Don't get sloppy! (Medical)

It’s a harsh reminder to us all.
Our health is something sacred, and for some of us, taken slightly for granted. Once it starts to slip in some way, it’s common to feel we should have done better and begin to do so. But it would have been wiser to do just that all along.
I’m not preaching…….I’m guilty too.
We shouldn’t need a reminder but sometimes we do.

We have similar (rather long) thread on this topic, so I guess @peter will move these posts there.

I always think of this and I work constantly on delaying the inevitable. I still run 3 times a week between 7 and 10 km, hike occasionally, have healthy diet, keep low weight, low BMI, have BP 120/80 or lower and I’m able to keep my class 1 medical at age of 57. I don’t know how long it will last but I don’t feel like I sacrifice anything with this lifestyle.

Be careful with vegan, not to get complacent.
There is some very nice tasting vegan food but things like vegan cheese are still high in bad cholesterol. I love cheese and thought that this would be a healthy way to eat it.
How wrong was I?
Secondly? Both vegan and indeed vegetarian food lack certain proteins, and vitamins found in things like meat, most which need to be replaced somehow. This is where a good nutritionist could be useful.
Exercise is probably the best thing to keep blood pressure down. But if you need diuretics things like tilleul tea and green tea help.
I had a medical last week blood pressure 120/60 resting pulse 64 and oxygen level 99%. Not bad IMO for a retiree who will never see 70 again😁

Thanks very much for posting this LeSving and I am very happy that you are attacking it head-on.

I have seen so many pilots lose their medical (mostly due to cardiac issues, which are actually the most “fixable” things in the body) and then because they don’t need their medical they assume their health is good!! Totally irrational obviously.

Yes a lot of vegan food is crap because you can eat any amount of sugar and cakes, and this is what “stupid vegan-religious” people do, and many of them get obese beyond belief. Brighton is full of that community… But an intelligent person can sort this out. The biggest easy gain is dropping meat and dairy. We have done this in the health thread and always get the Atkins and Keto views but they aren’t any good either long-term. And if you travel then you are often stuffed because commercial catering is generally crap. It’s getting better though – you can get oat or soya milk at most cafes now. For meat, fish is the least bad but most people won’t eat it because it costs a lot more than cheap meat. Alaskan wild salmon is the least contaminated nowadays. You should probably take B12 if you mostly drop meat but that’s about it because veg contains most of the nutrients… think of how they get into meat

This shock has happened to many of us… but as I say few pilots are willing to deal with it.

If you lose weight, lots of things will automatically sort themselves out. And the opposite…

So what happened to me two years ago (which I’ve already mentioned briefly) was that the AME said I got diabetes, so I was grounded immediately. He was rather cool about it and said that with treatment I would get my medical back after a couple of months which is also what happened.

I was put on Metformin, did radical changes to my diet and intensified my physical exercise (from 1 to 3 gym visits a week). After about three months my blood sugar was down to acceptable levels. Fortunately I got a new medical without restrictions (like safety pilot required) which the AME initially said I should be prepared for. The Swedish CAA demanded a cardiac stress test (no mention in part-MED that it should be necessary!) which also went well. I was quite nervous about that. Given my age, I’ve done regular ECGs for the medical many times but never ever a stress test after the medical exam for military training when I was 17.

Tests showed that my colesterol levels were good and I already knew that the blood pressure was ok so I wasn’t put on any other medication than Metformin.

Anyway, the change in diet (possibly also the added exercise) meant that I started losing weight fast. The blood sugar levels continued to drop so I reduced the Metformin dose and after a year I stopped taking it entirely. At that point I had lost 18 kg. Today my blood sugar levels (also long term – HbA1c) have been stable in the middle of the “normal” range for over a year without medication. I’m also more or less back to eating the same food as before but less sweets and I’m religious about how much I eat as I absolutely do not want to gain weight again.

Today I consider myself cured. (Although I know that the majority opinion in the medical profession is that you can’t be cured from diabetes.) Apparently studies show that 80% of people with diabetes type 2 who lose at least 15 kg will become free of symptoms.

The most important thing is to form a healthy and sustained eating habit. Doesn’t matter if it is absolutely vegan, vegetarian, or contains fish and/or meat, but it should be balanced (protein, carbs, fat, fibre, vitamins etc) and sustainable indefinitely.

The body will over time reach a weight equilibrium based on what you eat, without “dieting” or other forced weight loss, and then stay at that point without any extra effort. If you have to put in extra effort (as in reduced intake diets / fasting etc) on a regular basis, your general habitual food intake needs looking at.

This is one reason why going vegan or vegetarian is so effective – it creates a radically new eating habit, and hence is a fantastic opportunity to get it right. Peter has already written that there are also bad vegetarian and vegan foods so I don’t have to say much here.

I like Jack LaLanne’s advice – “if it’s made by man, don’t eat it!” Easier to say than to do. I certainly know if I avoid “junk” like 90% of what you see in the grocery store, then I simply feel much better, so I assume I’m a bit healthier.

I find it amazing that we will discuss for hours what kind of fuel to put in our aircraft, knowing that the wrong stuff will destroy the engine, but are happy to put very bad fuel into our bodies.

Clearly, every human is different, since we have different genetics and gut biome, but some fundamentals seem to apply to most of us – avoid all kinds of sugar, avoid processed foods, eat food that’s “alive” like vegetables. And of course, get enough sleep, and move from time to time.

Take care of yourself!

The main problem, as the health thread shows, many pilots are in denial. Most of them are pretty smart people (by selection by hobby) and many are just smart enough to hook up into all kinds of dodgy modern stuff like Atkins, Keto, and whatever is today’s Youtube flavour.

The reality is much simpler.

Then they get into denial, and unfortunately there are so many really mad/religious “vegan” people that many reasonably well intentioned people get put off eating a plant based diet.