When the Body Speaks Louder than Doctors
The Diagnosis That Changed Everything
In December 2005 I was in a car accident in very rural Zimbabwe, and sustained ‘severe head and brain trauma’ following a 3-day coma. Then in 2007 – unrelated to the car accident – I was diagnosed with a ‘rare and incurable autoimmune disease.’ For the brain injuries there was ‘nothing surgical or medical that could be done,’ I just needed to re-learn and re-program . . . and allow the process and the brain to heal itself. For the autoimmune condition, I was prescribed a lifetime supply of ‘industrial strength’ corticosteroids, just to stay alive. It was a confusing time.
My physical health had never been an issue for the first 30 years of living. I had a bulletproof body that never let me down, and a bulletproof digestive system that could eat anything in any amount without putting on a single kilogram of weight. I ran, cycled, hiked, swam, body-boarded, played field hockey, cricket and tennis. I was the first onto the dance floor and the last to leave. I was a fearless solo backpacker and intrepid adventurer, and never once needed to consider my physical health.
And then came the inexplicable fatigue at age 30.
Turning Inward: The Start of Radical Self-Observation
For the first time I am aware of, even if only in an infantile way, I began to feel my body. To feel into my body – brain functioning, mental and emotional fluctuations and energy levels – all of which I desperately needed to manage, just to survive. When I wasn’t on top of things, I could collapse on my way to the toilet, and lie there for hours until I was found, breathing as shallow as a fish out of water, before being rushed to the hospital emergency room.
Somehow, seemingly out of nowhere, I had moved from a thriving young man, to someone just trying to survive. And since I wasn’t finding any answers from the outside, besides steroid dependency for survival, with nowhere else to go, I began my journey inward.
Food as Medicine, Mirror, and Message
The most immediate and obvious connection that called for my attention was the radical and direct relationship between what I ate, and literally every part of me that was crying for help. What, when, how, how much, where, and what I was eating, as well as what I was doing while I was eating … all had an almost-immediate impact on my mood, energy and brain function. Certain foods triggered fatigue, mood swings and brain fog (fuzzy thinking and an inability to focus). Whether I was eating at home, at a take-away or restaurant, in front of the television or sitting in the garden, who I was eating with and what conversation we were having while eating … all of these I began to notice and feel. Not as an emotion, but in my body as tangible physical sensations. And so I started keeping a daily journal to document it all. A detailed, per-hour-of-the-day tracking system:
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how was my physical energy, mental energy, mood – upon waking, after breakfast, after lunch, after dinner?
- What time were these meals and what were their ingredients.
- What were my scores 30 minutes before eating, while eating and 30 minutes after eating?
- If I snacked between meals, what was the effect?
- What time of day was my crash, and where was that in relation to my last meal?
- And was I watching television or not, and what was the show – funny, action, drama, violence?
- Was I eating alone or with someone, and what were we talking about?
Spirals, round and round, deeper and deeper, over years.
Years of Self-Experimentation Across Continents
From South Africa to India and Nepal between 2013 and 2016. Then Malta from 2016 to 2019, before immersing into the Wild Coast of South Africa from 2020 to 2024.
I would be 100% vegetarian for a month, then I would eat chicken. Then 1 month vegetarian, before eating mutton. Then 1 month vegetarian, before eating fish. Then 3 months of being vegan. Then gluten-free, sugar-free, packaged-foods-free, and then not. And on and on, round and round, back and forth, keeping a record of all of it, as I experienced it in my body. This journey remains the most in-depth research I’ve ever conducted, and also the greatest commitment I’ve ever shown towards anything.
Lived Experience. A Living Experiment.
Whatever you read or hear from me – all of it has its roots in this journey, still alive today. I am no degree-qualified expert. My words are shared from lived experience. That being said, there did come a time when I became curious if my life and findings were purely personal, or whether they had any resonance with any deeper body of knowledge. And that curiosity opened a door into an Ancient Portal.
