Following up from article 1: Here this is part 2 and conclusion on the benefits and long-term health impacts going the plant-life route can have.  

Positive #5  

I can smell again, I can breathe from both nostrils and at the same time, hallelujah! I got bad sinus problems in the winter of 2017 whereby one side of my nose was always completely blocked no matter what I did. The only time it cleared was when I did exercise like running, high intensity gym or if I took Sudafed spray, which is super and nearly instantaneous in its effect, but you can only use it for a short period before you damage your nostrils. At night if I slept on my right side the fluid would move to my right nostril so I could breathe from the left nostril and similarly if I lay on my right side, I could only breathe through the right. Laying on my back just meant both nostrils eventually clogged up. Sleeping was extremely difficult, and I woke up frequently. I tried to be comfortable breathing through my mouth and while it worked for a while, it left my mouth dry and eventually I woke myself and my wife with all the drooling, sniffling and moving around.  

I realized the onset of the sinus problems were worse when I had bad sleep, bad eating habits and perhaps being overweight. I took all the usual doctor's advice and even went to a consultant who said I needed an operation but no guarantee it would work, and post operation would be very uncomfortable for a good time afterwards. I didn’t see the point of surgery for a chance of success, so I took Avamys spray as prescribed by the GP and was recommended antihistamine that I took in tablet form once a day religiously. This really did the trick and got me back to some normalcy for a long time until it didn’t work anymore, out of the blue just stopped being effective. December 2019 was the worst month ever for my sinus issues and this probably pushed me over the edge to commit to the Veganuary challenge as inflammation and sinus problems are linked. 

And what do you know, after three and half weeks on plant-life as I left work and walked to my car one evening, I realized that my sinuses had started to improve, and they did every day from then on. Over a year now and my sinuses are clear, back to normal as if it were all a bad dream. What really fixed it? I believe it was the aggregated effect of a better diet, (no dairy or meat) consuming lower inflammatory foods, helped by weight loss and better sleep. 

A tad bit of reflection: It's amazing how you take the little things in life for granted like being able to breathe through your nose. This natural unconscious action caused so much stress and discomfort but when I stood and took a balcony view of the situation, I realized I had taken a holistic approach to my systems daily operation and looking after the whole meant the smaller parts worked as they should.  

Positive #6: 

I didn't realize something else even more life changing was starting to take place under the hood, something wonderful (as Dave said in Space Odyssey). I've had Psoriasis since I was twenty-one years old. I didn’t have it as bad as some folks but what I did get because of it was psoriatic arthritis. Unfortunately, I got it in my feet which was crap since I loved sport. I ended up on an autoimmune drug called Humira after some trials and tribulations on other drugs, one which half killed me as the doctor thought I had swine flu but was really an allergic reaction to sulfur. Anyway, I had been taking a pen injection every two weeks for the last twelve years and it was super, no pain and psoriasis cleared up. But with the lower immune system, I suffered a bit more with colds and cold sores not to mention longer term side effects of the drug. Until now...  

I’m nearly 9 months without taking arthritis medication and my psoriasis has not come back any worse than it did when I was on the medication. I should have been in a lot of pain 24/7 from week four or five having missed an injection but I didn’t get sore and everything now is great, touch wood. I gave up the medication by fluke because I had changed to a more generic drug but I was having side effects plus with Covid-19 rampant I wanted my defenses to be as high as possible. Lucky for me I did, as I was in remission and my consultant didn’t know why and said psoriatic arthritis can go into remission more often than other types of arthritis.  

For now, there is no going back to a full T-Rex carnivores' life. I have introduced some fish into my diet a few times a week as omega-3 is one of the few data points proven to have some help for psoriasis and arthritis. But apart from that I’m still full-on plant-life.  

Some things that have helped me stay the course:  

• Learning how to cook a few favorite vegan dishes was important so I enjoyed the food and could stick to it until I learned and liked new recipes. 

• Always look at the information on packaging as milk is put into so many items these days. Stay away from processed foods and you can't go wrong.  

• I've taken to oat milk easily as a substitute for milk and if you get one fortified with B12 all the better. Aldi does an Acti leaf Oat milk that’s fortified with B12 and is super foaming for coffee too, so you don’t have to buy barista oat milk which is more expensive. 

• Dark chocolate helps if you get a craving as well as nuts with raisins or fruit.  

• Plan your shopping for meals so the temptation to stray won’t break you in the first few months.  

• If you like baking and can't go without your weekly cinnamon bun, don’t worry you can make just about anything of the vegan variety. There are so many websites out there now to help. I have baked a lot of stuff including cinnamon buns. 

• I keep it very simple a lot of the time and lightly stir fry vegetables to get what I need.

I didn’t take on this challenge to save the planet! I did it to see If I could reduce inflammation in my body. There have been so many positives and I’m in a routine with new habits, so it’s a no brainer to keep going. I guess it benefits the planet and its animals in some small way too. This has been life changing for me, something truly wonderful, and goes to show that if you take Action, accept the Challenge, stay the course, there will be a change. Focusing on the system as whole versus the broken pieces is a good way to look at the problem, any problem I’d say before jumping in.

Yours in Plant-Life Action