essentially I had bourbon and taco bell as two of the four major food groups.
Two weeks after meeting Sarah, I woke up at four in the morning with a fever of 104 degrees, and it felt like I was being stabbed in the chest every time my heart beat. Long story short, a few hours later I was diagnosed with peracarditis. Essentially there is a sack around your heart that is designed to let it beat easily. Mine had become inflamed and was squeezing my heart shut.
There were lots of possible causes, but lifestyle was at the top of the list. After getting out of the hospital and meeting with a cardiologist I was told that this would keep happening. And that it would happen more and more often as I grew older. There was scar tissue from the incident and there wasn’t anything to be done.
Insert Sarah becoming my wife, starting a Paleo food company and eating Paleo for over two years. I went to my annual eco cardiogram to get my heart checked and they were very confused. Not only did I not have any scar tissue on my heart but my resting pulse was that of an athlete. For a minute they thought that I was the wrong patient.
Since starting Paleo and the business, I have fixed my heart.
I fixed my damn heart.
Also I lost 50 pounds and started a business that employs my wife, myself and 15 other people and helps hundreds of people change their own lives by eating Paleo. Crazy awesome.