Sight, food, mystery

If you didn't already know, I have psychedelic* vision.  Visual snow is the best description I've found.  There are some pretty good illustrations here, although a lot of these also include depictions of floaters and the blue-field entoptic phenomenon, both of which have a clear physiological explanation.  There's no great explanation for visual snow, and no treatment.

It's often labeled / diagnosed as a form of ocular migraine or migraine aura.  But since it's a persistent condition that generally has no relationship to other migraine symptoms, and isn't generally responsive to migraine medication, I think the diagnostic label ends up being more for the physician's peace of mind than anything else

All of this is really background information, because what I really want to talk about is food.

In my latest effort to combat the visual snow, I went to a naturopath to get tested for food sensitivities.  After two MRIs, a CT scan, an electroencephalogram, and multiple ophthalmological exams, it's pretty clear that there's no structural or electrical abnormality in my brain or my eyes that would be causing this.  I've also tried chiropracty and acupuncture, with no effect.

I like food.  I like to eat, and I like to cook.  I think nutrition is interesting.  I try to eat sustainably raised and minimally processed food, although I'd been pretty lazy about it in the past year.  And I know that there are a ton of people out there who have eliminated something from their diet (gluten, eggs, soy, whatever) with life-changing effect.  So I was pretty stoked to get my results back this week.

It turns out, based on the lab results, that I do have one strong food sensitivity: red beans.

Red beans?

I also showed a moderate sensitivity to yeast (and pinto beans and cashews), and a mild sensitivity to a laundry list of other stuff, including gluten and dairy.

So I've eliminated sugar, yeast (from things like bread and wine), dairy, and gluten, along with the other odds and ends.  At the end of the week, I'm not feeling particularly better or worse.  But I'm hoping it's not a coincidence that the last several mornings, I've had the unusual and amazing experience of, well, waking up.

I woke up at 7 o'clock this morning.  I didn't have to drag my ass out of bed.  I felt snoozy, but in a pleasant way, not in a leaden, foggy way.

The vision, however, remains crazy.

* I would never have guessed that this is how you spell psychedelic.  Thanks, spell-check.