A woman who was advised to follow a plant-based diet after being diagnosed with breast cancer and having a mastectomy has opened up about how shunning meat almost killed her while she was suffering from undiagnosed Lyme disease.
Angela Lerro, 38, from Los Angeles, stopped eating most meat and fish and lived mainly on vegetables and colorful salad dishes for three years after undergoing surgery in 2013.
But instead of feeling better, she began fainting up to 20 times a day, breaking out in hives and rashes, and suffering from heightened anxiety and anaphylaxis. She became so bloated, she looked pregnant.
The reiki master was told it was post-cancer ailments, but her symptoms were actually caused by undiagnosed Lyme disease, which she’d been unknowingly battling for over 30 years.
Angela Lerro, 38, from Los Angeles, opened up about how following a plant-based diet while suffering from undiagnosed Lyme disease almost killed her
Doctors advised she eat mostly plant foods after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy in 2013 (pictured)
‘I thought eating mostly plants was going to make me better, but it was actually making me worse,’ she said
After being told the news by doctors in 2021, she ditched her heavily plant-based eating for an exclusively carnivorous diet and her ailments reversed.
Now Angela is keen to help others who might be suffering as she did.
‘Growing up, I was always struck down with random allergies, neurological issues, asthma, and digestive problems but I was never diagnosed with anything,’ Angela told MakeTheHeadlines.co.uk.
‘I thought eating mostly plants was going to make me better, but it was actually making me worse.
‘Most plants are high in histamine, salicylates, and oxalates, and when the gut and liver are impaired, the body cannot digest them properly and the chemicals can create a plethora of autoimmune health issues, creating more inflammation and histamine responses in the body.
‘My liver wasn’t able to digest plants so I experienced a lifetime of hives, breathing issues, rapid heart rate, skin burning, anxiety, joint pain, fatigue, brain fog, breakouts, throat swelling, and other autonomic dysfunctions.
‘The carnivore diet starves the bacteria and parasites in our gut causing these illnesses and gives the body the space it needs to come back into balance and heal.
‘I’ve gone from being bedridden and needing help to stand, to doing daily yoga and multiple hikes per week.’
Angela said she became so bloated, she looked pregnant, but she was told her symptoms were post-cancer ailments
She suffered from hives and rashes that required allergy testing
Angela suffered from random allergies, neurological issues, asthma, and digestive problems when she was a child, but she was never diagnosed with anything
After a childhood of ailments including bloating, fluctuating IBS, chronic sinus infections, acid reflux, food sensitivities, and chronic strep infections that went undiagnosed, it wasn’t until 2013 that she started to get answers.
In January 2013, Angela was diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis, which is an autoimmune allergic disease in the esophagus. She was also told she was allergic to gluten and soy dairy in addition to a seafood allergy she’d always had.
A month later, she noticed blood coming from her right nipple.
‘During an MRI, my breast lit up like a Christmas tree for cancer,’ she said. ‘I had to have a mastectomy at Cedar Sinai in Beverly Hills two months later. Then my doctors wanted me to become mostly plant-based.
‘I did and I really focused on health and nutrition – juicing, making smoothies, and eliminating as much meat as possible. I was eating a portion of chicken or turkey the size of my palm once or twice a week.’
Angela’s bloating worsened, she suffered from skin issues such as hives, and her neurological issues, including extreme dizziness and loss of mobility, returned during the three years she followed a mainly plant-based diet.
Doctors told her that all her symptoms were from post-cancer syndrome, but she was convinced it was something else because she didn’t have chemotherapy or radiation during her treatment.
In January 2015, Angela trained to become a reiki practitioner. The following year she left her job in fashion to open a healing practice. She ‘put up’ with her symptoms because no one could give her answers.
Without a proper diagnosis, Angela said she ‘put up’ with her symptoms while she trained to become a reiki practitioner in 2015
Angela said her health deteriorated to the point that she was passing out up to 20 times a day
The reiki master needed dozens of medications to help treat her various ailments
In 2019, she underwent surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), a term that refers to three related syndromes involving compression of the nerves, arteries, and veins in the neck and chest
But the pain in her left arm had returned and was getting progressively worse. She eventually couldn’t lift her arm up at all, and she lost all her strength and ability to grip to the point that doing daily chores such as washing her hair became difficult.
Angela saw several specialists and increased her plant foods, thinking it would help her heal the inflammation.
But in 2019, Angela began to notice a sharp pain in her shoulder. She was losing feeling in her fingers and her hands were becoming numb.
She underwent an MRA scan with a neurologist in Long Beach, California, and the results revealed an artery was being compressed between the clavicle and her top rib and was creating a stent in her artery.
In April 2019, she had cervical rib resection surgery at the University of California Irvine to remove the rib, but it ended with devastating results.
‘The surgeon made a mistake and thought he’d punctured my lung, but it had fully collapsed while he was operating,’ she said.
‘It put my heart rate into a very high cardiac arrest and so they left me on anesthesia until my heart rate could come down.
‘What was meant to be a two-hour surgery ended up being eight hours.’
Angela, who had adopted a low-histamine paleo diet at this point, was eating at a restaurant in November 2019 when she went into anaphylaxis and had to have an ambulance called
‘My legs were covered in bruises and doctors nicknamed me a “zebra” because they had no idea what was wrong with me,’ she said
Angela’s German shepherd was trained to be her service dog because she could barely walk
Angela said she also suffered from extreme weight loss and was down to 89 pounds in 2021
Angela was given a chest tube to remove the excess air, and she was told she only had 30 minutes to live. She was placed in the critical care unit for 10 days while her lung was drained of fluid.
Two weeks later, when she went home, her neurological symptoms returned with a vengeance. She fainted every time she stood up. She could barely stand and couldn’t walk without getting out of breath.
Angela, who had adopted a low-histamine paleo diet at this point, was eating at a restaurant in November 2019 when she went into anaphylaxis and had to have an ambulance called.
She also suffered intense brain fog, her digestive system stopped working, and she developed gastroparesis.
‘My legs were covered in bruises and doctors nicknamed me a “zebra” because they had no idea what was wrong with me,’ she said.
‘My driving license was revoked, my German shepherd dog was trained to be my service dog, my throat became chronically tight, and I was diagnosed with vocal cord dysfunction.’
She added that she ‘lost 30 pounds in six months.’
By the time Angela returned home to live with her mother in Pennsylvania in 2021, she was only eating Brussels sprouts, green cabbage, string beans, and rutabaga with white rice and a small amount of skinless chicken.
Angela was eventually diagnosed with Lyme disease, which she has unknowingly been suffering from for over 30 years
‘My doctor told me, “You are my sickest patient in 30 years and I do not know what to do with you because you are so sick. If I gave you an antibiotic, it would kill you,”‘ she said
Angela began following a carnivore diet while being treated for Lyme disease. She claimed that many of her symptoms disappeared within three months of eating just meat
All doctors in California chalked up the issues she was experiencing to her autonomic dysfunction diagnosis. But she knew it was something more so she continued her search for answers.
‘By chance, a friend of the family called just as I was having an anaphylactic reaction. He asked if I’d ever been tested for Lyme disease,’ she said.
‘It had never been mentioned before, so I made a medical appointment, and three weeks later the results revealed I had late-stage neurological Lyme disease.
‘My doctor told me, “You are my sickest patient in 30 years and I do not know what to do with you because you are so sick. If I gave you an antibiotic, it would kill you.”‘
Caused by borrelia bacteria, Lyme disease is a bacterial infection that can be spread to humans by infected ticks. Without treatment, it can cause long-term effects, including arthritis and issues with organs and the neurological system.
Angela was also told she may never walk again.
After looking at her medical history and blood work with her Lyme doctor, Angela learned she’d had the infection since she was five.
Determined not to give up, Angela, who shares her story and her advice on her Instagram page Meat Based Medium, started researching and found the carnivore diet.
Despite feeling as though she was going against the advice of medical professionals, Angela found research that showed how the lion diet – otherwise known as the ‘ultimate elimination diet’ – could reduce inflammation.
She believes this is because ruminant meat, fat, and organs contain the most bioavailable nutrients that the body can absorb and use as energy. Eating more protein also helps rebuild the muscle.
The Lyme bacteria feed off gluten, grains, and sugar, and when they are consumed, it creates inflammation in the body.
With nothing to lose, Angela decided to give it a try, and in February 2021, she swapped her low-histamine paleo diet for bison, veal, lamb, and venison.
She claimed that many of her symptoms disappeared within three months of eating just meat. She stopped fainting, her mobility improved, and she was able to walk farther by herself.
‘We may think plant-based eating is the answer but actually our bodies may need meat due to our health issues. My body did and I’m so glad I listened to it,’ she said
Angela noted that she still has Lyme disease flare-ups, but she is now able to do yoga and hike
Angela is now focused on helping others by sharing her story on her Meat Based Medium Instagram page
‘I had a diagnosis of Lyme disease, Babesia, and Bartonella that had gone undiagnosed for 30 years,’ she said.
‘And after ditching a plant-based diet that was actually slowly killing me, I was getting stronger and able to handle the treatments for Lyme.’
In April 2022, she started treatments for Lyme and Babesia using a relief kit from the homeopathic brand Desbio for 30 weeks.
Then, in October 2022, she started treating Bartonella as well for 30 weeks. She finished the treatments in March 2023.
‘I still have Lyme flare-ups, but I’m doing yoga and hiking regularly,’ she said.
‘I could barely hold a knife to chop a vegetable, and now I’m feeling good and even helping others by using mild carnivore coaching with reiki to reverse their symptoms too.
‘I’ve gone from being at death’s door to being given a new lease of life and I’m determined to help others.
‘I am seeing life with a new light of hope and enjoying being out of bed and out in nature with my loved ones. I have more strength, vitality, and energy now than I ever did or could imagine me having ever again and all of my chronic neurological and digestive issues are in remission.
‘I have made it my mission to turn my pain into purpose and I believe that this journey through illness happened for me and not to me.
‘We may think plant-based eating is the answer but actually our bodies may need meat due to our health issues. My body did and I’m so glad I listened to it.’