Craig, an employee at CoreLife Eatery in Syracuse, NY, tells his story of how his newfound vegan lifestyle changed his life…
I ran track and cross country in high school, and would have loved to continue my running career into college. Towards the end of the fall semester, which was my sophomore year, I started slowly becoming paralyzed. After several diagnostic tests, I was finally diagnosed with Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP), which is an autoimmune disease that is essentially Multiple Sclerosis of the peripheral nervous system.
By the time I was diagnosed, I had progressed to a wheelchair and had lost 35 pounds of muscle. I was told by my neurologist that if I ever wanted to run, or even walk again, I would need to be on medication for the rest of my life. That day, I made a promise to myself that I would find a way off of my medication, which was IVIG. This medication is not simply a pill that can be taken once a day. Every couple of weeks, I would have to set aside a few hours to go to an infusion center and get an IV drip. Not exactly the spontaneous life I had in mind.
After reading various books and watching countless documentaries and YouTube videos, I started experimenting with my diet to see if it could speed up my recovery, and ditch medication for good. I tried everything from an anti-inflammatory diet to Paleo, and I would see small improvements in my health. But it wasn’t until I went vegan that started seeing drastic changes. I have since relearned how to walk, gained back all of the muscle that I had lost and started running and lifting weights again. On August 18, 2016, I will be completely medication free for 2 years!
The best kept secret in medicine is that given the right conditions, and the right fuel, the body can heal itself–medication free.
Three times a day, we can give our bodies the fuel that it needs to heal itself. Since then, I have become passionate about food that is not only good for you, but that actually tastes great! After coming home from a six-week boat detailing gig in Buffalo, I was perusing Craigslist for a job and happened to see that CoreLife Eatery was hiring. I read their menu and what they were about and I just had to work there!
Fast forward to today and I’ve been here for almost a year and I look forward to every shift where I can help other people choose healthful and delicious choices on their own health journey.
Follow Craig’s journey on his YouTube channel, where he posts regularly.