Today’s only photo (please excuse my redundancy) is again repeated from our post on this date in 2013 when Dr. David Perlmutter (one of many research studies here at this link) posted a story about my success with a low carb/keto way of eating. For our full story from that date, please see our link here.

Today’s story is by no means intended to “toot my own horn” or elicit praise or recognition from any of our readers. My purpose is solely to inspire others who may have been considering some lifestyle changes to improve health, reduce symptoms of inflammatory disease and reduce the likelihood of cognitive issues often affecting seniors and, in some cases, those in mid-life or younger.

If only one person reads today’s post and is inspired to read and follow Dr. David Perlmutter, the New York Times Best Selling Author of the books listed below, my message would be worthwhile. I apologize for the repeated story for those not interested, but perhaps you may pass on some of this priceless information to someone you know or love.

Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers (2013) Brain Wash: Detox Your Mind for Clearer Thinking, Deeper Relationships, and Lasting Happiness (2020) Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life (2015) The Grain Brain Whole Life Plan: Boost Brain Performance, Lose Weight, and Achieve Optimal Health (2016) Power Up Your Brain: The Neuroscience of Enlightenment (2011)

All of these books may be found at Amazon.com. Please click the Amazon link on our site for ease of purchase. You pay the same prices for products and services if you visit our advertisers on our site. We receive a tiny commission from Amazon when our readers click on any of our links. These commissions help offset a small portion of our annual website expenses. However, we are in no manner involved in the sale of Dr. Perlmutter’s books or services.

After the publication of Dr. Perlmutter’s first book and having had such outstanding results from his (and other medical professionals) recommendation that ultimately provided me with the health I’d need to be able to travel the world, I contacted him. He is a highly regarded board-certified neurologist and MD.

He replied promptly and asked if I’d be willing to write the story here for his site. I was excited and pleased to do so. This was not for any financial remuneration, but hopefully, my story would inspire others, like me, who were subject to a wide array of hereditary inflammatory diseases which had impacted my life for many years, which I’ve shared here ad nauseam.

His prompt reply after the publication of his first book, Grain Brain, thrilled me. Surely, then, he wasn’t as busy as he is now. He does regular podcasts on YouTube and Facebook, most of which I have listened to while walking recently and over the years. For those interested, here is the link to his YouTube page.

He’s an excellent writer and speaker and has provided considerable research and relevant information about COVID-19 and his ongoing research on the functions of the human brain, Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive decline and disease, and how it’s impacted by our diet, inflammation, and lifestyle.

Many of us have experienced some cognitive decline while aging after an accident or injury or have observed it in our aging parents, loved ones, and friends. His books and podcasts can be an invaluable resource for information and education.

If you’d like more information from our post on November 5, 2013, please click here.

Have a superb day!

Photo from one year ago today, November 5, 2019:

Pirate ship attracts tourists at the port in Bermuda. For more photos, please click here.

After hitting our top numbers of over 100,000 readers on our site, the opportunities for us continue to grow. In addition to attracting the interest of new advertisers (we’ll be posting new links in the next few days, removing the old), we also have the opportunity to share our story on related websites.

A few weeks ago, I suggested a book I’d read, Grain Brain, by Dr. David Perlmutter, a renowned neurologist, backed by years of diligent scientific research that further exemplified the reasons why I’ve gone to the extremes of my restrictive diet for the past 2 1/2 years. This diet ultimately changed my health to such an extent, that finally I could be mobile, able to travel the world.

After reading Dr. Perlmutter’s book, I contacted him and his media department who enthusiastically asked me to share my story of renewed health with his readers.

Please click here for our now published story, part of which is listed below.

Recently, Dr. Perlmutter appeared on the Dr. Oz TV show. Click here and scroll down the page for the informative and surprising video about brain health.

Jessica L.

Jessica’s story is truly inspiring. Her battle back to better health is the kind of empowerment I hope to facilitate with Grain Brain. Adopting a Grain Brain-friendly lifestyle not only gave Jessica back control of her health, but her entire life. – Dr. Perlmutter

As a travel writer with a somewhat unusual story of having sold everything my husband and I valued and owned, with no storage, on Halloween, one year ago, we left our lifetime home, family, and friends to travel the world and write about our daily adventures and share photos.

Just one year prior to that, I wasn’t able to go to any of our grandchildren’s ballgames, unable to sit on bleachers, due to excruciating pain that encompassed my entire body due to severe spinal degeneration.

Having been told the only solution was a total spinal fusion from C1 to L5, I spent an entire year researching medical studies online in search of an answer for my unbearable pain, horrible lipid profile, pre-diabetic state and recurring abnormal lymphocytes and neutrophils, requiring 2 bone marrow biopsies revealing abnormal bone marrow regeneration but, luckily, no cancer. Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia are rampant in my family history. My own memory was fading fast (I am now 65 years old).

In August 2011, after reading Gary Taubes, Dr. William Davis, Dr. Michael Eades and dozens more, along with suggested links to studies, I was determined that a change in diet was my only hope. Immediately, I embarked on a low-carb, gluten-free, grain-free, starch-free and sugar-free diet.

It took 3 months to see a change. One morning I awoke and could actually stand up when I put my feet on the floor, a first in years. The pain was gone, never to return in 27 months. I never consume a morsel of food that doesn’t fit my criteria, basically everything you describe in your book. Of course, I tested negative for celiac disease, as you mentioned many do.

Several months later, I had a new lipid profile completed. The year’s long abnormal lymphocytes and neutrolphils were normal. All other tests were normal, something I hadn’t experienced in over 20 years. My HDL went from 38 to 72. My triglycerides went from 256 to 52.

As a result of this phenomenal change, in January 2012, my husband (who also follows this manner of eating, lost weight and no longer has IBS, acid reflux, gas, etc), and I decided that on October 31, 2012, his retirement date, we would liquidate everything we owned; house, cars, household goods, clothing, jewelry to travel the world for years to come. In a few days, it will be our one year anniversary of “living in the world” with no home to return to and we couldn’t be happier.

Finally, I fulfilled my lifelong dream of writing, of seeing the world. I could now travel, sit in an airplane, walk the streets of Venice, visit the towers of Dubai and make the long difficult trek to see Petra in Jordan.

As part of my blog/website, starting in March 2012, I’ve often discussed how to live in places such as Tuscany, Italy where we recently spent this entire last summer, without a taste of bread or pasta, never feeling deprived. For example, today, I posted last night’s dinner of Crusted Coconut (flour) Parmesan Chicken, a favorite recipe I created (I’ve always been a foodie). We’ve also been following “Oil Pulling” by Dr. Bruce Fife, using coconut oil as a daily mouth rinsing and yesterday, we began your suggestion of swallowing a teaspoon a day.

Yesterday, at the end of my post, I suggested your book, Grain Brain, which I downloaded a few days ago and couldn’t put down. You, Dr. Perlmutter, have put on “paper” the epitome of the gift of life I’ve been given by changing my diet. Dr. William Davis, Dr. Robert Lustig and Jonathan Bailor have been a few of many who’ve been instrumental in my following this path.

Now, with your book, here is another amazing fact…my memory is better today than when I was in my 20′s. About 10 years ago, I had a brain MRI showing a large portion of my frontal lobe missing. I know little about brain loss but I imagine that I’d have continued on the path of brain shrinkage had I continued eating “whole grain” products and high carb foods, (although I haven’t consumed sugar for many years). Instead, I consumed high carb fruits and vegetables and grains such as winter squash and corn, equally filled with sugar, all foods of my past.

As I sit here in the humid heat in Diani Beach Kenya, batting off the bugs and flies, I need only remind myself of the amazing safari we took in the Masai Mara only a few weeks ago, bouncing around on bumpy roads for 8 hours a day in the heat. I couldn’t ride in the car for a 45 minutes drive to visit family or friends in my “old life.”

At 65, this way of eating is has given me back my life. I’ll never go back.

-Jessica L.

Tag: Grain Brain

Day #227 in lockdown in Mumbai, India hotel…A published story from 7 years ago today…

Today, we’re published on Dr. David Perlmutter’s website, Grain Brain! ..See article below…

Jessica L.