I lived a pretty normal sickness-free life growing up.  I didn't smoke nor take any form of drugs (just enjoying natural highs) until I was around 23 or 24 when I noticed occasional shortness of breath when taking long walks, not realizing that these were the beginning symptoms of asthma. I would then have regular trips to my cardiologist / pulmonologist who recommended “temporary reliefs” such as the common inhaler and nebulizer if it got worse. After about 2 years I had to upgrade to the steroid inhaler since my body was already immune to the previous inhalers I was using. 

On top of that, I was not allowed to eat wheat, tuna, eggs, be near certain areas with a lot of flowers, have pets, etc. etc... in short, my world just got a little smaller since I was restricted from enjoying some of the goodies of life.

Having an asthma attack is like breathing through a straw… not the kind of straw you use in softdrinks, but the smaller white one that you use to drink from the tetrapack. Every breath you take just to fill up your lungs with air, is shallow and takes extreme effort. But In times of severe cases, just imagine placing a plastic bag over your face and poking a small hole with the tip of a ballpen. If you’ve seen the movie “Signs” starring Mel Gibson, notice how his son reacts to an asthma attack and you’ll know what I’m talking about.

On one horrific occasion, I woke up what seemed to be around 3:30am, probably because my brain signaled that its oxygen was almost completely depleted. I was experiencing my most terrible asthma attack. I remember struggling to find the keys to my car to get to the nearest pharmacy since I used up my inhaler the other day and wasn’t able to get a new one. As I drove off, the 10 minute drive seemed like 10 hours and it took 110% of all my energy to concentrate on my breathing and just to STAY ALIVE and reach the pharmacy.

As I reached the counter, almost half dead, I pointed to the brand of inhaler (Seretide, a steroid powder inhaler, which was the strongest kind) and as soon as it was handed to me, I quickly opened it up and took several puffs. Normally I would have to pay for it first, but I guess the teller had a moral decision and allowed me to get away with it rather than letting me collapse right then and there. It took several seconds for the drug to take into effect before I could actually reach for my wallet.

Despite my relatively semi-athletic nature (swimming 2x/week and kickboxing 2x/week) I still had this type of dis-ease. It crossed my mind if the meds I was taking had some adverse effects at the same time. You know, like injecting an energy drink will a small amount of cocaine thus making it addictive. And of course there was the obvious air pollution to blame. All I wanted was to be “normal” again. Not waking up at 3am coughing, having long walks without feeling light headed after a few minutes, not having a regular intake of chemicals in my system, etc... I actually prayed hard for this.

A few months have passed after that thought, when I bumped in to my vegetarian friend who recommended I try out the vegetarian diet. Now I had serious doubts about the effectivity about this type of diet since I pointed out lack-of energy & nutrition issues, but he quickly dismissed those thoughts and sited himself as an example. He was about 5,9, a solid athlete who participated in several decathlons, had a pretty sharp memory, a six-pack which looked like he could hand wash his jeans on, and swore he never took any body building supplements. He sounded pretty convincing since he wasn’t promoting any product nor would he benefit monetarily from his advice, so I gave it a try.

His instructions were pretty specific. He advised me to take a green smoothie in the morning containing green leafy vegetables like kelp or lettuce, strawberries, sliced bananas (to eliminate the taste), and moringa leaves. I can add or subtract and basically just experiment what went well with my taste.

In lunchtime was steamed vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots and some steamed fish. Dinner was a garden salad with several fruits, and a selected fruit shake that “matched” the dish. In between meals when I would get hungry he advised me to take watermelon shakes, and eat fruits like oranges or apples. My general liquid would be 2 liters of alkaline water a day. I told him I would go crazy if I followed that type of diet! He said that I should at least consume those type of foods 80% of the time and that I could eat whatever I wanted once or twice a week. 

My first few days were real torture since I had several steaks, beer, and other goodies still left in the fridge! But I stuck with the plan. Believe me that after 2 weeks, you will no longer crave for that fat juicy steak or porkchop, and even if you’ve tried it… it wouldn’t taste as good as you before. It might be habit-induced and/or my stomach was already so used to the new form of “healthy” diet.

Here are my observations after only one month:

I had enough energy to last me the entire day, My face and skin started to look smoother and a few “stress” lines were gone, my waist line shrunk by an inch, and most importantly, my asthma completely disappeared as well! I don’t have any other complications so I can’t really say what it might do for them, but my friend said it would work all the way up to curing cancer and diabetes! Honestly, I don’t want to reach that stage to find out.

I’ve been on this type of diet for almost 2 years now and I’m telling you that I can not really express enough how much this has drastically changed my life for the better. Try to couple this with exercise to experience the full benefits. One more thing, for the men out there, you will experience harder erections and longer “performance”. Don’t disappoint your women! Hehe. I can only speak for my own experience. Talk about answered prayers =)

The bottom line is, there’s no harm in trying. It’s cheaper, easier to prepare, and the benefits are overwhelming, especially if you are experiencing some form of sickness or disease right now. I tell you, it's a lot more easier to just prevent all these diseases and sicknesses and the effects of aging rather than trying to reverse them. 

I wish you all the success in your new venture to this healthy lifestyle! Cheers!