Plants, Gout & B (iking)

I’ve been plagued by gout for more than 15 years. Many months I could only walk with severe difficulty. Dealing with the pain costs a lot of energy. Last summer I consulted another rheumatologist and he convinced me to eat only plant based, full grain and no sugar. Hummus, soja chicken and bulgur are my new treats. So now I’m a very responsible citizen that takes care of the climate.

Apart from eating limitations he described 30 minutes of sports everyday. Since walking is not something that comes easily I started biking. The secondhand beauty (my own 4 years old Rossonero from the Marktplaats website) above is my new treasure. For 30 years I was convinced that cycling was nothing for me. Never I would become a MAMIL (Middle Aged Males In Lycra). But now I see myself taking care of my newfound beauty as if it’s my sailing boat: cleaning, upgrading and riding it.

So at 55 it’s still possible to change big time. No eating animals for more than half a year, and over 100km a week on the bike. That means that we all (I don’t consider myself more special than you) can change to deal with the crises around us. What most strikes me from the Corona virus are the satellite pictures from China: how locking down the country effects the carbon emissions. Is that the key message that we’re getting from the virus? It’s still not too late? It means that we need to find solutions to build that B (enefit) Economy that’s good for the individual, society and nature without locking the place completely down.

In the province of Groningen we work together with Rabobank to find new solutions how to build that B (enefit) Economy.

PS: the gout is still there. To my surprise have other motivations taken over to keep on biking and eating plant based…