So in the last post, I explained the general condition that I am experiencing and the couple initial forays I made into alternative medicine and my subsequent cold feet. There are a few things I see differently about RBTI that are persuading me to give it a chance. I will cover those here.
Trust
Basically this is my trust in Matt Stone of 180 Degree Health. I came across his clear and concise arguments against low-carb over a year and a half ago. I've been following his blog as he explores new ideas and cuts through dietary dogma ever since. Matt, it seems, goes out of his way to explore new off the wall ideas and not get stuck in any one paradigm. He's very well informed and answers questions directly. RBTI is the most promising thing he's seen in quite some time and he's been studying it now for the past month or so.
I don't need to explain my condition
Thank God. RBTI uses one set of tests and one set of numbers for all patients. I'll be more likely to have my conditioned explained to me, then to have to attempt to explain it to my practitioner. The tests themselves aren't all that expensive and I can buy the equipment and then test from home, so any up-front costs are one time only. Also, the consultation can be done over the phone, and most likely will be some simple rules based on my numbers along with some general RBTI guidelines. Also, if RBTI fails to help my condition, it's easier to see it as a failure of RBTI rather than some failure on my part to describe it adequately.
More dietary freedom
RBTI allows for processed foods, desserts, and the like. My understanding here is it's more about the overall context of the diet, avoiding specific disruptive foods, and following a meal pattern that allows the body to rest and heal. I still plan to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, but many of us recovering from health obsession need to learn to let go and eat a frozen pizza or scoop of ice cream.
The underlying prinicple makes a lot of sense
Ok, if you've already googled RBTI, ignore what you think it means. I'm going to give you mine (and Matt's) understanding: provide as much support balancing the body chemistry as possible while giving it an adequate mineral supply and watch its healing processes increase by an order of magnitude. This is the same principle you would apply in restoring soil health or marine health and it also works for the body. The body is also like its own ecosystem and it is self-regulating. Unfortunately, like any ecosystem, the more damaged it becomes, the more delicate it is and the more difficult it is to restore. This is exactly how RBTI sees it, and the healthier you are (according to the numbers), the more dietary freedom you have. This explains why it seems healthy people can go around eating whatever they want with immunity, while unhealthy people struggle constantly with different diets. The healthy are probably doing enough intuitively to keep things on track.
Intuitiveness
This gets me to a final thought I have about RBTI as I've been learning about it from Matt's blog and from the newly formed Facebook group. There seems to be aspects of it that align with my intuitive eating patterns of seven or eight years ago: drinking water with dissolved lemon juice throughout the day, eating a carb-heavy breakfast, eating a lighter dinner with cottage cheese or similar easily digestible protein. RBTI may end up clearing up some of the remaining dietary dogmatisms I have and I may well end up adopting some of the practices well into the future.
My expectations
My expectations are that RBTI is going to have me feeling a lot better over all. I will be trying to follow it off and on for a month or more. After September, I may try to follow it more stringnetly. My hope is that by holidays (Thanksgiving) I will be feeling very good and would plan to let go of a lot of the RBTI specific restrictions. I may incorporate many of the RBTI recommendations into my lifestyle.
I will do my best to track my numbers (test results), general feeling, and other health measures as best I can, although past experience tells me that can get overwhelming, so I'll do my best.
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