There are a lot of things I can't do. I could go on and on and on. But, let's be positive here. What CAN I do? What is under my control for the most part?
One, I can try to keep a positive attitude, surround myself with positive people and teach others about this. That's pretty much a given. What else can I do? Well, what are people told to do in regards to health? Exercise and eat healthy. Because of MG, I really cannot exercise in the normal sense. So that leaves one left. Eat healthy.
Do not take this the wrong way. I am not saying eating healthy will cure you. The illnesses I have are very real. There is no known cure. But what I also know is this: the more unhealthy I eat, the worse my symptoms are. So I just have to believe eating healthy is going to be beneficial, whether or not my symptoms improve any.
Disclaimer- do not take anything I'm about to say as medical advice. This is my own personal experience and everyone is different. Talk to you doctor or healthcare professional before making any changes in diet, exercise, medications, supplements or otherwise. Thank you.
Growing up, I was no where near being the healthiest eater. I was "healthy" and active, I exercised or played sports, but my food intake could have been much improved upon. I was a very picky eater which made it very difficult. I liked grilled cheese, mac and cheese, chicken nuggets, pizza, cheese burgers and brussel sprouts (haha my one healthy!). I occasionally drank soda/pop/coke (whatever part of the country you live in :) ). In the more recent years I drank wine, beer, and sometimes mixed drinks. I ate a lot of carbs and many more sweets than I should have. It seems everywhere you go someone is offering sweets! Dessert is not an every day thing! And yet somehow it became one.
Over the past year I eliminated dairy, yeast, sugar, processed/junk/fast food as much as possible. That's a whole lot of things to eliminate especially when society fills you with garbage food that has all of this in it. This is what my typical day looks like now...
Breakfast: I have to have a banana every morning. If there aren't any I drink orange juice but I can feel the difference. I need to keep my potassium level up and it drops quickly with slight changes. I also usually eat some type of bar. My favorite right now is the "Raw" bar... raw ingredients of nuts, fruits, vegetable, non-gmo organic. And no I'm not getting paid to advertise for them, but I should be haha. I can't seem to give up my coffee but I have attempted to switch most days to decaf instead of regular because caffeine seems to negatively affect me.
Morning snack: An hour or two later I'm hungry again and usually eat either a salad or have a green drink (fruits and veggies).
Lunch: Well the burger hasn't gone away, in fact it's increased. I can't seem to go a day without beef... not because of a craving though. Apparently I need to maintain my protein level also and beans and peanuts don't seem to do it all the way. It's something about a burger that makes my body feel better, no joke. I have changed it up though. I eat organic, grass-fed, antibiotic-free beef on yeast free bread, no cheese, with as many veggies as I have around to use. That fills me up pretty well.
Afternoon snack: sometimes an apple, or nuts, or beans or kiwi or something salty because I need to keep my sodium level up due to my blood pressure drops. I also at some point during the day drink coconut water or G2. I know G2 isn't the healthiest but coconut water gets expensive drinking it every day. This again provides sodium, potassium, and quicker hydration than plain water.
Dinner: This is where the variety comes in... chicken, steak, tacos, turkey, veggie stew, beef stew, even sometimes fish!! gasp! (if you know my eating habits you know I never ate any sort of sea food). Sides of veggies typically greens- green beans, brussel sprouts (my childhood love continues), peas, zucchini, cabbage, etc.
I no longer drink pop/soda except for an occasional Zevia (sweetened with natural stevia) but even that makes my symptoms worse. I no longer drink any alcohol- non-drinker for about a year now! I rarely eat lots of carbs and almost never eat sweets (I can't seem to give up occasional chocolate though!) Every other day I drink green tea and on alternate days I drink a fiber drink. I am constantly drinking water, sometimes with lemon in it... no joke I must drink about 2 gallons a day, maybe more! (it's a POTS thing). I also add garlic and salt... garlic as a natural anti-everything bad and salt again because of the bp drops.
In addition to food I supplement with vitamin c, vitmain d, vit b2, probiotics, digestive enzymes, flaxseed oil (I can't tolerate fish oil), and licorice. I take manganese for MG weakness, about once a week on average. And I take garlic or oil of oregano when I feel myself starting to get "sick"- "sick" as in how healthy people know it as.
If I eat this way, I tend to feel better and be able to do more... no where near what I felt like prior to getting sick, but at least doable to make it through the day. And then I get my 8-9 hours rest and start it all over again. I keep that in mind every time I see family or friends eating pizza and I find it so difficult to resist. But I've also learned, the longer you resist, the less the craving will be. Sweets have been what I've stayed away from the longest at this point. Now, I have no desire for sweets at all (again- except chocolate- that should pretty much be it's own food group haha). What I also found is that when I'm craving something now, it's usually much healthier and I feel better after I eat it. What I concluded (without research so pretty much just a guess) is that that means my body needs that specific nutrient/vitamin. For example if I'm craving beef, I need protein. If I'm craving a banana, I need potassium. If I'm craving peanuts, I need sodium. Etc. Listen to your body, it really does speak to you. Furthermore, if you don't think what you typically eat negatively affects you, try eating as healthy as possible as I suggested above for say a month, and then go back and eat what you used to eat. I can almost guarantee you'll feel a difference. (Of course again talk to your doctor first!) The first month is the big hurdle. Get over that and you're going to be on a good path to better eating in your future.
I think this is how we were designed to work... not to take in all the chemically altered/processed garbage we mistakenly call food. I could go off on an extremely long tangent on that one, but I'll refrain. What I will say is that society focuses too much on treating/fixing a problem after it's already there, rather than trying to avoid getting there in the first place- in every area of life. So if I look at this as if I want to avoid my health getting worse, what can I do? Back to the basics.
If there is any chance at a cure, I believe that's it.
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