In December 2009, I was 25 years old and weighed 210 lbs. I was obese for my 5’5″ frame, never felt well, and was popping handfuls of pills every day just to get by. I was taking 2 anti-depressants, anxiolytics, prescription sleeping pills, courses of Prilosec once or twice a month, acid-blocking pills or antacid tablets 1-3 times a day, anti-diarrhea pills several days a week, and I was constantly catching respiratory infections and frequently took courses of antibiotics. In fact, I was put on chronic antibiotics by a dermatologist to treat rosacea, acne, and a truly horrible condition known as hidradenitis suppurativa (acne inversa). I would take them for several weeks at a time, until everything calmed down, but inevitably within a few weeks more I would end up with another debilitatingly painful HS boil and would need to start up the antibiotics again. I also got either a yeast infection or a urinary tract infection almost once a month. In the summer of 2008 I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic with metabolic syndrome and hypertension, so by the end of 2009 I was quite probably a full-fledged type II diabetic, I just never got an official diagnosis. I was falling apart mentally and physically, and scared to death of a miserable future full of multiple chronic illness and scary prescription medications, so I decided to make some drastic changes in my lifestyle. I resolved to do my research over the holidays, and begin in 2010 with my new way of life.
She ran across Mark Sisson’s website and the rest is history.
Read about her transformation.
h/t Julianne Taylor
Paleo Diabetic 
Hi Steve,
Is a Stone Age diet healthy? What is your opinion? Wouldn’t Julianne’s health have to be monitored longterm (20 years?) to determine if this way of eating is safe?
Hi Judy,
If you are interested in the science behind the paleo diet, check out the documentary (free on Amazon Prime right now) called The Perfect Human Diet. I also have compiled studies from the scientific literature that have looked at the paleo diet here: http://thecuriouscoconut.com/science?tag=Paleolithic+diet
If you can’t watch the documentary, this is a good synopsis (particularly interesting is the bone analysis): http://www.westonaprice.org/thumbs-up-dvdmedia/in-search-of-the-perfect-human-diet-by-cj-hunt
There are people who have been eating this way since the 70s and 80s that are in incredible health today. Why do you think it isn’t safe? It is without a doubt effective: effective at regulating healthy body weight and composition and at reversing chronic illnesses (some deemed incurable by Western doctors) — which means that it brings people to a healthy state. Isn’t being healthy a good thing? Isn’t being healthy safe?
Also, the point is that people have been eating this way for most of history, and there are still hunter gatherer peoples around the world that have their traditional diets intact, and when these people are studied they are found to be robustly healthy without chronic illness. There’s more on this in the documentary.
One thing is for sure, the Standard American Diet is definitely NOT a safe way of eating.
Judy, I’m certain a well-designed paleo-style diet can be very healthy. Good adult health does not require grains, legumes, and dairy. Babies do best on mother’s milk.
I meant Amanda instead of Juilanne.