It may be totally unrelated, but timing-wise, it seems to be more than mere coincidence. Less than a month after I started to eat a vegan diet, my gastrointestinal system went kerplooey.

The symptoms are pretty specific and yucky. And they don’t always come on. But when they do, it’s unbearable. I had a few weeks of relief, but lately, it’s kicked back up again, after a bout with a nasty stomach flu. Now, whenever I eat a few bites, my esophagus wants out of my body. Today I made the mistake of drinking a few sips of a cup of coffee, and I felt like my entire upper g.i. was going to explode.

I have no idea, logically, medically, why my body should require meat or cheese. For the life of me, I can’t fathom that biological need. But for some reason, none of this happened while I was indulging in red meat and mozzarella.

I will probably go through the whole western medical process, just for shits and giggles. But with a months-long waiting list for a gastroenterologist in this part of the map, I just might see what some free range chicken parmagiana can do.