Exactly one year ago around this time, my knee and ankle swelled up. I thought, «What the hell is this, how is that even possible?» I figured I’d rest for a bit and it would pass. But two days later, nothing had improved at all, so I went to see an orthopedic trauma specialist. That was the start of a wild rollercoaster in my life, which I navigated with varying degrees of utter disbelief at what was happening.
In the end, I was diagnosed with reactive arthritis. How, I thought to myself, could I come down with a condition that usually affects only elderly people? What on earth?
But I didn’t know the statistics.
Roughly one in four people currently suffers from arthritis! That’s over 54 million American adults, or more than 22 percent of the US population. And that’s not all. It is estimated that by 2030, this number will rise to 580 million people worldwide aged eighteen and older. (I know it’s hard to believe, as arthritis is often viewed as an old person’s disease). People with arthritis typically experience such severe joint pain and inflammation that nearly half of those diagnosed report physical limitations. Unfortunately, this impacts their ability to stay active, further increasing the risk of other health issues like diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
I was terrified. Actually, «terrified» is an understatement—I was scared out of my mind. Physical limitations? Holy crap.
Another wild stat: 7% of Americans under 40 face this exact condition. That’s seven out of every 100 people!
And that’s just one autoimmune disease, when there are almost a hundred of them by now.
How did I feel at the time? I’d wake up in the morning feeling exhausted before even getting out of bed. Plus severe sleep deprivation, even though I had slept for 8 hours. What’s more, one day could be fine, and the next day I’d be completely wrecked.
On top of that, interrupted sleep—I could wake up 5 to 7 times a night.
And obviously, it was tough to walk too. I was genuinely afraid that things would go completely downhill and I’d be finished.
In total, I visited 5 doctors offline and booked 5 online consultations, but none of them seemed to resolve my problem. That made me even angrier, because I thought 21st-century medicine was supposed to be more effective.
Sometimes I would get bloodwork done every other day, walking into the clinic as if going to work.
It’s a good thing I could actually dedicate time to this while my websites were generating money; otherwise, it would have been a total nightmare.
Months passed, and my condition didn’t improve. After two months of reading through the entire internet and realizing what a dumpster fire the web is on this topic, I found more knowledgeable experts—nutritionists.
I learned that modern Westerners essentially face four bad potential outcomes: obesity, autoimmune disease, cardiovascular issues, or depression.
Among people I know, I occasionally notice varying degrees of one of these four issues.
Now I’ve become very good at noticing how a person looks—how fresh or worn out they appear. You can often tell a person’s health status just from their face—whether it’s puffy, for example.
And it’s not a quick fix where you take a pill and feel better. It’s a deep-rooted issue, and for me, the solution lay in one area—nutrition.
And I wouldn’t be sharing my vulnerability if I didn’t think it might help someone right now.
Moving forward, everything below is my personal experience, and I am not recommending anyone do anything suggested here. Consult a doctor first. There is no single fix; I am merely describing what worked for me.
Symptoms:
- skin issues, such as acne, eczema, and skin rashes
- insomnia
- asthma
- allergies and food sensitivities
- chronic fatigue
- I also used to have a constantly stuffed nose and runny nose—now it’s all gone!
All my life I had acne on my back and occasional skin breakouts. No big deal, I thought. If I had known what was behind it, I would have known where to look.
In the past, I visited a ton of gastroenterologists and professors, had gastroscopy and even colonoscopy done, but no one told me the simple thing: «Maksim, have you tried not eating junk?»
Instead, they prescribed creams that I applied, and everything went away. But that was just the tip of the iceberg.
Compounded by stress in 2022 when I moved to another country, getting COVID, and taking antibiotics, everything accumulated and completely wrecked me.
There are only 5 factors that lead to this problem:
- diet
- stress
- viruses (COVID, for example)
- deficiencies (e.g., vitamin D)
- exercise (physical activity)
Now, a year later, all my skin rashes are gone, I feel very energetic and sleep well, the illness is gone, and I can say that diet and gut microbiota influence this condition far more for me than anything else. Immunity is a complex thing, and it doesn’t get boosted simply by taking pills.
I am someone who healed himself at what I consider a high personal cost, but I learned how to eat to prevent this from happening in the future.
So, what did I eliminate?
- sugar
- gluten
- dairy
This is the BASE.
It took me a full YEAR to break my sugar addiction. Now I look at a cake and feel no urge to eat it, whereas before I felt inadequate because I couldn’t eat like everyone else—like I was somehow defective.
I cut out foods that are routine for many—eggs, bread, kefir, sour cream, and all sweets.
Nowadays my diet leans more towards paleo or keto: mostly animal proteins and fats. Meat, fish, avocado, salmon, nuts + plenty of vegetables and greens. I cut out salt as well.
Dietitians/nutritionists I can recommend on YouTube:
- Dr. Berg
- Ksenia Chernaya
Books:
- Brain Maker
- Grain Brain
- Glucose Revolution in English
I also prevent insulin spikes throughout the day and try to eat 1–2 times a day or within a 5–6 hour window. That means I fast for 18 hours. And I feel great 🙂
The topic of insulin is also central to modern nutrition and may explain why cutting your intake to almost nothing still doesn’t lead to weight loss.
More details on this can be found in the book Glucose Revolution and works by other authors.
If you wake up in the middle of the night unable to fall back asleep, or if you need to eat before bed just to sleep—you are in a risk group. This path can lead to an autoimmune disease, like diabetes, for example.
How do I spot someone hooked on this pattern? They eat constantly. They can’t refrain from eating. They physically feel unwell—even dizzy—if they don’t eat every 4 to 5 hours.
I eat like a horse yet don’t put on weight. I post photos of my meals on Instagram. At the same time, I can eat just once a day and feel fine doing so.
I think I’ve briefly covered everything I wanted to. I shared my vulnerability, but I found a way out of this situation and overcame the illness.
Health is my top priority now, and without it, everything else fades in comparison. Neither money, nor women, nor cars can bring the joy of waking up in the morning feeling alert, well-rested, and ready to achieve great things.
And since this illness isn’t permanently cured but rather goes into remission, self-care will remain my life’s top priority going forward.
I wrote this post so you don’t end up in the same messed-up shape. I hope it helps someone.