Growing and Foraging 100% of my Food: Day 210 Health Update

Robin Greenfield posing amidst lush green plants.
FloridaFood FreedomPersonal

Update on my health:
Two weeks ago I wrote that I thought I was feeling deficient in something.
Yesterday I met with a new friend in my neighborhood Pam Legowski, a registered Dietitian Nutritionist and her partner. She is part of my new launched Community Compost Program and offered to help me. We discussed my diet and lifestyle and we went over my labs that I had done at the beginning of this project and discussed what labs it would make sense to do now to check for a deficiency.
Ultimately we agreed that I don’t likely have any major deficiency and if I do we know what it most likely is and what I need to eat to bring my body into balance.
I’ve decided not to do any labs. I’m interested in doing them but after looking into the cost I’ve decided it’s not the best way to spend the little bit of money that I have. It would cost a few hundred dollars and I only have about $2,000. I will likely do them at the end of the year though.
When I started to feel really tired it was right as we launched into some very hot weather. It is most likely my body just needed to adjust. It was above 95 degrees for about 10 days straight without any rain. It was truly scorching. The great news is that it has gone back down to the normal upper 80’s to low 90’s. That is very comfortable for me. I love the heat and every time I walk out of a building with AC into this humid hot air I feel so ALIVE! It was surprising that I was dealing with heat problems because I rarely do.
Going into this year I was slightly low in Vitamin A, D3 and E, Omega-3, Manganese, Carnitine, EPA, DHA and BUN according to my labs. (I have shared my medical bloodwork information from my pre-project checkin here.) This was primarily due to eating a largely plant-based diet. The simple solution to most of this is more fatty fish and other meat.
I feel that my diet is low in fat, protein and Pam thinks possibly heme iron as well. But not majorly low as they did some visual checkups that looked good.
I have been eating fish, including mullet, which is fatty, but I feel that my body could use more. I also feel I could really benefit from some wild meat. I may hunt wild hog (which is invasive and destructive in Florida) or find roadkill deer (fresh and in good shape) during my visit to Wisconsin. I will also catch more fish. Unfortunately I don’t have a source of nuts, but will in the fall. I feel confident I can bring my body into balance with these foods.
Today is day 210 of growing and foraging 100% of my food and I’m happy to report good health and great happiness.
For those wondering why I’m not vegan see my article: My Thoughts on Veganism… and Why I’m Not Vegan

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