As a finance manager in practice, writing books was far from my mind, but circumstances led me to write books on health.

My health was perfect when I was a child, and if I caught a cold or the flu I was always forced to recover naturally, meaning that my immune system was very strong. In my twenties I started to suffer from indigestion, gas and constipation but I did not think much about it. In my thirties I started to experience frequent yeast infections, frequent bladder problems, mostly burning urine and swollen feet. Mostly by midday every day my feet were swollen and if I travelled long distance my lower legs became swollen. I was always tired in the morning and developed the habit of arriving late at work, which was actually a bad example for my juniors.

I was a frequent visitor to my doctors for the bladder problem and the yeast infections. At one time I questioned my doctor about the frequent urine infections and he referred me to a urologist who examined my system and found it perfect. There was no physical reason for my frequent infections! I was happy that everything was perfect but I was puzzled by the frequent burning urine. My doctor had no answers.

At another time I questioned the doctor about the swollen feet and he referred me to a cardiologist who performed an ECG and found my heart to be perfectly normal. So the leg swelling was not due to heart problems! Again I was relieved that my heart was perfectly normal and yet I was puzzled about the problem. Why did my feet swell?

At one time, when I was in my 40s, the urine tests began to include acidity and many times the doctors did not need to prescribe any antibiotics as there was no infection. The urgency to urinate and the burning was caused by high acidity. Taking alkalizers normally helped temporarily until the urine became acidic again or until I got another infection.

For the indigestion I sometimes took digestive enzymes after my meals and that helped me a lot. But the enzymes did not get rid of the problem permanently. For the constipation sometimes I had to use laxatives just to move the bowels. By mid-40s my skin was breaking out. That was painful considering that I used to have very clear skin even as a teenager. I started having facials, that I never needed before, but they did not help. I changed my skincare products several times but that did not help. I was wasting my money on facials and expensive products that did not clear my skin. I began to suspect that there was a root cause for all these problems.

Because there was no physical reason for my problems, I knew that I was  introducing the problems from outside but I had no idea how. I did my own research. I learned that food is the major contributor of either good health or poor health. Specifically, the consumption of animal products contributes greatly to the development of most chronic diseases and digestive system problems. I got it! In my 30s I had begun to consume more meats than I did before. In fact as a child I grew up vegetarian, eating meat here and there during the year, mostly during the holidays. Now that I started to eat more meat in my twenties I developed digestive health problems. Increased consumption of meats in my 30s and 40s brought on more health problems. I learned that diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, osteoporosis and heart disease were going to develop any time.

Early in 2008, after the festive season, I stopped eating all animal products, i.e. all meats and all dairy products. I started to eat fruits in the morning for breakfast and vegan food for lunch and supper.Within a month my symptoms had stopped. After 3 months none of the symptoms had returned:

• No tiredness in the morning after a good night sleep - I actually had lots of energy and started to arrive at the office earlier than anybody else.
• No more swollen feet so I had to give away my shoes which had now become loose.
• No indigestion.
• My bowels moved daily.
• No more yeast infections.
• No more bladder problems.
• My skin cleared and the scars began to heal and fade.
• No smelly gas or smelly stools.

This was amazing! All the symptoms were gone and I did not need to go to the doctor again for the same recurring problems! The surprising change that took place in addition to all this was weight loss. I lost weight from 76 kg to 62 kg (168 lb to 137 lb)! I never set out to lose weight. I had become slightly overweight with a BMI of about 27 but I was not interested in losing that weight. That is why I did not mention weight gain in the story above. I had 8 symptoms to worry about!

Still, I lost weight in addition to losing all those symptoms! It took me 8 years before I even thought of writing the book Lose Weight Naturally and Look Younger. However I kept being asked the secret to my low weight and for looking so young in my 50s.  My weight these days ranges between 67kg and 69kg. That is why I decided to write this book in 2016 in order to share my secrets.