For the last few months I cut back on carbohydrates and ate a lot of
protein - protein bars, chicken, fish, occasionally red meat. I noted a
drastic improvement in my energy level, sense of well-being and
concentration. Even without the extra carbs I had no problem at all keeping
up with my off-season athletics... given my success I decided to read more
about nutrition and picked up a book called The China Study. I read through
it and was floored. A mountain of seemingly irrefutable evidence implicates
animal protein in the promotion of all of the terrible modern diseases known
to the West: cancer, heart disease, diabetes. I decided to have a crack at
going vegan.

I bought whole grain pitas, smart dogs, beans, spinach, broccoli, carrots,
strawberries, tofu, nuts, sunflower seeds, pears, bananas, etc., and vowed
to not touch anything with casein in it, even the protein bars that I would
normally eat for breakfast. Within 24 hours my resolve would already start
to be tested - I felt feverish and hot all over (even though a thermometer
repeatedly read normal), my head ached and throbbed hotly. I felt tired
during the day though falling asleep at night was suddenly difficult.
Headaches would get worse exercising, and I'd tire out too soon. I couldn't
concentrate. What the heck - was I getting the flu? 5 days later I got dizzy
and said that's enough, went out for lots of sushi and felt better the next
day. I found the more animal protein I consumed (especially milk), the
better I felt. Or was it the stopping of consumption of what I had been
eating that helped??

Obviously I did something wrong, though considering the care I took to eat
enough different plant proteins I'm not sure what. I even popped some
digestive enzymes (which worked) to make sure I could take the soy since
it's given me stomach aches in the past. Could it be that a transition from
Atkins to Vegan should be done slowly? I've looked on the web and found
little in the way of information for my particular situation other than ways
to Be Careful which I tried to follow. I post here in hopes someone can
point me to resources that my shed some light on my particular averse
reaction (meat dependence? soy allergy?) and what it means.

PJ6